My declaration/prophesy

Part two

“While men slept…”

Chapter five

 “When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable”Dr Myles Munroe

Mat.13:25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.  

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leep is not bad if is done at the right time, after a day’s job or activities. After all, when God finished creation, He rested, though He did not sleep.  

Sleep is meant for rest, after one has been engaged in a meaningful work and fatigue or tired. It was meant to relax ones nerves, body and soul, in other to regain lost or used energy and strength.

Prov.3:24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.  

From the above scripture, you can see that sleep is from the lord, is supposed to be sweet.

But when sleep comes before work, or done at the wrong time, then abuse is inevitable.

“When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable”Dr Myles Munroe.

What is sleep: Sleep is a state of inactiveness of the human soul (intellectual realm) and body (physical realm). Both realms are dormant at this time. It is also a regularly recurring condition of body and mind in which the nervous system is inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended.

But there is a sleep that God hates, and that is what we shall be discussing in this chapter.

Prov. 6:4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.  

Prov. 6:9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?  

Prov. 6:10. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:  

.  Prov. 19:15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.  

God gives sleep to His beloved, and yet also instructed in the word that we should not give sleep to our eyes; what an irony. This could only explain to us that there is a sleep that is acceptable and a sleep that is not acceptable. The misery of this kind of sleep is enormous.

Watch out for the dangers of sleeping at the wrong time of your life......

Sleep vs. Time

Prov. 10:5. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame

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any things happen at the moment when men sleep at the wrong time. From the above scripture you will note that there is time for summer and another for harvest.

 The bible says “when men slept the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way”. Mat.13:25. The devil (the enemy) will always come at the hour when you are off guard, when no one is conscious or watching. The moment when you are most vulnerable.

Tares are unwanted weeds in the farm, they look like the original plant from the beginning, but when allowed to grow, posses treat to the original plant. That is what the devil does in our lives, he comes at the hour when we are of guard, not sensitive or watching to sow evil seed into our lives, thereby endangering God’s original plan and purpose for your life, if care is not taken, it will kill the original plan of God in your life, and try to replace it with evil plans.

“For the thoughts of God towards you are not of evil but good, to give you an expected end”. Jer.29:11(emphasis mine)

If the life you are living now does not fit into God’s plan and purpose, it could be an indication that you have been sleeping; it is time to wake up and do something. “A sleeping eyes leads to a slippery hands”, the reason things are slipping out from your hands in life, in business and other endeavour of life is as a result of sleep.

Sleep gives birth to poverty, sleep without work is laziness, and he that does not work should not eat.

Journey with me as we consider some examples from the scripture.

1 sam.3:1-3

And the child Samuel ministered unto the lord before Eli, and the word of the lord was precious (scarce) in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the lord, where the ark of God, and Samuel was laid down to sleep.

Eli the priest of God, chosen and appointed for greatness, began to sleep in his place. Many people today are already sleeping in their place, the place of assignment and God’s purpose for their life. My brother could it be that you are sleeping in your place right now, you are there but does not look like you are there, and God is now in search of someone else to do what you were suppose to be doing. Eli’s eyes began to wax dim that he could longer see, there was no open vision. “For where there is no vision the people perish”.Prov. 29:18

1.  Lost of vision.

Ø Vision: vision is a mental picture of a preferred future. From the word visual, sight, the word vision was coined out.

Three dimension of vision:

ü Forth sight

ü Insight

ü Foresight.

Forth sight helps you to see things today, seeing immediate things. Seeing things in front of you helps you to plan for your daily life.

Insight helps you to see what you have within, the scripture says, this treasures are hidden in earthen vessel. It opens your eyes to the potentials lying inside of you, the greatness God place in you, your inward abilities.

Foresight helps you to see far beyond today into the future, see opportunities and possibilities that lie ahead of you.

Vision is not a function of the eyes but of the heart. Helen Keller right said that the greatest tragedy of life is not the lost of the eyes, but the lost of vision.

life is meaningless without vision, it is what fires up hope in the heart of an individual, every great invention began with a vision, every great building ever built, was first built in the heart of the builder. The architect calls it the blue print or the plan. Every development is tied to the level of vision conceived. Without vision we will relegated to the world of the antiquities. Without vision maybe we would still be wearing only pants and walking with bare foot like the early men. 

Advancement in life is tied to vision, Abraham in the bible was able to leave his father house in haran, moved to an unknown future, because he received a vision. For God said to him

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:”  Gen.12:1.

