How to Unlock Heavenly Favor Over Your Life
Lord, how wonderfully you bless the righteous. Your favor wraps around each one and covers them under your canopy of kindness and joy (Psalm 5:12 TPT).
I remember the day when things turned and I began to have tremendous favor in my life. It was the day that the tables turned against my enemy and I no longer lived as a victim. This change must happen in every believer’s life, and the sooner it happens the better. I can tell you where I was standing when I was touched by the Holy Spirit with revelation and saw that I was no longer a victim but that my enemy was now the victim!
It all began one morning several years ago, as I woke up. I remember sensing in my spirit that things had changed. It was as if I knew I had the advantage over satan. I realized that my spirit had been built up by the Word of God and by praying in tongues, which had overthrown certain areas in my life. It seemed as though it literally happened overnight. I was overwhelmed with the feeling that everything now had been rigged in my favor.
As I stood by my bed, I began to address the enemy, instructing him with accuracy and confidence what he was to do and not do. It was as if I was staring my enemy down, knowing that he had to back off and was afraid of me. From that day on, I knew that I was to never back off from what I know concerning my position in Jesus Christ. As the months followed after this encounter, I started to see increased favor taking over my life. I was no longer a victim but was highly favored by God, and I knew it.
I could sense a greater authority in my words as I spoke and walked with God. It was all part of the favor of God taking over my life. It has gotten to the place where I see my prayers answered without even uttering them. It’s as if God reads and hears my heart without words. I started to encounter the glory of God in my meditation and prayer times. As the glory became stronger, I even started to see physical changes in my house for the better. Every single area of my life started to increase with favor as the glory of God began to be revealed.
Evil spirits will eventually realize that they are pushing you into the glory of the Father. The evil spirits recognize that it is counterproductive for them to continue to harass a Christian who is no longer a victim in their mind. I began to treat evil spirits as victims and harass them. The Lord began to work with me, confirming His Word with signs and wonders following (see Mark 16:20). I remember thinking how so many of my friends and acquaintances needed this same type of encounter to occur in their own lives.
Does God have favorites? Well, I do know this; He has a way of making each one of His children feel as though they are His only favorite child. I remember spending time with Jesus in 1992 when He appeared to me. I recall His love for me and how He believed in me more than any other person I knew. As I looked into His eyes, I was captured by His love for me. Up until that time, I didn’t know how extreme His passion is for each one us. He had bought me, and I was worth the price! By the time He was done revealing His plans for me and explaining how much He believed in me, I was convinced that I was His favorite! He has this way of making all His children who love and obey Him experience this. I had become irresistible to Him before I was even born, and He had written about me in a book. This revelation overwhelmed me, and I came back to this earth fully convinced that I was His favorite and could not fail. My assignment now is to convince others that it is the same in their life as well.
Our loving heavenly Father reveals ways for us to increase in the area of favor in our life. There are some things that we can do to encounter overwhelming favor. But first, I want to lay a foundation through a couple of word studies concerning what the Lord showed me about it’s all rigged in your favor!
What Is Favor?
Favor is mentioned many times in the Word of God. In the King James Version of the Bible, the word favour appears 70 times. We can see that when God decides to pay attention to a specific individual or people group favorably, there are several events that occur with characteristics that include honor, success, prosperity, forgiveness, and close friendship with special privileges and benefits. To have favor with God means that you have become a friend. This is not just positional, but it is the relational side of salvation through Jesus Christ. There is a difference between what Jesus has done for us positionally (through His redemptive actions as a man who became a sacrifice) and relationally, which is our response to the work of God through Jesus and how we walk out that reality on the earth as history makers.
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines favor as:
To regard with kindness; to support; to aid or have the disposition to aid, or to wish success to; to be propitious to; to countenance; to befriend; to encourage. To favor the cause of a party, may be merely to wish success to it, or it may signify to give it aid, by counsel, or by active exertions.
To truly have favor with someone is when it gets to the point where their kindness goes beyond just wishing for success. It is the action of befriending you and giving you counsel and taking up your case. When you have won over the favor of God, you cannot ever pay Him back. He will make sure that everything goes according to His will for you, and you will be overcome with His goodness.
When a friend “wishes you well,” you consider them to be a kind person. But a friend who wishes you wellness and success and has the ability to do something about it is beyond your ability to comprehend.
