THE PILGRIMS GUIDE SATURDAY APRIL 4, 2026 THE POWER OF PRAYER AND GODLY INTERCESSION A WORD FROM THE WORD: "Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’" 1Kings 1:33-34 NKJV. David as an old man, was no longer active as he used to be. Adonijah his son seized the occasion to take over the throne and he got followers behind him. Adonijah probably felt that since the heir apparent to the throne - Amnon had died and the next in line too - Absalom was dead, the privilege of being the next king naturally fell on him according to tradition, and since the king was out of shape, he couldn't continue to wait endlessly. This also follows that, it could be a possible reason that Joab, and some other faithful men of David aligned with him. Having been alerted by Nathan, the seer, about the ongoing strategic royal succession intrigues in the palace, Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon agreed with the seer to go see King David and remind him of his earlier promise to have Solomon succeed him as king; but that Bathsheba would go in first, followed by Nathan, the seer. This intervention, got David to instruct the harnessing of his mule, and had Solomon rode on it around Gihon and installed him as king in his stead and thus frustrated the travesty of Adonijah. The lesson here is that you should never be afraid to take your matters to God in prayers even when it seems you have lost the battle. You cannot decide that it is over unless you have heard from God. You are God's special child that should ride on His mule to showcase your kingship and priesthood. If Bathsheba had kept quiet, Solomon would have lost out on his inheritance. Thank goodness for the gift of men like Nathan who encouraged her not to give up on having King David fulfil his promise to make Solomon king in his place. Adonijah conceded to his loss that day and he didn't make a fuss about it. He knew he had no right or power to challenge the King's decision and doing such at that time would amount to foolishness and possible death. PRAYER BULLETS: ABBA Father, thank You for Your loving kindness to me. May I never, out of fear or discouragement cease to come to You with my needs. May I find Your favour of riding on Your mule to showcase my kingship and priesthood. FURTHER READING: James 5:16; Esther 4:14-16; Psalm 2:6-7; Proverbs 21:1; 1 Peter 2:9-10. _________________________________________ ©️ Amaobi Nwachukwu 2026. If you're blessed by this, please, do share with others. And if you'll like to partner with us, kindly check page 3 of our hard copy edition or better still send us a WhatsApp message or call on +234 8098421967. #ThePilgrimsGuide.