THE BUD FAMILY AFRICA
MONTHLY PRAYER AND FASTING
BULLETIN (FEBRUARY, 2025)
THEME: RIVERS OF LIVING WATERS, FLOW!
TEXT: JOHN 7:37-39
BIBLE READING:
Welcome to the last day of February sisters and a blessed March to each of us in advance! May the Lord grant us many pleasant surprises, keep and preserve us in his love in Jesus name! Amen! I’m so glad we’re all participating in the goodness of the Lord from month to month. I pray that the Lord continues to uphold us on our journey through life, Amen!! May the Name of the Lord be praised forever in Jesus Name! Amen!
Delving into our topic for today, “Rivers of living waters”. I would want you to bow your head dear sister and tell the Lord to speak directly to your spirit today. Cry to the Lord if you are tired of dryness and thirst. Cry to Him about the dryness that pulls so meanly at your throat. Say to Him with your hands on your chest that ‘Oh Lord, if nothing would be done to me during today’s prayers, just break this fallow ground and let rivers flow’
Listen to this song below with an open heart and pray with it before you continue (Replace ‘church’ with your name where necessary):
Welcome back, sis.
What is the River of Living Water?
Now, the first question to ask would be what is a river of living water? Let’s hear from the Speaker Himself:
John 7:37-39 KJV: In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified).
The Rivers of Living water is the life of Christ in us manifested by the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is given to us in measures as you can see in John 3:5. It says we are to be born of the water and of the spirit. This is a measure. A little great measure.
At the encounter with the Samaritan woman in chapter 4- John 4:14, it was a well of water springing forth from within us that was promised. That’s another measure. A little increasingly great measure.
In Ezekiel 47:7-12, we saw how a little stream of water became a river that was capable of being swum in. A living water that poured into the dead sea and every deadness came alive! Wowww, what a measure!!!!
And now in chapter 7 as we can read in our text for today, we see it has broken forth into RIVERS! How amazing! This is the goal, sis!
The importance of having the Holy Spirit within is so immense, dear sisters, that it should be our daily cry to God. Nothing is as refreshing as a daily consistent walk with the Holy Spirit.
When we have the Holy Spirit, we have God living inside us! We have an innate leader, teacher, guide and friend who we can talk to anytime of the day and who talks to us back. He leads us, He guards us, He loves us, He protects us, He makes us into little Jesus on earth, He leads us into Holiness! What an experience!
The above despite how rich it is, is still the basic level, however. This is the infilling of the Holy Spirit for all His children but there is another level, the level where rivers flow from out of us! Like, not just staying in us alone, flowing out! This is huge!
But have you been baptized in the Holt Spirit first? If you don’t have the infilling, how can anything flow out?
And dear sis, God is so interested in filling us! Christ came to make sure the Kingdom of Heaven is brought down to earth. He brought God down to live in man! He wants us to have Him!!!
However, this Holy Spirit can no man/no BUD sister receive if she is not first converted. Acts 3:19 KJV says:
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
Although we belong in The BUD family, the presence in a holy and spiritual family doesn’t necessarily make you holy. Holiness comes from a sincere work of grace in the life of anyone who believes in the saving power of the Lord. It hurts me to think that some BUD sisters are still living in daily and wilful sins. If you’re one of them reading this, I pray sincerely that the Lord convicts you deeply and leads you to an intense cleansing and purging. Because only then can you fully enjoy this refreshment and power that we’re talking about!
If you have not yet met the Lord, or you have backslidden, take this moment to settle things with the Lord. Stop running away, He is ready and available, extremely willing to welcome you back.
Just confess those sins to the Lord, promise Him that you won’t go back to them. Acknowledge that you are not able to overcome sins on your own but that the Lord should give you grace to live a life above sins. Forsake those sins and intentionally don’t go back to them!
After this, you can ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life to come and make you clean, to bring in the life of Christ, to make you live an overcoming life.