In Strong’s Dictionary, favor (H7521) is defined as follows:
רָצָה râṣâ; a primitive root; to be pleased with; specifically, to satisfy a debt:—(be) accept(-able), accomplish, set affection, approve, consent with, delight (self), enjoy, (be, have a) favour(-able), like, observe, pardon, (be, have, take) please(-ure), reconcile self.
1. to be pleased with
2. be favourable to
3. accept favourably
(Qal) to be pleased with, be favourable to, to accept, to be pleased, be determined, to make acceptable, satisfy, to please
(Niphal) to be accepted, be pleased with
(Piel) to seek favour of
(Hiphil) to please, pay off
(Hithpael) to make oneself acceptable or pleasing
The idea behind the Strong’s definitions is the concept of debt forgiveness and pardon. So, to win God’s favor is to be completely overcome with goodness because you have gained the heart of God. Favor is not earned; we must learn to receive it. God can favor us to the point where we are acceptable and pleasing to Him. The Lord Himself pardons us and pays our debts so that we can live in freedom.
Next, I want to discuss the word rigged. I remember when the Lord gave me this phrase concerning favor. He said, “It’s all rigged in your favor, Kevin!” Here is the definition of rigged from the Urban Dictionary:
The word rigged is used to describe situations where unfair advantages are given to one side of a conflict.
Describes the side of the conflict that holds an unfair advantage.
To have things in your favor, everything is going great, to say something of reference is cool and or awesome, an exclamation of excitement or enthusiasm.
This is exciting news to the child of God—the Lord has given you an unfair advantage! This life has been rigged in your favor. Your heavenly Father has announced that you are adopted into the family of God (see Rom. 8:15).
After receiving this phrase from the Lord, I began to see how God’s children have such potential to gain favor if we agree to walk in obedience according to His Word and His Spirit. This requires a heartfelt trust known as faith. The writer of the book of Hebrews discusses this at length. Remember, we have a choice to believe and enter into God’s favor. We can grieve our heavenly Father through doubt, unbelief, and disobedience:
They grieved God for forty years by sinning in their unbelief, until they dropped dead in the desert. So God swore an oath that they would never enter into his calming place of rest all because they disobeyed him. It is clear that they could not enter into their inheritance because they wrapped their hearts in unbelief.
Now God has offered to us the same promise of entering into his realm of resting in confident faith. So we must be extremely careful to ensure that we all embrace the fullness of that promise and not fail to experience it. For we have heard the good news of deliverance just as they did, yet they didn’t join their faith with the Word. Instead, what they heard didn’t affect them deeply, for they doubted. For those of us who believe, faith activates the promise and we experience the realm of confident rest! For he has said, “I was grieved with them and made a solemn oath, ‘They will never enter into the calming rest of my Spirit’” (Hebrews 3:17–4:3 TPT).
As an adopted child of Almighty God, your life in the Father’s Kingdom is rigged in your favor!
God loves to observe certain character traits in His children. The book of Hebrews talks about one particular trait that we can exhibit that will please God if we develop it. The character trait is our faith and diligence in seeking Him, and that gets His attention.
Faith lifted Enoch from this life and he was taken up into heaven! He never had to experience death; he just disappeared from this world because God promoted him. For before he was translated to the heavenly realm his life had become a pleasure to God. And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who give all their passion and strength into seeking him (Hebrews 11:5-6 TPT).
Think about Enoch and his circumstances. He did not have the same covenant that we have today through Jesus Christ. He did, however, develop an intimate relationship with God that caused extreme favor to come into his life. His faith caused the God of the universe to take notice of him. Enoch obtained favor because he pleased God.
The idea here is to passionately pursue God, knowing that He rewards those who seek Him out diligently with all the spiritual strength that they can exert. You know God is pleased when He takes someone from this earthly realm and translates them to the heavenly realm without experiencing death. God could not stand to be without Enoch because God experienced pleasure in the relationship. The faith that Enoch had developed by trusting God became irresistible to Heaven!
Today, God has redeemed people who have confessed Jesus as their Savior. Out of those redeemed people, God favors those who have implemented the promises by faith and become partakers of the divine nature.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:2-4).
God is waiting for our commitment to what He has said and provided. The Lord waits for our trust in Him to be expressed through our lives. James 2:17-18 says, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Faith must manifest because it is important to God that an individual’s response be one of trust in a relationship. He rewards people with favor when they have faith. This favor seems unfair to others who have not responded properly and are merely spectators instead.
