aWAKE! AWAKE!! AWAKE!!!

As I sit down to take stock and reflect on the events of the year 2025, I am reminded of a very significant time I had in July.

I usually take some time away to be with the Lord around my birthday in July. This year I felt the Lord speak to me about the importance of asking three questions regularly:

What are you saying?
What are you doing?
How do you want me to align with what you are saying and doing?

I cannot say that I have been consistent in asking him these questions and when I have asked I cannot say that I always know his response. However, I have noticed a greater sense of awareness of what is going on in the spirit and with this, a greater sense of aligning with God and with heaven.

We are again at the end of another year, 2025, and soon to enter a new one. It is the time when so many in the body of Christ start shopping around for prophetic words. There is nothing wrong with listening to trusted prophetic voices. However, the danger we face is one of not asking God to speak to us directly through his word so that whatever we receive from prophetic voices acts as confirmation of what God is saying to us individually.

We need to be aligned with heaven, more so now than ever. In the midst of all the noise, distractions and busyness, we need to be awake to what God is saying and doing right now.

“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like the servant of the Lord? You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen.”

Isaiah 42:18-20

The passage above highlights the ironic blindness and deafness of Israel who is referred to as ‘the servant of the Lord’. They are the ones designated to know the plans and purposes of God but fail to observe or listen and, as a result, are spiritually blind or asleep. Israel was therefore not in alignment with God and missed the time of their visitation as described in Luke 19.44

…and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

‘Who is blind but my servant?’ is a question that exposes the paradox of God’s people who are supposed to be spiritually awake but end up sleeping to the point of not recognising what God is saying and doing. This happened in spite of several calls by different prophets to Israel trying to awaken them from their slumber.

Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean Shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! For thus says the Lord: “You have sold yourselves for nothing, And you shall be redeemed without money.”

Isaiah 52.1-3

The passage above is one of those calling on Israel to awaken to God. Israel, referred to here as ‘daughter of Zion’, is in chains of captivity when she is supposed to be seated enthroned and wearing a garment of splendour, This is an urgent call for her to clothe herself with strength and shake off the dust.

This scenario depicts what happens when, by remaining asleep, we lose a sense of what God is saying and doing and become completely misaligned with heaven.

Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth. Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.

Joel 1.5,14

This passage, once again, calls Israel to awaken, to weep and to wail because of the destruction that has come as a result of their slumber and disobedience. The preceding verses describe how a swarm of locusts overrun the land of Judah, eating up everything in its path. This was judgement because of Judah’s disobedience. After calling for the people to repent through prayer and fasting in response to this disaster, Joel goes on to call the people to awaken to the plans of God for restoring the land, and much more than that, to his plan to defeat the that nations that will come against them like a swarm of locusts. He describes how he would pour out his Spirit on the survivors in Judah and, if they return back to the Lord, how they will experience prosperity when the day of the Lord comes.

Again, we see how being asleep and misaligned with God gives the enemy access. If we move on from the people of Israel and take a look at the disciples, we see a similar pattern.

On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’

Luke 22:40-41, 45-46

Jesus knew the urgency of the moment and wanted to bring his disciples to this same understanding but they were asleep.

We may never be able to tell what would have happened if they had prayed as Jesus had instructed them. Perhaps Peter would not have denied him. May be they would not have been in so much confusion and despair to the point of giving up and going back to their various trades.

Let’s contrast this passage with Matthew 8.23-27

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’

He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’

We know this passage well. Jesus is sleeping during a storm. His disciples were afraid and woke him up. He rebuked the wind and the waves and everything calmed down. What we should note is that the disciples could have slept like Jesus if they had been aligned with him. When we are aligned with Jesus, we are able to sleep through the storms he sleeps through and are able to stay awake with him when we need to stay awake and pray.

Spiritual alignment and awareness are so important in this season and this comes through remaining awake in the spirit. My prayer in this season is to be so in tune with the voice of the Father that I am hearing what he is saying, seeing what he is doing and aligning with him.

The following scriptures confirm God’s desire for his children to be in alignment with his plans and purposes:

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

1 Thessalonians 5.4-7

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Amos 3.7

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

John16.13

Just like the people of Israel, God wants us to be spiritually aware of what he is saying and doing. We are instructed to be awake and sober – the times we live in call for this.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

1 Peter 4.7

Signs of Spiritual Slumber

Lack of desire for prayer
Lack of interest in reading or studying the word of God
An increased pull towards worldly things
Spiritual indifference, apathy, cynicism, skepticism, complaining, grumbling
Religious rituals without fire
Lack of hunger and excitement for the things of God
Wilful sin
Lack of love, peace, joy and hope
Criticism of others and fault finding, unthankfulness
Lack of interest in fellowshipping with other Christians etc.

How We Stay Awake

‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.’

Luke 6.46-49

In the above passage, Jesus shows us how to build structures that will survive the storms of life. Interestingly, these are also the things that help us to remain spiritually aware and awake to the plans and purposes of God.

There are three key action phrases:

‘Comes to me’
‘Hears my word’
‘Puts it into practice’

These actions help keep us from sleeping spiritually. We have to keep coming to Jesus daily and intentionally, not in a legalistic way but out of our love for him. We need to hear his voice through reading and studying scriptures and finally, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us the grace to obey and put into practice what we hear him saying to us.

Other things that will help us stay connected with heaven and remain awake are:

1. Prayer – keep the fire on the altar constantly burning through a lifestyle of prayer

The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

Leviticus 12-13

2. Create an atmosphere of worship around you

3. Fast regularly

4. Repent of any known sin

5. Re-engage in fellowshipping with other Christians

6. Go back to obeying the last thing God told you to do

7. Live a life of continuous gratitude

Conclusion

We thank God for bringing us towards the end of 2025 and going into 2026.

As we get into the new year, I believe that God wants his people to be like the sons of Issachar who not only knew the times but also knew what Israel ought to do. To be like this, we need to be aligned with heaven, and with the plans and purposes of God – awakened to the things of God. Be awake to the things God wants us to be awake to and asleep through the storms he wants us to sleep through, like Jesus.

I believe that if we live this way, we will not have any reason to be afraid, anxious or confused even in the midst of the chaos in the world. Rather, we will be like it is described in Daniel 11.32b:

…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

Welcome to a season of great exploits!

Sam Onyenuforo