From the Scripture, we understand that God’s end-of-the-year prophetic agenda is to crown the year with His goodness. As it is written: Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing (Psalm 65:11-13). That is God’s end-of-the-year agenda for His children, and that includes you if you will receive, believe and engage with the demands required for delivery.
Furthermore, only the hand of God can bring His Word to pass in your life. The Word says: And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it (1 Kings 8:15). God’s plan is according to His capacity, and no human hand can fulfil His plan. To secure the hand of God, you provoke it by your faith (Isaiah 53:1; Luke 1:45). Every word of the Scripture is from the Lord: … for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them (Isaiah 34:16). Without faith, you cannot secure the hand of God, and without the hand of God, you cannot see prophecy fulfilled. Faith is substantiated by expectation, and it delivers things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). However, faith is not just believing God, expecting what He says to come to pass; faith is obeying God to prove you believe Him (James 2:18, 26). Your compliance with the demands makes your faith deliver.
What to do to see God’s end-of-year agenda delivered in your life?
- Engage the joy of the Lord despite what may be happening around you. God only works in the midst of joy; His throne in heaven is clouded with joy (Psalm 16:11). Just like you cannot get fish out of water by any hard invitation, you cannot bring God into a joyless environment. As it is written: Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice (Philippians 4:4; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:16; Habakkuk 3:17-19). Rejoice in the Lord always, not in things. The way out of your valley is to rejoice in the Lord always.
- Be genuinely thankful to God for all His benefits in your life. You do this with no assumptions (Psalm 103:1-5). If you have lost anything, God is the reason you have not lost everything. If He were not there, it could have been worse (1 Thessalonians 5:18). So, give Him thanks. Don’t trade the substance, going after the ephemeral.
- Engage in genuine praise to God. Praise stirs your desired turnaround (Psalm 67:5-7, 149:1-9). Fearful blessings are triggered by fearful praise. Therefore, give God the praise due to Him. Maintain the joy of the Lord, be thankful without reservations and engage in unrestricted praise, and God will show up.
It is also important to note that God’s Word is described as the seed. The Word says: Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God (Luke 8:11). Therefore, every prophetic word is a seed that requires watering for it to grow and bear fruit (Hebrews 13:14-15), and we water the seed with the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise.
How does praise facilitate the fulfilment of prophecies?
- God indwells the praises of His people. Praise is God’s habitat; God indwells the praises of His people, and that clears all barriers on the path to fulfilment of prophecies, and no barrier can stand on the way of God (Psalm 22:3, 24:7-8).
- Praise provokes divine presence, which makes God take over your battles. Every prophetic agenda demands warfare for delivery (Deuteronomy 2:24, 36). So, there is a battle, and the battle requires God to win the victory. The Word says: This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18). The battle is stronger than you, but when God takes over, the victory is sure (2 Chronicles 20:20-24). Therefore, as you begin to sing and praise, God will take over your battle.
- Praise focuses on the validity of what is written, not what is happening.Praise is different from thanksgiving. While thanksgiving is thanking God for what He has done and what He will do, praise is celebrating the efficacy and validity of the Scripture (Psalm 56:4, 10). So, don’t just praise God for what has happened but also for what will happen.
Here is the mystery of praise: only the truly grateful can be thankful, and only the thankful can be praiseful. Praise is an offspring of thanksgiving (Psalm 92:1, 100:4). So, if you are grateful, you will be thankful; if you are thankful, you will be praiseful, and if you are praiseful, you will invoke divine intervention in your favour.