Everyone has a unique experience with the Holy Spirit. Only He can deal with you in ways no man would and make you a wholesome human, shaping you into a vessel for honour and his glory. How sweet would it be to have that great peace and joy that only comes from walking with the Lord!
There’s so much joy in walking with the Lord, sisters, I speak from my heart. No amount of gist or inspiration or confession or preaching or testimony from anyone can equate a personal experience of the fellowship. It’s something you need to experience yourself, sisters. It’s my earnest desire and prayer that every one of us reading this and the whole family rises to the glorious peak of serving the Lord with all their hearts without restraint! From the inside! Living from the Spirit in the Name of Jesus. Amen!
On another hand, are you dear sister saved but are not fully experiencing the Holy Spirit not to talk of having the living waters springing out of you? Are you one of those who are restraining themselves from taking full advantage of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them? Are you one of those making excuses on why they cannot fully accept His leading and infilling? Or are you too shy, too busy to be spiritual, or in love with everything else but God?
A song I love says – Lovest thou me, lovest thou me, more than these?
Modern times have brought us many blessings,
People live in wealth and luxury,
But the Master asks this question,
Lovest thou me, lovest thou me, more than these?
Response:
I love Thee more than this old world could offer,
All sinful follies I deny for Thee,
My love, my life, my all, I pledge Thee,
I love thee Lord, I love thee Lord, more than these,
More than these.
Would that also possibly be the response we are giving to the Lord from the depths of our hearts?
It’s so easy to say I love the Lord but the true test of the love of the Lord is true obedience to His will – and His commandments. Sometimes we find out we aren’t obedient to the basic commandments of the Lord and this is so sad. Someone gave an analogy that each time we sin, we not only hurt the Lord but that at the point of sin, we have left our cover and if the rapture takes place, we’d just be as someone who had never tasted of God and that’s such a pity! I really desire and pray that each of us in the family comes to the point where flesh is dead and we can live above sin each day.
I want you to sincerely ask yourself sisters – What is restraining you from fully yielding to the Lord? Is it a job that takes all your time and leaves you with nothing to fellowship? Is it an ungodly friendship or relationship you refuse to let go of? Is it love for social media that takes all your time and leaves you with only a sleepy eye and weak mouth mumbling a few words to God before drifting off? It takes a lot of intentionality to walk with God, sisters and you must be willing to pay the price to be close and intentional with creating time for him!
The Rivers of Living Water
This living river is priceless and can only be gotten at the point of intense thirst which drives us to seek the Lord with all our heart. Revelation 21:6 KJV says:
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Only at the point of this intense surrender and hunger can we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Are you hungry, sis??? Do you desire the Holy Spirit?
The Bible also says in Matthew 5:6 that Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.
Do you hunger and thirst? What is your state right now, sis? Bro. Zac Poonen once said and I quote:
“…I was born again and baptized in water, but “rivers of living water” were not flowing out of my life. Yet I knew that Jesus had promised that everyone who believed in Him would have rivers of living water flowing out of their life – they’d never be dry. But I found myself dry, many times. Even though I knew the Word, and even though I was preaching, I was dry. Very often my service for the Lord was like pumping a hand- pump. You know what that means – you pump and pump and a few trickles of water come out. It is certainly not like a river. Yet I saw the word of Jesus clearly: “Everyone who believes in Me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water”……”
Are you also in that state, right now? You are not alone. Many of us have walked that path and a number has by His Grace broken through the fog to the extent that river has broken forth in them and even from that river broke forth into different directions, rivers that water others! Rivers that give life to others!
Jesus says out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water!
Sisters, this is a picture of overflowing abundance!!! Rivers of living water signifies an abundance that is huge. Can you hear the sound? Such a believer with this overflowing abundance is able to quench the thirst of many needy people around him. Whereas a well (like in Matthew 4) satisfies only our own longings, rivers of living water make us a blessing to many people, wherever we go. This should be our goal! This should be our desire! That was exactly why Christ came! To give us a chance to step into this life!!! To carry God on the inside!!!!
The Holy Spirit, when given His full place, allowed to flow, never stays contained!
