Prayer Works Morning Devotion November 12, 2025

Thus Says The Lord-Who God Says He Is, His Commandments and Promises

Ezekiel 34: "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? "

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Good morning, a good morning to you everybody. I hope you had a wonderful night. You are well rested and you are ready for another day. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.  

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. We are crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live. Not yet us, but Christ lives by faith in us. We thank the Lord that His word dwells in us richly.  

We are able to say we are blessed. We are set free, sickness cannot dwell in us. The number of our days He will fulfill. Sin will not dominate us because the seed of the word of the Lord lives us. 

We therefore believe that Jesus Christ came and died on the cross and we now have this abundant life and the victory that He provides. No weapon formed against us shall prosper and we are more than conquerors because of His great love.  

Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world. And we can do all things in Christ who strengthened us as the redeemed of the Lord, we say so. Father, we come this morning as we devote this time to You.  

To commune with you, to commune with the Holy Spirit, and to fellowship with one another. I pray, Lord, that as we look at your word, as you guide us, as you counsel us, as you open the eyes of our hearts, that we may be able to see that which you are calling us into, but also to be the light, to be the salt in this dark world.  

Father, we thank you for your goodness and your mercy towards us and all that you have done in our lives and what you're still going to do in Jesus name we pray. Amen and amen. Well, brothers and sisters, to do it, we have a very long reading, which is Ezekiel chapter number 34.  

And this chapter kind of sums up God's role, also shepherd's role, sheep's role, and then it also brings us to an understanding of what God will do if no man speaks up or no shepherds are found in the land.  

And hence we have a scripture that says, you'll never leave us nor forsake us. But before we read it, I just want us to say a little bit something about Ezekiel. So Ezekiel is one of the prophets of Israel.  

He is among the group of the first Israelites that were taken into captivity in Babylon. He is 30 years old. And this is the year in which he was supposed to be ordained as a priest. But that ordination is not going to take place in Jerusalem because he is in captivity.  

So he is thinking about what could have been of his life as a priest, which is one of the things that everybody wanted to be, but only a few were chosen to be.  

So he is of the Levitical priesthood and he's sitting there thinking about this is the year I could have been ordained as a priest, but he is in captivity instead.

So as he is thinking about and lamenting about all these things, God gives him a vision.  

In fact, God still continues to use him in spite of being in captivity. So, that's the background of the book of Ezekiel, this is who he is. So now, in his quest to understand where he is sitting and what's going on, God then uses him to bring a word to the nation and to the people of Israel.  

So we are in chapter number 34, and I will read. And the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. So in other words, these prophetic words, I want it to be against those who are shepherds in Israel.  

Prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God to the shepherds. Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the flocks. You eat the fat and clothe yourself with wool.  

You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost. 

But with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So Ezekiel is telling them the things they have done, they have not done. And while he's telling them, he's also expressing what shepherds should do, right. 

They should feed the flock, they should strengthen them, those who are weak, heal those who are sick, bound up those that are broken or brought back what was driven away, nor sought that which was lost.  

But instead, with force and cruelty have ruled them, so they were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill.  

Yes, my flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord as I leave say the Lord God.  

Surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became food for every beast on the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock.  

Therefore, all shepherds hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God. Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand. I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more.  

For I will deliver my flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them. For thus says the Lord God, indeed, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As the shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep. 

So will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I'll bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land.  

I will feed them on the mountains of Israel in the valleys and in all inhabited places of the country. I'll feed them to a good pasture and their for shall be on their high mountains of Israel.  

There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. I'll feed my flock and I'll make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek that what was lost and bring back what was driven away. 

Bring up the broken and strengthen them and strengthen what was sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong and feed them in judgment. And as for you, Oh my flock, thus says the Lord God, Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. 

It is too little for you to have eaten up the good pastures, that you must tread down with your feet the residual of your pasture, and to have drunk of the clear waters that you must foul the residual with your feet.  

And as for my flock, they eat what ye have trampled with your feet, and they drink what ye have found with your feet. Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, Behold, I myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep, because ye have pushed with side and shoulder. 

Butted up the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad. Therefore I will serve my flock they shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them.  

My servant David, he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David, a prince among them, I, the Lord, have spoken. I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land.  

And they will dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in woods. I will make them in the places all around my hill, a blessing, and of cold showers to come down in the seasons, they shall be showers of blessing.  

