Evangelist Joshua Orekhie Ministries

EJOM DAILY DEVOTIONAL:

Sunday, October 11, 2026

TOPIC: LEARN FROM YOUR EXPERIENCES

OPENING SCRIPTURES

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:71)

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.” (Romans 5:3–4)

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11)

MEMORY VERSE

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

PRAISE AND WORSHIP

Sing any of your favourite songs.

Learn From Your Experiences – EJOM DAILY DEVOTIONAL: October 11, 2026

Beloved, life is a journey filled with experiences. Some experiences bring joy and celebration, while others bring disappointment, pain, embarrassment, regret, and hard lessons.

But one of the greatest mistakes you can make is to pass through a difficult experience and come out on the other side without learning anything from it.

Many people say, “Experience is the best teacher.” But experience is not automatically the best teacher. Experience only becomes valuable when you are willing to learn from it.

Two people can go through the same situation; one comes out wiser, and the other comes out the same. The difference is not the experience itself, but what each person allowed the experience to teach them. “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning” (Proverbs 1:5).

Some people have suffered the same disappointment again and again because they refuse to examine what went wrong. They keep entering unhealthy relationships. They keep making careless financial decisions. They keep trusting people without proper investigation.

They keep ignoring genuine warning signs. Then, when the consequences appear, they complain about their circumstances, blame the devil, blame their village, or blame other people, but they never change their own approach.

Beloved, if you continue making the same decisions, you should not be surprised when you keep getting the same results. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

Experience alone does not produce wisdom. Pain only becomes profitable when you examine it, understand its lesson, and make the necessary adjustments. So when something goes wrong, sit down before God and ask yourself some honest questions.

What actually happened? What warning signs did I overlook? What role did I play in this? What should I change? What is God telling me in this situation? And what should I never repeat?

The psalmist said, “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies” (Psalm 119:59). Thinking about your ways is the first step to turning your feet in the right direction.

David learned from his experience with the lion and the bear. As a young shepherd, he faced those wild animals in the wilderness when nobody was watching, and God gave him victory.

So when Goliath appeared and everyone else was afraid, David remembered how God had delivered him before. He told King Saul, “The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37).

His private victories became evidence that God could give him a public victory. In the same way, your past victories should strengthen your faith. Remember the prayers God answered. Remember the doors He opened for you. Remember the dangers He rescued you from.

Also remember the times you thought it was over, but God made a way. When a new challenge arises, encourage yourself with the testimony of God’s faithfulness. The God who helped you before has not changed. “For I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). You must also learn from your past mistakes. Peter boasted that he would never deny Jesus, but on the night of the trial, he denied Him three times.

When the rooster crowed and Jesus looked at him, “Peter went out, and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). But his failure was not the end of his calling. He repented, and after the resurrection, Jesus restored him by the sea and told him to feed His sheep.

On the day of Pentecost, the same Peter who once denied Jesus before a servant girl stood boldly before thousands and preached the same Jesus. When you learn from failure, it can become a turning point instead of a permanent identity.

Perhaps you trusted the wrong person. Perhaps you entered an unwise relationship, wasted an opportunity, mismanaged money, or made a major decision without seeking God.

Beloved, condemning yourself day and night will not repair the past. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Instead, accept responsibility for your part, receive God’s forgiveness, make right whatever you can, and allow the experience to make you wiser. “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16). The goal is not just to rise, but to rise wiser.

Maybe your marriage or relationship has experienced repeated conflict. Ask yourself honestly whether your communication, your attitude, your expectations, or your unwillingness to listen contributed to the problem.

Many conflicts would end quickly if each person asked, “What part did I play?” instead of only asking, “What did the other person do?” Learning from an experience does not mean you should blame others for your mistakes but rather you should accept that you are the cause of everything.

Until you admit you are the cause, your joy will depend on other people’s joy. Some people even refuse to learn from their spiritual mistakes. They ignore godly counsel, abandon spiritual discipline, and keep returning to habits they promised God they would leave behind.

They cry at the altar on Sunday and go back to the same sin on Monday. Peter described this sad pattern: “The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:22).

