Prayer Call: Stay Ready

Hey BFB!

This is the day that Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This morning's devotional scripture:  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” – Matthew 25:13 NKJV (You are encouraged to read Matthew 25:1-13 (The Parable of the Ten Virgins) in your study/devotional time this week)

This parable is about ten virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom to come. The bridegroom is delayed in his coming and five of the virgins had extra oil and they were able to go into the feast. The five whose oil lamps had run out first asked to borrow oil and they could not, so they had to go out and buy oil. At the end, they were unable to go into the feast because they were not ready. This parable shows us that our preparation is not optional. Being ready is essential.

All ten virgins had something in common – they all had lamps but not all of them had the oil. Those that did not, were not prepared, and ultimately could not enter because they had lamps but no light. This demonstrates that are talent (the lamps) without oil (preparation) is useless. Gifting from God without preparation is empty. God is calling all of us to live a ready life. We need to be spiritually filled and always stocked with our hearts full to offer encouragement, insight into the Word of God to those who may not know Him – so when the door of opportunity is opened, we are prepared to walk through.

The first truth: Everyone has a lamp but not everyone has the oil. The lamps represent our outward abilities. Our skills, talents, platforms given by God. The oil represents our inward relationship with God. The things that we show people – the outside – they impress people, but it is the oil that will sustain us when life’s journey gets long or as in this parable, even when the night gets long. Don’t just carry your lamp, make sure you have the oil in your lamp. How do you make sure you have oil? Through prayer, studying, devotion, and worship. Be sure to be filling yourself with the oil that’s going to keep you going. Those things that are going to keep you filled with God so you can do the work that God has assigned.

The second truth: You can’t borrow preparation. You can’t borrow someone else’s oil – testimony, devotion – you have to do it for yourself. The unprepared virgins wanted the wise virgins to share their oil with them, however, preparation can’t be transferred. When times get hard or difficult, you can’t download someone else’s devotional life. You have to stand on your own two feet. You can’t borrow someone else’s prayer life. You need to have a consistent prayer life for yourself. Yes we intercede for one another and pray for one another, but God wants us to have our own individual prayer life with Him. He wants us to have our own individual consistent devotional life with Him. When it’s all said and done you can’t borrow someone else’s tool when God has a problem for you to fix. To stay ready, you have to make sure that you’re staying in the Word for yourself. That you are building up your own reservoir of the tools and oil that God needs in you to let your lamp shine.

The third truth: To stay ready, you must understand that delay is not denial. The parable tells us that the bridegroom took longer than expected. When he took longer than expected all ten virgins grew tired and sleepy, but the ones who had the oil could endure the wait. Sometimes the waiting season reveals what you have stored up. Isaiah 40:31 says "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." Our waiting period is our proving ground – not our breaking point. When we are staying ready by storing in us the things of God so when delay comes we have something inside that is going to sustain us during the wait. Many of us have heard the saying, “You don’t have to get ready, if you stay ready.” When you stay consistent in studying God’s word, when you have others with the same mindset consistently encouraging and pouring into you, when you are storing these things in you – even when the night seems long, or there’s delay, or you’re in the developing stage – you are able to withstand. When God says, “Not yet,” you have something on the inside – the oil – that will help you to endure.

So as we go through this week, the question we should ask ourselves is: Am I ready for what I’m praying for? God’s timing is perfect. But when the door opens, when God presents the opportunity – that’s not the time to prepare. We need to be filling up our oil containers now. We need to protect the oil that God is giving us. The bridegroom – Christ is coming. When He calls, it’s going to be sudden. We won’t have time to run and get ready. It will be those of us who are shining in the midnight hour, the ones who are filled with oil during the daylight. Let’s stay ready this week so we don’t have to get ready because we were made to shine.