Loose him, and let him go

John 11 vs 44 says And he who died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth , Jesus said to them “Loose him, and let him go.”

In John 11 vs 1-46 is the story of Lazarus . He died and was in the tomb for four days . After Jesus had said a short prayer , he shouted “Lazarus , come forth!” and immediately he came out . After he had come out Lazarus was bound hand and foot and his face was wrapped and Jesus said to them “loose him, and let him go” . Lazarus had gotten his miracle but because he was bound the miracle could not materialize.

Many have been praying and asking God for a thing or two .We have been seeking God for the fruit of the womb ,a life partner , promotion in the place of work , success in career and business , financial blessings , employment e.t.c and we are yet to see results. We wonder after several months what is happening , we have prayed , we paid our tithes ,we fasted , we attended special programs organized by churches , participated in several seminars and everything remains the same. Many are asking if God still answers prayers because they have done everything and yet instead of things to get better they are actually got worse . I want to inform you that your prayers have been answered .

How do I know that your prayers have been answered ? I know because the Lord has promised in Isaiah 65 vs 24 that before you call , He will answer and while you are still speaking He will hear. Psalm 91 vs 15 says He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him and honor him; I will deliver him and honor him. Psalm 50 vs 15 says call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you , and you shall glorify Me. Luke 11 vs 9 says so I say to you , ask , and it will be given to you ; seek , and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke 11 vs 13 says if you then , being evil , know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. The Lord does not take pleasure in your pain , He is not happy to see you cry, unemployed,sick ,barren or single . He wants you to be happy , Psalm 68 vs 19 says Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits , The God of our salvation. Jesus said in John 10 vs 10 that the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill ,and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. That is God's plan for your life , abundant life.

One of the reasons why we have not seen results or manifestation is because we are in bounds by our thoughts, mentality and views of life. Proverbs 23 vs 7 says For as he thinks in his heart , so is he . Another translation says as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. We are the product of our thought. We can fast and pray all night , if we do not change the way we reason ,it will be difficult to see the manifestation of God in our life. We can not be thinking of defeats and expect victory. Job 3 vs 25 says What I feared had come upon me , what I dread has happened to me. Job had been thinking of  loosing all he had , and was scared .The enemy got him through his thought . Romans 12 vs 2 says and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Results and manifestation comes when we renew our minds , when we fill our minds with positive thoughts .

One of the main reasons why the Lord speaks in dreams or prophesy or vision is to change our mentality. He does that to encourage our faith . The reason for Joseph's dream in Genesis 37 vs 5 -11 was to give him a king mentality .The Lord wanted him to see himself as king and begin to act like one. Because of Joseph's mentality his master was able to make him the overseer of his household. The reason for Peter's vision in Acts 10 vs10 -17 was to change Peter's mentality that gentiles are clean not unclean . Moses could not fulfill his destiny because of his mentality. Moses believed he was a nobody , Exodus 3 vs 11 says But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. The Lord had to deal with his mentality by telling him In Exodus 3 vs 12 that He will be with him meaning he is now a force to reckon with , someone who the Lord is on his side.

The reason for God's visit in Genesis 18 vs 1-16 is to change Abraham and Sarah's mentality. Abraham considered Sarah's womb as dead ,Genesis 17 vs 17 says then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah who is ninety years old?” . Sarah saw herself as barren that was why she gave Hagar to Abraham ,Genesis 16 vs 2 says so Sarai said to Abram , “ see now , the Lord has restrained me from bearing children . Please , go in to my maid ; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai . The Lord visited them to correct this mentality , Genesis 18 vs 10 says and He said , “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son” . He was indirectly telling Abraham that Sarah's womb is not dead and was telling Sarah she was not barren. Gideon had potentials but his mentality put him in bondage. Imagine someone Heaven referred to as a mighty man of valor in Judges 6 vs 12 hiding to thresh wheat in winepress . Gideon did not only see himself as a nobody but saw his position In the family as a disadvantage and his clan as inferior, Judges 6 vs 15 says ,so he said to Him, “O my Lord, how I can save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house”. The Lord had to correct his mentality by telling him he will be with him. Out of the twelve that were sent to spy on the land , it was only Joshua and Caleb that entered the promise land . Others could not make it because they had grasshopper mentality, Numbers 13 vs 33 says there we saw the giants (the descendant of Anak came from the); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight,and so we were in their sight.

It is high time we changed our mentality. Many still think it is a good thing to be poor. Many are still clued up in the thinking that you have to be poor to get into heaven. Many still believe wearing dirty clothes will get you to heaven . It is all lies . Psalm 149 vs 4 says For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Proverbs 19 vs 17 says He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord , and He will reward him for what he has done. Smiling to someone in need of financial help will not solve his problems, telling an homeless person Jesus loves you means nothing or telling a man with no shoes that Jesus cares is a waste of time. The only way to effectively put a smile on anyone who needs financial help is to offer financial help or try and get help for the homeless or find a shoe no matter how cheap for him to wear . Some of us think by suffering or by been sick the Lord is trying to test us , it is a lie! James 1 vs 13 say let no one say when he is tempted, “ I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. Let us loose our self from the bounds of our mentality and we will see begin to see results.

