By Rev. Michael Mwangi
Senior Pastor, Fedha Church KAG
3 Now there were four men with leprosy[a] at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, 6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
9 Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”
Trusting in God does not mean praying and doing nothing as waiting for things to happen.
Hard Work is always God's way.
God not only expects us to work but also to show diligence and excellence in our work
Ecclesiastes 9
10. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Colossians 3
23. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
We must rise in action
Prayers precede everything so as to unlock the spiritual world but we must practically work out things to actualize things in the physical realm.
Beyond prayer, we need to act to demonstrate our faith.
You can't stop at prayer and rest and claim it is faith.
James 2
26. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
If you are praying and believing God for wealth, show me what you are doing or planning to get money.
No matter how many times I prophesy and decree over your life, if you are doing nothing, poverty will still be your friend.
You can never make money or get rich with prayers and declarations.
Anyone you see with money they are involved either in offering goods or services. Period.
Otherwise, you can pray and cast out demons of poverty, bind, and loose, decree and declare na utabaki msoto (and remain penniless).
Deuteronomy 8:18
18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
God gives you the ability to produce wealth ... not to pray.
Wealth is made or produced. We pray to God because He is the one who gives us the ability to make it out.
Some people are either too spiritual or very lazy. They pray and fast and then wait upon the Lord literally. They rest and do nothing as they wait for miracles to happen.
Faith demands action so if you are waiting upon the Lord get busy in the vineyard.
If you are waiting upon the Lord, do what the waiters do, serve.
Trusting the Lord is not praying and doing nothing.
It is doing your best and leaving the rest to God.
If you are looking for a job as you wait for the results of the interview you have done, just volunteer yourself in one of those companies. Look for an internship. Request someone in a business to be a volunteer assistant.
Prayer is not a substitute for hard work, intelligence, good planning, proper preparation, or the right strategy.
Prayer is the support for all these so you get them right.
Prayers simply bring God into your hard work and planning.
It acknowledges God in your doings.
Proverbs 3
5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6. in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Prayers do not substitute work but simply invite God into your work.
We must work with our hands
Psalm 90
17. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us yes, establish the work of our hands.
Deuteronomy 28
12. The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
You work to get wealth to lend to the nation …
Prayers do not substitute planning
Even when God says he has good plans for you, you still have to come up with your plans and submit them to him for approval
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your plans, ways to the Lord and he will make them successful.
If you don't plan no matter how you pray, you will fail miserably.
Prayer is never an excuse for laziness or a substitute for diligence.
Proverbs 24
5. The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength.
6. Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.
Beyond prayer, you need to rise in action
These four lepers with their lameness rose and made a difference. They had sensed it was time to shine.
Some lessons from these lepers
1. Analyze your life or situation
If we sit here we are going to die
How are you doing?
Are you getting better or bitter?
Do you see the need for change or rise and make a difference?
This is what becomes your vision.
2. Weigh your options and come up with a plan
If we stay here, die enter the city... go to our enemies
3. Be willing to pay the cost
We will go to our enemies; they might spare us. They took great risks (commercial.) In spiritual terms, exercise faith.
4. Prepare and practice
V5 . At dusk...they rose and went to the enemy's camp...
Good plans remain to be good plans unless executed.
Put your plans into action as soon as possible.
Don't be a victim of procrastination
"I will do it tomorrow"
You need to rise in action; you can't live on prayer alone. There is time to pray and time to work.
Remember:
2 Thessalonians 3:10
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
No work - no eating.
Exodus 14:15-16
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
Arise and make a difference, God has already opened our heavens, his light has come.
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