Ask For Nations (part 3) by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Behold, I Will Do a New Thing

Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." For those who have grown used to an old report, an old situation, or an old season, this is a word that God is about to do something new, something that will spring forth so visibly that it cannot be hidden.

Sometimes the old becomes so familiar that it feels safer than the new, in the same way that someone accustomed to a difficult season can become so used to it that they struggle to receive something better when it comes. Leviticus 26:10 says, "And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new." In the New Living Translation it reads, "You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new." Just as a family makes room in preparation for a new arrival, this is a season to make room, mentally and practically, for what God is about to do.

Formed to Show Forth His Praise

Isaiah 43:21 says, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise." God intends to use the testimonies of His people as evidence of His own goodness, mercy, and faithfulness. When Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-15 that a city set on a hill cannot be hidden, and that no one lights a candle only to hide it under a basket, He was speaking first of Himself and His plan to be made visible through His people. God is not a secret to be kept; He intends to be put on display through the lives of those who belong to Him.

This is part of why the kingdom is to come first, before personal needs. When God's kingdom comes, He comes with His resources and His backing. Matthew 10 records Jesus asking His disciples whether they lacked anything on their mission, and they answered that they lacked nothing, because the One who sent them ensured they were provided for. As kingdom citizens, sent by God, there is a portion marked out, and what has been marked for someone will not be missed.

This month's foundation continues to build: praying prayers that hallow God's name, that declare the coming of His kingdom, that submit to His will, that advance the gospel, that raise up kingdom laborers, that defeat spiritual opposition both nationally and personally, that bring sanctification and holiness to the church, and that provide for the work of the kingdom.

Where there is a great door of opportunity opening, there will often be many adversaries, because the size of the opposition often corresponds to the size of the door God has opened. Sudden storms or setbacks that arise just as progress is within reach, often without a clear explanation, are part of this opposition. Every such opposition against destiny and against one's place of work is to be resisted, with confidence that the way through has already been prepared.

Praying for Spiritual Discernment

This is a season that calls for sharpened spiritual discernment. Proverbs 4:7 reminds us that wisdom is the principal thing, and discernment functions as a form of spiritual warfare: those who can see clearly fight more effectively than those groping in the dark. The one who walks in the light does not stumble.

Discernment was something gained early, through a season when God revealed the spiritual forces at work behind generational issues in a household, showing exactly what was operating and where. One sibling had been marked by sickness from a young age and was expected not to survive past a certain age, yet has lived well beyond it, because what was operating was identified and confronted rather than left unseen. Fighting blindly wastes energy; fighting with discernment is targeted and effective.

There is also a kind of discernment that protects against everyday danger. A testimony was shared of a woman who, sensing in her spirit that a member of her church was in trouble, prayed through the night until she felt a release. The next day, a man at his workplace had a dream in which he climbed a ladder to do a task that was not normally his, and a cable cut, resulting in his death in the dream. When the actual situation arose the next day and he was about to climb that same ladder, he remembered the dream and stepped back, while a colleague dismissed the warning as mere superstition. Sharpened sensitivity to such promptings can mean the difference between walking into danger and avoiding it altogether.

2 Kings 6:8-12 tells of how the king of Syria planned his troop movements in secret, only for the prophet Elisha to repeatedly warn the king of Israel exactly where the enemy had gathered, so that Israel avoided those places again and again. When the king of Syria discovered this, he suspected a traitor among his own officers, until he was told that the prophet in Israel could perceive even what was spoken in private. This kind of discernment spares enormous wasted effort. Energy spent fighting unnecessary battles, repeatedly defending against attacks that wisdom would have avoided altogether, is energy that could have been used to build, to study, or to grow. As Nehemiah refused partnership with Sanballat and Tobiah because they had no portion in the work, discernment also means recognizing which people and associations bring conflict and loss rather than help.

When Elisha's servant cried out that they were surrounded by the enemy army, Elisha prayed that the young man's eyes would be opened, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding them (2 Kings 6:17). Those who walk with God are not as alone or as exposed as circumstances may suggest; there are more with us than against us. Isaiah 54:17 declares that no weapon formed against God's people shall prosper.