Beloved, do not keep praying for a different outcome while refusing to change the behaviour that contributed to your previous problems. At the same time, not every painful experience was sent by God.

The Bible says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God” (James 1:13), and Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).

Some pain comes from the enemy, some from our own choices, some from other people’s choices, and some simply from living in a fallen world. And suffering does not automatically make a person wiser; some people come out of pain bitter rather than better.

What matters is how you respond, what you learn, and the changes you make afterward. The good news is that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). God can bring good even out of what He did not send.

Beloved, do not allow your past to become a prison. Your previous mistakes should not define your future. You can repent, improve, rebuild, and make wiser decisions.

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23). The greatest tragedy is not making a mistake; it is refusing to learn when the mistake has already taught you a valuable lesson.

Learn to evaluate your progress regularly. At the end of each week or month, sit down and examine how you used your time, your money, your opportunities, and your relationships. Ask yourself, “Where am I improving, and where am I still struggling?”

“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds” (Proverbs 27:23). “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Honest evaluation will help you identify your weaknesses before they become expensive problems.

Keep a record of important lessons. Write down the ideas, corrections, instructions, and revelations God gives you. Human memory can fail, but written lessons can be reviewed.

“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it” (Habakkuk 2:2). What you record today may provide direction when you face a similar situation tomorrow. Some of the greatest lessons people learned in pain were forgotten because they were never written down.

Work on your communication. A good intention can be misunderstood when it is communicated carelessly. Learn how to express yourself clearly, respectfully, and at the appropriate time. Your tone, your choice of words, and even your body language can affect the way people receive your message.

“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19). Some relationships have been damaged because people assumed that others understood what they never explained.

Others were damaged because the truth was spoken harshly. Speak honestly, but speak with grace. “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6). Truth should be spoken “in love” (Ephesians 4:15), in a way that corrects, heals, and builds.

Work on your ability to accept responsibility. Constantly blaming your family, your environment, the government, your employer, your spouse, or your enemies will keep you powerless. Other people may have contributed to your difficulties, and some of those things are real.

But you must identify the part you can change. “For every man shall bear his own burden” (Galatians 6:5). Responsibility is not self condemnation; it is the doorway to power. Once you accept the part that is yours, you are in a position to make better decisions.

Learn from people who are different from you. Some of the best lessons come from people who see the world differently, have different strengths, or have walked roads you have not walked.

Do not surround yourself only with people who think exactly like you. “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17).

Beloved, examine the people around you. Build relationships with people who challenge you to pray, think, learn, and take responsibility. Your friends should not only comfort you when you fail; they should also lovingly confront the attitudes that are contributing to your failure.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6). Choose people who will celebrate your progress without encouraging your pride.

Finally, allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the areas you cannot see by yourself. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

It is easy to recognise the weaknesses of others while remaining blind to our own. Jesus spoke of the man who sees the speck in his brother’s eye but not the beam in his own (Matthew 7:3).

Pray as David prayed: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24).

Beloved, becoming better is not a competition with another person. Paul warned that those who compare themselves among themselves “are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12).

Instead, “let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another” (Galatians 6:4). Your goal is to become more like Christ and more effective in the assignment God has given you.

Compare your present life with where you were yesterday. Recognise your progress, thank God for it, and remain committed to growth. Even Paul said, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after” (Philippians 3:12).

Learn also from the patterns in your life. If the same kind of problem keeps returning, look carefully at the decisions and attitudes that usually come before it. Perhaps you say yes when your spirit is saying no. Identifying the pattern is the beginning of breaking it.

And where a pattern seems to run deeper than your choices, bring it before God in prayer as well, and ask Him to break every cycle and give you a new direction. Both prayer and wisdom are needed.

You should also learn from your successes. When things go well, do not just celebrate and move on. Ask what contributed to the good result. Was it prayer? Was it preparation, discipline, or patience? Was it wise counsel or the help of faithful people?

Give God the glory first, appreciate those who supported you, and preserve the habits that produced the progress. Many people lose their success because they abandon the very habits that brought it.

