Mensa Otabil - Increasing Favour
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This is day number 38 of our 40 Days of Power. It begins the last three days of prayer and fasting. If you haven’t joined us in the prayer and fasting, you have three days: today, Sunday, and Monday. Let’s all join together.
Exodus chapter 12, verses 35 and 36: Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians.
For hundreds of years, Egypt oppressed Israel. The Israelites worked as slaves in the land of Egypt, and as slaves, they labored and toiled without just reward. Israel’s forced labor built Egypt’s infrastructure, yet they lived in squalor and in abject poverty. They worked for so many years, contributed to the building of a nation, but they didn’t receive any reward. They were actually worse off every year.
So God decides that all these hundreds of years of unpaid salary has to be paid for. Overnight, the Lord reversed this centuries-old oppression against Israel and the poverty of the land. Overnight, a people who had nothing had everything. I believe God is able to do the same thing for you, that overnight, those who have oppressed and taken from you will bring back to you what God has ordained for you.
There are three things that I want you to note happen in this passage. The first is that the Lord gave His people favor. What does that mean? It means God opened the eyes of Egypt to who Israel really is. For a long time, they thought the Israelites were nothing; they had no God, no support, and no leader, so they could be mistreated anyhow. But God started the plagues upon Egypt, and all of a sudden, they realized there was somebody behind the Israelites. They had a God behind them, and they had a leader called Moses. So the people started paying attention to what Israel said.
When God gives you favor, one of the things He does is open the eyes of people to your true value, to your true worth, to who you really are. Those who don’t see you for what you are will see you for who you are. So God’s favor changes the way people see us; they see us in a more positive light. That’s the first thing He did for the Israelites.
The second thing is that God told the people to ask for gold, silver, and clothing. God’s favor leads us to be bold and demand what is rightfully ours. The gold was for them, the silver was for them, because they had toiled for it for years; their ancestors, their fathers had toiled for it. So when God’s favor comes upon us, He also makes us bold to make the right demands. If you’re afraid to take what is yours, may God give you the boldness to make the right demand. God’s favor adds weight to what we say.
The third thing that happens is that the people plundered their oppressors. That means they took everything that belonged to them, and they took it by force. As a matter of fact, the Egyptians pushed it on them, and overnight, there was a wealth transfer. God’s favor settles all outstanding debts. So today, we claim these promises of God in our lives: that God will let people see us differently, that God will settle all outstanding debts, and that God will add weight to what we say.
In Jesus' name, let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, You have favored me. Today, I make demands for blessings that are rightfully mine. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.