Learning Month '26 | The Benefits Of Those Whose Warfare Has Ended | FEB 8th

Devotional

Day 1: God is your sure defense and strength.

The Lord is a constant and powerful protector for His people. He is a rock, a fortress, and a deliverer in times of trouble. When distress and fear surround you, calling upon Him brings salvation. He hears your voice and responds, providing a stronghold of safety and security. Your walls of defense are continually before Him, ensuring you are not forgotten or overcome. [01:58:50]

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2 (ESV)

Reflection: In what current situation do you find it most difficult to trust that God is your sure defense, and what would it look like to actively rely on His strength there this week?

Day 2: Your response to God shapes His response to you.

The way you approach God directly influences how He relates to you. With the merciful, He shows Himself merciful; with the blameless, He shows Himself blameless. This principle reveals a profound relational dynamic woven into His character. A humble and pure heart invites a corresponding manifestation of His nature and favor. How you live before Him matters deeply. [41:24]

With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
Psalm 18:25-26 (ESV)

Reflection: Considering this principle, which area of your character—mercy, blamelessness, or purity—do you sense God inviting you to cultivate more intentionally?

Day 3: God’s word is powerful and effective for transformation.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul and making wise the simple. His statutes are right, bringing joy to the heart, and His commandments are pure, giving light to the eyes. This word is more desirable than great riches and sweeter than honey. It carries inherent power to warn, reward, and bring about great change in those who keep it. [46:41]

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psalm 19:7-8 (ESV)

Reflection: Where in your daily routine could you create a more consistent space to receive the reviving and enlightening power of God’s word?

Day 4: True strength is found in paradoxical surrender.

Divine strength often manifests in ways that contradict human understanding. It is perfected in our weakness and revealed through paradox: being sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, having nothing yet possessing everything. This strength is not about the absence of difficulty but about God’s sufficient grace being displayed within it. [01:01:34]

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific weakness or difficulty you are currently facing that you can, by faith, surrender to Christ so that His power may be displayed?

Day 5: You are not forgotten; God remembers and restores.

There are times when it may feel as if God has forgotten you, especially after prolonged periods of waiting or hardship. But His promise is sure: He will not forget you. You are inscribed on the palms of His hands, and your walls are continually before Him. He is a God who restores past glories and brings life out of what seems completely dry. [01:57:07]

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Isaiah 49:15-16 (ESV)

Reflection: What is a past disappointment or a prolonged wait that has tempted you to believe God has forgotten you, and how can you actively choose to trust His promise of remembrance today?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 18 and Psalm 19 open a sustained declaration of God’s sovereign rescue and the power of his Word. Drawing David’s testimony of deliverance, the teaching highlights how trust, obedience, and blamelessness draw God’s protection—he is portrayed as rock, fortress, shield, and the One who arms the faithful for battle. The paradox of divine strength runs throughout: God’s power often rests most visibly in human weakness, and apparent defeat can be the soil for supernatural victory. Using Paul’s thorn and David’s exploits, the text insists that suffering, reproach, and paradoxical reversals are marks of ministry when borne with faith; in those places grace becomes most evident.

A second movement traces Israel’s calling from nation-building to earth-restoration (Isaiah 49). That calling requires submission and integrity; growth in stature follows humble obedience, as in Jesus’ own increase in wisdom and stature. The teaching stresses that grace without growth is wasted and that true favor trades shame for double honor only for those who endure the refining process—Job, Mary, and David serve as models. Practical examples—Jehoshaphat’s plea, Elijah’s drought and later prophetic rain—distinguish spiritual warfare from prophetic intercession: warfare seeks rescue when the future is unknown; prophetic intercession prays with God’s revealed intent and presses heaven to deliver its plan.

Assurance closes the presentation with Isaiah 49’s tender promise that God has not forgotten his people. The image of being inscribed on the palms of God and of walls continually before him reassures the discouraged that protection and restoration are already in motion. Personal testimony and pastoral exhortation underscore that past losses can become future testimonies; submission invites exaltation, and prophetic alignment invites the fulfillment of God’s designs for restoration, double recompense, and increased spiritual stature.

