“WATCH ye therefore, AND PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be accounted WORTHY TO ESCAPE all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36)

REASON NUMBER 1: SO THAT YOU MAY STAND TILL THE END One of the cruel realities of the Last Days is that ANY CHRISTIAN that does not become active and vibrant in the place of prayers WILL NOT survive the satanic onslaught of these perilous times. How do we know this for sure? Because one of the strongest strategies that Jesus Christ gave His disciples to combat the end-time is to WATCH and PRAY. Any disciple that does not WATCH in these Last Days is very likely to sink. Any disciple that does not PRAY in these Last Days is very likely to sink. As we see in Luke 21:36, the capacity to stand, and to eventually stand before the Son of Man is contingent on obedience to the directive to WATCH and PRAY. Today, one of the reasons that most of us are not praying is because we are OBLIVIOUS OF THE HUGE DANGER that is confronting us in our days. We have fallen asleep in the midst of the fierce battle that is raging all around us. And this is a battle that will intensify progressively, both in the Church and in the world, until the return of the Lord. And it is a battle that the devil wants to use to capture as many careless Christians as possible. HOW CAN WE AVERT THIS DANGER? Very simple. Every believer must take personal responsibility for praying himself/ herself into watchfulness. Watchfulness is NOT a spiritual gift. So it will not come to us all automatically. Through the help of the Holy Spirit, we must exercise ourselves into the state of alertness and spiritual sharpness in the place of prayers. Prayers that squarely identify and engage with the issues of the Last Days. If Jesus told His disciples to WATCH and PRAY, friends, we dare not ignore this direct command of the Lord – with all the signs that we are seeing all around us daily. Please, watch and pray. Please ASK FOR THE TRUTH.

REASON NUMBER 2: SO THAT JESUS CHRIST MAY BE HONOURED It is the clear will of God that Christ should be honoured, even as He Himself is honoured (John 5:22-23). This is why God gave Jesus a name that is highly exalted above every other name (Philippians 2:9-11). But please ask yourself, is the Church bringing honour to the name of Jesus Christ in our society today? The answer is of course a resounding NO! The Church is neither shining as the light that Jesus called us, nor are we manifesting His awesome power in a world that is both sceptical and cynical about His person and His teachings. This ought to be a matter of grave concern to us as Christians. Many people make the wrong assumption that God will AUTOMATICALLY correct the situation.This is a resounding lie of the devil! God acts in the Church in response to the prayers of His people. God will stand against whatever the Church stands against. And He will tolerate whatever we tolerate. For too long, we have tolerated the rise of darkness in the Church. And this is why darkness has been having a field day in the Church. The Church is neglecting the awesome power of our delegated authority in Christ – “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19) When we request for reinforcement from heaven against the onslaught of the enemy in the Church, God will respond. He will send help. And He will send it speedily as we UNITE in the name of Christ to ASK FOR THE TRUTH. So, do you have a personal longing to see Christ honoured in our society? Please dedicate yourself to the earnest desire to ASK FOR THE TRUTH.

REASON NUMBER 3: GOD IS WATCHING OUR CONCERN FOR HIS KINGDOM During any period of lukewarmness among His people, God is always on the lookout for those that will stand in the gap against the trend. Those whose hearts are pained by the iniquity among God’s people. From Bible accounts, God ALWAYS has a special blessing for such people, and He exempts them from the awful visitation of judgment (a picture of the rapture?) We see this most clearly in the account of how God cleansed the land in Ezekiel 9 (please read the entire chapter). Speaking to the angels of destruction, from verse 4, “And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and SET A MARK UPON THE FOREHEADS OF THE MEN THAT SIGH AND THAT CRY FOR ALL THE ABOMINATIONS THAT BE DONE in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and SMITE: LET NOT YOUR EYE SPARE, NEITHER HAVE YE PITY: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: BUT COME NOT NEAR ANY MAN UPON WHOM IS THE MARK; AND BEGIN AT MY SANCTUARY. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” In this very sad episode, God spared those who SIGHED and CRIED against the iniquity in the land. Friend, are you genuinely sighing and crying over the state of the Church today? Or have you adopted the position of an onlooker? We see a somewhat similar example in Malachi 3:16-17, “Then they that feared the Lord SPAKE OFTEN ONE TO ANOTHER: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.” This was their response to the ungodliness with impunity in the land as we read in verses 13-15. They did not keep quiet.... I ask again, does the present state of the Church bother you? Have you been bothered enough to reach out to other believers that share your concern, as the people in the above passage did? Are you reaching out to anybody to pray about the condition of the church? Are you in ANY group that is regularly praying for the urgent visitation of the Lord upon His Church? If so, please take comfort in the words of verse 17 of Malachi 3, “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” The Lord will not forget the labour of your love for His Kingdom as you ASK FOR THE TRUTH. Finally, brothers and sisters, when intercession fails, judgment becomes both INEVITABLE and BLOODY as we read in Ezekiel 22:30-31, Isaiah 59:15-18, Isaiah 63:5-6, etc. Once again, in our days, the word of the Lord is ringing out: “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30). He found NONE at that time, what will He find in our own days: will He find you and I? Will He find us faithful in praying for the Church? Praying for His intervention in the Church as we earnestly ASK FOR THE TRUTH? If this is you, will you please look up in humility to heaven and say to the Lord, “HERE AM I, please send me. Please help me to be faithful. Please help me to earnestly ASK FOR THE TRUTH so that your Church may be healed, and your name glorified. Amen” Thanks for reading, God bless.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.

1 Corinthians 2:5 - That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

God loves us, He gave us Jesus. May His Name be praised forever