The part of the statement in this scripture I like most, especially from the kings James version is
this: “ 20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God; 21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to
perform.”
As humans, there is the tendency to stagger in faith especially after one has waited for long for
a promise of God to be fulfilled in ones life. In the case of Abraham, he waited for 25 years. As
the scripture says, “…against hope he believed in hope.” From the natural standpoint it was
impossible for a hundred [100] years old man and a ninety [90] years old woman to conceive.
But he trusted in God Almighty with whom all things are possible. As believers, we have the
honour and privilege of knowing God as our Father and He has assured us that He will never let
us down if we trust Him.
There are two sides to this matter of faith:
The Bible tells us in Matthew 9: 26 that with God all things are possible. But the second part of
it, tells us that all things are possible to him that believes [Mathew 9: 23]. Because God is
Almighty, He does make things happen for us. But most of the time, it will take our
collaboration with God. That is why we don’t have to stagger at the promises of God through
unbelief but be strong in faith, giving glory to God knowing that He will surely bring to pass
what He has promised no matter how long it takes. Sometimes, the situation may take a toll on
you but keep on keeping on believing His promise. This year, we believe God to do the
impossible in our personal lives, family, workplaces, church and nation. Whenever we come up
with our theme for the year, we don’t do so carelessly. We pray to receive direction from God.
It is not just a slogan; it is born out of revelation. So, while we trust God to bring His word to
pass, we must do our part. It’s not just enough to recite the theme.
Our Roles:
1. Strive to believe God more than ever this year. In Mark 11: 12, 20 – 26, Jesus reacting to
Peter’s amazement at the sight of the withered fig tree He had cursed the previous day,
said, “If you only have faith in God—this is the absolute truth—you can say to this Mount of
Olives, ‘Rise up and fall into the Mediterranean,’ and your command will be obeyed. All
that’s required is that you really believe and have no doubt!  Listen to me! You can pray
for anything, and if you believe, you have it; it’s yours…” [TLB]. One would wonder why
Jesus cursed the fig tree just because He could not get fruits from it to quench His hunger
despite the Bible saying that it was not time for the fig tree to produce! The reason was to
teach the disciples a lesson on faith in God. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to
please God” [Hebrews 11: 16]. So, we have dedicated this year as a mission to increasing
our faith.

2. We must live a life of holiness. You’d be making a mockery of yourself if you live to the
contrary and expect God to do His bit. When you are not ready to serve God, it’s like asking
God to give you grace to serve the devil. Of course God wouldn’t grant such request.
Hebrews 12: 14 say, “ Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall
see the Lord.” We must know that if our relationship with God and others is not what it
ought to be it will hinder our prayers. Mathew 5: 8 says, the pure in heart shall see God.
Not only will you see God when you get to heaven, but you’d see God now in your affairs.
3. We must strive to know God better than we knew Him yesterday. There is no graduation
in Christianity. The more we know Him, the more we must strive to know Him better.
Apostle Paul, almost at the tail end of his life, was still praying that he might know God and
the power of His resurrection [Philippians 3: 10]. “Those who do know their God shall be
strong and do exploits” [Daniel 11: 32]. The key to doing exploits is to know God by
spending time more in prayer, study His word and commit to obeying every word of God.
Ask God for the grace not to compromise.
4. We must be ready to fast and pray like never before. These are not cheap. If you are not
willing to pay the price, you will not see the result. When you see a preacher preach and
miracles happen, I can tell you confidently that it’s not the prayer they made right there
and then that spurred the miracle but the prayers they had invested in days, weeks and
years. If you cannot discipline yourself to fast this year, you are not going to witness the
impossibilities of God. The greater the demon the higher you go to deal with them
[Mathew17: 21]. If you are one of those who love food so much, you can only go so far.
5. We must make a deliberate choice and effort to endear ourselves to God [1 John 3: 22].
Make yourself so precious to God so that He will be glad to visit you and turn your darkness
to light.
6. We must make sure we ask according to His will because, If what we are asking is not
according to His will, it will not happen. “And we are sure of this, that he will listen to us
whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will… then we can be sure that he will
answer us” [1 John 5: 14 – 15 TLB].
7. We must yield to God to use us. God says in John 15: 16, “You didn’t choose me! I chose
you! I appointed you to go and produce lovely fruit always, so that no matter what you ask
for from the Father, using my name, he will give it to you.” [TLB]. God wants us to be fruitful
in His service. Soul winning is God’s No. 1 priority. If you are not interested in soul winning
which is God’s concern, God will not be concerned about your concerns. When you make
His priority your priority, He will make your priority His priority. So, we must commit not to
be a liability to God but assets in His hands to advance His divine agenda.
8. We must “expect great things from God and attempt great things for God.” Faith always
involves taking calculated risk. Be courageous and take necessary risks that you know will
bring glory to God. No risk is too big to take for the cause of God. When you live this way,
you make yourself attractive to God and He will intervene in your life. There is nothing that
you have struggled with over the years that is impossible for God to take care of.

We are devoting this year as a year we want to see God turn our captivity around. It will require
greater devotion, consecration and aggressive faith so that at the end of the year, we will troop
out here to give glory and honour to God. Above all, we are trusting God for a turnaround in
our nation. We have never had this God given opportunity in our nation to do so since
independence. A new Nigeria is possible. Let us commit to playing the role God has destined for
us in order to bring His will to pass in our nation. Best of all, by praying we’d conquer the agents
of darkness in the spirit world and when we do, it will manifest in the physical. Therefore,
consistent, intense prayer for our nation is crucial to redeem her from satanic bondage. As we
pray, let’s also ensure we play our role by collecting our PVCs and participate in the voting. We
must refuse to be discouraged!

QUOTES:
“We must be ready to fast and pray like never before. These are not cheap. If you are not
willing to pay the price, you will not see the result.”
“Soul winning is God’s No. 1 priority. If you are not interested in soul winning which is God’s
concern, God will not be concerned about your concerns. When you make His priority your
priority, He will make your priority His priority.”