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Work…
I know a Christian who prayed fervently
for up to 9 hours a day for about five years.
On many occasions she turned hunger
to a fast for lack of food to eat with her
children
She was living in the boy-quarters of a
dilapidated building in Ikolaba Estate
Extension, Ibadan
This woman didn’t have a job or learn a
trade.
She was a full house wife before her
husband died.
All she does was sit at home and pray
She was dirt poor and even her children
despised her
Her main source of sustenance was
charity
Members of the church she attends
would give her food stuff and used
clothes
The church was responsible for the
education of her children
She invited me to her home one day
and asked me why God has not changed
her story despite all her hours of praying
and fasting
I said “Why didn’t you get a job?
Start a trade?
Become an apprentice somewhere?
Is praying a job?
Is praying a source of income and
blessing? No.
The next day, she went to a friend
who has a pharmacy store and asked if
she could be coming to work for four
hours every day for a stipend
The friend agreed
Two weeks later, somebody came to
the shop to get some drugs
The person’s baby was convulsing
and the doctors told her to rush to a
pharmacy and buy a particular drug
The drug was available but the
person didn’t have enough money
The person begged her to please
give her the drugs on credit
The person promised to pay up
as soon as her husband returned
home from the office
She gave the person the drug
Her friend got back to the shop and
saw that the expensive drug was
missing
She explained what happened
The friend embarrassed her and
sent her out of her shop
She cried all the way home
The following day, the person and
her husband showed up at the shop
to thank her
The friend gave them her address
and told them she was no longer
with her
When they got to her house they
saw the true state of things
The man decided to help her and
her children
He opened a proper supermarket
with a standard pharmacy for her to
manage
(The man was an importer of drugs
from India and Korea)
That was the woman’s ticket out of
poverty
Had she remained at home praying,
she would have remained poor
The same is applicable to our walk
with the Holy Spirit
When you look at the manual of a
product, you use the knowledge in
the manual to operate the product
effectively
When you read the Bible, you use
the knowledge in the Bible to walk
with the Holy Spirit
Many believers simply read the
knowledge and expect the knowledge
to transform their lives by itself
You have to apply what you have
learned and grow
PS: This is not in a “Do not pray” call
We are to pray without ceasing
We are also to occupy (Do business)
until Jesus comes
Jesus told a lot of parables that had
a lot to do with business, career and
the market place in general
We are not to laze around hoping for
a divine blessing to fall on us
He blesses the works of our hands
and makes our “way” prosperous