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The Christian race is a marathon, not a sprint. Some of us thought that Jesus would come within a few years after we got born again. Although He hasn’t come yet, believe me honestly, His coming is far nearer than it was then; He will soon be here. Since this race is a marathon, then it means that in addition to strength, you would also need endurance if you want to run the race successfully. Endurance comes by the special grace of God which He makes available to keep you standing until the end. These are the works of grace.

When I became born again, we were taught that there were three works of grace that God makes available to Christians – Salvation, Sanctification and the Holy Ghost Baptism. I decided to check further and discovered that there are at least 7 steps in this process. From Ezekiel 36:24-27, you will discover that the first thing God says He will do even before Salvation is to gather His own together (John 6:44). You cannot be saved unless God draws you first.

When I came to The Redeemed Christian Church of God, it was because I had a problem my education could not solve and God used that problem to draw me to Himself. When somebody is talking about their salvation experience and they say, “I found the Lord”, they are only speaking from their limited knowledge. God was never missing; it is He who found you (John 15:16). This is why, if you are truly saved now, you should always thank God for the salvation of your soul.

It is however, possible that God could be drawing a man, yet the man refuses to come to Him. The end of such people is always disastrous. There was a popular chief God sent me to preach salvation to and every time I visited, he would say, “Not yet”. One day, he had a stroke that rendered him unconscious; I was called to pray for him and within one hour, he was restored to perfect health as if nothing at all had gone wrong. This time I told him, “I feel God is giving you a last chance; will you give your life to Christ now?” Again, he said “Not yet”. The next time I heard about him, he was dead. If God is drawing you to Himself and you keep refusing, you are telling Him clearly that you prefer hell to heaven. You had better surrender to Him now for your own good.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

To enlarge means to make bigger, implying that anytime there is enlargement, there must be two important factors involved - the object to be enlarged and the fellow who is going to be the enlarger. You are the one to be enlarged and the enlarger is the One spoken about in Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

The Scripture above didn’t say, “Be fruitful and increase”, but rather, “Be fruitful and multiply”. This implies that if you are truly fruitful, then you will multiply; that is the true meaning of fruitfulness. God is not interested in addition, but rather, multiplication. You must seek to multiply over and over again.

Why then are many people, including Christians satisfied with their status? Some are satisfied with getting a little increase in their salary every two years, some pastors are satisfied with just sitting over one parish of their Church with the same number of people for several years. This is as good as a taboo, especially when you consider the status of the Person who said, “Be fruitful and multiply”. There is a popular saying that goes thus: “Garbage in, garbage out”. Your current results are a reflection of the work you have been putting in. If you really want to multiply, then you must multiply your efforts too; you must multiply everything you have been doing, in order to get the desired results. If you do this, you will soon realise that your results have also multiplied.

Multiplication is in levels; some people will multiply thirty-fold, some sixty-fold and some a hundred-fold and so on. Multiply your input in proportion to how much increase you desire in your output. Multiply your input in prayers, in work, in study, in giving and so on. Just before the Lekki ’98 crusade where we had the largest religious gathering in the world at the time, I told my partners that if I thought I had fasted before, I was only joking because for the result we were trusting God for in that programme, I needed to fast far more than before. Luke 6:38 says that it is with the same measure that you have given that it will also be given to you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God wants the body of Christ to always go from glory to glory. He wants it such that men and women of God have followers who operate in greater measures of anointing. That is why He said we should make disciples of nations (Matthew 28:19-20). As powerful as He was during His earthly ministry, before leaving He said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). No matter how greatly anointed your spiritual father is, God can anoint you more than him. You may be asking, “Are you saying that God can anoint me more than you?” Yes, indeed He can.


There was a woman who was in the Redemption camp when she received a call that her daughter had died while giving birth to a set of twins, both of whom had also died. After the programme, she went to the hospital and took with her a bottle of anointing oil that we had blessed, dropped a little of the oil in the twins’ mouths and said, “Don’t waste my time; come back to life” and they both came back to life. The body of her daughter was just about to be wheeled to the mortuary at the time, she stopped the hospital staff, poured a little anointing oil on the daughter, placed an anointed handkerchief on her head and the daughter also came back to life. She raised three people from death in one day. Even I haven’t raised more than one person from death in one day yet. Thus, you can do even more than your Father-in-the-Lord. For all my children, the anointing on you will be much more than the one on me, in Jesus’ name.