The devil knows how important vision is to us hence      the first thing that the devil takes away from you when you sleep is your sight (vision). Vision is the ability to picture the future, through divine insight or revelation. Eli was suppose to see ahead of time to know when danger is coming, but could not, and because of that it cost them the lives of many soldiers and even the ark of the covenant, which signifies the very presence of God with them.

When the ark of covenant was taken away, and it was written ICABOD (the glory as departed), you could imagine a life, church or business without the glory of God, what do you think will happen?

The devil will keep taking lives and property from you without vision.

Consider Saul the once known great king of Israel, fell asleep and some precious things was stolen away from him.

1 sam. 26:12

So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.  

David prayed to the lord to deliver him from the sleep of death.

Ps. 13:3. Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

There is a sleep that leads to death, and many are slipping through that path.

Samson was born great and was suppose to fulfill the mandate of God over his life, as a deliverer of Israel from the hand of the enemy the philistine, but when he began to sleep in the laps of Delilah, lost first the presence, and the lost his eyes(vision), and his spiritual position and abilities until he was restored by God, even though he has to pay with his life. You cannot sleep on delilah’s laps and expect to wake up in abraham’s bossom.

Jdg 16:19-21  And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

2. Another danger of sleep is lost of hearing.

When one sleeps, he will not be able to hear what is happening around him. This is spiritual deafness, and when God is giving instructions this fellow will not be able to hear, many have died, many have been engaged in an accident, as result of spiritual deafness. He says “you will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way, work ye in it”. What if the you cannot hear when God is giving divine instructions then danger will definitely befall you. Ask yourself right now, when last did I hear from God, either through dreams, vision, trance, the spoken word of God from messages or the written word by reading/studying.

        God is always speaking, it is we who don’t hear or position ourselves to hear him speak to us.

3. Dumbness/ reckless speech

This is another danger that will befall any man that sleeps in his duty post; he will not be able to speak as God will want him to speak. Many are weak today, many are poor today, many are been relegated to the background today, because of their mouth.

For thou are being ensnared by the words of thy mouth.

For forty days the children of Israel were hiding in caves, because none could open their mouth to speak the will of the father, when the uncircumcised philistine terrorized them, until David, stepped into the camp and challenged goliath. The lord said to Joshua, “this book of the law should not depart out of your mouth……”. Remember a closed mouth is a closed destiny. You are where you are today because of what you are not saying and what you are saying. When the lord spoke to Samuel concerning Eli the priest, saying.

1 sam.3:16-18

Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.  And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.  And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.  

And everything God said will do came to pass, because his mouth said so.

Consider another man called Hezekiah, who also received a message from the lord to prepare his house for he will surely die, he chose to say something different, but according to God’s word and promise towards his life, and received an additional fifteen years to his life.

4. Lost or exchange of destiny

Destinies are either lost or exchanged when men sleeps at night. Greatness in destiny is not a function of sleep, but spiritual alertness and investment.

1 kings 3:16-27.

Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.  And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.  And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.  And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.  And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.  And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.  Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.  Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.  

From the scripture above, we see the story of two harlots who visited King Solomon for intervention on their case. Two of them gave birth to their child at the same season, but it so happened that while they slept at midnight, the worst happened in that house. One of them overlaid her child and killed it. It may be intentional or not, but we know that the child died, you can see that when men sleeps, you can even kill what the lord has given you. When she discovered that her child was dead she exchanged her dead child with the living child of the other woman while she was fast asleep, I wonder the kind of sleep a nursing mother would sleep that she was not conscious that her child as been exchanged, could this be your experience now, that the destiny you once have is not what you see now, the prophesy you received once from the lord is not what you are seeing now, my friend could it be that while you went to sleep.

 Those period of your life when you stopped praying, when you stopped studying the word of God, may be you have given more time to pleasure, to merriment, to shift of focus from that which you once received from the lord, and the devil has stepped into your house, your family or marriage, your business and turned it to a mirage.

What so ever the devil has stolen from you shall be restored to you before you finish reading this book in Jesus name. it does not matter how fast asleep you have been and the devil is taking advantage of it, as long as you desire a change, it will come to pass.

Key element of sleep

There are some things you should watch out for, to know when sleep is taking hold of you. They are indicators of sleep.

ü Lack of hunger/desire

ü Complacency

ü Lack of passion/enthusiasm

ü Lack of determination

ü Lack of vision

ü Living thing to chance

ü Excuses for failure

ü Lack of responsibility

ü Slothfulness

ü Prayerlessness

ü Lack of study