Meeting: Sunday School
Date: 9th November 2025
Theme: Pray Ye the Lord of the Harvest; The Believers’ Life of Prayer
Sunday School: Prayer of Consecration, Praise and Thanksgiving
Ministers: Pastor Oreoluwa Idowu & Pastor Niyi Otunaike
Main Ministration – Pastor Oreoluwa Idowu
The real essence of this series is that we are ripened enough for God to harvest us and that we become tools God can use to ripen others for the harvest. We can’t just see ourselves as tools of harvest but must first see that God wants to firstly harvest us. We must pay attention to our process of maturing.
When we pray the prayer of consecration, we submit our will and cast it to the Lord; “Lord, take my will”. This is a hard thing because man is a tripartite being; he is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body. The will of man is in the soul. Most times we all have our will which we want to do, but the prayer of consecration means we lay down our will and accept the will of God especially at difficult times.
An example of the prayer of consecration is when a brother likes a sister, but the Lord would have him marry someone else. The brother would have to give up his will to follow the will of the Lord. We can be sincere with God in the place of prayers and let Him know how we feel about a situation. The prayer of consecration is simply laying down that will and accepting the will of God: “Not my will Lord, but your will be done”.
The prayer of consecration is a prayer to relinquish our will to do what God wants. It is also a prayer to seek God’s help to deny our own will to align with God’s will for our lives; it is like a sprayer of surrender. If our Lord Jesus wanted to have His will while He was on earth, all of us will not be here today (Luke 22:42).
The prayer of consecration must be prayed with understanding. It can’t be prayed without the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, because we need to understand the will of God for our lives before we can let go of our own will for His. The eyes of our understanding need to be enlightened to understand God’s will especially as it pertains to who to marry, where to live, where to work and many other aspects of our lives.
Faith is one of the key elements when praying the prayer of consecration. We need faith to consecrate ourselves to the Lord and His will. You might not know when or where it will end but you know that you are obeying the Lord and surrendering to His will, so we need great faith.
(Luke 24:52-53) – “And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen” – The prayer of praise is wonderful, it is more of adoration and enjoying God’s presence. Atimes, it’s not just about receiving from God, we should also minister to Him, adore Him and magnify His name with our hearts and mouths. Prayer of Praise and Worship deepens fellowship and fosters a better relationship with God.
(Psa. 22:3) – “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”
It touches His heart especially in times of trial, and God does inhabit the praise of His people. As we praise God, we obey Him. Praising God helps to fulfil the commandments of God (Ps. 150:6). Sometimes, the prayer of praise is the master key. When we say or do things that are contradictory to the situation we are going through; just like Paul and Silas, they prayed and praised, then there was an encounter and the prison doors opened. It is a secret; when we praise God when going through contradictory situations, He makes a way.
(Phil. 4:6) – “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
The prayer of thanksgiving can be viewed as the seal of all prayers. It is not religion to start our prayers with thanksgiving and also end with it; It is a prayer. We need to be deliberate about the prayer of thanksgiving. God reigns in our lives and His mercy is evident over us.
We should thank Him for the battles He fought on our behalf; the ones we know about and even the ones we don’t know about. We go out and come in safely, we get jobs, and the Lord supplies all our needs, even for the understanding that we get through revelation is worthy of thanksgiving; we should give God thanks in all situations we find ourselves. Prayer is best with a thankful heart.
(1 Thess. 5:18) “In everything, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” – Thanksgiving should be a key aspect of our prayer as it glorifies God. It helps us to pray without season. We should learn how to give to men when they give us things. If we don’t thank men after they show us favours here and there, we won’t be able to give thanks to God. Give thanks to God!
Closing Summary – Pastor Niyi Otunaike
Every man has his own will from his previous lifestyle, and when we come to Christ, the man’s will does not get automatically deleted. Our will is formed based on our past experiences and environment. So when we begin to journey with God, we experience a conflict of our will and God’s will. Just like with Jesus, He saw the will of God which was high, but He told God that He was going to let go of His own will to do the will of God the Father.
The reason we don’t pray the prayer of thanksgiving is because we do not have faith, and secondly because we are ignorant of what God is doing. Satan is lawless. If we have an insight into what Satan wants to do, and we see how God has delivered and shielded us from it, we will give thanks. Prayer of Thanksgiving is not to start prayers and end prayers, it is an important prayer.
THE END.