Success becomes dangerous when it creates pride and makes a person feel that he no longer needs God. Moses warned Israel, “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17–18).

However, your experiences must remain under the authority of Scripture. A painful experience may tempt you to believe that everybody is untrustworthy, that all men are the same, that all women are the same, or that all pastors are fake.

But such conclusions are neither wise nor biblical. One betrayal should not make you reject every sincere relationship. One failure should not convince you that you can never succeed.

One unanswered prayer should not make you stop praying. Let the Word of God interpret your experiences, and do not let your experiences rewrite the Word of God.

And remember, you do not have to learn every lesson through your own pain. You can learn from the Word of God and from the experiences of others. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3). It is far cheaper to learn from someone else’s mistake than to repeat it yourself.

Beloved, you cannot change what happened yesterday, but you can decide what yesterday will produce in you. Let your experiences give you wisdom, compassion, maturity, and a deeper dependence on God.

Joseph went through the pit and the prison, but he came out saying, “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Genesis 41:52). Take the lesson, release the pain, and move forward.

“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark” (Philippians 3:13–14). Your past may be part of your story, but it does not have the authority to imprison your future.

Beloved, there is a difference between experiencing what God does and learning how God works. The psalmist said, “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel” (Psalm 103:7).

The children of Israel saw the acts of God: the plagues, the Red Sea, the manna, and the water from the rock. But Moses learned the ways of God: His character, His patterns, His timing, and His heart.

Many people only collect miracles and testimonies, but they never learn the lessons behind them. That is why they keep panicking in every new crisis.

Ask God not only to show you His acts, but to teach you His ways, so that your experiences will build understanding and not just memories.

Learn also from the correction of God. Sometimes the hard experiences in our lives are God’s loving discipline to bring us back to the right path.

“My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:5–6).

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11).

Notice the words “exercised thereby.” The fruit of discipline comes only to those who allow it to train them. If you resent every correction, you will miss its fruit.

Learn from criticism, even when it is uncomfortable. Not every criticism is correct, but many contain a lesson. “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser” (Proverbs 9:8–9).

“The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise” (Proverbs 15:31). When someone corrects you, do not immediately defend yourself. Pray about it, examine it honestly, keep what is true, and let God deal with the rest.

Be humble enough to learn from anyone God sends, even people you consider below you. Moses was the great leader of Israel, yet he learned a vital lesson from his father in law Jethro.

Jethro watched Moses sitting from morning to evening judging the people alone, and he said, “The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee” (Exodus 18:17–18).

Jethro advised him to appoint capable men to share the load. “So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said” (Exodus 18:24).

The great man of God was humble enough to receive practical wisdom. When Naaman was angry and about to go home with his leprosy, it was his servants who reasoned with him and saved him (2 Kings 5:13).

Young Elihu said, “Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment” (Job 32:9). Wisdom can come through unexpected people, if you are humble enough to listen.

Turn your lessons into practical guardrails. It is not enough to say, “I have learned my lesson.” Put boundaries in place that will protect you from repeating the mistake. Job said, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1).

He set a guard in advance. If you learned that late night chats led you into temptation, set a time when your phone goes off. If you learned that borrowing without a plan put you in debt, set a rule not to borrow without a clear repayment plan.

If you learned that rushing into decisions brought regret, set a rule to pray and wait before major commitments. Lessons that are not turned into habits are easily forgotten.

Learn from the history of your family too. Some patterns run through families: anger, broken marriages, debt, addiction, idolatry, or certain kinds of failure. When Nehemiah prayed for Jerusalem, he said, “both I and my father’s house have sinned” (Nehemiah 1:6).

He did not pretend that his family history was perfect. He acknowledged it before God and asked for mercy. Look at the patterns in your family line. Bring them to God in prayer, and also make wise practical choices that break them. You can be the generation where the cycle ends.

But be careful not to overcorrect. Some people learn from one painful experience and become so fearful that they never try again. They were betrayed once, so they never trust anyone. They lost money once, so they never invest again.

