Prayer Works Morning Devotion: September 30, 2025

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

Isaiah 48:3-11: "Behold, I Have Refined You, But Not As Silver; I Have Tested You In The Furnace Of Affliction."

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Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning everybody. I pray that you had a wonderful night, well rested, and ready for another day with God, and another exciting opportunity to serve Him, to hear from Him, to commune with the Holy Spirit, and to breathe His air. So 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 him, nevertheless we live. Not yet us, but Christ lives by faith in us. His word dwells in us richly.  

We are able to say we are blessed, we are healed, we are set free. Sickness cannot dwell in us. The number of our days you will fulfill. Sin will not dominate us because the seed of God's word lives in us.  

We believe that Jesus Christ came and died on the cross, and we now have this abundant life and the victory that He has provided. No weapon is formed against us shall be able to prosper.  

We are more than conquerors because of His great love. Greater is He that is in you, that is in me, and we can do all things because He strengthens us as the redeemed of the Lord.  

We say so because this kingdom is our inheritance, its values, its statues, they are ours, its mysteries are ours, its strength is ours, its authority is ours, and we are partakers and participants in this kingdom.  

Through our prayers, through our faith, through our belief, God acts on our behalf, even though He does not need us, but because we are His children. He has included us in His plan of salvation, so that you and I can be united and in union with Him.  

So we bless our Lord God, who has moved us, from sin to righteousness, from lost to found. And we are grateful for His everlasting love to us. And we pray this prayer knowing that this morning He hears us in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.  

Brothers and sisters, today is the 30th of September. And we are in Isaiah chapter number 48:  3-11. Now, I know we've been thinking, Thus sayeth the Lord, what he spoke through his prophets, through the scriptures.  

Isaiah is one of the greatest prophets. In fact, the book of Isaiah is actually known as the fifth gospel. Because it proclaims war crises it also chastises human beings of their unbelief and the things they do, so Isaiah comes to edify and to encourage a nation that is lost. 

And the reason why this book is I believe in my own reason why we find it in the Bible is because he addresses issues that humanity will forever face until the return of Christ. And he also gives us the prophetic word of who Christ is going to be.  

And what we know is that Christ will forever be who he is and he's never going to change the interpretation of who he is. In fact, Christ comes and fulfills the prophetic words that the prophet Isaiah spoke. 

In other words Christ was the prophetic word that Isaiah spoke so when you look at it from this perspective you realize that when Isaiah is addressing mankind and addressing the nation of Israel. 

It is in preparation of who Christ is going to be, in other words get this right because Christ is coming. And from our perspective, we have to read it from get this right because Christ is returning.  

So let's look at 48: 3-11. I have declared the former kings from the beginning. They were forth from my mouth and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them and they came to pass, because I knew that you were obstinate, and your neck was an iron sinew, and your brow bronze.  

Even from the beginning I have declared it to you before it came to pass, I proclaimed it to you, lest you should say, my idol has done them and my carved image and my molded image have commanded them.  

You have heard, see all this, and will you not declare it. I have made you hear new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them.  

They are created now and not from the beginning, and before this day, you have not heard them, lest you should say, of course, I knew them. Surely you did not hear. Surely you did not know.  

Surely from long ago, your ear was not opened, for I knew that you would deal very treacherously and were called a transgressor from the womb. For my name's sake I will defer my anger, and for my praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off.  

Behold, I have refined you, but not a silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do it. For how should my name be profaned and I will not give my glory to another.  

Key passage of scripture we're going to focus on, I have refined you but not as silver. I've tested you in the furnace of affliction. There are two different of afflictions that we deal with in our lifetime.  

The first one is when we do stupid things and then we have to pay for consequences of our actions. Then there is one where God wants to refine you. As believers, we should all know by now that when we pray and ask God to do certain things, there is a process that he has to take us through in order to be usable for his kingdom.  

It does not matter whatever it is, whether it be taking offering or saying something in the church, whether him giving you a word for another person whether all that he desires to do through us if you read this passage of scripture he's telling you that there's things that I do.  

That I'm not even going to tell you I'm just going to do it because if I do it if I tell you you're going to say you're going to claim that you did it. And you're going to either claim that somebody else did it. 

So what I will do is I will withhold information and certain things from you so that I retain my glory when those things do happen. And this is why God sometimes speaks a lot to us through dreams, because the human ego is sleeping.  

Now, when you think about God using us, His desire is always to use clean vessels. This is why, you know, I do not believe when I hear people say, God takes a person who is horrible and use them for his kingdom.  

