Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin L. Zadai 

God Rewards Those Who Diligently Seek Him

"I  would rather you turn yourself in and yield to the Holy Spirit in your weakness, which expedites angels to work."

~Kevin Zadai

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.
—Hebrews 11:6

DISCUSSION:
The subject of faith is often emphasized. I want to take it a step further and discuss the fact that God rewards people who diligently seek Him. The Holy Spirit wants us to understand this truth. In this day and age, we need to have the mentality that God loves us and wants to reward us for faithfully pursuing Him.

Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith, we cannot please God and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Let's delve further into this truth.

APPROVED BY GOD
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
—John 16:33

Although God loves everyone, there is still sickness and poverty. People are still going to hell. The Lord is very rich in mercy and kindness. He's abundant in healing, deliverance, and provision. God is very wealthy and doesn't have any of these needs that we have down here. Yet we still face trials here in this fallen world.

Jesus loves everyone; however, I saw that He approached me differently than others. The reason is that I had proven myself. When Jesus spoke to me, He said intimate things that would make some people very upset. They would think that God favored me or that I was entitled to something they were not, yet that's not the case. And that's why I don't share everything right away. What I am revealing to you now is that Jesus trusted me because I had proven myself. But you see, in reality, He had proven Himself to me.

o Discuss why Jesus approached Dr. Zadai differently. How does that apply to you?

OBEDIENCE IS LEARNED FROM SUFFERING
Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
—Hebrews 5:8

Jesus approved me because I endured testing. I learned obedience from what I suffered, just like He did. I learned how to respond right in situations, but it wasn't instant; I had to walk it out.

The men and women of God in the Bible had a relationship with God; it wasn't only about position. Abraham didn't walk around saying, "I'm the head honcho. I'm the father of everyone." He did what God told him to do, but that was over a long period of time (Romans 4:16–22). We read the story in a few chapters of the Bible (Genesis 15–18), but Abraham lived a long time. He walked through his times of testing and waited for God's promise for a long time. So approval from God cannot be just positional.

The people that lived in the Old Testament didn't have the new and better covenant we have in the New Testament. God loved Abraham, but it took many years from the time of God's promise to Isaac's birth. Supernatural events took place in his life, yet God's fulfillment did not come immediately.


BREAKTHROUGH OFTEN TAKES TIME
And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah's womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises. And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous.
—Romans 4:19–22 NLT

Going through the Bible, you must realize that some events took many years. Sometimes 5, 10, or 15 years would go by between angel visitations. Miracles and divine visitations didn’t happen every day. On the contrary, many of God's people endured persecution. Sometimes people were thrown in jail and even killed for their faith.

What I feel is missing from messages today is that we must diligently seek God down here. We have to know that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him because He is. However, the reward is not instant. Sometimes it is, but more often, it's not instant. I could only think of a couple of times when God's answer immediately manifested.

IN YOUR WEAKNESS, YIELD TO GOD
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
—2 Corinthians 12:8–9

I participated in the Word of Faith movement, so I studied faith and built mine up, which is part of why I am the way I am. However, it wasn't just by faith that I lived. Another aspect of God's work in my life was His love, mercy, and grace. There were times when I realized that I couldn't go on. My faith was failing, and I couldn't go past a certain point. I needed God to come in and help me. Many who teach on faith come to the place where they need help, too. Other times, they make mistakes and don't operate in faith.

I want you to understand that Jesus wants you to yield to him in your weakness because He can take you further. Many of us are having failures because we're trying to operate in faith. The truth is that you can't try to operate in faith. Either you have it, or you don't. You have no business trying to walk on the water if you don't have faith for it. You have no business throwing your medicine away if you don't have faith. If you don't have faith, take your medicine.

FAITH IS A RELATIONSHIP
What is faith? It's a relationship. Faith is trust. There's a place where you know you're healed. There's a place where you know you're delivered. That is faith. It's a knowing. Until you get there, you'll have to ask for help. You will need help because this is a broken world.

I knew friends who quit their jobs because they wanted to live by faith. After I had to pay their bills and buy them food, they would change their tune. At first, they said, "I'm not going to work." Then all of a sudden, they wanted to know if I needed anything done and let me know they were available to work for me. And I'm thinking, well, you just said that God told you not to work and that you're supposed to believe by faith. That is not relationship; that's attempting to manipulate God into doing something He may or may not want to do.

