— Praise Report :)

Hiiiiiii Tumblr Family :)

This is a post that is very different from my regular posts, but it is one that is definitely long overdue.

It is a PRAISE REPORT!

This is something I told God I would do over a year ago in church but after God answered my prayer I ungratefully failed to do it :( because I moved to a different city and the church I’m in now doesn’t have a time during service where people get up to give praise reports (still a shabby excuse!)

I decided to give my praise report here on tumblr because I believe the Lord will use it to minister to someone and encourage them to know that we serve a God who answers prayers. A God who qualifies those who the world sees as unqualified.

Its super Long! But here it goes…

I don’t consider myself an exceptional student, I honestly believe I am an average student and sometimes even below average :(. But I am an average student who refuses to just settle for anything! I am originally from Lagos, Nigeria but I came to America for College. I missed the deadline for the schools I wanted to go to and quite frankly, I would probably not have gotten in at that time because I was international and I didn’t meet many of the stats they expected applicants to have. I therefore went to community college for about 2 years and took my core curriculum classes there.

I wanted to be a Chemical Engineer and being me, I wasn’t going to settle for an average school. My dream school was a school whose Chemical Engineering program is ranked #5 in America. I had a good gpa, but I lacked many of the classes that they stated were necessary to get admitted, but I applied anyway. I applied to 3 schools. The other 2 schools were ranked much lower than the school I wanted to get into.

The waiting period was very nerve wrecking. Days…weeks…months..of waiting and refreshing my status page EVERY SECOND! & then one day, my status for one of the much lower ranked schools changed and said “we are sorry….” I almost blacked out! I couldn’t believe it! I felt like all hope was lost. If I can get rejected by a lower ranked school, how in the world was I going to get into an engineering program that is #5 in America?? I had been praying all along but I think this day I just went before God hopeless and told him I leave every single thing in His hands. That this is totally beyond me. There is nothing I can do about my admission. I prayed that he should show me his sovereign power in this situation and that he should show me that he is the God that qualifies the unqualified.

The waiting period continued and I wouldn’t say I felt absolutely confident I would get in, although I should have since I had put it in Gods hands. About a week later, I routinely checked my status for my dream school and I saw *Congratulations… I couldn’t even finish reading the entire sentence. I just started screamiinnngg!!!!!!!!! I had just gotten into one of the best Chemical Engineering program in America. Meeee! Even without the classes they said are requirements! I was so speechless! I went on my knees to thank my loving Father who hears my prayers and even in my sometimes partial belief, he is faithful and grants me the desires of my heart.

Okay! The point of this extremely long post is to encourage anyone reading this who is unsure God hears them when they pray or unsure of Gods power. Look at my story, I first of all was barely qualified, but my God in his magnificent power made me qualified. I believed, but I’m not sure I can say after I prayed I was 100% sure I will get in, but my Father overlooked my faithlessness and still showed up in my situation. Your prayer request might be much bigger or relatively smaller than mine, a friend who has cancer, or a parent who is addicted to drugs, the need for an A in an exam or the need to have a better relationship with God. Whatever it may be, be assured that we have a God who hears you when you call on him. The God who answered me will surely answer you. The God we serve parted the red sea, turned water to wine, brought down the walls of Jericho, walked on water, brought Lazarus back to life, healed the blind, lame, deaf and dumb, casted out demons…this list can go on for eternity. But ultimately the God who did all these miraculous things loves you and endured the cross for you and he is telling you to just ask and he will answer. So my friend, What are you waiting for?

Some verses to check out;

Jeremiah 33:3a Call unto me, and I will answer thee

Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you

Philippians 4:6-7 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

1 Kings 18:36-39 Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,[e] prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

Yes! We serve a God who even causes fire to fall from heaven. Trust me, your problem/need is too small to make you doubt God. He owns this world and everything in it. He can change the mind of everyone and anyone in your favor. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM and because of that, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU. Don’t cheat yourself. Like my pastor said, don’t be a homeless person who has a priceless vintage guitar but doesn’t know its value. You have the King of Kings as your father, so why should you fail? Why should you settle for whatever life throws your way? Talk to Him! All you need to do is call on on him and he has promised to answer you. However, make sure there is no sin in your life, because in Isaiah 59:1-2 he says “Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you,nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.”

I pray this post encourages you, and I pray that as you talk to God, and ask him for the desires of your heart, he will answer you and you will also have a praise report to give :)!

Sorry it’s super Long.

Stay Blessed, and have an amazing week

Tolu :)

posted:1 month ago |17 notes

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Hey , I've been seeking His face recently and I don't feel Him at all but all I do is just break down and cry ... Why is this happening ?
─ Anonymous

Dear Anon,

I honestly feel like this many times. But someone once told me that in our walk with God, we should make sure we stop listening to how we feel and start listening to what God’s word says.

There are many times I pray and cry and feel like I’m praying to the air, but I don’t let myself get discouraged, because I know God’s word says that he is close to the broken hearted and he hears those who are crushed in spirit. He also says that when we call on him, he will hear us because he is our God. He also said that if we seek him with all our heart, we will find him - but this is where I believe, I sometimes fall short. Because to seek God with all our hearts means to have turned our hearts away from everything else in this world that wants our attention and to place our hearts, desires and passions solely in God.

Whenever I get discouraged and I’m crying to God asking why “he doesn’t want to reveal himself to me” I always go back to John 14:21 which says; “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” I interpret it to mean that if I study His word and obey what it says, it shows that I love Him (because obeying God entails “giving up” many of the things I naturally want to do) and because I’m acting out my love for Him in sacrifice like he did for me on the cross and not just saying I love Him with my lips, He will also show me how much he loves me and will reveal himself to me.

This might be hard but it makes logical sense, because if God reveals himself to us and we go on sinning, lying, watching movies filled with sin and other things he hates, his presence will have to leave us because God hates sin and can’t be where sin is. Although he loves us unconditionally, we can’t fully enjoy his love and presence if we don’t separate ourselves from sin and the other things of this world.

Back to your question, I’m not sure why this might be happening for you, but I think personally, this is why I haven’t gotten to the stage in my relationship with God where we converse daily. This might also be why you don’t “feel” him when you pray. Maybe you should look at your life and see if you are doing some things he doesn’t like or if there is impurity in your life because Hebrews 12:14 says “without holiness, it is impossible to see God.”

God bless you!

& I pray that God will give us the wisdom and strength to live lives of total obedience to his word so we can dwell in his presence every second of the day!

posted:3 months ago |13 notes

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