The reason we have had many great men of God in the past and no one to carry that same measure of anointing now is simply that many people are not willing to serve the anointed with all their hearts. Not many people can carry the same burden that their Fathers-in-the-Lord do. If your soul is occupied with the world, you cannot carry the anointing of your Father-in-the-Lord whose focus is completely on doing the will of God. Elisha got a double portion of Elijah’s anointing because he remained loyal and committed to the latter.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Psalm 119:130 says: “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. Therefore, when God sends a word to you, what He is sending to you is light. A particular word of God can enter into your spirit. You might have been hearing it before, you might have read it a thousand times, but all of a sudden, that particular word of God jumps to you and you know, this is the solution to your problem.

A man who was very wealthy fell on so hard a time that he decided to commit suicide. He planned on that day to go to Church and dance so much as if celebrating his departure. When he got to the Church, the preacher was talking about Shedrack, Meshack and Abednego. The preacher explained that the Hebrew boys believed God would deliver them though they did not know how He would do it, and He did deliver them. That was all the man needed to hear and he thought to himself, “My situation is so bad, I don’t see how it can improve, but I don’t need to know how, I just know it will improve”. He decided not to kill himself anymore and the day he was sharing his testimony, he had just bought 14 cars for his workers. All he heard was a word. When the word of God comes to you, suddenly, light comes and that light chases away every form of darkness in your Iife.

All that you need to be healed and to live in divine health is just a word from God (Psalm 107:20). When God sends a word to you, it will come with the power and faith that you need to receive it and walk in it with confidence. Once you have received it with faith, then it becomes your reality.

What area of your life are you not yet walking in dominion as a child of God?You need to ask God to send His word to you concerning that area. In whatever area of your life that you have been timid before, a word from God will turn you into a lion in that area. You will become indomitable. This is why you should not miss your personal quiet times every morning and fellowships with brethren. You never can tell when God will send that word that will liberate you forever.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The elders have a proverb that says you first chase away the fox before you ask the hen, “Why did you stray?” In Mark 4:35-41, when there was a storm in the boat and the disciples woke Jesus up, He first stilled the storm before saying, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” This is how Jesus treats us His children. He will first solve the problem before scolding you. Why then do many parents or guardians leave their children to be devoured by the fox when they see that they have strayed?

When the children God has planted around you err, protect them from the error they have made first to ensure it doesn’t destroy them, before you turn to discipline them. A father, for example, may throw out his daughter because she got pregnant out of wedlock. Such an action would further expose the girl to the fox already trying to destroy her. At the end of the day, that child may get into worse problems, especially if she finds help from the wrong set of people.

Children must not be cast away because they made a mistake. With all the mistakes you make, God continues to call you His child. Should there be discipline? Yes, of course. Children should be disciplined when they misbehave, but first, fix the problem and keep them safe.

While you discipline a child, it should always still be clear to that child that you love them. There is something called tough love. A child will know if the real reason you are taking an action is to protect your reputation or out of your love for them. Nothing hurts a child more than to experience lack of love from the parents.

I know it can be disappointing when children don’t meet up to their parents’ expectations. I am a father too and sometimes I would have taught my children to behave a certain way, only to hear that they did the opposite outside of the home. However, let us remember that we do the same thing to God and He doesn’t cast us out. He chastens us because He loves us. Your labour over all the children God has planted around you will not be in vain, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. [center][/center]

Prayers For Children

1) Father, thank You for all the children in my family, church, community and around the world.

2) Father, as children will be returning to school this month, please provide for their parents and guardians. Please, make a way for all children that should be in school but are unable to go.

3) Father, please bless my children and all children around me with a sound mind, in Jesus’ name.

4) Father, please use my children and all children around me for Your glory.

5) Father, please keep all the children around me away from evil influences and keep drawing them closer to You, in Jesus’ name.

6) Father, please give all the children around me pure hearts. Let their hearts remain pure in You, in Jesus’ name.

7) Father, please put Your angels on guard over all the children around me.

Father, please let the blood of Jesus be a mark upon my children and all children around me, in Jesus’ name.

9) Father, please reveal Yourself to all the children around me, just as You reached out to Samuel at such a young age, in Jesus’ name.

10) Father, please help me and everyone who has influence over the children around me to lead them according to Your will, in Jesus’ name.

