Making excuses to God’s calling becomes a roadblock to fulfillment

TEXT : Exodus 4: 1 – 4

God called Moses and said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt and have heard the cry of their task masters, for I know their sorrows. I will send thee unto Pharaoh that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt.”

Immediately Moses began to make excuses

  1. Who am I?
  2. Who should I say sent me?
  3. What if they don’t believe me?
  4. But I am not eloquent?
  5. Lord, send someone else?

God want to use us, but many times we make excuses like Moses. Why?

John 15:16

You and I are called by God with a purpose and an assignment.  The Lord will use what you gave to him or what you have. Let me give you a few examples.

  • There was a young boy who was the son of a drifter. The boy worked as a store clerk for a while, but the store failed. He was a partner in another store, but that failed also. He ran for legislative and lost both times. He ran for vice president and lost. This same man became the 16th Vice President of the United States of America. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
  • There was another boy who was considered a slow learner. A teacher recommended him to be withdrawn from school because of his seeming inability. He tried to go to school in Switzerland but failed the entrance exam. He was fired from the teaching jobs. At the age of 26 he won the Nobel Prize.  He was Albert Einstein.
  • D.L. Moody father died when he was four years old, leaving nine children under the care of his mother. At the age of seventeen he sold shoes in his uncle’s shoe store. At the age of eighteen, he moved to Chichago and sold shoes reaching a massive fortune of $100,000 U.S in 1837. In 1872 D.L. Moody attended an early morning prayer meeting, and heard a man quietly say “The world has yet to see what God can do with and for you and through you and in the man who fully and wholly consecrated to god’s will. D.L. Moody became a great evangelist. When I was in Bible School, and read D.L. Moody’s biography, it changed my life.

The fear of failure, what people will say, I don’t have the potential or abilities to do what God called us to do are all excuses. When God calls, step out in faith despite failures, fear, circumstances and inabilities. They are road blocks to fulfilling your purposes and assignments on earth. We must see our failures as a stepping stone to success.

 

PRAYER

If we want to see the power of God in our church, homes, workplaces or own personal lives it will not come through preaching, worship or outreach programmes but by prayer.

The power to preach, worship or fulfill the will of God must come through prayer.  The number one priority in our lives, in the church or in our home must be PRAYER.

Matthew 21:13 (NKJV) - And said unto them, it is written My House shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Priority must be prayer in the house of the Lord.  In a world that is fast-paced and high tech it is difficult to prayer. It is the busiest generation that has ever lived on the face of the earth.  Despite the fast pace, high tech world that we live in as Christians we must never move away from the place of prayer.  Prayer must be our priority before taking on our daily busy schedule.  We must take time out to talk with God.

Praise is a sacrifice because it is by faith and not by sight.  Worship emanates from the Spirit and is enriched by the quality of an ongoing relationship with God. This ongoing relationship with God comes through prayer.  We must learn and train ourselves in the MECHANICS OF EFFECTIVE SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION which is prayer.  There must be an unbroken connection with God.  When you stop praying, then you stop talking with God and eventually become disconnected from God.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV) - Pray without ceasing.

Colossians 4:2 (NKJV) - Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanks giving.

Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV) - Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Romans 12:12 (NKJV) - Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.

JESUS IS THE EXAMPLE OF PARYER - Jesus had a busy schedule, yet we see he made prayer a priority before his daily duties because he knew that the answer for life comes from his Father.

Luke 6:12 (NKJV) - And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

Look at the result of prayer in the life of Jesus.

  • The power of God was with him.
  • Miracles took place.
  • He overcame temptations
  • Demons were casted out.
  • Ability to make proper and right decisions.
  • Prophetic utterances were made.

All the above came through prayer.  While coming together to worship is good, the effectiveness of worship comes through prayer and time spent with God.  Time spent together is the strength of any relationship. Relationships are a fundamental part of existence.  We cannot exist without a relationship with God.

In Matthew 26:40 – 45, Jesus rebuked the disciples when he found them sleeping. He asked "What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and prayer that ye enter not into temptation. The Spirit is willing; but the flesh is weak".

EARLY CHURCH

The early church example of prayer tells us when a church commits itself to prayer, the blessings and power of God will be manifested.

Act 1:14 - They all joined together constantly in prayer.

Acts 2:42 - And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

HOLY GHOST REVIVAL

There will never be a revival, a fresh anointing if we do not devote ourselves to prayer.  Revival is God shaking us, God working in us and with us.  If we want God to put a new song in our hearts, to overcome battles, to receive instruction and to answer prayer, we must devote ourselves to PRAYER!