Recently, in my quiet time I said, "I’m leaving this up to You Lord." The Holy Spirit quickly responded, "That’s irresponsible. You do something about it." He then helped me to understand that leaving things up to God is a religious cop out for lazy minds.

Hundreds of people from around the world have joined me at this time for a 100-day fast. In my daily messages and newsletters to everyone participating, I’ve continued to emphasize that this 100-Day Fast is not about what God will do for us. It’s rather more about what we will do to possess what God has already given us.

Prior to the commencement of the Fast, I had already challenged everyone to avoid having a list of prayers, and instead to have just one – a single prayer focus. Read more about this in the following two earlier posts:

What Exactly Do You Really Want?

Think About the Things You Want

However, I’ve also been quick to point out during this time that the Single Prayer Focus – your dream or vision – is not a magic pie you expect to drop from the sky. It’s something you are able and willing to pursue passionately and tenaciously. You will need to strategize for it, articulate your course of action, and implement it aggressively.

It’s about personal responsibility.

Joseph has been the object of our studies and meditations during this time. He is a model of an individual who broke through to higher heights as a result of the diligent application of the wisdom of God. I wrote about this in Lucky or Diligent?  The seed for his breakthrough to higher heights was planted when he deployed his gifts. He won in life by the masterful application of His gifts and talents.

The gifts of God – His strength and abilities in you – were given to you to make room for you in the most difficult of places. You will never breakthrough to higher heights without the diligent development and deployment of the gifts God has put in you.

Put your gifts to work

Don’t cajole yourself; there is no future for the individual who fails to discover and diligently deploy his or her gifts to dismantle the forces of opposition.

You want a million dollars? You want to breakthrough to higher heights in your career and finances? Then develop and deploy the gifts and talents that God has already put in you.

For instance, if you are a writer, then write! And don’t write anything expecting God to endorse your mediocrity. Write to the best of your constantly improving gift. Then publish your writing. After that, don’t fold your hands expecting God to bless your laziness. Market it with wisdom and passion. Then, God will reward you with a million sales and millions of dollars in profit.

It is your gifts versus the giants of life

Here’s what God told the people of Israel as they journeyed towards their Promised Land:

"Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle."
(Deuteronomy 2:24).

Think about this for a moment: If God had already given it to them, what was the point in fighting anymore? I would have thought that if God had given them the land, there would be no need to fight. Right?

Well, wrong!

God’s gifts and visions are His call to fight – to war. He says it’s ours. Now step out and take possession of it! Begin to take possession of it and engage the resistance in battle.

The Promised Land is a land flowing with milk and honey. That’s true; but it’s also a land of hills and valleys, a land of wicked giants, a land that devours its inhabitants. The Promised Land is a place where vicious tribes roam on chariots of iron. In other words, the Promised Land is a place of war.

The giants are in the land. They’ve been there for centuries. They believe this is their land and will fight to the death to keep it. So, you must get set for war.

You might have dodged the battle on your way across the desert; but, now you have to face it because the Promised Land is a place of war.

The stubborn oppositions you are facing right now with regards to God’s promises might well be signs that you are now at the thresholds of Canaan!

If you want to get what you want, get ready for war. The market place is a battle arena. It’s not for religious and lazy minds. It’s for the aggressive, the warriors, those who are diligent in the development and deployment of their gifts, talents, and abilities.

God has already given you everything you’ll ever need for success – His life, His Spirit, His Word, gifts, people, and so on. You just need to step up to the plate and do what you need to do.

God is with you. He has given you the Land. However, you must confront the giants and engage them in battles; and win.

There are giants. Of course! But that’s why He put gifts in you; to make room and bring you in, in spite of the opposition.

What are you willing to do?

Who are you willing to see?

Where are you willing to go?

How much time and money are you willing to dedicate?

“I can write.” Oh, that’s cool. But that won’t make you any money if you don’t deploy that gift strategically and diligently.

“You know, I can bake. I can do this, I can do that.” Well, for goodness sake, quit talking and get on with it!

I’m beginning to suspect that we’ve gone beyond the ‘discover what you have’ stage. If you are still there, better hurry. I sense that we are even past the development stage. We are now in the deployment stage.

Well, the important thing is that you get on with it.

Take all that God has given you and move into the marketplace; there fight with all you’ve got.