11) Father, please make all the children in my family, church and community light and salt to this world in, in Jesus’ name.

12) Your personal prayer point for all children around you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Restoration can be simply described as the process of returning something to its original state. Divine Restoration is an act of God because only the Creator of heaven and earth has the knowledge and ability to restore humanity to its original state. The unfortunate error of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden robbed mankind of their dominion in creation. This led to separation from God and attracted death and other terrible curses. Thereafter, life became full of different kinds of sins – idolatry, immorality, wickedness – until life became unbearably difficult. At this point, our loving and compassionate God decided to end the misery by restoring man’s dominion through redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Restoration is a complete package that includes forgiveness of sins, freedom from guilt and mercy rather than judgement. It usually comes as an act of mercy, favour, compassion, and love, with the sole aim of reconciling mankind to God. Restoration often involves the remission of sin, cancellation of debts, and reversing the irreversible. Our God is a God of restoration. Jesus restored life to Lazarus in John 11:43-44 and the son of the widow of Nain in Luke 7:11-15. He restored sight to a man born blind in John 9:1-7. Our God can restore ill health, failing businesses, damaged relationships, broken marriages and lost opportunities. All you need to do is cry unto Him in prayer. May you be fully restored in every area of your life, in Jesus’ name.

The Bible teaches that as God is, so He wants us to be in this world. We must forgive everyone that has offended us while also seeking the forgiveness of those we have offended. Forgiveness is to be without limits, as stated in Luke 17:3-4 and Matthew 18:21-22. Forgiveness leads to peace, reconciliation, healing, progress, joy, prosperity, and answered prayers. Make up your mind to be at peace with all men (Hebrews 12:14), forgive everybody that has offended you and settle all pending disputes with your neighbours. Let the love of God radiate through you to others so that you would become a beneficiary of the abundant blessings of the Lord. Be restored to God first, then pursue restoration of every broken relationship as God guides you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God wants you to grow spiritually so that you would eventually become a giant in the spirit realm. In 1 Corinthians 12:31, God says you are allowed to covet earnestly the best gifts. When I read that passage, I told God, “Lord, give me a double portion of the spirit of Elijah, double the spirit of Peter, double the spirit of Paul, double the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, add everything together and double it again”. He responded that I was asking for trouble because people would not let me rest. I said I wanted it still because I could not afford to be anything else but a spiritual giant. You must make up your mind not to be an ordinary Christian from today.

If you want to become a spiritual giant, 2 Kings 2:1-8 teaches that you must be loyal to your own Elijah. When Elijah wanted to leave this world, Elisha followed him three times; each time, Elijah told him to go back, but he refused. Your Elijah is your father-in-the-Lord. In 2 Kings 2:9-15, when Elijah was departing, Elisha got a double portion of his spirit.

One day, I was praying that my children would be greater than I, and one of them said, “Anyone who will be greater than you probably will never eat again”. He said that because of how often I fast, but then I told him not to leave God out of the equation. It doesn’t matter how great God made your father-in-the-Lord, you can become greater just by honoring and being loyal to him. Elisha got a double portion of the spirit of Elijah because he pursued the same vision as he.

Learn to minister to the one whom God has placed over you spiritually. In 2 Kings 3:11-12, the Bible tells us that Elisha ministered constantly to his spiritual father. It wasn’t long after that in 2 Kings 13:14 that we read that a king called him ‘Father”. If you are committed to honouring your father-in-the-Lord by serving him, you would receive something that you could otherwise have laboured greatly in the spirit to get. Somebody once said that the tail of a lion is more powerful than the head of a dog. Your father-in-the-Lord is already a lion; if you are committed to following Him as he follows Jesus, you can do greater things than when you are on your own.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God wants you to be influential. Genesis 1:28 says He wants you to have dominion. Believe me, honestly, you don’t have to be the president before you begin to have dominion. No matter your status today, you can still have dominion. The Almighty God wants you to become influential, but for that to happen, you must obey Him and His commandments - no matter the situation. When you do this, He will see to it that you are always the head and never the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13). If you want to increase in influence, do what He says.

One major thing He said you should do is to win souls. John 15:14-16 says you can become Jesus’ friend and I’m telling you, when you befriend the Lord, you become very influential because of your relationship with He who has influence across all realms (Philippians 2:10). When you become a friend of Jesus Christ, doors open to you automatically. I can tell you stories upon stories about countries that refused to register The Redeemed Christian Church of God and the same people would call us back within months to offer us our registration certificate. When you are a friend of Jesus, you will do what He commanded in John 15:14-15 - win souls and make sure they abide. If you do this, He has promised that anything you ask in His name, He will do it. That is great influence.

