A. THE 29TH WEEK IF THE YEAR
Welcome to the 29th week of the year. It is the beginning of a critical new season. The 29th week is the beginning of the fifth seven weeks (or fifth 49 days) of the year. New things began on the fifth day of creation: flesh and blood, movement, voice sounds, balance (for swimming and flying), sensory perception, intelligence, prey-predator relationship, and blessings. The fifths of the Bible indicate that God intended the fifth season to be a blessed season of abundance, freedom, fruitfulness, and multiplication but the evil one fights to make it a season of curses though scarcity, disease, death, and all the other things that limit full expression of life. God intended this season to be one of going up high in the spirit but the evil one fights to make it a season of the ascendancy and dominion of the flesh. *PRAYER* : Pray and dedicate the fifth 49 days of the year to be a season of abundance, freedom, life, blessings, and safety.
BIBLICAL PATTERNS FOR THE 29TH WEEK:
- The first day of creation
- The 29th book of the Bible
- The 29th chapters of the Bible
- The first 5 chapters of the 5th book of the Bible (Deuteronomy).
BIBLE READING SUGGESTIONS FOR THE 29TH WEEK:
Going through the 28th week of the year (July 16 – September 2 in a clear year) is like taking a prophetic journey through the 29th book of the Bible (Joel) and 29th chapters of the Bible. So, the Book of Joel and the 29th chapters of the Bible are great guiding lights for the week. This is a season of walking in the power of the Spirit.
You may want to read the suggested passages as follows:
July 16: Joel 1:1-12
July 17: Joel 1’13-20
July 18: Joel 2:1-10
July 19: Joel 2:11-27
July 20: Joel 2:28-32
July 21: Joel 3’1-14
July 22: Joel 3’15-21
FOUR THINGS ABOUT THE 29TH SEASON
1 .DISAPPOINTMENTS BECOME BLESSING
In Genesis 29, Jacob was caught off guard by the craftiness of his uncle Laban. He and Jacob had agreed that Jacob would serve him seven years to marry Rachel his second daughter. When it was time to take his wife, Laban gave him Leah, Rachel’s older sister, instead. Jacob was compelled to serve additional seven years to marry the girl of his dream. He went through difficult fourteen years of service to get his dream wife. Obviously. It was a trying time; but he went through it with joy. That was how he ended up with two wives and their maids. That was how God delivered Jacob from the barrenness that plagued his father and grandfather; and laid the foundation for the 12 sons and tribes of Israel What Laban meant against him became an advantage. Achish, the king of Gath, trusted David as a faithful ally. However, in First Samuel 29, the Lords of the Philistines refused his participation in the battle against Israel. What happened to David and his men in First Samuel 29 was a blessing in disguise. David was spared the trouble of having to face Saul and Jonathan in battle. He would have fought in the battle where Saul and his sons lost their lives. Perhaps, he would have fought to save Saul when Heaven had sentenced him to death.If disappointed in the 29th season? Do not worry. Rejoice and be thankful. In this season, God may work for us in ways we cannot understand. In Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the Jewish captives in Babylon. He told them to make themselves comfortable in Babylon because the captivity would last 70 years. The Jews in Babylon must have been disappointed to learn that captivity would last 70 years but God said it’s for good. The beginning may be bitter but the end will be sweet. In Jeremiah 29:11, God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”. What Jacob suffered in Genesis 29 worked for him. What happened to David and his men in First Samuel 29 was a blessing in disguise.
PRAYER : Pray that everything designed to work against us will work against us will work for us.
2. DISASTERS
The 29th week is a Book of Joel week. The book opened with devastations from devourers (the locusts, caterpillars, cankerworms, and palmer worms), proceeded with a call to seek God with fasting. The 29th President of the United States died in office. Within the 29th seven years of the United States, attempts were made to assassinate the 38th President, Gerald Ford in 1975. In 1989 (the 29th year of Nigeria), the anti-SAP protests took over Nigeria. The nation lost so much from the riots and protests. In the 29th year of the Villa in Abuja (the COVID-19 year) the President’s chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, died in office.
PRAYER : Pray against disasters, destructions, devastations, and death. Pray that this is not a week of remembering the past with nothing to show for it in the present as in Job 29.
3. REVIVAL, RESTORATION AND RENEWAL
This is a week of change through seeking God. This a week of Revival. In First Chronicles 29 (the last chapter of the book), David and Israel gave generously and willingly for the work of the temple. In Second Chronicles 29, Hezekiah undertook the cleansing of the temple and the restoration of temple worship. He opened the door of the temple, cleaned and repaired the temple. He spoke to the people and mobilized them for the work of the Lord. The priests and the Levites sanctified themselves and offered up praises and offerings to the Lord. The opening of the door of the temple is the opening of the heart. Cleaning and repairing the temple speak of repentance. The resumption of worship and offerings in the temple represents restoration. Joel 2:12-32 says, ” _Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” [13] So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. [14] Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him- A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? [15] Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; [16] Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. [17] Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?'” [18] Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people. [19] The LORD will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. [20] “But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things.” [21] Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things! [22] Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. [23] Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you- The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. [24] The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. [25] “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. [26] You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. [27] Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. [28] “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. [29] And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. [30] “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. [31] The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. [32] And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”_
PRAYER: Pray for a positive divine visitation in Nigeria this week.