They were hurt in church once, so they stop fellowshipping. The Bible warns, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

If you wait for perfect conditions because of past fear, you will never sow and never reap. The goal of learning is wisdom, not fear. Let your experiences make you careful, but not afraid to live, love, give, and try again with God’s guidance.

Beloved, pass your lessons on. What God has taught you is not only for you. Paul told Timothy, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

Teach your children what you learned. Mentor younger people. Share your testimony. “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:2).

Someone else may avoid years of pain because you were willing to share what your experience taught you.

And above all, look unto Jesus. When you are weary of learning, correcting, and starting again, “consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3).

Every lesson God allows you to learn is part of His purpose to make you more like His Son. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).

Your experiences are tools in the hands of a loving Father who is shaping you into the image of Christ. So let every experience push you closer to God, deeper in wisdom, stronger in character, and more useful in His kingdom.

Do not waste your pain, do not forget your victories, and do not repeat what God has already corrected. Learn, grow, and go forward.

Let us pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for every experience of my life, the joyful ones and the painful ones. Forgive me for every time I passed through a lesson without learning it. Open my eyes to see what went wrong, what warning signs I ignored, and what part I played.

Keep me humble in success and dependent on You at every level. Let Your Word interpret every experience in my life. Help me to take the lesson, release the pain, and press forward into the future You have prepared for me, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

WISDOM FOR TODAY

Experience is a school where the fees are often high. Do not pay the fees and leave without the lesson.

PERSONAL CHALLENGE

Today, take a notebook and write down three significant experiences from your life: one victory, one mistake, and one painful season. Under each, write what you learned and what God was teaching you. Then write one or 3 changes you will make in your life because of each lesson. Finally, set up your own “memorial stone” by writing a short testimony of God’s faithfulness and sharing it with someone this week.

EVANGELISM CHALLENGE

Share your story with someone who is going through what you once went through. Tell them how God helped you and what you learned. Let your experience become a bridge to lead them to Jesus, the One who brought you through.

FURTHER STUDY

Psalm 119:65–72; Romans 5:1–5; 1 Corinthians 10:1–13; Proverbs 24:30–34; Exodus 8:8–15; Genesis 12:10–20; Genesis 20:1–7; Judges 2:16–19; Daniel 5:18–30; Mark 8:14–21; Exodus 2:11–15; Luke 22:31–34; 1 Samuel 17:32–37; Joshua 4:1–7; 1 Samuel 7:7–12; Genesis 41:50–52; Philippians 4:10–13; 2 Corinthians 1:3–7; Philippians 3:12–14

PRAYER ASSIGNMENT (MORNING)

1. Father, I thank You for every experience You have brought me through, both good and painful.

2. Lord, thank You because nothing I have passed through will be wasted in Your hands.

3. Lord, teach me to number my days, that I may apply my heart unto wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

4. Lord, open my eyes to see the lessons in every experience of my life.

5. Lord, like Solomon, help me to see, consider, and receive instruction (Proverbs 24:32).

6. Father, forgive me for every lesson I refused to learn.

7. Lord, forgive me for every mistake I have repeated because I did not pay attention.

8. Every spirit of Pharaoh that hardens the heart after relief, be cast out of my life, in the name of Jesus (Exodus 8:15).

9. Every cycle of repeated failure in my life, be broken by the power of God, in the name of Jesus (Judges 2:19).

10.  Lord, deliver me from going round the same mountain of pain.

11. Every pattern of trusting the wrong people repeatedly, be broken, in the name of Jesus.

12. Every pattern of entering wrong relationships again and again, be broken, in the name of Jesus.

13. Every pattern of financial loss repeating in my life, be broken, in the name of Jesus.

14. Lord, let me not be like Belshazzar, who knew the lesson but did not humble his heart (Daniel 5:22).

15. Lord, soften my heart to receive correction (Jeremiah 5:3).

16. Lord, help me to love instruction and not hate reproof (Proverbs 12:1).

17. Lord, as You used my affliction to bring me back to Your Word, let every pain in my life draw me closer to You (Psalm 119:67, 71).

18. Lord, as Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered, let me learn obedience through every challenge (Hebrews 5:8).