In John 12:32, the Bible says if you will lift Jesus, He would draw all men to Himself. If you keep on preaching, witnessing and winning souls, men will come from all over the place to meet with you. Thus, if you want to be influential, 2 Timothy 4:2 says you should preach in and out of season. Preach when it is convenient and when it is not convenient. If every one of us reading this devotional today goes out and wins at least one soul today, imagine how much rejoicing would be in heaven because of us. Do your part and He will surely do His.

My greatest desire was to be the youngest Vice-Chancellor in Africa, but when I became born again and God called me into full-time ministry, I abandoned my ambition.Today, Vice-Chancellors call me Daddy.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God’s plan for everyone is that they would be fruitful and multiply. That is why He gave every woman considered barren in the Scriptures a testimony. The only person who died barren is the woman that mocked her husband – King David, for dancing before God (2 Samuel 6:20-23). If you have been considered barren, God is about to surprise you, in Jesus’ name.

You however, have a part to play as God is set to make you experience all-round fruitfulness. John 15:1-5 makes it clear that you must be joined to the Fruitful Vine to be fruitful. He said in verse 4, ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” To become fruitful, you must be totally joined to the Fruitful Vine. You must abide in Him.

Many years ago, we held a programme in Lagos, Nigeria, during which I urged everybody to ask for something special from God. There was a lady there who said, “Father, I’m not going to ask You for anything anymore because I have repeatedly asked You for what I wanted, and You didn’t give me. I used to ask You for a husband and now I’m too old to have children, so I won’t ask again. However, I will continue to serve You all the days of my life”. God heard her and a few days later, a man came and said he wanted to marry her. She looked at the man and told him to pray again as she was already past menopause. He said he already had children, but he was a widower, so he was looking for a wife who would also be a mother to them. They got married and nine months later, she gave birth to twins – two boys. When you commit yourself to the True Vine, He will make sure that you become fruitful.

The True Vine can make you fruitful in every aspect of your life. God is the One who said in Leviticus 19:13 that everyone must pay the wages of those that work for them. If you are committed to God and His kingdom, you will definitely bear fruit. God said He is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love (Hebrews 6:10).

The Lord will definitely reward you as long as you remain connected to Him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

While studying the word of God, I discovered that God performs various miracles through the Holy Communion. One of such miracles is making rich those who partake in the meal according to His will. The occult also tries to emulate this when witch doctors ask people seeking sudden riches to eat some charms that will make them rich overnight. They will however, also reach an agreement to be rich for only a few years before the charm kills them. In Yoruba land, such a person would be said to have eaten lukudi.

There was one man who ate lukudi, but instead of getting money, the charm began to eat him up from the inside. He came to the Headquarters of The Redeemed Christian Church of God and pretended to give his life to Jesus. We prayed and he vomited the charm he had eaten. After a while, we noticed that he stopped coming to Church, only to later hear that he had gone to eat the charm again. This time around the money came, but when the agreed date for his death started drawing near, he decided to run to England, and ended up dying in the plane.

As is typical with the devil, whatever he gives is always short-lived and he collects the fellow’s soul in return. Mark 8:36 asks: “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” With the Holy Communion however, not only will you become rich after eating it, you will also have long and eternal life.

According to Exodus 12:35-36, the day the children of Israel ate the Holy Communion, the wealth of the Egyptians was handed over to them. When you eat the Holy Communion, the wealth the Almighty God has assigned to you that is in the hands of the enemy will be transferred to you. As you eat the Holy Communion worthily, you will receive payment with interest for every unpaid labour of your life, in Jesus’ name.

There is another charm that is said to give promotion and good luck when eaten. In Yorubaland, it is known as Awure. The problem with these charms however, is that the witch doctors who prepare them are poor themselves, yet people believe they can make them prosperous. When you eat the Holy Communion however, it will bring you genuine promotion and those people who have been treating you as a servant will come and bow before you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Before you were born, God knew you (Jeremiah 1:4-5). He not only knows your beginning, He knows your end too (Jeremiah 29:11). Some people call this destiny. Many believe that people’s fates are decided by God no matter what they do. If you pay attention to Romans 8:29-33, you will see the word, ‘Foreknow’. Your destiny is determined by His knowledge of the things you will do and the decisions you will make throughout your lifetime. In other words, your destiny is ultimately decided by you.

