This is one of my favourite topics listed for the YC this year, Occupying Through Prayer. Perhaps it’s because I lead a prayer group, or because of the real transformation prayer has brought into my life, but I truly love the topic of prayer. Happy new week, my people, let’s go!
By God’s grace, I was once on radio during the 21 days of prayer and fasting, and I remember saying to the people that while I was glad to be there, I hoped we were not only excited about prayer and fasting in January, only to lose our fire through compromise by Valentine’s Day. Then we pick it up again, and by August we are pleading the blood, only to jumpstart once more, and by December 30 we are excited about a new year so we can carry some fire again during another 21 days of prayer and fasting.
Honestly, this is the cycle for many believers, prayer and fasting becoming a January activity. No yielded person should ever live that way. If I KATCHHH you?!!! No be small thing I will do to you o.
The subject of prayer is often spoken about, yet many times people are talking without actually doing. Prayer is not for discussion, it is for action. You don’t wish it, and you don’t say “I’m praying for you” without actually praying. The way to learn how to pray is to pray, the way to overcome laziness in prayer is to pray, the way to grow in prayer is to pray and pray some more, and the way to be consistent in prayer is to pray consistently. There is nothing mathematical or scientific about it, no formula of “do ABC,” will work if there’s no action married to it. Nobody can even lay hands on you and say, “Receive a prayer life,” because even if you “receive” it, without actually praying, nothing changes.
Many believers do not pray, they postpone it until the enemy strikes with trouble. Many pray only as a reaction to the devil, not a response to God or His word. Praying only when things become difficult, so their prayers are not even faith-filled but panic prayers. Many believers also dish out their prayer points to “intercessors” and I say that intentionally while they sleep and slumber in their homes, watching Netflix, eating caramel popcorn (my favourite), and laughing away, while an intercessor is carrying our prayer burden. If we truly understood the power of prayer, we would never want to stop.
“Commune with God at all times.”
â€â€Romans‬ â€12‬:â€12b â€TPT‬‬
We have been given a strategy to occupy, a strategy to grow , a free strategy that no one will charge you for. You have it, so use it, use it and occupy. Tomorrow I want to give an example of someone who occupied through prayer, just to open our eyes to the endless possibilities. When people say, “I can’t pray, I’m always sleepy during prayer,” the solution is simple, fight the sleepiness. I wish there were a formula many are searching for Greek and Hebrew explanations but it does not exist. Pray yourself out of laziness to pray, it sounds paradoxical, but it is true.Â
Jesus prayed, He would take all-nighters in prayer, then during the day He cast out devils, healed, and delivered as if it were nothing, until the disciples noticed the pattern and said, “Sir, teach us how to pray.” They could not ignore the results, they saw Him withdraw to isolated places to pray and realised that although they knew about prayer, His kind was different. They had seen John teach his disciples and said, “We also want to learn.” Do you think the disciples had never prayed before?
These disciples were Jews who already went to the temple, so they knew about prayer and had prayed before, but they did not have the results of Jesus’ prayer, prayer that makes you occupy, prayer that builds capacity, prayer that shifts things, prayer that can turn your 2026 into a testimony-after-testimony kind of year, prayer that can subdue kingdoms, the fervent prayer of a righteous man and the heartfelt prayer of a woman. “I don’t feel like praying” is itself an attack or lack of zeal for God because many people always feel like eating, feel like sleeping, or feel like doing all sorts of things so why is it that a spiritual activity that is most beneficial to your destiny is the one you never feel like doing?
If we lived by feelings, do you know how wrecked our world would be? A president would feel like spending a nation’s money, a policeman would feel like shooting someone, and you would feel like quitting a job you actually need. We don’t live by feelings; we live by the Word. The Word says pray, the Word says keep praying, the Word says turn your life into a prayer. I’ve always said nobody is a prayer machine , what we call a “prayer warrior” is simply a normal person who decided to take prayer seriously. Why does it have to be someone else and not you? Twenty-four hours and you didn’t find time to speak to God , how then will you occupy?
Are you that person who will pray this year? Will you use this weapon to fight? Will you communicate with your God and find out how to occupy through prayer? What will you do?
As for me? I will pray.
If you read my blogs but have never met this Wonderful Jesus that I’m always writing about, you’d love to get to know Him, Or you know The Lord but have found yourself drifting far from Him, I would love to talk with you. Please send me an email on yieldedcwcenter@gmail.com or simply comment, and I will reach out to you.