Then the trees of the field shall fill their fruit, and the earth shall yield their increase. They shall be safe in their land, and they shall know that I am the Lord God, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who slave them.  

And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them. but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. I will raise up for them a garden, and renown. 

And they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the gentiles anymore. Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, I am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God.  

You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are men, and I am your God, says the Lord God. Brothers and sisters, this chapter sums up the job of a pastor, the job of shepherds, the role of sheep, and what will happen If the shepherds don't do their job. 

God Himself will come and become a shepherd and lead His people to the pastures that He desires the sheep to eat from. Now, the job of a shepherd, the job of a shepherd is not to grow sheep.  

The job of a shepherd is to find pasture and to grow grass so that sheep can feed on the grass.  

My role, my job as a pastor is to make sure that I'm searching scriptures and that I'm consistently looking for information in scriptures and getting understanding from God of what's going on so that I can continuously find pasture for all of us to eat from. 

And the Lord in return, He says, at some point I will judge the sheep and the goats and the ram. In other words, we are all responsible for that which God gives us to eat from and after we have eaten, we're supposed to do that, says the Lord.  

We can't just be full and go on and live incredible, phenomenal lives. Once we are full, we have to make sure that we are also growing to become shepherds. In other words, we are providing for those without.  

The challenge with the 21st century church is that what has been explained in this chapter. Shepherds are no longer doing their jobs, and the sheep is now scattered, and in that scattering, the enemy is having a filled day with the sheep.  

It is important for all of us to understand that in this kingdom, we all have roles and things to do. If you are not doing anything in this kingdom, be careful that you might be scattered.  

Because if you are eating well, I think it's feasible enough to say you should be thinking about other people.  

But if you are eating well and studying scripture and being fed consistently through your own research or what you hear, through the word of God, through whatever it is that's feeding you.  

If you are being fed well, you have a responsibility to do something after you've been fed well. Because failure to do that, God just expressed it to us in this chapter. That at some point I will judge sheep versus sheep.  

Because we cannot be fed while others are not doing well. It means that we have a responsibility to reach out constantly, all the time. That is if you get a revelation, if you get a word, if you get anything that is of value in this kingdom.  

I'm sure every single one of us, at some point you've been sitting in church or you hear something or you watch something that is edifying and immediately you think about one person. Here's a classic example of this.  

I can't tell you how many times Calvin will either be watching something or Veronica watching something and they feel this is incredible and will send it to me or April is watching something and you send something and say hey uh look at this. 

And I then look at it and I get edified, that is the what's being spoken of here that when you are fed well, when you see something, when you hear something. 

When you get revelation about something, you have a responsibility to share it, so that somebody else can eat the same way that you are eating.  

This is how we grow this kingdom. One can chase a thousand, two can chase ten thousand. So, if you are eating well by yourself, that means you have the ability to chase a thousand.  

But if you supply food to another, and they also eat from the same pasture, that means there's two of you who are strong, and the two of you can now chase ten thousand. So, we have a responsibility of sharing the good things that we hear.  

Scripture is meant to be shared. It's food, it's bread, it's meant to be shared. This is why we take communion. We break bread. Breaking bread is a metaphor of us sharing scripture. Bread is scripture.  

It's food that we should share. That's why Bible study, that's why having people in your corner that you discuss and talk scripture with is important because it is sharing of the bread.  

And that sharing of the bread grows our kingdom. That's why Jesus, on the Last Supper, He took bread and He says, this is my body. Because Jesus is the Word, right?  

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word became flesh, that's Jesus. So there's a responsibility of sharing the good news and the revelation of the scriptures.  

You can't eat this alone. If you hear something phenomenal, you should share it. So it is important that we all eat well. And brothers and sisters, our job is to make sure that we are eating well and we are feeding one another.  

So I pray that today, as we go about the business of our lives, that we are an outlet to somebody else. And if you can, read this whole entire chapter again and get a clear understanding of who God is and what He is doing. Let us pray.  

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness and your mercy. I thank you, Lord, for all that you are doing. And I thank you, Lord, that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, today you will lead us into triumph and procession.  

I pray for grace to abound and peace to abound. Now may your will be done in our lives and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen.  

Today I wanted to keep it short because I want us to really reread this chapter and really kind of understand what is going on because this is why we have these scriptures in order to highlight to us how God moves. 

That the same things that were happening back then are happening now. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord bless your family.  

May the Lord bless the works of your hand in the name of our Lord, and let's all have an incredible, phenomenal day. We'll see you tomorrow.