Apostle Paul gave the two most important words in achieving God’s vision for your life is: “I Press.”

 

*Philippians 3:14* - “*I press* toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

 

“Press” suggests a determined or courageous effort in the face of a resistance

 

1. What goal are you pressing toward (effort)?

2. What is the prize (result of successful effort)?

 

The Kingdom’s spiritual protocol is to aim for the goal to obtain the prize of the upward call of God.

 

*Philippians 3:12* - Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; *but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.*”

 

Your aim (vision or destiny) and God’s aim (vision or destiny for you) should be identical. However, don't flatter yourself regarding what God has spoken concerning you assuming people will run with you at the beginning of your destiny journey. 

*Champions start their workout alone with the attitude “If I perish, I perish.”*

 

If your aim is to truly obtain the prize, there will be times you have to be willing to walk alone with only the guarantee of His Presence. But what if I have concerns about what people would say? Don’t allow yourself to be a slave to the opinion of people. Say to yourself:

 

Though people laugh at me, I press

Though people are not cheering me on, I press

Though I’m not acknowledged, I press

Though I suffer failure, I press

Though the people I thought would support me are no longer there, I press

 

Have you ever asked yourself, “How many failure will your destiny require before you succeed?” “Are you determined to see your destiny or vision become reality?”

Father, restore my strength also I can continue to press. Make me run without getting weary. Help be walk without fainting.

 

“Press” is a universal principle known in both the physical and spiritual dimensions.

 

*2 Corinthians 4:7-9* - “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are *hard-pressed on every side*, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

 

You are not the only one that is pressing, the kingdom of darkness does understanding the concept of ‘pressing’ too. They also press against believers. We do not fight against flesh or blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

 

Satan wants to provide enough evidence to convince you that your faith and trust in God is useless (not dependable), worthless (not reliable), and not getting you anywhere. He wants to make God to look unfaithful.

 

*Philippians 3:13-15* - “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; *but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind* and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

 

“Forgetting those things which are behind” is one of the hardest feat that any man can physically set out to achieve. To forget the things which are behind actually means you have to remember to forget those things, which eventually cause you to remember them.

 

The things behind include past blessings, past achievements, even past sins. May I submit to you that it is only by His Spirit that you can really forget those things which are behind (Spiritual Alzheimer’s).

 

*Prayer Point 2*

Father, help me to protect my mind from Satan’s plot to use events from the past to discourage me or make me complacent in order to make me lose my focus on the goal.

 

*3 Myths you need to bust*

1. As a believer who prays, my journey in life should be resistance-free.

2. Everybody will work with me in order to achieve my vision and destiny.

3. When I pray, my goal is delivered to me.

 

*Understanding the prophetic speakings of God*

You need to press in the spiritual, psychological, and physical realms.

 

*Judges 6:7-12* - “And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, 8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; 9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”

 

11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “*The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour!*”

 

*Prayer Point 3*

Father, help me to see with the eyes of faith. Let me not be moved by what I see or feel in the physical dimension. Strengthen my faith to align myself with your prophetic speakings. Let Your Presence never depart from me.