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A SWEET SMELLING FRAGRANCE

by Tesh Njokanma  
3/02/2015 / Prayers

There is a very strong connection between breathing, brushing your teeth, eating and praying. Prayer should be as natural as breathing, as regular as brushing your teeth, as vital as eating. We all know what happens when you don't brush your teeth? Your mouth gives out an offensive smell; you have mouth odour. Just as brushing our teeth is an important part of oral hygiene, praying regularly is key for spiritual hygiene or for a healthy spiritual life. When we don't pray regularly, something happens to us in the spiritual realm which we may not even be aware of. A person who sincerely, regularly and earnestly spends time with God in prayer gets filled with the fragrance of God's presence. 2 Corinthians 2:15 tells us that "for we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing". When you spend time in God's presence, you get filled with the aroma of Christ. Fervent, consistent prayer makes you smell more and more like Christ. But when you have a weak, dying or dead prayer life, when your life is devoid of the presence of God, you begin to develop an offensive spiritual smell. Your life starts getting filled with attitudes and habits that are offensive to God.

When Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered sacrifices to God on the altar, the Lord smelled a pleasing aroma. In fact, God was so delighted with the aroma that came out of Noah's prayer altar that He made a promise that He would never destroy living creatures through the kind of terrible flood that came in the time of Noah (Genesis 8:20-21). You need to have a prayer altar that releases sweet smells, a prayer life that smells so good to God; a prayer life that God actually enjoys and looks forward to your time of fellowship with Him so that He comes down in His glory to visit you and give you some very special promises which He is ready to fulfill in your life.

One of the names of the devil is Beelzebub which means lord of the flies. Where do you usually find flies? In dirty and unclean places and around living beings and creatures that have died. The devil loves prayerlessness. It gives him a good base to operate from. Just as dirty, smelly places attract flies, prayerlessness makes one smell bad spiritually, prayerlessness can get you dirty and contaminated. It's easier for demons to come near you and cause havoc around you when there is an offensive smell around you or there's dirt (sin) in your life. Prayer makes you more conscious of God and more sensitive to His Spirit and presence. Time spent with God has a way of removing sinful thoughts, words and actions from you. Prayer helps in our sanctification process. Prayer makes your spiritual environment and life too hot and uncomfortable for flies (demons) to come around and start buzzing in your ear. There are so many things that the devil can plant only when you are spiritually asleep; only when your prayer altar is dry and carries no fire. Mathew 13:25 tells us that it is while people sleep that the enemy sows weeds. Are there weeds; all kinds of problems and afflictions, ungodly and unhealthy relationships, repeated instances of compromising with the Word of God growing all over your life? Check your prayer life.

Something else apart from your mouth smelling bad happens if you get into the habit of not brushing your teeth properly and regularly. Plaque develops on your teeth. Plaque is a sticky yellowy deposit on your teeth that can affect your gum and cause your teeth to decay. Plaque on one's teeth doesn't look nice. Did you know that time spent with God can actually make you look nice; can improve your physical appearance. Exodus 34:29-35 describes an awesome experience Moses had. Anytime Moses spent time with God in prayer, his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. In fact, there was such a great light and glory around Moses that the Israelites couldn't dare look into his face. Prayer is much deeper than what we think. It can fill you with more and more of God's Spirit and make you shine bright for God. It fills you with peace instead of anxiety. It fills you with spiritual authority and confidence. It makes you strong instead of weak. It makes you joyful instead of depressed. It can cover you with such a bright light that demons are afraid to come near you.

Medical research has discovered that plaque and gum diseases not only affect your teeth but can also affect your heart and your overall health. It's the same with prayerlessness. Not being prayerful is not something that just affects your spiritual life. It has a negative effect on every other area of your life. It affects the decisions you make in life, decisions you make about your marriage, family, business, career and future. When you spend time with God, you hear Him speaking to you, you become sensitive to His leading. It's easier for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you aright during and after times of sweet fellowship and communion with God. But when you are not prayerful, you can make a lot of decisions in the flesh. You can take decisions you could forever live to regret. Joshua made a big mistake when he didn't pray, when he didn't enquire from God about what to do (Joshua 9).

We are living beings and everything about us including our prayer lives must be alive. Our prayer altar is meant to be living and full of God's power and fire. It is meant to be a place of constant communion and connection with God. Any living creature that dies has a very bad smell. If our prayer lives are dead, there's no two way about it. There is a bad smell emanating from our prayer altar. When a person smells bad, people move away from the person to another person who smells nice or doesn't have an odour. Prayerlessness can make some really good things move away from you. It can divert blessings. May this not be our portion in Jesus name.

You alone know how your prayer life smells today; you alone know the state of your prayer altar. Has your prayer altar been broken down? Has it been damaged? Does it give out a stench or is the fragrance of Christ all over it?

I believe we all want the scent of Christ; the glory of God to fill our lives. We want the fragrance of Christ perfume; the presence of God to fill our family, church and nation. If this is your heart's desire then pray this simple prayer with everything in you: O LORD, REVIVE MY PRAYER LIFE. Don't let it end with this simple prayer. Rise up and shake yourself free from everything that has held your prayer life captive. And every day when you brush your teeth, let it be a reminder to you that God wants to smell a sweet aroma from you; God wants to hear you pray, God wants to commune with you.


www.teshnwritings.com

Tesh Njokanma is a lawyer by training whose heart is in writing. She is a prolific writer with 15 years experience as a Magazine Editor. She is a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God with a prayer and teaching ministry. Tesh is married with children. She is based in Lagos, Nigeria

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