If God tells you your destiny now, it is based on all the knowledge He has about you. For example, God knows all that you have done in the past. In (2 Kings 5:20-27), when Gehazi collected Naaman’s gifts secretly, Elisha didn’t leave the house, but he saw everything. Gehazi lied about what he had done and became destined to be a leper and a father of lepers. What you have done in the past and what you are doing now are good pointers to your destiny.

God also knows what you are going to do tomorrow. This explains Romans 9:10-14, where the Bible says that before Esau and Jacob were born, God had already loved Jacob and hated Esau. People may say that is unfair, but God already knew in advance what would happen in Genesis 25:29-34 – that Esau would love his stomach more than his birthright.

Now you may say, “Since He knows my future, that means it is already fixed; no matter how hard I try, what will be will be”. No, that is not correct. In Daniel 2:20-21, the Bible says God changes times. He can rearrange your future. Don’t forget that He is Supreme and can do as He pleases. The fact that you are alive today reading this particular message means there is hope for you to end well. In Luke 23:39-43, a criminal on his way to hell got salvation at the Jast minute. Jesus Christ rearranged His destiny and he ended up in heaven. If you sincerely cry to God today, confess your past and present sins while determining to live holy henceforth, He can rearrange your future and make sure that you have a glorious destiny; it is all in your own hands.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

If I were to ask you, “Which do you consider more important – the blessing or the Blesser?” you are likely to say it is the Blesser. However, there are millions of self-professing Christians around the world today who prioritise God’s blessings above the One who blessed them in the first place. When you begin to choose your job over God, you are prioritizing the blessing over the Blesser. I want you to do an honest check within yourself now: which one have you been prioritizing the blessing or the Blesser?

The unfortunate thing about prioritising the blessing over the Blesser is that the Blesser can withdraw His blessings at any time. In 1 Samuel 16:1, God told Samuel to stop pleading on Saul’s behalf because He had given the throne to someone else. In Genesis 48:20, we see how Jacob blessed Ephraim above his older brother Manasseh. Ephraim eventually became ten times more successful than his brother (Deuteronomy 33:17). However, when success came, Ephraim forgot God (Psalm 78:9-11). God kept sending prophets to Ephraim, but he refused to listen to the Blesser. After some time, God said, “Let him alone” (Hosea 4:17). By the time we get to Hosea 5:9, God said that Ephraim would be desolate. Ephraim lost his blessings because he prioritised them above the Blesser. When success comes, don’t forget God because He has the power to give and to take away.

When I became General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, I decided by faith that God would feed everyone that came for our annual convention. One of the young men who was a baker said he would provide the bread for breakfast. He later on changed his mind and decided not to supply us with bread as he had promised because he didn’t like a message I preached. God however, sent help to us and we were able to purchase the bread we required. Years later, my baker friend appeared at my house very early one morning. I said, “What can I do for you? You came very early”. He said he would have come earlier but one of his tires got flat and he didn’t have a spare. This was a man who used to have numerous cars; now, he didn’t even have a spare tire because he placed the blessing above the Blesser.

Beloved, focus on the Blesser and not the blessing.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The first lesson I want us to learn in today’s devotional reading is that God is delighted in our prosperity and this is why He gave us His commandments.

Psalm 1:1-3 says:

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

As we progress in this second half of the year, we should take note of the factors that will aid our all-round prosperity. Some people misinterpret or do not know why the rich man in Luke 12:16-21 died the way he did at the peak of his prosperity. It was simply because he did not acknowledge God as the source of his wealth. He was also so engrossed in acquiring wealth that he did not know when his time was up; hence he did not prepare for eternity (Luke 16:21). His error was not that he became rich because as a matter of fact, God is interested in the prosperity of His children. The Bible says in 3 John 2:

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

The Bible says further that God gives the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). The Church also, is expected to prosper through all-round growth. For example, Luke 12:1 describes the audience of Jesus as an ‘innumerable multitude of people’ which signifies a huge growth in His ministry. Zechariah 1:17 also says that, through prosperity shall the cities of the Lord be spread abroad.