If we allow His river to break forth in us, it won’t stay still! It will overflow, just like the rivers in Eden (Genesis 2:10). And when it flows, it won’t just bless us; it will make us a blessing. That’s His nature.
God told Abraham that through him, the families of the earth would be blessed. That’s exactly what happens when the rivers of living water flow out of us. Look at Ezekiel 47. This river doesn’t trickle into safe, comfortable places. It rushes into dry, dead, and impossible spaces. It flows into valleys of destruction and brings life. It touches the hopeless Dead Sea, where nothing should survive, and suddenly, death loses its grip. Fish begin to swim. Creatures begin to thrive. What was barren becomes full of life.
And it doesn’t stop there. Fishermen come. They begin to cast their nets because there is now something to catch. Do you see it? When we allow the Spirit to flow through us, others find their purpose. People discover their callings because we stepped into ours. They learn from us, they are nourished by what we carry. Trees take root. What are these trees? Disciples, very strong and established. And those trees? They don’t stay empty. They start bearing fruit. More lives are changed. More than we can ever imagine!
Nothing in us goes to waste. Even the leaves, the smallest, most ordinary things of us will reach places we never imagined and would bring healing, restoration, and hope to the people there! That’s the power of the Holy Spirit in us. That’s what happens when we stop containing the river and let it flow!
This is a wake-up call, sisters! How long will you stay dry? How long will you settle for a normal, routine church life while the Spirit of God is waiting to burst forth within you?
If you haven’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit, don’t wait any longer. Seek Him! Claim your birthright. He has already promised: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13). You do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2). So ask, seek, knock—cry out to God like Jacob at Peniel: “I will not let You go unless You bless me” (Genesis 32:26). God does not show favoritism. What He has done for others, He will do for you. Even today, He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). He longs to fill you with His Spirit—completely.
And if you have received the Holy Spirit but still feel dry, something is wrong! How can you carry power inside you and still live powerless? How can you have a generator in your backyard and still grope in darkness?
Sisters, we are dynamites by prophecy! But dynamite is just potential until it’s ignited. A gun won’t fire unless the trigger is pulled. A river won’t flow unless there’s space for it to break forth. The Holy Spirit is within you, but have you given Him full control? Have you made room for Him to move?
Brother Zac once said:
“There is always a Calvary before a Pentecost.”
Death to self comes before the outpouring. Are you dying daily? Are you obedient to His voice? Are you living for Him above all else? If you are, then sis, pull the trigger! Tap into the well within. Clear out the blockages. Make way. Make room. Let Him take full control. And then—shoot!
Before you know it, water everywhere! Life everywhere! Power everywhere! The river is ready to flow. Are you ready to let Him?
LET US PRAY
Sisters, it’s time to pray! No distractions. No holding back. Cry out to God with everything in you!
Begin by thanking the Lord for all you have heard today. Thank Him for speaking to you, for awakening your spirit, and for the hunger rising within you.
Father, I bless Your name for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for not leaving me empty, for giving me a well that can never run dry!
Oh Lord, forgive me for the times I have resisted the Holy Spirit. Forgive me for shutting Him out, for silencing His voice in my life. Forgive me for leading myself when You have already given me a Guide! (Confess and cry for mercy!)
Desert of my soul, give way!!! I command you to give way! Enough is enough! No more dryness, no more stagnation! Rivers of living water, burst forth in my life in the name of Jesus! (Place your hand on your chest and declare this repeatedly with fire!)
Father, everything that has kept me satisfied without the Holy Spirit—every comfort, every distraction—I surrender them to You! Strip me of anything that makes me content with an ordinary Christian life. Lord, deal with them in Jesus’ name!
Hunger for the Holy Spirit, come upon me NOW in the powerful name of Jesus Christ! Let my heart burn for You, Lord!
Father, plant in me an intense hunger and thirst for Your Spirit. Let my desire for You outweigh my desire for food, entertainment, and earthly pleasures! Fill me, Lord!
Lord, open my eyes to see wondrous things from Your Word. Give me fresh revelations every time I study. Let the Bible come alive in my spirit!
