Winning Combination for Outstanding Success

I was in the law office of a senior colleague recently and had the opportunity of watching one of the programmes of Emmanuel Television, a DSTV platform.

In the programme, it appeared to me that Prophet T.B. Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations was celebrating some of their members who performed excellently in their respective fields. Among these members were two young prodigies whose performance were outstanding and worthy of emulation.

One of them is a twenty-three year-old female graduate of University of Lagos who bagged first-class degree in electrical and electronics engineering. The other prodigy is a member of Nigeria’s under-17 National soccer team who was decorated for his excellent performance in the under-17 World Cup. Yes, I still remember the footballer’s name. he is Isah Emmanuel.

The church was very proud of their achievement. I remember Prophet T.B. Joshua expressed joy at the members’ performance and encouraged other members to strive for excellence.

One of the remarkable moments in the occasion was when the twenty-three year-old female first-class graduate was given the microphone to bare her mind to the entire congregation. In her speech, she disclosed the secret of her outstanding academic performance. According to her, it was Prophet T.B. Joshua who encouraged her to excel. The prophet encouraged her to “work as if all depended on her and to pray as if all depended on God.”

This child prodigy held tenaciously to the words of her prophet. She studied as if all depended on her and prayed as if all depended on God. In the end, she came out with first-class result!

What a great inspiration to all of us! Success is a function of principles. When God created the world, he laid down principles for us to apply in order to achieve great success in life. Sometimes, we will need to apply only one of these principles; while at most other times, we will have to combine two or more of these principles before we can achieve outstanding success.

If our goal is to achieve outstanding success, then, we must combine certain principles. And these principles, when narrowed down to two, will find expression in the word of encouragement given to the first-class female graduate by her prophet which are:

1.   Work as if everything depends on you; and

2.   Pray as if everything depends on God.

These two principles above really bring to light why some people achieve outstanding success while others don’t. The mistake we make most times is that we try to substitute one of these principles for the other, instead of combining the duo. It is either we are working hard or we are praying hard. We fail to realize that it is the combination of "work" and "prayer" that bring outstanding results.

The Place of Work

Nature demands that we should work in order to succeed. To achieve outstanding success without working for it, is mere wishful thinking. It is like the omelet. You cannot make an omelet without breaking the egg. You can’t achieve worthwhile success without putting in great effort.

A student who will not read and study what he is being taught and he is expecting to bag first-class degree or distinction is like a man who wants to reap where did not sow. A student who wants to earn distinction must be ready to work for it.

If you belong to the category of people who think or believe that you don’t have to labour to get what you want, I urge you to change your orientation quickly. There is no such thing as something for nothing. You should establish it in your mind that if you want anything in life, you must work for it.

Don’t be a joker in the pack! Virtually all successful people worked hard to get to where they are today. Most, if not all of them, worked harder than others to be ahead of the rest.

The Place of Prayer

However, hard work is not the ultimate. It is possible to work as hard as the super successful people do or even harder and yet not make any headway. It is possible to be as brilliant and hardworking as the top scorers in the class and yet not make a distinction.

You see, as far as success is concerned, hard work alone is not enough to guarantee outstanding success. You need a complement or a combination to guarantee your success. This is where prayer comes in.

If you are doing everything humanly possible to achieve great success in life, and success look like a mirage, then, it means you need to apply a winning combination that will guarantee outstanding success. This combination is “work” and “prayer.”

You should not only work, you should also pray fervently. Prayer is the key. Prayer is the master key that unlocks every door of success. However, the mistake many of us make is that we see prayer as the only thing we should do in order to succeed.

Prayer alone is not enough. Just as God commands us to pray, He also commands us to work. Neither work nor prayer is indispensable. Both are essential for the accomplishment of great goals.

On Work

On work as a principle for success, the Book of Success, the Bible says:

a.   “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chron. 15:7);

b.   “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Eccl. 9:10);

c.   “He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough” (Prov. 28:19); and

d.   “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich” (Prov. 10:4).

On Prayer

On prayer as a principle for success, the Bible says:

a.   “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1);

b.   “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17);

c.   “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24); and

d.   “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

In the light of the above Bible passages, Prophet T.B. Joshua’s utterance that one should “work as if all depends on one and pray as if all depends on God” is the ultimate winning combination for outstanding success.

These are the same success principles that is being preached here on CFVL (Centre for Victorious Living) blog. Work alone may not take you far. So also is prayer. Prayer alone is not enough. If you are praying when you should work, your prayer will never take the place of work and so may not avail you. If you are working, working and working when you should be praying, praying and praying, the work will never avail you.

“Work” is tantamount to doing the best you can while “prayer” is asking God to crown your effort with success. Now, the principles of “work” and “prayer” are intertwined. You cannot separate one from the other. They go hand-in-hand.

Dear reader, are you looking for the ultimate combination for achieving the incredible? Then, look no further! This combination has been delivered to you in this article: “WORK AS IF ALL DEPENDS ON YOU; PRAY AS IF ALL DEPENDS ON GOD.”

Like the female first-class graduate, when you work as if all depends on you and you pray as if all depends on God, every obstacle will be turned to steppingstone, every limitation will become an opportunity and every closed door will lead to discoveries of many open-doors!

I urge you to apply this God-approved powerful combination today and you will achieve outstanding success in every area of your pursuit. Till I come your way soon, go and live victoriously!