My God Shall Supply All My Needs

By Funmi Afolabi

God Almighty is a loving God who longs to reach out to all mankind to make provisions for their needs and sometimes their wants. He is dependable and trustworthy. So as we obey and trust in him, he will surely supply all our needs in any area that such needs arise and sometimes before the needs arise.
The book is written to encourage the reader to trust and lean on God, who is able supply our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462872329

Funmi Afolabi

Funmi Afolabi holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of Wolverhampton in England, BL (Nigeria Law School) and LLM from the Lagos State University, Nigeria including a Postgraduate Diploma in Bible & Leadership Studies/Theology from The Redeemed Christian Church of God Bible School, Ikoyi, Lagos. Before she was called into the ministry, she was a lecturer at the Lagos State University and a Principal Partner in her Law firm, Afolabi and Co. She is presently an Associate Pastor and Administrator in Throne of Grace and Miracle Ministries, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America. She enjoys reading, writing and working with young people. She is married with children.

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The Power of Prayer

Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

During the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, he always made time to pray; and he taught the disciples to do the same (Mark 1:37). So if our Lord and savior needed to set time aside to pray, we need to do it more. A lot has been said about prayers, including the fact that God does nothing without prayers and he does everything through prayer. When we pray sincerely, according to the will of God, we get a lot of things done more easily and definitely with better results.

George Mueller, a great man of God who had a wonderful prayer ministry in nineteenth-century England, became concerned about the attitude of God’s people who no longer look to him for the unusual. They no longer trusted God to answer their prayers. Pastor Mueller started to seek God’s face in prayers, specifically praying that God should lead in him to a work that could only be explained by the people as an act of God. He wanted people to learn that their God was a faithful, prayer-answering God. He began to pray with the scripture Psalm 81:10, and as he did, God began to lead him in a walk of faith that became an outstanding testimony to all who hear of his story.

The book Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby and Claude King records that when George Mueller felt led by God to do some work, he prayed for resources needed and told no one of the need. He wanted all to know that God had provided for need only in answer to prayer and faith. During his ministry in Bristol, George started the Scriptural Knowledge Institute for distribution of scripture and for religious education. He also began an orphanage. By the time of his death, George Mueller had been used by God to build four orphan houses that cared for two thousand children at a time. Over ten thousand children had been provided for through the orphanages. He distributed over $8 million that had been given to him in answer to prayer. When he died at ninety-three, his worldly possessions were valued at $800. He prayed and the Lord answered and supplied his needs, and he was also a channel of blessing to many.

While counseling his disciples, Jesus said to them, whatever they desire, they (we) should pray and ask the father and whatever they (we) ask the father in his name, he has promised to do it (John 14:14).

Prayer has been defined and described in many ways, including the fact that prayer is a communication between man/woman and God.

When we come to the place of prayer, we are able to lay our burdens down, and according to our faith, some of us can leave them at the foot of the cross; but some of us continue to worry over some of the issues. However, this is not the will of the Lord for us.

Anyone who can pray has hope and can believe that God is able to do the impossible. (Luke1:37).

In describing the power of prayer, James said in James 4:13-14, Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

In his book, Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer, Dr. Myles Monroe points out that prayer is not just an activity, ritual or an obligation. It is communion and communication that touches God’s heart. Prayer is so important to the Christian that some people have said that God does everything through it and he will do nothing without it.

Prayer is something that a Christian cannot do without. Jesus needed to pray all the time in his earthly ministry; therefore, we cannot but pray without ceasing. And as we cry to our heavenly father in prayer, he will supply all our needs in the name of Jesus.

In conclusion, let’s meditate prayerfully upon the lyrics of this song:

Ere you left your room this morning did you think to pray? In the name of Christ our Savior Did you sue for loving favor as a shield today?

O how praying rests the weary! Prayer will change the night to day. So when life seems dark and dreary, don’t forget to pray.

When you met with great temptation did you think to pray? By His dying love and merit did you claim the Holy Spirit As your guide and stay?