The Bible however, also says that the so-called prosperity of sinners shall destroy them (Proverbs 1:32). Beware of ungodly means of getting wealth, so that you can avoid the sorrows that come with ill gotten riches (1 Timothy 6:6-10).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

I thank God that He made sure I studied Mathematics before I became a preacher. Every Mathematician knows that for any formula to work, certain conditions must be met. If you meet God’s conditions, He will do for you what He is not doing for others. This is so important that it could be the greatest thing you have ever heard or read in your life, because if you begin to meet His conditions, people around you would begin to ask, “What is your secret?”

When people sing, “Abraham’s blessings are mine”, many of them think it is just by singing it that they’ll have the blessing. When you do your research, you’ll see that Abraham himself, in Genesis 22:16-17, got his blessing by being willing to sacrifice his only son to God. That day, God swore by Himself to bless Abraham and Isaac also, because the boy was willing to lay down his life. When Isaac was going to pass on the blessing, he gave it to the son who brought him a meal that he loved (Genesis 27:1-29). I agree that when you became a Christian, you received the blessing of Abraham, but to tell you the whole truth, you got it on credit. You must be ready to give something for that blessing to really begin to manifest in your life. Nothing goes for nothing.

When God saved my soul, with joy I gave Him the first house I ever built – a little mud house plastered with cement. Thereafter, God built another one for me in my little village and when He needed it, I gave it to Him too. I also gave the first house I built in Lagos to God when He needed it. These are just a few of the things that I can tell you here. By the time God responded, He did so in a marvelous way. For example, anywhere I go to now and there’s a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God there, I can be sure of a good place to sleep that night. If I announce that I need a car for an assignment tomorrow for example, I am likely to wake up the next day to see a fleet of cars brought by different people and each one would want me to pick the one they brought. If you really want God to bless you, you should ask yourself, “Have I met the conditions necessary for me to be blessed?”
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

After God has called you to salvation, the next call is to join Him in redeeming the world. Now, you must note that He doesn’t only call people from the altar but from all walks of life to serve Him in various capacities. For example, He can call some to join Him in the technology field because He wants to use technology as a tool to reach the unsaved.

His agenda goes beyond the altar into the everyday lives of people. God is not a Sunday-Sunday God. He is God every single day and so He is using people to accomplish His agenda daily. Pastors don’t reserve the right to be used by God. As far as you are born again – whether you are in business, arts and entertainment or even in fashion, God can use you in that field to fulfil His will. He said in Colossians 3:17: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Thus, whatever it is that you do, make sure you are doing it in the name of Jesus Christ. When you do something in the name of someone, it means it is not you but the fellow being represented that’s doing it. In other words, when God calls you to an industry, you are not to go there to do your will but His. His agenda is already set; all He does when He calls you is to join Him in bringing it to pass. Thus, when you feel Him pulling you to work for Him in a certain field of life, then you must ask Him what His agenda is concerning that thing you are to do. Everything you do must be in line with His agenda. You should also note that you are His representative there and you must not do what He Himself wouldn’t.

As a reward for answering the call to join Him in His redemptive work in the world, God makes sure that all things work together for your good.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Once you are called according to His purpose and you answer that call, all things will begin to work together for your good.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The call of God is actually a call to God. It isn’t a call to something but a call to Himself. When He calls you, He is saying, “Come closer to me”. In Mark 3:14, the Bible says that the first reason He called the disciples was that they should be with Him.

The call of God is two-fold. First, He can call you to leave your sinful ways (Matthew 11:28). This is the very first call that every man will receive. It is a call that brings you close and guarantees an eternity with Him if you answer. Thus, when you hear an altar call, it is God Himself calling you to salvation. If you are still committing sin, this is one call that you should not ignore. You don’t know the final call that God will make for you to come to Him for salvation.

Many have received God’s call to salvation but then, after a while, started to live in sin again. That is not how this call works (Luke 9:62). If you sincerely answer the call to salvation, then holiness would be your lifestyle. If you become saved and then start living a double life where you sin willfully, the Bible says that God would spew you out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16) – in other words, He would reject you completely. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

If you claim to be a child of God, then you must depart from all iniquity. If you don’t depart from iniquity, then God would not recognise you as His child.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
1 Peter 2:9

Once God calls you out of darkness into His marvelous light, you are described as a holy nation – not an unholy one. Be perfect, even as the One who called you is Perfect (Matthew 5:48).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From the story of Bartimaeus, we learn that darkness and sorrow go hand in hand. You don’t have to understand philosophy to know that a blind beggar must have been sad. I pray for you: Your eyes will never grow dim, in Jesus’ name.