I mean, there is 8 billion people in the earth. We honestly think God can't find anybody who is righteous to use and he skips everybody and he go finds a person that is immorally bankrupt and use that person.  

So why would he do that? I mean the scripture says Noah was found righteous in his generation so God chose to use Noah. He could have used anybody. But he found a person who was righteous in his generation to use so this notion that God can take an evil person and use them for his glory. 

I know there's portions of scriptures where he used Cyrus or a different man to do certain things but if you ask yourself why he was doing it back then, it's because Christ had not yet come.  

But if you search the New Testament, there's no place, I believe, where he took somebody who was not refined and used. In fact, that's why he converted different ones. Paul was converted to be used because he could have just used Paul.  

Now, can God use situations that are created by ill people to do something great? Yes, of course he can do that. But to say that he literally can pick a person who's morally bankrupt and use them to do godly things, that's just impossible.  

Why would he do that? Because he has run out of people to use? Because that will be the assumption, right? But for us, what I'm trying to get us to see today is that before God uses you, He has to refine you.  

Two types of afflictions, the ones that you cause because of disobedience, and the one where He comes and says, well, you've been praying for wisdom. So I'm going to create circumstances and situations for you to gain the wisdom that you need.  

So afflictions, especially the second one, where God is saying, yeah, I'm going to cause affliction to refine you. I've tested you in the furnace of affliction, tested in the furnace of affliction.  

Why? Because I want to purify you so that I can use you. This is why sometimes when we are going through certain things, you know, it's God's fairness of affliction to test you, to get you to be right, to get you to understand to get you to lean more on him.  

Why do we have to lean more in him? Because he says, I will not give my glory to another. And this is, by the way, this is one way we can test if this is really God. If things come naturally easy, especially before affliction, here we got to pay attention to them.  

Because it is just the nature of human beings that before we get great results, we have to work hard for them. Because that's how we grow. If we are not working hard, then and again, if you look through all scriptures, you can see this principle that God inserted in human beings from the onset.  

Genesis 3, it tells mankind, if you're going to be successful, you now have to toil for an existence. So in other words, you're going to have to work hard in order to be successful.  

So it's a principle that's discussed then, and you can see now over and over again, there's this process that we have to go through in order to achieve great results. If we are achieving great results without process. 

I can almost surely guarantee you those results are going to destroy you. If you ever talk to people who write songs or sing music they'll tell you that there's a process that has to take place in order to produce a good song. From an idea to either a vision or to the Holy Spirit speaking to you and in incubating it. 

Then sometimes you have to go through pain and stuff in life in order to write an incredible, phenomenal song. Because once purified and you're on the other side, it's so that God retains his glory.  

If we get success without purification, most likely we are going to try to grab the glory from God. And he says, I will not give my glory to another. You've got to go through something to understand that I'm bringing you to the other side. 

And it's not pretty when you are in the fairness of affliction. Now, we always need to ask ourselves, is this something I caused? or is this God's furnace of affliction? 

Then if it's God furnace affliction, then we just have to endure in faith knowing that when we get to the other side we are going to give glory to God. If it's something that you caused then repentance is the way to go, the furnace of affliction. 

So not all afflictions are from the devil. And the best way to know whether this is from the devil or this is from the Lord, if you're just going through challenges that you're like, I can't understand what's going on here.  

As far as I'm concerned, I didn't do anything. I'm just going through something. And usually, right, this comes when you declare that you're going to do something. And God says, Oh, you're going to do that?  

Because of course you will not make a declaration without hearing from God. Then God says, okay, let's prepare you. I mean, you can see throughout scripture. Priests have to be prepared to go in the holy place.  

The children of Israelites had to be prepared to leave Egypt. Jesus had to prepare for his death, Matthew 16:16. Thou art the Christ, and the scripture says as soon as that was given, he started preparing for his death. 

And if you look at Jesus Christ, right, who is the firstborn of this kingdom. He goes through affliction in order to get to glory and then he promises you in the trouble you always have, going to hell.  

But there's two types of troubles. One caused by disobedience, and two, because God is trying to refine you. And brothers and sisters, when God is refining you, sometimes it feels like it never ends.  

And if He's refining you for something great, now the process can be long. Where you wonder whether you'll get to the other side. The key thing in affliction is to not faint. Don't grow weary in well-doing because you will receive what God has been refining you for if you do not faint.  

Human beings are prone to fainting. Pain, the devil tries to amplifies it so that we can abort before we get to the other side. So not all affliction is bad. But if it's affliction that is caused because of refining, then we should gladly walk in it, knowing that ultimately it will give glory to God.  

I've seen people go through afflictions where God is just like in a washing machine. You don't seem to have control. You want to get out of it too early, you're going to get out unclean.  