Another reason why we are yet to see results is because we are sending mixed messages to heaven. We are praying for a thing and confessing another thing. Our confession is as effective prayers , Numbers 14 vs 28 says “say to them , 'As I live,' says the Lord, ' just as you have spoken in My hearing , so I will do to you”. To get results we need to confess positive things with our mouth. We need to always confess what we want regardless . Joel 3 vs 10 says beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, 'I am strong'”. Jesus did not only pray but He confessed the outcomes He wanted at the beginning of His ministry. John 1 vs 50 says Jesus answered and said to him, “ Because I said to you , 'I saw you under the fig tree,'do you believe? You will see greater things than these. Matthew 12 vs 33 says either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad ; for a tree is known by its fruit. We can not depend on prayers alone to brings results we need to make those trees good with our mouth. Matthew 12 vs 37 says “for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be justified or condemned”. Matthew 15 vs 11 says “ Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth,this defiles a man. We should put our confession to good use . Many are praying for a life partner and they are confessing with their mouth that there are no good women around or all men are the same. Many are praying and seeking employment and at the same time confessing that there is no job out there . Many of us are praying for successes in our careers or business and we are at the same time claiming that the economy is hard or as an ethnic minority you are limited In what you can achieve in a foreign land. Many are facing challenges in their health, after praying they begin to tell everyone about their sickness. Lets confess victory and healing.

Lack of wisdom can also delay our results. When we talk of wisdom , we are talking of divine wisdom not wordily wisdom. James 3 vs 17 says but the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure ; then peace-loving , considerate,submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Proverbs 4 vs 7 says wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom , and in all your getting,get understanding. What is definition of wisdom ? Wisdom is the application of Knowledge . The Lord said in Hosea 4 vs 6 , My People perish from a lack of knowledge. In Matthew 5 vs 3-12 , we see our Lord Jesus Christ imparting knowledge . For example He said in Matthew 5 vs 5 that blessed are the meek , for they shall inherit the earth. If we take a close look at the top five billionaires in the world today we see that they are meek .another is Matthew 5 vs 8 , Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Do you want to see God in that matter or marriage , just be pure in heart. Do you know that part of divine wisdom is soul winning ? Proverbs 11 vs 30 says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who win souls is wise. James 5 vs 20 says remember this : whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover a multitude of sins. Proverbs 14 vs 25 says a truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful. When we witness about Jesus to people we are saving lives. Daniel 12 vs 3 says those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. If we want to shine in all areas of our lives we need to witness to friends and family.

Another reason why we have not seen the results of our prayers could be the timing. God could be waiting for the perfect time to give us our blessings. Ecclesiastes 3 vs 1 says to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heaven. Our God operates with time , He answers prayers at the right time . Ecclesiastes 3 vs 11a says He has made everything beautiful in its time. Psalm 126 vs 1 says when the Lord brought back the captives ones of Zion , We were like those who dream. I will like to admonish us to be patient ,because by the time God begins to give you result it will be like by a dream.

Another reason why we have not seen results could be the Lord decided not to answer. Why will the Lord decide not answer prayers? Well it could be  due to unforgiveness . If we fail to forgive people that wrong us ,the Lord will not forgive us. Matthew 6 vs 12 says Forgive us our sins , as we also have forgotten those who sin against us. We should always remember the parable of the man who owed a king some money in Matthew 18 vs 22-35. The king canceled his huge debt but he failed to cancel petty debts of another man. The King got angry and punished him . We have done worse things to God and if He can forgive us , then we should be able to forgive others. Another reason for unanswered prayers could be sin. Isaiah 59 vs 1-2 says the Lord's hand is not shortened , that It cannot save ;Nor His eyes heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you. Psalm 66 vs 18 says if I regard iniquity In my heart the Lord will not answer me. If we are sinning and the Lord is answering our prayers , it will mean God is rewarding sin . The Most High God wants us to live a life of holiness and as such he can not be encouraging sin.

The bible said in Romans 3 vs 23 that for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6 s 23 says For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The gift was explained in John 3 vs 16 , For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. What shall we do to be save ? The bible says in Romans 10vs 9 that if you confess with your mouth , Jesus is Lord , and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10 vs 10 – For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with our mouth that you confess and are saved.

Pray this prayer from your heart today!

Dear Jesus , I believe that You died for me and rose again on the third day. I confess I am a sinner. I need your love and forgiveness. Come into my heart . Forgive my sins. I receive Your eternal life. Confirm You love by giving me peace, joy and supernatural love for others, Amen.

Welcome to Christ brethren, Please join a bible believing church.

Samuel Oluwatoki