Darkness and sorrow go hand in hand, which means light brings joy. Psalm 16:11 says: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Psalm 126:1-3 says that when the Lord turned around the people’s captivity, their mouths were filled with laughter. That is the nature of Light; He brings laughter. Light stands for joy John 16:24).

There was this woman whose children were dying so she visited a white garment prophet for a solution. When she got there, the man’s wife gave her a piece of kolanut to eat, claiming that was the solution to her problem. She ate it and at night, found herself in a witchcraft meeting. Before long, she had offered up her husband. After about two years, the other witches asked for one of her children – the very children she wanted to protect. She attended one of our programmes in Ilorin and while I was preaching, I noticed a commotion in the congregation. After the service, the ushers told me that the woman’s dress caught fire during the preaching. We prayed a simple prayer after which she gave her life to Christ and when she went home, she excreted a dead snake. She was free from that day on. Darkness does not give joy, all it has to offer is sorrow. Proverbs 10:22 says it is only the blessings of God that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow. If the devil is offering you something that seems good, you will not fall for it, in Jesus’ name.

If you are truly a child of Light, how can you stay away from Jesus – the Light of the world? Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” If you remain in darkness, you will keep suffering, but when you turn to Jesus Christ, He gives you a new beginning and turns the tide for you. If you really want to be in the Light, then you should begin to live holy from today.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From the story of Bartimaeus, we can see that darkness and stagnation go hand in hand. Bartimaeus must have been on that same spot, begging since he became blind. Since stagnation is linked to darkness, this means that light stands for progress and promotion. Psalm 75:6-7 says:

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

1 Samuel 2:8 tells us that God can pick up a beggar from a dunghill and keep promoting him until he is standing with princes. If you notice that you seem to have been in the same position for years now, then it is likely that you are in darkness. You need to connect to the Light now, so that you can make real progress.

Stagnation is primarily caused by forces of darkness. The devil fights progress. That is why when Nehemiah was trying to rebuild the city walls, the devil raised many enemies to stop the work. One fellow was talking to me some years ago; he said, “I don’t know what’s happening; it seems as if my enemies are increasing”. I said, “Tell me a little bit about how things have been with you in the past couple of years”. He said everything had been good; whatever he touched had been prospering. I said, “That is the reason”. There are those who love it when you come to them to beg for food, but the moment you begin to make progress, hatred comes. Darkness does not want you to progress, but thank God light stands for promotion.

There was a man who had been on one spot for many years. During one of our programmes, God spoke to me and I announced “There is someone here; somebody close to you will die next week. Don’t be sad because, after the death, your promotion will come”. The following week, his father died, but before the man passed on, he confessed that he had said, “How can my son be greater than I?”, so he decided to use diabolical powers to make the boy stagnant. Almost immediately after the father died, the promotion of the young man began. Anyone sitting on your promotion and refusing to stand will be uprooted by the Almighty God, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Darkness is linked with barrenness. This implies that light is equivalent to fruitfulness. When you study the Scriptures, you will see that God is interested in your fruitfulness. The very first commandment He gave to man is “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). In Exodus 23:26, the Almighty God said clearly: “There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. I am decreeing, that if you are trusting God for the fruit of the womb, you will carry your own twins soon, in Jesus’ name.

There are some cases of barrenness where the doctor cannot see anything wrong with the couple because the devil is at work. A woman’s mother-in-law once visited her house and said, “My daughter, eat this bread and use it to block your womb”. The girl ate it, not taking the woman’s words seriously. From that day, she stopped menstruating for several years. Thank God we held a programme in her town that ran for some days. One afternoon during the programme, she slept and had a dream. In the dream, some people dressed like medical doctors laid her on the table, opened up her belly and began to pull out a rope. The rope was very long, and at the end of the rope was a very black piece of bread. By the time she woke, she saw that the bed was wet with her menstrual flow. The last time I heard from her, she already had 5 children. Whatever darkness has used to stop your fruitfulness – whether it is in child-bearing or otherwise, the Light will deal with it.