But God just continues to just churn you and turn you and turn you because I want to refine you so that you can get to the other side. Why? Because I want my glory and I am giving it to nobody.  

So refining is important in God's kingdom. Refined for usage. The God takes you through things and this process can be long, can be short, depending on what the Lord wants to do in you.  

And in talking to different ones, even some of you on this prayer call, is that you can chronicle the journey of affliction. You start internally sometimes, or you just drop that, deal with that.  

You haven't dealt with that. Then it moves to challenges. Strips you of everything that you know. Strips you of everything that you own. I'm sure every single one of you has experience where you're watching things dwindle right before you, and it seems like there is no way out. 

But there is a way out, and the way out is standing in faith, believing with all your heart that God is taking you through something. So refinement is really important and we should be all for it.  

But the key thing is to recognize in our journey what is God's affliction or what is the enemy's affliction. God's affliction, you'd get great results. Enemy's affliction destroys. So let's pay attention and I'm sure we can look at our lives now and try to evaluate what is God's affliction?  

What is the enemy's affliction? What is an affliction caused by what I did or what is an affliction that I don't seem to understand? And if you don't understand it and it looks like, man, ever since I said I want to do this, the Lord has just been working in me. 

Or ever since I said I'm going to proclaim to do this. Because when you read this scripture, right, it talks about I've defined things. It says before I tell you, before I do it, I'm going to tell you.  

But why am I doing this? Because I don't want you to ever think that you did it. Surely you did not hear. Surely from long ago, your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would do very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.  

For my name's sake, I will defer my anger and my praise. I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have casted you in the furnace of affliction for my own sake for my own sake. 

I will do it for how should my name be profaned and I will not give my glory to another. So let's look at where we are in some of the things that we are going through and determine whether this is God's affliction in order to refine us. 

Or this is affliction caused because of our disobedience and if it is, we return to Christ and if it's not, we stand in faith believing that when we get to the other side, it's going to be all right. 

Why is it going to be all right? Because God desires His glory, Amen. So, let us go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your glory that you have reserved for yourself.  

That as we go through challenges and difficulties in life, help us to see where we are and why. Help us to understand afflictions from you, knowing that you are refining us for usage in this kingdom.  

I pray, Lord, if it's affliction that we are experiencing because of our own doing, help us with the spirit of repentance. And I pray, Lord, that Jesus strengthen us on this journey and on this course to serve You, that we will stand in the midst of affliction, knowing that we have the full support and backing of this Kingdom.  

We pray, Lord, that where we lack motivation, may You send help. When we lack strength in the process of affliction, give us words to strengthen us at the core. We pray for grace to abound and peace to abound in the midst of challenges and battles.  

Knowing, Lord, that You will bring us to the other side. As You prepare and refine us, help us to see You clearly, to understand the mission that you have for us, to understand the vision that you have for all the things that we have placed on our minds and our hearts to do.  

Pray for grace. Pray for grace to abound, the enabling power to go through afflictions, understanding that refinement is usage. We thank you for this day that you have made. We are going to rejoice in it.  

Help us to walk in expectation and a full understanding that you are doing something in the earth and you desire to use your children for the benefit of this kingdom. Help us to be wise in this difficult period of life as we are dealing with so many numerous challenges in our country and in this world.  

We pray for wisdom as your children because it belongs to us. It's our inheritance that we may be wise as we walk on this planet Earth doing all that you have called us to do. I pray, Lord, for strength, endurance, that we will not faint in the midst of the battle but will rise up by your Spirit.  

We are your children and you are our Father. Bless us for your glory and for your name's stake. As your word says, keep your restraint as you continue to give us chances to be refined for usage.  

We bless you for this day. Help us to walk in it. Help us to understand what you're doing in this planet Earth today. And help us to be in alignment with what you're doing in your Kingdom. We pray for your blessings to flow from us to our children.  

Bless the works of our hands. Bless the things that we do. Bless the people that we encounter. Let them feel the love of Christ. And I pray, Lord, as you strengthen us, we will be found in this kingdom doing what you've called us to do.  

Now, as we go through this day, may your will be done in our lives. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is thy kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever, Amen.  

Brothers and sisters, as we go out in the day, let us enjoy this day that the Lord has made. And if you're going through afflictions, check to know if it's the Lord or if it's your own doing. If it is the Lord, stand in faith.  

If it's not of the Lord, repent and may the Lord bless you. May the Lord bless families. May the Lord give your children. May the Lord bless everything that is connected to you. We will see you tomorrow morning and have an awesome, wonderful Tuesday.