On Bended Knees

By Atinuke Olashore

On Bended Knees is a collection of weekly devotionals that the author has put together as the Holy Spirit revealed same to her. Many of these writings are a result of personal experiences the author has been through and found solace and the required answers through the word of God. “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 AMPC. This scripture comes alive in the pages of this devotional and the chapters speak into the life of the reader as a now word!

How do we approach the word of God? We approach the word of God with love, with humility and with expectation. With fresh insight from The Holy Spirit, the author has put this devotional together with real life experiences in the word of God detailing her meditations and the deep truths the Holy Spirit on this journey has revealed to her. These experiences are very relatable to many as is evident from the pages of the book. The very practical examples utilized in the pages of this devotional reveal there is a light at the end of the tunnel in this Christian walk, making the challenges we face look clearly surmountable and showing the reader what to do in various situations. Easily understood based on her style of writing, the truth of God’s word is opened up to the reader with answers to several questions that have plagued the Christian mind. The Word is critical to daily living. The Word is logos which speaks to the written Word and the Word is rhema which speaks to divine revelation. The teachings of this book point us to the Master in His Majesty and shows us how to utilize the life building capsules in the Bible for our spiritual development. It puts us on our back so that we can look up. It is directional and instructive, from worry to prayer to intimacy with God to keeping our eyes on the Potter, to dwelling in his secret place, to warring. Each chapter is power, and as we open our hearts to God in scripture through the teachings of the book, we can be sure of a life changing experience. The perfect Helper is waiting at the door of your heart to lead you through.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Oct 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781400325849

Atinuke Olashore

Atinuke Olashore is a Christian born in the United Kingdom, raised in both the United Kingdom and Nigeria, and a graduate of Demography and Social Statistics with an MBA from the University of Leicester. She is an Entrepreneur, Bible teacher and a Pastor under her spiritual father Pastor Taiwo Odukoya at The Fountain of Life Church in Lagos Nigeria.  She is the founder of the Anointed Women of God Ministry in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.  She is married and blessed with children.

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Thank You, Lord

Bible reading: Psalm 138:1 (NIV): I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the ‘gods’ I will sing your praise.

Other passages: Psalm 119:57–72, Luke 1:46–55

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Reinhold Niebuhr

For a whole week I had a lot of issues on my mind. A loved one was in hospital, I had a number of friends with very serious challenges, I was believing God for a sister who was about to have a baby, another for quick recovery and so on, and I found for the first time in a long time all I did was cry. I decided the following week to give thanks for all these issues, thank God for these people and all that He would do in their lives. I thank God that my hope is built on Jesus Christ and the blood that was shed in Calvary. As I started to give thanks, I found God’s peace and everything worked out in the end. Giving thanks is one of the most effective tools we have when we are facing challenges.

What can I say unto the Lord? If I had a thousand tongues, it would not be enough to say thank you to Him. Let me give you some of my reasons for giving Him thanks.

For the life You gave me, Lord, I give You thanks.

For my parents, husband and children, Lord I give You thanks.

For sending me on assignment for You here on earth and for the works of my hands, Lord I give You thanks.

For the friends You have given to me at different stages of my development, Lord, I give You thanks.

For every relationship You have guided me into and for those I went into myself that You broke off, Lord, I give You thanks.

For the different challenges I face, Lord, I give You thanks because I know everything will work for my good.

For calling me and fighting all of the battles I face every day, Lord, I give You thanks.

For the Church and the fellowship which I attend, Lord, I give You thanks.

For all the successes and seeming failures, joy and sadness, Lord, I give You thanks.

For the times I have cried and it seemed You were nowhere to be found, and through the experience I learnt what it meant to wait on You Lord, I give You thanks.

For the times I have cried and felt Your loving arms around me instantly, Lord, I give You thanks.

For teaching me through all of my pain to wait on You and also helping me to grow in faith through all my trials, Lord, I give You thanks.

For every lesson I have learnt because of these challenges that have helped to mould me into who I am today, Lord, I give You thanks.

Appreciate God today, find time every day to make your own list and specifically thank Him for each challenge you are facing right now, knowing He can see what you are going through and He will see you through it. Do not go to Him with a wish list; just spend your prayer time thanking Him for all He had done and all you are still expecting Him to do.

HE IS ABLE TO DO MUCH MORE THAN WE CAN EVER ASK OR IMAGINE.

Intimacy with God

Bible reading: Psalm 34

Some time ago, God, through the Holy Spirit, took me back to the time when He really introduced Himself to me. I was brought up in a Christian home, so I grew up learning about him through other people’s experiences. We went to church every Sunday like any other Christian family and all I knew about God was what the Pastor said at the time. When I had any issues, I would pray to Him because I saw him as Santa Claus who gave you presents just because you asked. I cannot really say now if He answered my prayers or not, because when He did I probably had forgotten I prayed and never really thanked Him, but even with this behaviour, His love for me never failed. As I grew older and got married, the Lord began to pull me closer to Him. I started to feel a pull to study His Word myself and my intimacy with Him began to deepen. When I was younger, I noticed my mother would pray for hours and I never understood why her prayers took so long and why she was always fasting, but as I began my own personal journey with my ABBA father, I understood why she was always on bended knees. Prayer is the key to living a victorious life this side of heaven. Paul says we should pray without ceasing and an intimacy with God can only be achieved through constant communication with Him. As I grew in my intimacy with Him, I realised that all that I am and all I have is His and so I had to take everything about me to Him in prayer. My life, my husband, my children, my parents, my siblings, my relationships, my business, my Ministry, every decision I wanted to take, everything and anything had to be taken to Him in prayer for it to be successful. When things go wrong, I am always confident because I remember I took it to Him in prayer and He was part of the process from the beginning, so things will eventually work out for my good.