Lord, pull me out of the claws of the world and the fangs of sin! Help me bring my flesh under subjection daily. Cleanse me, purify me, and keep me holy each day.
Father, I surrender myself completely to You! I remove every limit, every resistance, and every wall I have built. Holy Spirit, break through in my life and flow freely in Jesus’ name!
Lord, I refuse to be a dry Christian! Rivers of living water, flow into every dry place in my soul! Revive me, refresh me, and renew my fire in Jesus’ name!
Lord, my life will not be a stagnant pool! Let the river of Your Spirit overflow from me to my family, my friends, my community, and beyond! Use me to spread Your life everywhere I go!
Oh Lord, just as the river turned the Dead Sea into a place full of life, let Your Spirit transform every dead and barren area of my life! I command life to spring forth in my prayer life, my spiritual growth, and my purpose in Jesus’ name!
Whatever has been blocking the flow of the Spirit in my life—sin, doubt, fear, laziness, distractions—I break them NOW in Jesus’ name! Holy Ghost, take over!
Lord, I don’t want to just exist; I want to make an impact! Just as the river brought life to the nations, let my life be a channel of healing, deliverance, and salvation in Jesus’ name!
Father, just as the river in Ezekiel 47 caused fishermen to gather and harvest fish, let my life attract souls to You! Activate my gifts and calling, and use me as a fisher of men!
Lord, let me be like those trees by the river, bearing fruit in every season. Let my words, my actions, and my presence bring healing, restoration, and life to those around me!
Father, I refuse to be a dormant Christian! I refuse to waste the power inside me! If You have put a river in me, I WILL FLOW! I WILL BLESS OTHERS! I WILL GLORIFY YOU! In Jesus’ name!
Nothing will stop my river! No fear, no sin, no distraction! I decree that I am a vessel of living water, and from this day forward, I will never be dry again in Jesus’ name!
Sisters, pray this with FIRE!
“Oh Lord, I will not be dry! I will not waste the power You have given me! I will pull the trigger! I will burst forth! Let the rivers of living water flow through me like never before! In Jesus’ mighty name!”
Rounding off:
I speak growth, abundance, and breakthroughs into the remaining months of this year! My life will be a testimony! My walk with God will flourish! No evil will come near me or my family in Jesus’ name!
Father, strengthen the leadership of BUD! Grant them wisdom, revelation, and grace. Cover our mama, Mrs. Yakubu, and every leader with Your mercy. Protect them, preserve them, and fulfill their heart’s desires.
Bless the Lord for all He has done and for what He is about to do. Thank Him for your revival! Thank Him for the outpouring of His Spirit upon your life!
May we take this song as we round off our prayers?
OUT OF MY BELLY by Prospa Ochimana
Out of my belly,
Shall flow Rivers,
Rivers of Living Waters,
Iya Iya eh.
Out of my belly,
Shall flow Rivers,
Rivers of Living Waters,
Iya Iya eh.
La la la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la,
Let it flow,
Let it flow,
Let it flow,
Let it flow,
Let it flow,
Let it flow,
Flow, let it flow,
Right here,
Right now.
And as the river flows,
It begins to begins to bring every dead thing to life,
It’s a life giving river,
Oh let it flow,
Right here,
Right now.
Out of my belly,
Shall flow rivers,
Rivers of living waters,
Iya Iya eh.
Out of my belly,
Shall flow rivers,
Rivers of living waters,
Iya iya eh.
La la la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Lеt it flow,
Let it flow.
Let it flow,
Let it flow.
Lеt it flow,
Let it flow.
Flow, let it flow.
Right here,
Right now.
And as the river flows,
It begins to begins to bring every dead thing to life,
It’s a life giving river,
Oh let it flow,
Right here,
Right now.
Thank you so much sisters for following to this point. May the Lord bless us richly and fill us with his presence and power always! I love you all and see you during our bible study at 9pm. May the peace of the Lord fill our hearts abundantly! Amen!