Key Takeaways

1. God is sovereign and faithful God’s character as rock, shield, and deliverer means situations are not ultimately chaotic but ordered under his rule. A life that trusts his proven ways can face floods, snares, and death-pangs with confidence because redemption already has a name and pattern in history. This trust reshapes prayer from panic into confident petition. [39:13]
2. Strength in weakness brings victory The gospel reverses human metrics: weakness becomes the venue of Christ’s power, and honest confession of frailty opens space for divine strength to operate. Endurance through physical or reputational trials is not passive resignation but an entry point for grace to be perfected and displayed. This converts apparent defeat into trophy testimonies. [61:50]
3. Warfare shifts to prophetic intercession There is a spiritual progression from urgent warfare—when outcomes are unknown—to prophetic intercession, which prays from God’s revealed intention and accelerates fulfillment. Examples like Elijah and Jehoshaphat show the difference between crying out for rescue and declaring what God has already purposed. Learning that shift changes how one prays, plans, and moves. [91:10]
4. Submit to receive increased stature Spiritual stature grows through submission: Jesus learned obedience; God gives favor to the humble. Submission recalibrates ambition and aligns people for responsible influence, turning character formation into kingdom authority rather than mere status. Without humility there is no sustained elevation. [67:07]
5. God remembers the forgotten Isaiah’s assurance—inscribed on the palms of God—reframes orphaned hope into covenant memory: losses, reproach, and seasons of silence do not cancel God’s purpose. This promise invites those who feel forsaken to expect restoration and practical reshaping of their narrative toward fruitfulness. Redemption often vindicates the patient. [115:06]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[39:13] - God the Sovereign Savior (Psalm 18)
[40:06] - Deliverance and Trust
[41:24] - God’s Response to Hearts
[42:23] - Strength and Victory in God
[43:35] - Praise and Exaltation
[44:27] - Recompense and Mercy
[45:27] - Creation Speaks (Psalm 19)
[46:41] - Law, Conviction, and Purity
[48:15] - Heart Meditation and Prayer
[49:45] - Learning Month: New Stature
[51:46] - Marks of Ministry Explained
[91:10] - From Warfare to Prophetic Intercession
[115:06] - You Are Not Forgotten (Isaiah 49)

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
*Isaiah 49:15–16 (ESV)*
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

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Observation questions

According to Isaiah 49:15–16, what comparison does God use to emphasize His remembrance of His people?
What two specific assurances does God give regarding how He remembers His people?
In the sermon, what personal story illustrated the truth that God has not forgotten His people, even after many years? [01:48:08]
How does Psalm 62:6–7 describe God’s role as a defense for those who trust in Him?

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Interpretation questions

Why do you think God uses the imagery of being “engraved on the palms of my hands” to convey His remembrance? What does this suggest about the permanence of His care?
The sermon mentioned that “your walls are continually before me” means God is our sure defense. How does this relate to feeling vulnerable or broken down in life? [02:01:18]
How does the concept of God not forgetting His people change the way we interpret seasons of silence, delay, or hardship in our lives?
In what ways does trusting God as our “rock” and “defense” (from Psalm 62) reshape how we respond to fear or opposition?

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Application questions

When have you felt like God has forgotten you? How can the truth that He has engraved you on His palms change the way you pray and wait in those moments? [02:02:41]
What practical steps can you take to remind yourself of God’s faithfulness when you’re tempted to believe He has overlooked your situation?
How can you encourage someone else who feels abandoned or forgotten by God, using the promises from Isaiah 49?
In what areas of your life do you need to shift from “spiritual warfare” (crying out without clarity) to “prophetic intercession” (praying based on God’s revealed promises)? [01:25:19]
How does knowing that your “walls are continually before God” affect the way you face spiritual attacks or personal vulnerabilities? [02:01:56]
What would it look like for you to fully embrace that your past losses can become future testimonies of restoration? [01:53:28]
How can you actively “quit the thought” that God has forgotten you and instead lean into His promise of remembrance and restoration? [02:06:15]

Sermon Clips

The first set of people that God sent me to are those who think or feel like God has forgotten them. They've been in welfare for a long time. They fasted, they prayed, they've done everything imaginable. They've given offering, they've confessed the sins they committed, the ones they did not commit, the ones somebody in their family had committed long ago that could still be affecting them right now and there's no breakthrough. So they have settled in them or they feel, definitely, God has forgotten me. He sent me to you today to tell you that you are not forgotten. Amen. [01:45:50] (73 seconds) #YouAreNotForgotten

And that day, I sat in my living room like this, and I saw an open vision. In the flowerbed, I saw a rose plant completely dry. What did I say? Completely dry. No leaves, no nothing, and it started budding and brought forth roses that are so lush and beautiful. I couldn't understand it. I said, Lord, I don't understand this. This tree is completely dry, but the rose flower that came out of it is so beautiful and lush. He said, that's your life. Out of your dryness, I'm going to bring something forth that will change you, that will change your environment. [01:42:50] (55 seconds) #BeautyFromDryness

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Learning Month '26 | The Benefits Of Those Whose Warfare Has Ended | FEB 8th | Pastor 'Tunde Bakare