I observed a trend in church that really saddened me. Many believers would come with prayer requests, and the pastor would pray for them, promising breakthroughs.
The believers would continue coming to church, trusting that they would receive their breakthroughs.
After a while, many would get discouraged for not receiving their much-awaited victories, and then they would leave the church. This happened over and over for years.
One day, I asked myself, ” Am I the only person who has witnessed this pattern? Does the pastor see it as well?” I had many questions, but I was afraid to ask the pastor about it.
Being aware of this pattern, I turned to analyze my own life, lest I also find myself in the same situation. I reflected deeply on my life as a believer, examining my true intentions for attending church each Sunday.
I quickly came to an uncomfortable realization.
The raw and unsettling truth
You see, when I attended church, I would convince myself that I was going for God and not for breakthroughs. However, it was the hope of breakthroughs that made me seek God in the first place.
Now that it was clear that I couldn’t separate going to church for God from going for breakthroughs, I decided to find another way to determine whether I was part of this sad trend.
I asked myself, “If you don’t receive any breakthrough at all, will you still seek God?” One part of me wanted to say yes, but deep down I knew the answer was no.
Being honest, I decided to ask the best teacher I know, the Holy Spirit.
Here is how I went about it.
I simply prayed, “Lord, is it possible for a human being to seek You without the hope of a breakthrough?”
After that, I began praying in tongues. I knew I might not receive an answer immediately, but because I was sincere with my question, I trusted that God would not ignore it.
After that prayer session, I didn’t receive anything. Not wanting to give up quickly, I repeated the same prayer over the next several days.
A few weeks later, I woke up one morning with a question: why did God promise to bless Abraham?
I remembered the scripture in Genesis 17:1–2, and something sparked in my mind. When God asked Abraham to walk before Him and be blameless, He also promised to bless him.
This led me to conclude that a human being cannot seek God without the hope of some reward.
But this left me with an even bigger question: why then were many people going to church with the hope of breakthroughs and not receiving them?
Long story short, the Holy Spirit explained the answer to me and taught me a prayer strategy that guarantees endless breakthroughs. This is the strategy I will share with you.
Expressing honest expectations
You see, some believers say, “Don’t seek God for breakthroughs; seek God for who He is.” But that statement can work against them. Let me explain.
God desires that we seek Him. Period.
The motive behind seeking Him does not matter. In fact, the more honest we are about our motives, the more God is willing to show up for us.
Think of it like this: a fisherman goes out fishing with a net. He toils all night and catches some fish, but not enough. In the morning, he uses a line and catches some more fish. On his way back to shore, some fish accidentally jump into the boat.
When he arrives at the shore, his friends celebrate the catch. No one cares which fish came from the net, the line, or those that jumped in accidentally.
Here is the point: when a believer tries to seek God “only for who He is” and rejects the desire for breakthroughs, they may unknowingly go against what is written in Hebrews 11:6, that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
As a result, they disqualify themselves by believing that seeking God for breakthroughs is wrong.
This is what many people who came to church but did not receive breakthroughs were doing. Instead of confidently seeking God and expecting results, they tried very hard to prove they were seeking Him for the “right reasons”, that is, for who He is and not breakthroughs. Over time, they grew weary and eventually left the church.
On the other hand, the Holy Spirit taught me to seek God for whatever reason I want, freely pouring my heart to him. But that was not all.
He also explained to me that all blessings are given out to people when they are in the presence of God, adding that remaining in His presence guarantees endless blessings.
God bless you.