19. Lord, help me to remember all the way You have led me (Deuteronomy 8:2).

20. Lord, let me not have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear; help me to remember Your miracles (Mark 8:18).

21. Lord, let me learn from the Scriptures, which were written for my learning (Romans 15:4).

22. Lord, let me learn from the examples in Your Word, so I do not repeat the mistakes of others (1 Corinthians 10:11).

23. Lord, help me to remember Lot’s wife and never look back to what You have delivered me from (Luke 17:32).

24. Lord, help me to forget those things which are behind and press toward the mark (Philippians 3:13–14).

25. Lord, do a new thing in my life, and let it spring forth (Isaiah 43:19).

26. Father, I thank You because You are teaching me and leading me in the way I should go, in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

PRAYER ASSIGNMENT (NIGHT)

1. Father, I thank You for every lesson You taught me today.

2. Lord, thank You for keeping me through every experience of this day.

3. Lord, show me what I should learn from everything that happened today.

4. Lord, forgive me for every mistake I made today.

5. Lord, give me grace not to repeat today’s mistakes tomorrow.

6. Every evil cycle the enemy is trying to repeat in my life, be broken tonight, in the name of Jesus.

7. Every satanic programme designed to make me fall into the same trap again, be frustrated, in the name of Jesus.

8. Every evil dream that takes me back to past failures, be cancelled by the blood of Jesus.

9. Every evil dream that replays past pain to torment me, be cancelled, in the name of Jesus.

10. Every spirit of condemnation using my past mistakes against me, be silenced, in the name of Jesus (Romans 8:1).

11. Every fear rooted in past bad experiences, be uprooted by the power of God, in the name of Jesus.

12. Every bitterness rooted in past betrayals, be healed by the love of God, in the name of Jesus.

13. Lord, heal every wound from my past that is still affecting my present.

14. Lord, let me not be imprisoned by my past, but let me be instructed by it.

15. Every power holding me in the memory of past shame, release me tonight, in the name of Jesus.

16. Lord, as You made Joseph forget his toil, let every painful memory lose its power over me (Genesis 41:51).

17. Lord, let the lessons of my past guide my decisions tomorrow.

18. Lord, reveal to me any warning I have ignored before, so I do not ignore it again.

19. Lord, let me wake up tomorrow wiser than I was today.

20. Lord, let every experience my children pass through teach them wisdom.

21. Lord, help my children to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them.

22. Lord, help my family to learn from our history and break every negative pattern.

23. Lord, let our family set up memorial stones of Your goodness for the next generation.

24. Lord, let me remember Your past faithfulness whenever I face new challenges.

25. Lord, as You delivered me before, You will deliver me again (2 Corinthians 1:10).

26. Lord, let every experience in my life work together for my good (Romans 8:28).

27. Lord, let my experience produce hope, and let that hope not make me ashamed (Romans 5:4–5).

28. Lord, keep me humble as I grow in wisdom.

28. Lord, let me never become too proud to learn.

29. I cover my mind, my memories, my sleep, and my dreams with the blood of Jesus.

30. I shall learn, I shall grow, and I shall not repeat the mistakes of my past, in the name of Jesus.

31. Father, I thank You because every experience of my life is in Your hands, in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

AFRICAN PROVERB

“Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.”

Meaning: When a person falls, the natural thing is to look at the spot where he landed. But the wise person looks back to find the place where he first lost his footing. The fall is only the result; the slip is the cause. In life, do not only focus on the outcome of your mistakes. Go back and find out where things started going wrong, the decision, the habit, or the relationship that caused the slip, so that you can avoid it next time.

CLOSING REFLECTION

Beloved, God is a faithful teacher, and life is His classroom. Do not waste your pain, your mistakes, or your victories. See, consider, and receive instruction like Solomon. Remember the lion and the bear like David. Become fruitful in the land of your affliction like Joseph. Learn contentment like Paul. Learn from the Word and from the lives of others, so you do not have to learn everything the hard way. And when you have learned, use your lessons to help someone else. Take the lesson, leave the guilt, and press forward into the new thing God is doing in your life. Remain blessed in Jesus’ name.