Author: HoW Team

“For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries. All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.” When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, “We don’t know how to read.”” Isaiah 29:10-12

The new year is just around the corner and this is the period where those who are strategic have already started planning for the coming year. Anyone intending to start strong in January cannot start planning then because it will take time to strategize, review and start executing the strategy. Therefore, wisdom suggests that the time to start planning for the coming year is now. How then do we plan effectively for a future that is as yet unknown to us?

We know that nothing takes the Lord by surprise, and He already has a plan for us in the coming year. However, there’s a possibility that we will miss or misunderstand His plan if we cannot see and accurately interpret what He is doing.

This series we are going into a strategic planning session with the Holy Spirit trusting that He will use it as a platform to reveal His plans to us and position us to be effective and productive throughout the coming year as we maximise all the opportunities He’s already made available to us. Click Here to download the study.

“Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.” Deuteronomy 8:18

“And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:10

The Lord has made us both kings and priests in order to reign in the earth and majority of us will rule from the marketplace, rather than the pulpit. When we think of kings in the marketplace our minds may go to well known captains of industry, business tycoons etc. The reality we confront daily is that not every king in the marketplace is a believer, and unfortunately not every believer in the marketplace functions as a king, even though this is God’s desire.

This tells us there are things we must grasp to part of those that can be identified as God’s kings in the marketplace. This series we are exploring 10 things God looks for in how believers should function as kings in the marketplace. We trust the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our understanding as He equips us to function as kings in the marketplace. Click Here to download the study.

“Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited” Isaiah 54:2-3

God is expansive in His nature and agenda, everything He does originates from both a global and eternal perspective and He created us to function like Him. However, sometimes situations and experiences force us into a subsistence rather than expansion mentality. We focus on surviving rather than thriving and existing here on earth alone, without realising that there’s eternity to consider.

When we think small, we unwittingly shrink our perception of God’s capacity down to the level of our thinking. The challenge with seeing God as small is that such a mindset gives room for compromise as we will be tempted to think we need to take care of ourselves, rather than depend on God. Dependence on self also makes us earthly focused rather than heavenly focused because nothing of eternal value can be achieved by our strength alone.

This series we are digging into what it takes to create the atmosphere in which we need to function to experience expansion in our daily lives. We pray that as we go through this series, the Holy Spirit will open our eyes, hearts and minds so we are equipped to operate in expansion and enlargement. Click here to download the study.

In Acts 12 we see the believers experiencing persecution and loss through the execution of James and arrest of Peter with the intention to also have him face the same fate. However, we also see the supernatural come into play with Peter’s miraculous release from prison.

This series we are doing a deep dive into this chapter to understand what we can learn about how to handle challenges such that we draw on the power we have access to and respond accurately to supernatural intervention.

We pray that the Holy Spirit will hand hold us through this series and open our eyes to the help that God has already made available to us. Click here to download the study.

“Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go. Don’t think for a moment that you know it all, for wisdom comes when you adore him with undivided devotion and avoid everything that’s wrong.” Proverbs 3:5-7 TPT

Humans are thinking beings, God created us with the capacity to reason, reflect, acquire knowledge, form opinions and influence or be influenced by the opinions of others. This is because He gave us intellect which is, “the power or faculty of the mind by which one knows or understands; the faculty of thinking and acquiring knowledge.”God doesn’t have a problem with us exercising our intellect, the problem arises when we rely solely on our intellect to make decisions, especially in defining who God is and what He can or will do.

Humans have an intrinsic need for control because it gives us the illusion that we’re in charge. So we devote significant time, energy and resources to acquire the knowledge we believe we need to gain control. It’s worth noting that both God and Satan are interested in our pursuit of acquisition of knowledge, experiences etc. The key difference is the objective of the acquisition.

• God’s objective is to advance His kingdom.
• Satan’s objective is to oppose God.

The knowledge acquired feeds our intellect and shapes our perspective of our circumstances, experiences and belief systems. This is why we need to train our intellect to function as God would have it. This series we take a look at how we can unknowingly limit God in our lives and the battles of the intellect we must win to take the limits off Him. Click Here to download the study.

“Posture: a mental or spiritual attitude”

“Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things.”
2 Timothy 2:4-7 NLT

There’s nothing random about fulfilling destiny, rather it requires an intentionality on our part in aligning with what Jesus has already done for us and what the Holy Spirit is doing in us. To this end the Bible uses many analogies and this series we are zoning in on one of Paul’s engagements with Timothy where he shared three postures for a believer to take in fulfilling destiny:

• As a soldier
• As an athlete
• As a farmer

What is it about these three that align with our walk with the Lord? What does adopting these postures entail in our daily lives? How do we know if we are on track or not? We pray that the Lord will help us understand these things and more as we go deeper into His word and receive empowerment to fulfil destiny. Click here to download the study.

‘From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.’ Revelation 4:5

‘And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.’ Isaiah 11:2

The Bible tells us about the 7 spirits of God present before His throne and Isaiah goes further to tell us that Jesus Himself needed to have these lamps switched on in order to fulfil His assignment. What do these lamps represent? What activates them to “switch on” and what can quench their fire? Why do we need them in our lives and what advantage does having them activated bring to us?

This series we are digging deeper into these questions, trusting that the Holy Spirit will bring illumination to our spirits and minds as we do so. Click Here to download the series.

“pray without ceasing” I Thessalonians 5:17

When the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, it’s not a suggestion but an instruction for living. Meaning that if we don’t pray we will lose out on many things including succeeding in our walk with God and our life’s assignment.

Since prayer is so vital how then do we pray and what do we pray about? This series we will explore the prayer life of Jesus as He is the pattern we should follow and we know there was a direct relationship between His prayer life and success in His assignment. As such it will be beneficial to us to understand His prayer life.

How did Jesus maintain an active prayer life with such a busy schedule? What did He pray about and how did He pray? Who did He pray with and why? We trust that the Holy Spirit will reveal the power of prayer to us, activate our prayer lives and help us pray so we get results. Click Here to download the study.

“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms;” Jeremiah 51:20

In the scripture above we see a bold statement by the Lord concerning His children and our role in His agenda. God Himself describes us as battle axes and weapons of war. But the Bible also tells us in Ephesians 6 that the battle we’re fighting isn’t with flesh and blood which means we are spiritual battle axes. Knowing that God has made us His battle axes, weapons to be used to advance His will and His kingdom brings up a few questions:

❓Who or what are we coming against in the battle?

❓How are we to function as God’s battle axe in the marketplace?

❓What is the purpose of the battle?

❓What does winning the battle look like from God’s perspective?

This series we are taking a deep dive into what it means for a believer to be God’s battle axe in the marketplace and why it’s a privilege for us to function in this capacity. We pray that the Holy Spirit will use this study to bring revelation and transformation as He shows us who we really are. Click here to download the study.

“The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned.” Isaiah 50:4

God is always speaking, and the Bible tells us that every morning He shares instructions with us. When the Holy Spirit speaks to us, He brings rebuke, instruction and inspiration, all designed to ensure we fulfil our destinies both in time and eternity. This means that when we don’t hear from God, we lack His counsel in these areas, which is a dangerous position to be in- especially in dark days such as these.

Unfortunately the reality most of us experience is that we can’t claim to hear the Holy Spirit on a regular basis, not to speak of every morning and there are many reasons why this is the case.

How then do we hear from the Holy Spirit and how can we operate in a manner that we constantly know what God is saying concerning every area of our lives? Stay connected as we dig into these and more. May the Holy Spirit use this series as a tool to awaken our ears to  hear Him. Click Here to download the study.