PRAYER POINTS

1. O Lord, teach me to pray according to your will in the name of Jesus (Psalm 40:8).

2. Father, teach me to pray prevailing prayers in the name of Jesus (Psalm 71:1).

3. O God my father, do a new thing in my life in the name of Jesus (Psalm 18:19).

4. O Lord, focus the intercession of the Holy Spirit upon me in the name of Jesus (Psalm 20:1).

5. O God, because of your word that says while they are speaking I will answer, Lord, grant the desire of my heart in the name of Jesus (Isaiah 64:24).

WORDS OF WISDOM

The less I pray, the harder it gets; the more I pray, the better it goes.

—Martin Luther

Divine Provision

Our God is Jehovah Jireh, he the great provider who loves to meet the need of his children, sometimes before the need arises.

For instance in Genesis, when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to him, he already had a plan of divine provision for the sacrifice. The only thing that Abraham had to do was be obedient to the leading of the Lord. It was on this occasion that God revealed himself to his friend Abraham by his name Jehovah Jireh. Genesis 22

God gave Abraham his son Isaac, and Abraham was willing to give him back to God. We can never out-give God. Sometimes he puts a gift in our lives to bless us and for us to be a blessing to others. Sometimes a little gift and the grace to use it wisely is all we need for us to meet a particularly important need in our lives.

God’s faithfulness and mercy knows no bound. The Bible says his mercy endures forever. Recently, the story of how man went from being a homeless recovering addict to a celebrity hit the airwaves (internet, television, and radio). This gentleman has a God-given gift (his voice), which the Lord did not take from him in spite of his years of addiction and drug abuse. His recent breakthrough came from a simple act of kindness offered by a child who was on his way to church with his family. Ted Williams noted on his cardboard sign that he has a God-given gift, his voice, which he had once used as a radio announcer and that he is willing to use it again if someone would help him. And God sent him help beyond his comprehension. Within a few days, he went from being homeless and jobless to someone whose change of fortune is being celebrated. He had several job offers and medical assistance and other forms of help. And God also allowed his ninety-two-year-old mom to be alive and well and to see her son’s redemption. She stated with joy, The prodigal son has come home.

Even in our world that is filled with pain and unanswered questions, wrong choices that sometimes lead to wasted lives, uncertain future and unfulfilled destiny or purpose in life. Whereas people sometimes judge others harshly when they make mistakes, God is merciful and he still supplies the needs of his children.

And the man Ted Williams is not taking anything for granted, but he credits everything to God.

Apart from Abraham, God’s friend, lots of other people (both in the Old and New Testament) have experienced God as Jehovah Jireh, the great provider in different situations of great need. Let’s examine the following stories of some of these people:

THE WIDOW OF ZAREPATH AND THE MAN OF GOD

For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food

every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

—1 Kings 17:14-16

1 Kings 17, the scripture records that the widow was getting ready to prepare what she thought would be the last meal for herself and her son so that they can eat it and die. The famine was so great in the land. But God showed up and met the woman’s need through the words of his servant Elijah. Although the woman suffered from a crisis of faith for a while, she received a miracle and the Lord sustained her and her son in famine. And like Abraham, she too was obedient to Godly instructions, and she was also willing to use her gift or the little resource (the jug of oil and the jar of flour), that she had to be a blessing to the man of God.

The Bible gives an account of the woman’s encounter with Elijah in 1 King 17:7-15.

Sometime later, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food. So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink? As she was going to get it, he called, And bring me, please, a piece of bread.

As surely as the LORD your God lives, she replied, I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.

Elijah said to her, Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have, and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

THE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN

Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.

—2 Kings 8:6

This is a woman that was blessed by another Godly instruction from a man of God. She had been a blessing by being hospitable and providing for the need of the man of God. So when the Lord called for famine in the land, Elisha told her to leave the country until the famine was over. She did, and she came back after seven years and she was able to recover her property with proceeds generated from the last seven years.

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the LORD has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years. The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

At the end of the seven years, she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done. Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life. The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.

Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now. (2 kings 8:1-6)

THE MIRACLE OF MULTIPLICATION

Two fishes and five loaves.

—John 6:1-14

The Lord Jesus met the physical and spiritual needs of the people he ministered to in different miraculous ways, which includes among others feeding five thousand people with two fishes and five loaves of bread. The Bible records