PRINCIPLE #1: HEAR IT
The first principle that we learn from the life of Abraham is that we must hear a Word from God. Abraham heard God say, “Get out of your country and from your kinfolks and father’s house and go to a land that I will show you. Then I will make you a great nation and bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. I will bless you and bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” We need to hear a Word from the Lord; not from ourselves (something we made up or wish would happen) or not from somebody else. God is only obligated to bring to pass HIS Word, what He has promised, not to fulfill a word that we have manufactured. We need to stop daydreaming and start God-dreaming.
What do I mean by that? We need to pray this prayer that Paul prays in Ephesians 1:15-18 (even to the end of the chapter) and ask God to reveal to us what is His hope, expectation, and plan for our lives. The hope, expectation, plan that God reveals is what we need to believe for and strive after. This is the hope, expectation, and plan that God will fulfill; the hope, expectation, and plan that is His.
Ephesians 1:15-18 AMPCE
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints (the people of God), 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. 17 [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, 18 By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),
As we ask God to flood our hearts with light and to open up the eyes of our understanding, He will reveal to us what He has called us to do. There is nothing like walking in the perfect will of God for your life. There is no joy that can be compared to fulfilling the purpose that you were created to fulfill. In Ephesians 2:10 AMPCE, we learn that God has some good works, good paths, and a good life that He has prearranged ahead of time for us to live. Therefore, according to the prayer in Ephesians 1, we need to ask God to enlighten the eyes of our understanding so that we can know what those good works, good paths, and good life that He has prearranged and made ready for us are. We can’t walk in something that we don’t know or are aware of.
Ephesians 2:10 AMPCE
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
If you have not heard a Word from God, then set yourself to spend time in His presence. Fast, pray, and seek His face like Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:1 who said that I will stand upon my watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will say to me. And in the very next verse, Habakkuk says “And the Lord answered me!” If we seek Him, we will find Him. If we ask, He will answer. If we knock, Jesus promised the door will be opened unto us (Luke 11:9-10).
APPLICATION:
So here is your challenge today. Begin to ask, seek and knock in prayer, so that God will reveal to you what is His hope, expectation, and good plan for your life.
To ask means to request or petition. Seek means to go in search or quest of. Knock means to strike a sounding blow with the fist, knuckles, or anything hard, especially on a door, window, or the like, as in seeking admittance, calling attention, or giving a signal1.