Our God is good at all times.  We thank the Lord that has brought us to the last Sunday in the month of August popularly called the month of New Beginning. May we testify to a new beginning in Jesus name.

Brethren, for those of us looking forward must also prepare for a new beginning physically and spiritually.

As we are often told, God has his part to play and we also have our part to play.

Beloved, in the last couple of days, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E. Adeboye  ( Daddy G.O.) taught us about issues that may hinder our prayers.

In his daily manual Open Heavens, Daddy G.O. identified three factors that may hinder our prayers.

He stated, “ Asking for something   outside God’s will is asking amiss, such prayers are extinguished, and God will not grant such requests”.

Lack of faith is listed as the second issue.  He put it this way, “ when you pray without faith, that prayer is dead on arrival”.

The third, he said, is “ speaking words   that are against what you are praying for”.

Pastor Adeboye cautioned, “ Don’t pray for God to give life to something and then turn around to speak death into that same thing”.

Let’s discuss this a bit.

A man or woman that wants to have a child by all means from a person he or she is not married to is asking amiss.

How do we expect God to answer that prayer?   Rather, than seek another woman to bear him children, the Bible tells us in Genesis 25 vs. 21 &22 ( NIV) “ Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant”.

 The second reason Pastor Adeboye gave for unanswered prayer is   lack of faith.

Jesus said in Mark 11 vs. 23: “ For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith”.

When a woman prays and she begins to think that over 40, she may not bear a child, that is a clear case of doubt.   She might spend   hours praying but without perishing such thoughts, what she is expressing is doubt.

Many women have given birth to their first child at over 50 years of age, at a time when menopause is expected to have set in.

The awesome power of God is beyond menopause.

Brethren, when faced with challenges, we should look unto God for the solution   and look away from the challenge.

The third factor is speaking negative to what you desire.   This is an extension of the second reason prayers are unanswered.

For instance, a woman waiting on the Lord for children should confidently call herself by the name of a baby.

You may not do so in public, but between you and your husband, give the unborn child a name and call each other by that name.

Those who hear you may mock you, ignore them.   

By so doing, you are speaking life into that situation of barrenness in your marriage.

Couples waiting on the LORD for children must avoid conflicts as much as possible.  It is the devil’s way of keeping you in a state of childlessness.

You may not realize it but provocation often comes when you are ovulating.  If you allow a quarrel, then, you and your spouse would likely   be distanced from each other.  How then can pregnancy occur?

No matter the hours devoted to prayer, you must still come together for conception to take place.

Beloved, it is time to change your praying strategy.  To have a new beginning, you must also have a new beginning in your prayer life.

Brethren, prayer is not magic. For prayers to be answered, the person praying must be consistent and specific.

There is the need to state exactly what you want.  If praying for a child, you may ask God for the gender that you desire. To have your heart’s desire, you need to believe that God is able to grant your request.

You also need to create time to study Bible passages relevant to your request and possibly memorize it.  It is necessary to quote such verses or verse while praying.  By so doing, you are reminding the LORD of his promise to you.

For women waiting on the LORD for children, many Bible passages are available.   The shorter the verse, the better. So that you don’t forget.  

Deuteronomy 7 vs.14 : “ Thou shalt be blessed above all people; there shall not be male  or female barren  among you, or among your cattle”.

It is then up to you to say something positive to yourself.

 I know a lady that had this challenge.  Everyday, she would say to herself while bathing, “ I am a mother of twins, my body must produce twins  in the name of Jesus”.

After a while, she conceived and had a baby boy.     Even as she thanked God for the birth of her son, she didn’t stop her prayer point, Brethren, God visited her and before her son was two years old, she gave birth to a set of twins.

If she had stopped praying for the twins after the birth of her son, she would never have had the twins.

For her, twins are unique because, no one ever had twins in her husband’s family.  Besides, she wanted God to reward her years of waiting and the merciful Lord did.

A woman in the waiting room of the Lord could also buy baby clothes and be praying with it, telling the Lord that she wants her own baby to wear them. 

Perhaps you have been trying IVF that has failed many times.  

Before attempting it again, increase your time of prayer, fast and make a vow unto the Lord.

Do not make a vow that you would be unable to fulfill.

Brethren, a new beginning of the joy of the Lord without a new beginning of your relationship with the Lord is like praying without expectation.

Remember the story of the 10 virgins.   Matthew 25 vs. 1-10. Five of them were called wise virgins because they prepared.

Verses 2-3 states:  “ And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps”.

In the same way, you must prepare physically and spiritually for what you expect from God.

 You need to be fortified with prayer because even when conception takes place, forces of darkness may want to abort it but if you are in a relationship with God in prayer, all the efforts of the enemy would fail.

Brethren, a new beginning of celebration begins with a new beginning with your prayer life.

Evaluate your prayer life and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to choose a new strategy.

Jesus told us in Luke 12 vs. 12: “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say”.

It’s not only when you are on trial that you need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.

Romans 8 vs. 24-26: “ For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

But if we hope for that we see not, then we do with patience wait for it.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what  we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit  itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”.

May the Lord visit you as you prepare for a new beginning.

Jesus is LORD.