When we verbally thank God and act on what He has done for us through Jesus, He will manifest in our lives in an even greater way. God has a personality, and He loves it when we have implemented the promises of our heavenly Father by faith. Our Father trusts us, and then favor comes that is beyond explanation! God will reward you when you diligently and passionately seek Him daily.
We also need God to show us favor and restore to us what the enemy has stolen. God wants to rescue us if we will only ask and respond in faith. The psalmist said:
Please, Lord! Come quickly and rescue me! Take pleasure in showing me your favor and restore me (Psalm 40:13 TPT).
God has sent Jesus Christ to this earth to redeem us and to display how a Son is to interact with His heavenly Father in two realms. Jesus was the perfect Son and exhibited the traits that we, as redeemed children of the Father, should have in this life. Remember that as Jesus was in this world, so are we (see 1 John 4:17).
Jesus used the authority that the Father gave Him while on the earth. By using the authority of Heaven, He was able to take back what the devil had stolen. Jesus eventually bought back humanity for His Father. The devil has been losing assets ever since because the Holy Spirit is continuing the ministry of Jesus through God’s children.
We must passionately seek God and know that He will reward us. I know it is time to enter into the favor of the Lord. Reach out and take what has been given to you in the name of Jesus.
But those who embraced him and took hold of his name were given authority to become the children of God! (John 1:12 TPT)
Angelic Favor
You have to remember that because our heavenly Father favors us, and because we live by faith and seek Him passionately, as a result God’s messengers, the angels, will also know our status and minister to us as “highly favored ones.” In Luke 1:28, the virgin Mary had this exact situation occur. “And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’”
The angels know what the heart of God is for your life, and they are on standby to implement favor in response to your faith and obedience to what the Lord has said. Jesus even warned us not to do any harm to children because their angels have access to Father God. “Be careful that you not corrupt one of these little ones. For I can assure you that in heaven each of their angelic guardians have instant access to my heavenly Father” (Matt. 18:10 TPT).
We are still God’s highly favored children as we passionately seek Him as adults. We have not outgrown our angels as they continue to report to Father God concerning our life in this earth realm.
Favor for Obedience
When you chose to obey the Word of God in any situation, there is a reward to be given by the Lord as a result of your obedience. It is exciting to encounter favor as a result of doing the works of Jesus. Isaiah shed some light into what God thinks are important actions concerning ministry to others:
Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, “Here I am.” If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:6-11).
One way to encounter favor, according to Isaiah, is that we must do what is right concerning those who are in need. If we break the chains of bondage, unload burdens, set people free in the name of Jesus and break yokes, then we will have favor beyond our own comprehension.
The Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, continues in this portion of Scripture to tell us that if we will also feed, clothe, and not hide ourselves from people who are in need, that breakthrough favor will come!
Breakthrough Favor
Breakthrough favor occurs when you have acted upon what is on God’s heart concerning His revealed will in a situation. He responds with overwhelming favor and deliverance on your behalf. God rewards Christians who diligently seek Him and fulfill His heart’s desires for others.
Here is a list of the rewards that are from the Lord:
Your light shall break forth like the morning.
Your healing shall spring forth speedily.
Your righteousness shall go before you.
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
You shall call, and the Lord will answer.
You shall cry, and He will say, “Here I am.”
Your light shall dawn in the darkness.
Your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually.
The Lord will satisfy your soul in drought.
The Lord will strengthen your bones.
You shall be like a watered garden.
You shall be a spring of water that does not fail.
We can see that God can set you in a place where you will not fail because of breakthrough favor. We need to find out what God’s heart is and passionately and relentlessly pursue His pleasure! Jesus was just as strong in His belief that it is rigged in your favor in the following passage:
Then Jesus gave this illustration: “Imagine what would happen if you were to go to one of your friends in the middle of the night and pound on his door and shout, ‘Please! Do you have some food you can spare? A friend just arrived at my house unexpectedly and I have nothing to serve him.’ But your friend says, ‘Why are you bothering me? The door’s locked and my family and I are all in bed. Do you expect me to get up and give you our food?’ But listen—because of your shameless impudence, even though it’s the middle of the night, your friend will get up out of his bed and give you all that you need. So it is with your prayers. Ask and you’ll receive. Seek and you’ll discover. Knock on heaven’s door, and it will one day open for you. Every persistent person will get what he asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he needs. And everyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door” (Luke 11:5-10 TPT).
