OVERCOMING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Source by thetbjoshuafanclub

In the spirit of worship, the congregants, raising and waving their hands in reverence to Heaven, were visibly absolved by the heart-moving songs from the choristers. The Sunday service of July 5, 2015 at The SCOAN was a blend of Kingdom enthusiasm with a harvest of God’s boundless grace. Evangelist Cindy added evangelical bite to the atmosphere with her illuminating teaching on a very topical as well as universal issue – The Language Barrier.  In this regard, she was emphatic about our communication with God which is only possible through a relationship in which both parties understand each other’s language. We can only talk to God and get His responses to our requests when we make ourselves comprehensible to Him through our acts and deeds. Hence, the success or otherwise of our communion with God depends on the language factor. And the language factor in our relationship with God is much deeper than we think: “Brethren, we are designed to think, talk, plan and act with God. There is no real communication or communion unless both parties take part in the conversation. Remember, Christianity is not a religion but it is all about our relationship with Jesus Christ. Based on the dictionary, communication is the exchanging of information. Imagine if you cannot communicate, will there be a lasting relationship? When there is no good communication, there is no good relationship”. Language in our relationship with God includes so many things. The level and strength of our faith, the priority and essence of our prayer requests as well as the state of our hearts determine whether or not we speak a language God would understand just as Evangelist Cindy observed: “What the Bible says in James 4:3 is true that many do not have because they do not ask but many ask/ pray and yet do not receive because they ask amiss (wrongly).  We need to know the language first before we can get it right. In our relationship with God, by prayer, we speak to God and when you read the Bible, you hear God speak. One is not complete without the other. This is what happens when we read. Remember, prayer has language. God only hears the language of the Bible. So, talk God’s language, talk faith”. She went ahead to explain that God cherishes our faith, especially when we exercise it with total commitment and confidence: Brethren, it is funny to see Christians sweating while praying as if everything depends on them. Prophet T.B. Joshua always encourages us that we must work hard as if everything depends on us and pray as if everything depends on God. Remember, it is God that makes it happen. Therefore, your failure to act faith nullifies your prayer.  Brethren, without faith, it is impossible for you to reach God and His promises or to receive answer to your prayer”. Evangelist Cindy also extolled the attitude of some Biblical characters who became models of the Christian faith due to their unshaken conviction in the ability of God, through His Son, Jesus to grant their heart desires: “Look at the woman with the issue of blood, it was very tight when multitudes of people were moving together; you will not know who touched you but how did Jesus know that it was that woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of His garment? How did she attract Jesus’ attention? What about the Canaanite woman. Thousands of people were talking, crying but how did she attract Jesus’ attention while shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on me”? How did Zacchaeus, the tax collector attract Jesus’ attention when crowd was following Jesus and Zacchaeus was just looking from the top of a tree? How? It was the faith in their heart that attracted Jesus’ attention”.  Having established the fact that the only language God understands is the language of the Bible, Evangelist Cindy concluded by encouraging Christians to hold on to God as their prayers still count irrespective of how long ago they have been praying, declaring that God is working out the answer: “Remember, your prayers for many years are not lost. Faith is a lifestyle of trusting in God, not ordering God around. Believe that God will answer your question on His own schedule. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 says that there is time for everything under the sun and everything is beautiful in God’s time. There is a time to pray or to send our petition to God but there is also time to wait in faith in Christ Jesus. They will surely come to you a hundredfold at God’s appointed time”.