Bible in One Year: Saturday, December 26, 2009 (Is 31 - Is 33) Memorise: "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (Jas 5:16) Read: Judges 15:11-19 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. 12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. 18 ¶ And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. In today's passage, we read about a man who was loved by God even before his birth. It was an angel that announced his birth like that of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. He was full of the Holy Spirit right from his mother's womb. After he was born, he began to do great exploits for God. One day, 3000 fellow townsmen who he was defending, bound and delivered him to his enemies. The elders say, If the death within does not kill you, the external death will not kill you. While in the territory of the enemies, the Lord moved, the fire of the Holy Spirit fell and the ropes which bound him were roasted by fire. Then he saw a jaw bone of an ass and went into action killing 1000 of them while the rest fled. One reason you must pray until fire falls is so that yokes can be destroyed and your hands and legs can be freed. When both hands and legs are free, you will fear no enemy and you will have boldness to move to the next level. We also see that when the fire of God fell on Samson, he saw a jaw bone of an ass. If you pray until fire falls, God will open your eyes to see opportunities that you never knew existed. In 2 Kings 4:1-7, the widow was surrounded by opportunities but she could not recognize them. May the Lord open your eyes to see all the opportunities around you so that you can take advantage of them. Several years ago God opened my eyes and I saw a crowd coming. It was the type of crowd that could not be kept within walls. The Lord will cause you to see the gateway to your success this year in Jesus' Name. One reason many find it difficult to reach the top is because even if they see the opportunity, they never seize them. Do you take advantage of opportunities that come your way? There are different types of prayer: the prayer of the comfortable - 'O God, thank you for today'; prayer of those not under pressure-" Lord, solve my problem if you like"; the prayer of the desperate-"O God, I won't let you go until you solve my problem". Many people came to Shiloh but Hannah's prayer was different: She was desperate. There are prayers that you cannot wait to receive the answers to because of the urgency. There are prayers in which you would ask God to answer when He wants. How aggressive is your prayer? Do you get tired of praying? Pray and keep on at it until fire falls. Don't stop. ACTION POINT: Father, pour the spirit of supplication and intercession afresh on Your church.