Jesus further shows us the reward system and the spoils of breakthrough in His revelation to the apostle John. Jesus proclaims:
“I am the Aleph and the Tav,” says the Lord God, “who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8 TPT).
He has everything under His authority if we will allow Him to rule and reign in our lives. He speaks His heart to the seven churches in Revelation 3:13 and then says, “So the one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is now saying to all the churches” (TPT).
There are rewards and favor offered by Jesus Messiah to each of the churches if they will receive His counsel. He is proclaiming that He will show favor to those who obey what the Spirit is saying and who are passionately seeking Him. They will overcome!
Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea (Revelation 1:11 TPT).
1. Ephesus
To the one who overcomes I will give access to feast on the fruit of the Tree of Life that is found in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7 TPT).
2. Smyrna
The one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is presently saying to all the churches. The one who conquers will not be harmed by the second death (Revelation 2:11 TPT).
3. Pergamum
But the one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is presently saying to all the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will let him feast on the hidden manna and give him a shining white stone. And written upon the white stone is inscribed his new name, known only to the one who receives it (Revelation 2:17 TPT).
4. Thyatira
To everyone who is victorious and continues to do my works to the very end I will give you authority over the nations to shepherd them with a royal scepter. And the rebellious will be shattered as clay pots—even as I also received authority from the presence of my Father. I will give the morning star to the one who experiences victory (Revelation 2:26-28 TPT).
5. Sardis
Yet there are still a few in Sardis who have remained pure, and they will walk in fellowship with me in brilliant light, for they are worthy. And the one who experiences victory will be dressed in white robes and I will never, no never erase your name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge your name before my Father and his angels (Revelation 3:4-5 TPT).
6. Philadelphia
But I come swiftly, so cling tightly to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown of victory. For the one who is victorious, I will make you to be a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, permanently secure. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the New Jerusalem, descending from my God out of heaven. And I’ll write my own name on you (Revelation 3:11-12 TPT).
7. Laodicea
Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me. And to the one who conquers I will give the privilege of sitting with me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. The one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying now to the churches (Revelation 3:20-22 TPT).
Seasons of Favor
When you decide to seek God with all your heart, He will be found. God does not hide His face from His children for very long. There is a season to seek Him, and there is a season when you find Him. We have been assured that we will find Him when we seek Him with all our hearts. “But if from there you will seek (inquire for and require as necessity) the Lord your God, you will find Him if you [truly] seek Him with all your heart [and mind] and soul and life” (Deut. 4:29 AMPC). Again in the new covenant, Jesus assures us, without exception, “Ask, and the gift is yours. Seek, and you’ll discover. Knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matt. 7:7 TPT).
Once a believer is fully convinced of the power of God concerning the blood covenant in their circumstance, they will call out with such boldness and conviction and receive the promises that are given. God is into favoring those who call out to Him. He wants to promote people just as He promoted Enoch: “he just disappeared from this world because God promoted him” (Heb. 11:5 TPT).
What about you? Are you willing to abandon your plans and trust God to implement His plans for your life that were written so that you cannot lose? Enoch knew he could not lose because his trust in God became so strong. He continually called out to God for help and became a great prophet of the Lord (see Jude 14).
There is a season of favor upon us right now that will continually cause us to be overcome by God’s goodness if we will yield to the move of God’s Spirit.
But I keep calling out to you, Yahweh! I know you will bend down to listen to me, for now is the season of favor. Because of your faithful love for me, your answer to my prayer will be my sure salvation (Psalm 69:13 TPT).
Be encouraged by the truth that you are God’s adopted and favored child (see Rom. 8:15) and nothing will be withheld from those who passionately seek Him and fear Him. Psalm 147:11 says, “The Lord shows favor to those who fear him, to his godly lovers who wait for his tender embrace” (TPT).
I prophesy this word to you now. It is your season for favor, and I smell the rain beginning to fall. I announce, “breakthrough favor now,” in the mighty name of Jesus. It’s all rigged in your favor!
Your favor will fall like rain upon our surrendered lives, like showers reviving the earth (Psalm 72:6 TPT).
Kevin Zadai
