Excuses

Queuing Excuses

What is an excuse?

I define an excuse simply as our ‘logical’ reasons, sensible and appealing explanation(s) for our failure. An excuse is a ‘decorated’ failure we carry about as our ‘pride’. An excuse is an attempt to justify our bad habit(s). It is establishing a wrong cause for a problem in us, in an attempt to avoid being chastised or shamed. Hmm… Excuse is shifting away blame from the real offender so that he escapes being reproved. In other words, excuse also is an act of injustice, untruthfulness, and insincerity. Oh! These are definitely not the fruit of the spirit, my dear brother!

For instance, a man arrives late at a meeting. An excuse-giver will not simply accept his offence and bear whatever shame may arise afterward. No! Rather, he’s ready to write a full book to explain and prove his point that he’s not to be blamed. Oh! Who then is?

“The traffic was so tight…” “don’t you know my house is very far?” “my own watch was late, so…” “I had a visitor,… and…”, “my neighbor just delivered…” Shut up! What? Is the word ‘I’m so sorry’ now TOO EXPENSIVE for you to buy one at least as a fine for being the last man to arrive at the meeting?

Oh friend, when we do not face reality in sincerity, we enslave ourselves in a world of fantasy and stagnancy. You need to understand that no one is ever helped by your excuses, so stop production and shut down that factory! Sit down there admiring your excuse, while someone else is progressing by setting aside the same. The fact that someone got to the meeting early means it is possible, thus abolishing your cherished defense. Take responsibility for your actions! Accept blame with shamefacedness! Expose your bad habit for reproof. You are an independent enterprise, which bears alone every loss recorded by your misdeeds; just as you enjoy any profit your right attitude fetches you. Work on yourself and enjoy you for yourself!

TEAR-FORCE PRAYERS

Tear-force

Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;                                                                         (Hebrews 5:7)

I call Tear-force the ‘critical prayer state’. It is the stage in which the man of prayer is ‘wholly’ consumed spirit, soul, and body in his tenacious request. It is the threshold that marks the end of merry-making, fun-catching excitement and launches into the pressing do-or-die desperate grab of the Saviour’s garment. At this juncture, not just your spirit is doing something. Your mind is entirely overwhelmed, out-stretched and ‘sold-out’ and the body simply gives in to the ‘burning’; (usually) evidenced by profuse sweating (even in cold weather) and the face blurred with the ‘baptism’ of tears and intense perspiration. Ah!!!!!!! At this zenith, the entire heavens is brought to a halt in aweful admiration and fascination to give attendance to the heat of fervency of groanings emanating from God’s cherished saint who has despised the weakness of his flesh and the hostility and non-favourability of the earthly realm to raise an altar from where a sweet-smelling delight is oozing from. Ahhhhh! PRAYER IRRESISTIBLE! That’s what we call tear-force!

Dear saint, you just start the prayer and get it to a tear-force. Many times we are not consumed by the prayer point suggested to us because first, it was only suggested to us, not impressed upon our heart and that we have not seen the need/exigency of it. “Why do I have to pray this prayer?” we claim to know but we only have a casual knowing: the need is not deep-seated in our heart. But no worries dear! You can ‘push’ yourself into tear-force. Gather relevant scriptural ‘seeds’ and be mind-overfed by them. You may also get out to see things happening around you and listen to testimonies. Get the burden in the heart of God from the Scriptures and the same burden jumps into you! Waaaahhhh!!! You are into ‘strong crying’ and inevitably tears.

‘Oh the zeal of thine house has consumed me’ is what men will testify of you. As for Jesus, His passion-cooked sweats splatter on the ground like great drops of blood. Hey!!! You can only get the ‘tears’ from an orange when there is first a ‘pressing’. You will pray more effectively when you can feel a pressing need for it; without this, please go to sleep! Do not wait for the time of afflictions or when the evil days draw near. NOW is the time to pray! Get up!!!