We should be working with God relationally and seeking Him diligently. Don't try to be a super-person of great faith. I would rather you turn yourself in and yield to the Holy Spirit in your weakness, which expedites angels to work. God is right there to accommodate you, not in your strength, but in your weakness. This truth is not being taught enough.

Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin L. Zadai 

I was told by those who wanted to ordain me that I would have to quit my job because that was faith. We have encountered all types of errors in this generation with certain teachings on faith and that whole movement. I was instructed to go to work, and God prospered me there, as He promised. The Lord told me not to quit my job, so at that time, I disobeyed the people who mentored me. I had to do many things against what I was told because the Spirit led me into all truth.

OBEDIENCE EXPEDITES DESTINY

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

—Deuteronomy 28:1–2

My destiny was being expedited because of my obedience, not because I was trying to prove to God through my works that I believed Him. So I didn't stop working. I didn't stop going to the doctor. I didn't stop paying my taxes. I still pay my taxes, and I am a law-abiding citizen. I take care of my body. I work for a living. And I have done all of this in strict obedience to the Lord; however, people around me said it was due to a lack of faith.

Some people were very upset with me after I left Rhema Bible College. I was rebuked because they couldn't believe that I was returning to my job after I went to school there. But that's what the Lord told me to do. He told me to work for an airline, and I prospered because I was obedient. My destiny was expedited because I diligently sought God. What He spoke to me was different than what the people were saying around me. Some of them were my mentors.

OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MAN

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men."

—Acts 5:29

People are continually telling me instructions contrary to what the Lord tells me. It happens almost every day. Being mindful of our ministry and my marriage with Kathi, I must decide to follow God even if it means disobeying people. This is very painful, yet sometimes we must face these decisions. It happened with Jesus, and it will happen with us. He wants us to trust Him, even if it means going against our friends or mentors. You should always follow the Spirit.

In these days that we live in, there is much deception. Even the best of the best can be deceived (Matthew 24:24). We must be cautious. We must allow the Lord to clean up our lives and tighten loose ends. We must be spiritually aerodynamic to increase our speed and performance.

RELATIONSHIP IS GREATER THAN POSITION

We must discern that not all advancement is positional; in God's kingdom, it's relational. Remember that prosperity, healing, deliverance, and all these benefits given to us in the Scripture, through Jesus Christ, do not come by position alone. They come by relationship. They may come to you whether or not you have faith for them. Why? Because relationship is greater than position.

Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

—Matthew 7:21–23

Jesus said that many would come to Him on that day claiming to have cast out demons and healed the sick in His name, and He will tell them to depart from Him. He will say, "I never knew you, workers of iniquity." Well, you know that you couldn't cast out demons in the name of Jesus unless you're a believer. Yet He said that they did these things but didn't know Him—and He didn't know them. This indicates that they did not have relationship with Jesus; they were using Him. This is not being preached.

I met Jesus. He is relational, not just positional.

• God promises to reward you for diligently seeking Him. That doesn't sound positional to me.

• A positional perspective says, "Well, I already got it. God said it. I believe it. That settles it."

• Many false beliefs circulating throughout the church came from that positional angle.

• What about relationship? Try telling God, "I can't go on. I need help today. I need my bills paid today."

• Turn yourself in and diligently seek Him, even though He knows all your needs.

• We must cultivate relationship with the Lord.

I come to Jesus knowing that He already knows me. I come to the Father in Jesus's name and request what He wants. He wants me to go to Him in a relationship and not be presumptuous by assuming. Let's bring it back into balance here at the end of this age. Let's return to the truth: Jesus considers us friends, co-heirs, brothers, and sisters. We need to get back to that understanding.

PRAYER:

Father, I thank You that in the name of Jesus, You are freeing my family all over the world. Every demon must shut up and leave them now. In Jesus's name, I break poverty and sickness. I command doubt to go. Lord, I ask that You flood everyone with Your love right now. Father, cause revelation to flow in Jesus's name. Amen.

1. Discuss the fact that the great men and women of God of the Bible had relationship with Him, not just position. Why is relationship greater than position?

2. Discuss how our obedience to God expedites destiny. How does relationship with God affect one's view of obedience?

3. Why is it important to understand that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, according to Hebrew 11:6? How does this truth inspire you?

4. Discuss the deception of those in Matthew 7:21–23 to whom Jesus told to depart from Him. How do we guard ourselves against deception?

5. What does Dr. Zadai mean by "turning yourself to God?" How does this cultivate relationship with Him?