How To Shape Your Future

Nobody can be too sure of the future and that is because tomorrow is usually characterized by uncertainties. This uncertainty creates fear in the lives of many. It is difficult to face tomorrow when you don’t know exactly what it holds for you. Interestingly, the rich are also filled with the fear of tomorrow, perhaps even more than the poor. Even with their possessions, the rich still feel insecure. One would have thought that their earthly possessions would be enough to give them the needed assurances for tomorrow. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Many lives are controlled by the fear of tomorrow—chronophobia. As a result, some resort to the consultation of evil spirits just to know about the future and to take control of it. Others rely on horoscopes for the same purposes. How do we shape the future? How do we journey through the unknown? To answer these questions, we are going to take a closer look at prayer.

Fear would have no place in your life and there would be absolutely nothing that can terrify you in life when you spend time in prayer. 

Prayer gives us the opportunity to shape our future and to deal with the fears of our lives. We are able to command the future by speaking into it and consolidating our confessions through prayer. Since prayer has the ability to take away fear from our lives, the fears we harbor in our lives point out our failure to pray. Quick question, do you think there would ever be anything to fear after you have spent so much time in the presence of God? Of course not! Fear would have no place in your life and there would be absolutely nothing that can terrify you in life when you spend time in prayer. 

Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 

Luke 22:39-42 (New King James Version)

Jesus prayed to shape His own future and to put His life on the right path. He often left the multitudes and the disciples to pray alone. He spent time on the altar of prayer to take control of the happenings in His life. He never left His life and future to chance.  Indeed, He lived as one who was so much in charge of His own life. He prayed for the father’s will to be done in His life all the time. All through His life on earth, there is no record to show that He gave up on any situation. Our lives would be better if only we can learn from Jesus by spending time to pray for God’s will to be done. 

I must admit that it can be boring to pray for the will of God, yet that may probably be the best way by which we can shape our tomorrow. Prayer and praying for the father’s will is a lifetime adventure and we cannot and must not be tired of it. We must pray for marriages, children, businesses, careers, ministries among others with reference to God’s will. In other terms, we can shape our marriages, children, businesses, careers, and ministries the way we want them to be through the power of prayer. When we don’t pray to shape our future, we leave our lives open to fear and happenstances.  

We must pray for our children and more importantly teach them to pray too.

We cannot afford to leave our future and anything we are associated with to fear and coincidence. Our marriages will not be as they should be when we aren’t praying for it. Also, our children will not grow up to be what they should be without prayer. I can say without any shadow of doubt that it is not enough to train and educate them. We must pray for our children and more importantly teach them to pray too. Again, our businesses, careers, and ministries will make no impact when we don’t pray and commit them into the hands of the Lord. Bluntly, when we don’t pray about the future, we become vulnerable to the machinations of the enemy.

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:4-5 (New King James Version)

From the above verse, Jeremiah was brought into this world for a reason. A purpose that was only revealed by God. Indeed, he was called to be a Prophet and God made it clear to him so he wouldn’t be lost in life. I believe that Jeremiah engaged God for a long time and at a certain deeper level to have heard the word of the Lord. I have been a Christian for some time and I know from experience that to clearly hear from the Lord doesn’t come easy. It takes much prayer, fasting and the study of the Word to operate at a level where you can accurately hear from the Lord. But once Jeremiah heard from the Lord, he attempted to fulfill his assignment and he functioned as one of the greatest Prophets of Israel. 

Similarly, God created you for a reason and it is your duty to discover that purpose and to live for it. Persistently praying for the will of God and staying in touch with Him can help you to discover that all-important purpose for your life. Praying for the will of God to be done in your life will certainly unearth your true purpose in life. 

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.

Galatians 1:15-18(New King James Version)

When Paul received the call to be a minister of the gospel, he quickly separated himself to enquire from the Lord about His will. Paul did not immediately start his ministry after he received the call to preach. Instead, he spent three years waiting on God and seeking to know and understand his calling. The fulfillment of any purpose is dependent on the time invested in knowing and understanding it. Realizing your true purpose in life can be likened to a hunt for treasure. 

The fulfillment of any purpose is dependent on the time invested in knowing and understanding it.

Treasures are valuable but are often hidden or buried. Treasures are not easy to come by and are difficult to find. They require time and effort to obtain. For that reason, we must see our life’s purpose as treasures that are hidden in us which require time and effort to discover. In other words, our life’s purposes are embedded in us and we must be preoccupied with finding it. Discovering our life’s mission may be tough. Be that as it may, we must find our purpose and fulfill it while on earth. 

When we don’t pray for His will and discover our purpose, we will wander about not knowing what exactly we need to do in life. Today, the lives of many are characterized by try and error. A life that is full of experimentation will obviously become a bane.

Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.

Luke 22:43 (New King James Version)

From the above verse, an angle was dispatched from heaven to strengthen Jesus Christ while He prayed on His final night in the garden of Gethsemane. In other words, an angel was released to fortify Him. His fortification provided Him with the necessary strength needed to carry on with His God given purpose. This implies that we cannot accomplish our God given task on earth with our own power, we need the strength that comes from heaven. It is therefore imperative that we continue to pray so as to receive strength from heaven. Without the strength that comes from heaven through prayer, we cannot hold on to any hope of achieving our life’s mission. 

Jesus was strengthened from above to make Him fearless and to break the power of discouragement. Hence, He had no fear whatsoever to pursue and complete His assignment. His quest in life was simply to execute His mandate on earth and because of that He could not entertain any form of fear. The same thing happens to us when we pray. We receive strength from heaven to carry on. 

prayer has the power to secure tomorrow and anywhere prayer is allowed to flourish, the future is secured

As believers, we have what it takes to shape our future. We can have assurances for our future when we spend time in prayer. We can be assured about the future of our marriages when we have put our marriages on the prayer altar. We can secure the future of our children when we have prayed for them. We can secure the future of our businesses, careers and ministries when we have scarified them on the prayer altar. We should keep in mind that prayer has the power to secure tomorrow and anywhere prayer is allowed to flourish, the future is secured. We can fulfill our life’s purpose if only we open our hearts to prayer because it is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12 NKJV). 

Let’s keep the fire burning until the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!