A FUTURE AND A HOPE (IV)

/ By

Text: Jer.29:11-14; 31:17

1 Sam 2:21

21 And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.

What are you holding unto that is hindering you that God has requested or you perceive a request or like the widow of Zarephath. You don’t even know, once He prompt release it and secure your life and generation from the coming storm.
3. Solomon –
1 Kings 3:4
4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar

– He presented to God what no man before him had done. It cost him a great deal.
Result: v5 –what was not common in Israel happened to him- a visitation by God Himself.
– He got more than what he asked for and became foremost in human history.

Why don’t you provoke your promise today!

3. PRAYERS: –
Ps 2:8
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
James 5:17-18
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
To provoke you to pray:
§ God can put a burden on your heart or quicken a scripture or cause you to come to an understanding of His plans or that of the enemy.
§ Or even allow some negative situations to arise in your life so you can pray and provoke the release of your promise.

CASE STUDY

1. ELIJAH
– He must have encountered the scripture in Deut.11:10-17.

Deut 11:10-17
10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden;
11 but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.
13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’
16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,
17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
– He was grieved by the idolatry in the land and was jealous for God
1 Kings 19:10
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
– He prayed until he got the result recorded in 1Kigs 17&18.

2. Daniel –

Dan 9:2-3
2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
– He kept praying and fasting until the result came.
Result –V20-23
i. Angelic visitation
ii. About 300km away His prayers moved king Cyrus in

Ezra 1:1-4

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.
3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.
4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
There is no distance in the spirit.

iii. Israel in Egypt

Ex 2:23-25
23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.

24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.
Result – God Raised Moses in Exo.3 and by Exo.14 and 15, the exodus took place fulfilling God’s word to Abraham in Gen.15:13-16.

iv. Divine Connection or Relationship

§ Who you follow or are connected to determines what follows or answer to you!
Lot – Gen.13:5 “… and lot also…”
Abraham’s servant
Gen 24:12-14
12 Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’ — let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
Gen 24:27, 34, and 40.
27 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.
40 But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.
David’s Servants became giant killers too.
2 Sam. 21:15-22
15 When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint.

16 Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.

17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”

18 Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant.

19 Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

20 Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant.

21 So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
Remember
John 17:18-19
18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
John 20:21
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Acts 4:13
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
v. Parental Legacy: –
Ps 11:3
If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?
Prov. 13:22
22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
a. Isaac had a future because of Abraham

Gen 26:1-6
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.
3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

b. Eli’s descendants were sentenced to penury sickness and premature death because of what Eli did
1 Sam 2:27-36
27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?

28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’

30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

32 And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

34 Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.

35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.

36 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.”
1 Kings 2:26-27

26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.”

27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

c. Rehoboam was destined to rule a smaller nation because of his father; Solomon’s wrong doing
1 Kings 11:11-13
1 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
1Kings 12:1-25.

d. Daniel and co were sentenced to Exile in Babylon as Eunuchs e.t.c because of the Error of King Hezekiah –
Isa 38:1-6
In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
3 and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.”‘
Isa 39:3-8
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”
So Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.”
4 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”
So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:
6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord.
7 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'”
8 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”

e. Timothy –
2 Tim 1:5

5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

SOLUTION
1. Salvation in Christ
2. Plead the blood
3. Stand on your new creation realities
4. Deliberately pray to spiritually break off the bad foundation.
5. Get a spiritual person to pray over you, adopting and blessing you.
6. Honour
· God – chose to honour God,1Sam.2:30,
Ps 91:14-16
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”
· Parents-

Ex 20:12
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Deut 5:16
16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
· Spiritual Leaders –
1 Tim 5:17
17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.
7. Faith
Heb 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Heb 11:8-12
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past theage, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude — innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
Heb 11:24-27
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

REALIZING THE FUTURE
(1)Through Vision & Dreams
– Gen.41:28; Pro. 29:18.

(2)Searching the book & knowledge
– Dan.9:2 – Positioning for light and work in the right direction.

(3)Getting connected with the right person.
– Elijah/Elisha – Ikigs.19:19 – Divine release
– Ammon/Jonadab – 2Sam.13:1-2 –Evil influence.
– Hazeel/Elisha IIKigs.13:14-19-Power to get results.
– Naomi –Ruth – commitment and handwork.

(4)Prayers
Period –Jacob- Gen. 32
Gethsemane –Jesus- Matt.26.
Daniel in Babylon-Dan. 9-12.

(5)Faith
(6)Vocalization- Gen. 30:22-24, 35:16-18.

(7)Walking in love- Eph.5:2, 2John 1:6.

Dr. Udoh
Latest posts by Dr. Udoh (see all)