During this early period of my relationship with Him, I got upset when it seemed God was not doing things my way, As I matured in Him, I realised it wasn’t everything I asked for that was good for me. I thank God He said No at the time as I look back and connect the dots backwards. I call that stage in my relationship with God the milking stage. and a lot of us are still at this stage where we are spoon-fed like babies even after so many years of being Christians; We go to church once a week, listen to the sermon and go home, All we know about Jesus is what the Minister said, we have no time for personal one on one with Him outside the church building. Fortunately, part of being a child of God is whether we like it or not, God will make sure we move up to the next level. If we refuse to grow up ourselves, He will sometimes introduce something in our lives that will force us to grow up, this was what happened to me in 2005. God intervened to force me to grow up and stop relying on other people’s relationship with Him. I got to a point in my life where I needed to know God personally—not my Pastor’s God but my God. I have heard Pastors preach, He is our provider and He is a God who never allows His children to be put to shame. I got to the point where I needed Him to show up for me as my peace, my comforter, my provider and a God who makes a way where there seems to be no way. So I started reading the scriptures myself and I found references in the Bible of where He was called Peace, Comforter, a God of Impossibilities and Provider, and began to study. The more I studied, the more I was convinced He could be anything I wanted Him to be, and my faith level rose. I believed He could talk to me as He did to Abraham, He could led me as He lead the Israelites, making a way for them when it seemed there was no way to go, providing food for them and keeping them safe throughout their journey. I also read He was with Joseph throughout his trials and tribulation only to bring him to a place of honour in a foreign land and respect from his brothers who planned to kill his dream, this encouraged me greatly because I realised He will always work out His good plan for me no matter what I am going through. I saw Him close the mouth of a lion for Daniel, rescue His child Mordecai from death and instead made sure Haman, Mordecai’s enemy hung in the gallows he, Haman had planned. Young David brought down the giant Goliath because God was with Him. In the New Testament I found Jesus Christ raising Lazarus from the dead, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, casting out demons, turning water into wine and speaking to the wind.

Everyone who met Jesus never remained the same, so I knew my new found love and encounter with Him through His Word will not leave me the same. My life changed in 2005 and I am not the same person I used to be. My prayer is, daily I grow to be more and more like Him by His grace. I still have a long way to go, but I know I am not where I used to be. His covenant with me existed before I was born, He knew my end even before I was born, so I had an assurance in my spirit, He was in this journey with me and will see me through the valley of shadow of death I was in at that time.

Getting to know God personally is not easy. It takes time, effort and discipline. It is a life long walk. but I tell you, it is worth every sacrifice. I want to encourage us today to purpose in our hearts to get to know Him intimately. He is the only friend who will never let you down, the only one who loves you more than He loves Himself. He proved that by giving His own life for you. It is such a privilege having Him as a friend.

Relationship with God

Bible reading: Philippians 2:3–4, Psalm 119:33–37, Ephesians 1

Developing a relationship with God is the foundation on which a successful Christian life is built upon. A lot of us claim we are Christians but do not want to work at building a relationship with Him. We think going to church and attending deliverance services and prayer meetings are all it will take. We try to learn all the formula and short cuts, hoping that we will get what we want from Him. We think as long as we fast, God will do what we want Him to do. We forget nothing is hidden from Him and He sees all the hidden motives of our hearts. We forget He sees the thoughts we think about others and the motive behind every good gesture we do to others. We think bad thoughts about our Pastors and other members of the congregation, and yet we lift up our voices in one accord with these same people in prayer.

WHAT A SHAME! GOD CANNOT BE MOCKED. This is a very controversial topic and my prayer is, as we grow deeper in our intimacy with God, the true motive behind our wanting to be intimate with Him will be revealed to us. God loved us when we were sinners and whatever righteousness we have gained now was unearned. He did not do it so that He will become more powerful or because He needed us to validate His supremacy above all things. God did it out of love, expecting nothing back from us. Obedience to His Word and commandments is to make us reign as kings in life, not to validate God’s position as the Supreme Being. He had no selfish motive whatsoever, wanting to be intimate with us all. He did it for us so that we would live happier lives, closing the gate of hell and opening the windows of heaven in every area of our lives. The question I want to ask you at this point is, why do you want to be intimate with Him? Is it because you have heard that if you serve Him, He will fight all your battles for you? Is it because you believe there is nothing He cannot do, so if you get Him on your side, all things will work out perfectly for you? I am sure most of us will say yes, and add it is also because we love Him. The truth is most of us go into relationships because we feel there is something to gain in the relationship. We all want relationships that would be mutually beneficial to the people involved, but as Christians that should not be the only reason we develop relationships.

Like our Father, we are also called to develop relationships where we do all the giving and have nothing at all to gain personally. This is what God did for us when He sent Jesus to die for us on the cross. Now we are called to die to our selfish desires and wanting to be recognised and appreciated for the things we do to bring others into the Kingdom of God. We are called to do things for God without wanting Him to repay us for what we have