4. THE VOICE OF THE LORD
The 29th week is the week of the Voice of the Lord. Voice sounds began on the fifth day of creation.Psalm 29:1-11 says, “Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. [2] Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. [3] The VOICE of the LORD is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD is over many waters. [4] The VOICE of the LORD is powerful; The VOICE of the LORD is full of majesty. [5] The VOICE of the LORD breaks the cedars, Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon. [6] He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. [7] The VOICE of the LORD divides the flames of fire. [8] The VOICE of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. [9] The VOICE of the LORD makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!” [10] The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood, And the LORD sits as King forever. [11] The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace”.
PRAYER: Pray that the voice of the Lord will rise through us this week. Pray and prophesy and release the voice of the Lord over situations that need change in the land.
B. THE 42ND WEEK OF NIGERIA’S YEAR
This is the week ending the sixth 7 weeks of Nigeria’s year. What is the divine agenda for the week? Numeric patterns in the Bible indicate that this 42nd week is, and should be, a week of prayers and answers to prayers in Nigeria. This is a week of realizing dreams, receiving expectations and promises, and seeing God’s word fulfilled. We should take advantage of this gate of time and “ask the Lord for rain in the time of rain” according to Zechariah 10:1.God had done it before in Nigeria. May it please Him to do it again. This week in 1998, the military government ordered the immediate release of over 400 prisoners jailed during Abacha’s regime. This can be another time of opening prison doors in Nigeria.
PRAYER POINTS FOR THE WEEK:
1. Luke, the 42nd book of the Bible, opened with God answering the prayer of Zachariah and Elizabeth, let the 42nd week of Nigeria’s year be a week of answers to prayers in Nigeria. Let it be a week of divine visitation for waiters in Nigeria as He visited Simeon, Anna, and those waiting for the redemption of Israel in the second chapter of the 42nd book of the Bible. This week, let God’s people experience the 42nd book of the Bible.
2. As God fulfilled the impossible promise and prophecy of virgin conception in the 42nd book of the Bible, this week, let the unprecedented happen in Nigeria to fulfill the prophecies and promises of the current year especially. Let the impossible become possible for Nigerians this week. Let dreams, promises and prophecies become reality this week.
3. In Genesis 42, Joseph saw his dream come to pass as his brothers came to buy food in Egypt. They bowed before him as he had dreamt in Genesis 37. This 42nd week, let the wicked bow before those they sought to destroy in Nigeria. Let forgotten prophetic dreams concerning Nigeria’s destiny in the current year come to pass this week. Let there be confirmations of the Word in Nigeria this week.
4. In the fourth chapter of the 42nd book of the Bible, Jesus read out Isaiah 61 in the synagogue and said He is the fulfillment of the prophecy. Let this week bring good news to the poor, freedom to captives, joy and comfort to mourners, sight to the blind, and healing to the broken hearted in Nigeria
5. In Job 42, God turned the captivity of Job around and restored double to him for his losses. Let this 42nd week be a turn-around week in Nigeria. Let the afflicted in Nigeria be restored. Let the afflicted and pitied of Nigeria rise from the dust and dung-hill in this 42nd week. Let this week be a week of recovery from losses.
6. The 42nd book of the Bible is a book of prayers and and answers to prayers. Prayer opened every ‘new chapter’ or experience in the 42nd book of the Bible. At baptism, Jesus was praying before he received the voice from heaven. He was praying before the transfiguration happened Jesus taught importunity in prayer in Luke 11 and 18. In Luke 22, sweat dropped from Jesus as thick drops of blood as He prayed. Twice in Luke 22, He told His disciples to pray so they will not enter into temptation. In the 42nd season you do not take NO for an answer. So, pray that unquenchable prayer-fire will burn all over Nigeria in this 42nd week. Pray for a mysterious outpour of he spirit of prayer upon the Church in Nigeria in this 42nd week.
7. In 2002, the 42nd year of Nigeria, Lagos experienced the January 27 Armory explosion that wasted lives and property. A week later in February, Lagos experienced a 4-day riot that claimed several lives. On May 4, the EAS Plane Crash that claimed over 140 lives happened in Kano. Pray that disasters associated with the 42nd season be far from Nigeria in this 42nd week of our current year. Pray that Nigerians will have a disaster-free 42nd week at home, work, school, church, at sea, on land, or on air.
8. As you take your part in this 42nd week, ask the Lord to visit and touch areas of concern in your life. This is a week of divine visitation in Nigeria. You must get your share of it in Jesus’ Name. Happy 42nd week!!!
SCRIPTURES FOR THE WEEK
Isaiah 42:6-8: “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, [7] To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. [8] I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images”.Joel 2:25: “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you”.
Happy 29th week of the year. Happy 42nd week if Nigeria’s year.
