Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time saying, get up, go to Nineveh and tell them that in 40 days they shall be destroyed if they do not repent. This time Jonah got up and went to do what God commanded him to do (Jonah 3:4). However, as the people heard the message their hearts melted and from the king to all the animals, they fasted and prayed and sought God for clemency. The king decreed that all the inhabitants of Nineveh should humble themselves, repent, turn from their wicked ways, pray and seek God about the message of destruction. Although the king was not an Israelite, i.e. he was not follower of the king of kings, there is placed in every single human being a realisation that there is a greater power than them. On the 26^th May 1940 at a time when Britain was facing certain defeat at the hand of the German army, King George VI called for the nation to observe a national day of prayer for deliverance.  The Prime minister, Winston Churchill reported to the House of Commons that “The whole core and brain of the British Army, on which and around which we were to build, and are to build, the great British Armies in the later years of the war, seemed about to perish upon the fields or to be led into an ignominious and starving captivity.” A service was held at Westminster Abbey and a few days later the weather changed over Dunkirk and the miracle of Dunkirk occurred and the Armies of Britain prevailed.[1] 

The fervent effectual payer of the righteous is powerful and effective (James 5:16b).  However, for this prayer to be effective it must be preceded by repentance. We are instructed by James to confess our sins to one another so that healing can occur. The king of Nineveh compelled all the inhabitants to fast and pray and God changed his mind. King George and the people of Great Britain confessed their sins and prayed to God when faced with certain defeat, God heard their cry and averted destruction. Today we too can fast and pray to change the spiritual dynamics over this country or our own country. We are the gatekeepers who have the keys to open up the heavens to allow the blessings of God to flow down upon our great nations. So let us join together in corporate prayer and fasting to allow God’s favour to distil upon the nations of the world who acknowledge his name and call upon him.

Read Jonah 3.