Tag: Speaker

Distraction: Your Greatest Enemy In This Season

In this season, your discernment needs to be amplified.

For many of you, good things are being presented to you as the God thing and in this season, it is important not to fall for the good thing. In this hour, it is important to be mindful of the enemy using your desire as a distraction against you.

Distraction is defined as any internal or external force—such as worry, materialism, or busyness—that divides the mind and diverts focus, affection, and devotion away from God. It is characterised as a “pulling away” from spiritual priorities, often leading to a state of being unsettled, anxious, or spiritually unproductive. 

In the bible, distraction is linked to anxiety ‘merimnao’ which implies a mind pulled in different directions, hindering undivided devotion to God. During the broadcast, I received a divine download of a shattered glass. When a glass is shattered, it no longer has the capacity to hold what is being poured into it. A distracted mind cannot carry and hold God-ordained visions.

In Luke 10:38-42- Martha is distracted by her preparations. The Greek word for this verse is periespato, which means necessary tasks can become distractions when they pull attention away from sitting at Jesus’ feet. The enemy uses distraction as a tactic to neutralise your effectiveness, pulling you away from God-given purpose.

Throughout the broadcast, I taught that one’s idols are a distraction.

Key Psychological Aspects of Distraction:

  • Coping Mechanism: Distraction helps one manage discomfort, such as pain or emotional distress, by temporarily ignoring a stressor. While useful in the short term, it can sometimes be a passive, avoidant strategy linked to reduced proactive problem-solving.
  • Attentional Shift: It involves the involuntary or voluntary movement of attention from a focal task to an irrelevant stimulus. It is often triggered by external notifications or internal anxiety.
  • Procrastination and Avoidance: When used to avoid unpleasant tasks, distraction becomes procrastination. It is often driven by an underlying desire to escape discomfort.
  • Dual Nature:
    • Negative: Frequent distractions, particularly from technology, can erode cognitive resources, reduce focus, and harm productivity and relationships.
    • Positive: Controlled, deliberate distraction can provide a necessary mental break (a “time-out”) that reduces the intensity of negative emotions, allowing for a return to a problem later with a calmer, more productive mindset.

In essence, distraction is a mechanism designed to manage cognitive load and emotional energy, often acting as a “drag” away from intended focus, which can be harmful if habitual but beneficial if used purposefully. 

How to overcome distraction.

  • Prioritise God -Put God first. Prioritise the Lord first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Prioritise what God has given you.  Matthew 6:33
  • Set boundaries- Let your no be no and your yes be yes- Matthew 5:37
  • Maintain a single eye focused on God -like the dove in Song of Songs 1:15; doves have limited binocular vision; they focus on one object at a time. This represents a heart not divided, focusing entirely on God. Doves can see in the dark and detect UV light. That is how focused we are to be as believers, even during dark times, our eyes and focus must be fixed on the Lord.  

Prayer: Father in the name of Jesus, I pray Lord according to Philippians 2v5, let this mind be in me which was also in Christ Jesus. Father, keep me in perfect peace as my mind is stayed on You, according to Isaiah 26:3. Lord, show me the areas of my life where I am distracted. Father, help me to put my trust in You alone and help me not to worry about anything. I put my trust in your word in Matthew 6:33. Lord, help me to seek Your Kingdom first. Lord help me to have the eyes of a dove according to Song of Songs 1:15, where I only have eyes for you and for what you are leading me to do and become in Jesus Name I pray Amen!!!

Watch the replay to Distraction: Your Greatest Enemy In This Season- https://bit.ly/4t6JPCM

Desire

Last Thursday, I spoke about Desire. I felt so strongly that the Lord wanted me to speak on this to help fellow brothers and sisters to understand the dangers of having an unbridled desire. Desire is a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. I started by saying that desire originated from God, not the fall of man. Genesis 1:31. As humans, we are created with a longing, an appetite, and a yearning. We were created with the capacity for love, intimacy, beauty and meaning. The purpose of desire is to move us toward communion not consumption.

Though the fall of man did not create desire, it distorted its orientation.

Genesis 3:6 in the NLT states, “The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too”. This scripture shows the shift from trust to grasping, from gift to possession and from God to now autonomy, in other words, trusting in one’s own ability rather than in God. This verse shows the threefold temptation of man.

1 Lust of the flesh- the enemy deceived her with the truth, and her mind became convinced that she had to have this fruit.

2 Lust of the eyes- her eye gates became exposed to the deception, which then had an impact on her soul, the seat of her will and emotions.

3 Pride of life- the pride was her believing in the lie that nothing would happen to her, to the point that she then gave the fruit to her husband. She didn’t just destroy herself; her unbridled desire caused both her and Adam to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, causing a disconnect from God. Pride came before their destruction, Proverbs 16:18.

Throughout the broadcast, I shared that a desire not processed through prayer becomes dangerous. Desire not rooted in prayer makes one impulsive. Unbridled desire makes one careless when it comes to boundaries, and it makes one not bothered about the safety of others. When you operate in unbridled desire, you don’t care about how you get the thing you desire; you develop tunnel vision regarding that particular desired outcome at the cost of those around you. I shared my own testimony of how my own unbridled desire almost cost me my mind and my health. The spiritual torment I endured as a result of my own personal idolatry.

It is my prayer that as you read this, any form of idolatry in your hearts as a result of unbridled desire be cast out in the name of Jesus. And may you be restored to the place of only desiring the promises of God concerning you.

Prayer: Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I commit my heart and the matters of my heart into Your hands. Father, I repent of every idol in my heart that has birthed unbridled desire. Father, I ask that You heal my heart of pain that has been caused by unbridled desire and my inability to discern Your divine warnings. Father, I pray, create in me a clean heart, Oh Lord and renew a right spirit within me according to Psalm 51:10. Restore my desire for you and help me to be like the deer in Psalm 42v1, that pants for the water brooks. Lord, my soul pants for you. Father God, I thank You that You have heard my prayers in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Watch the replay to ‘Desire’ here https://bit.ly/4tf2LiJ