Some people asked me not too long ago, “Why are you against same-sex marriage?” I asked in turn, “How will two men or two women produce a child?” They mentioned adoption, but who is going to produce the child they are going to adopt? If we all adopt this lifestyle, the human race would become extinct in less than a hundred years. I told them, “The devil is a liar”. I don’t care what people or organisations say, I will stand by the truth. The word of God is clear: “Be fruitful and multiply”.

Anyone trying to do anything that disobeys that instruction is disobeying God Himself.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From Bartimaeus’ story in Mark 10:46-52, we see that when he called on Jesus for help, some people told him to shut up. He had not offended them, yet they hated him. This is however not surprising because darkness also stands for hatred while light represents love. Proverbs 14:20 says the poor is hated even by his own neighbors. Darkness goes hand in hand with poverty and poverty leads to hatred. People can hate you just because you are poor. Thank God light stands for love. Romans 8:37 says we are more than conquerors because of the One who loved us. When you come in contact with The Light, your victory is guaranteed. It doesn’t matter how many people hate you; if Jesus is on your side, you will be a winner.

You would notice that, when Bartimaeus was crying for help, not a single person encouraged him until the Light of the world called for him. Bartimaeus was a lonely man. There is a direct link between darkness and loneliness. In Psalm 121:5, the Bible says the Lord is your shade upon your right hand. This means God is always with you. If you come in contact with the Light of the world, you can never be lonely again. There are many people who are rich and successful in their endeavours, yet lonely. This is because they have not come in contact with the Light of the world. Bartimaeus’ loneliness ended the day he met Jesus because he instantly became a celebrity and we are still talking about him today.

Light drives away loneliness while darkness embraces it. Many times, loneliness is a result of works of darkness. It is the Light who made the statement in Genesis 2:18 that it is not good that man should be alone. Years ago, a mother came to me and said she needed help. She had four daughters – the youngest of whom was 28 years old, yet they were all single. As I was about to pray, the Lord told me to ask some questions and I discovered there was a demon in their family who had laid claim to the girls.

This demon was the one preventing them from getting married. We prayed and God gave us victory over the evil covenant. Within a year, all four of them were married. Any evil covenant you have entered into that may be stopping you from moving to the next level will be destroyed by the Light today, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Another symptom of darkness is poverty. Bartimaeus was not just blind, he was also poor. The Bible recorded that he was a blind beggar. Any situation that involves begging to eat is called poverty. The Almighty God’s plan is not for you to be a beggar, but rather that you would prosper. For several years, the enemy kept the Church in darkness and pastors began to equate holiness with poverty. The devil knows that you can spread the gospel faster if you have money. I don’t know about you, but in the name of Jesus Christ, I am going to prosper because light stands for prosperity.

Darkness works to make you poor, but it is the duty of the Light to make you rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9) says clearly:

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

He became poor that you, through His poverty, might become rich. If you are truly a child of God, carrying the Light of the Almighty within you, I have good news for you: all those who have been saying that you are going to die poor shall be disappointed. (3 John 2) says He wishes above all things that you would prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. If God wishes that you prosper as long as your soul is prospering, it doesn’t matter what the devil may be planning you will be prosperous.

There was a very wealthy man who quarreled with his wife. She said to him, “I will see to it that you trek in this Lagos”. This man was so wealthy that he had more than 14 cars, so he just laughed the threat off. However, by the day this man came to our Church for the first time, he had only one car left and 50 kobo with him. He wanted to buy food with the money but knew that if he did, he would end up walking home like his wife had said, so he decided to just buy fuel. When he came to the Light, the tide turned in his favour. The day he gave his testimony, he was dedicating two new houses. God can take you from abject poverty to affluence if you give your life to Him and live holy.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There are certain things in life that are very difficult to define. One of such things is light. If someone asks you, “What is light?”, you may simply say it is the opposite of darkness. However, to understand light, you need to understand what darkness stands for.

Our case study for this series will be Bartimaeus – a blind man who met Jesus and the darkness in his life ended. When you look at Mark 10:46-52, you will see some of the things that darkness portrays and thus identify certain things hidden in light. For example, darkness equals sickness. If darkness signifies sickness, then light signifies healing which is embedded in Jesus Christ the Light of the world (Exodus 15:26). When you have a relationship with Jesus, sickness cannot continue to stay in your life.

It is no news that darkness and the devil go hand in hand. When you look at Luke 13:11-17, you will see clearly that Jesus Christ called the spirit of infirmity an agent of the devil. Sickness and disease therefore have their origin in darkness. However, the light of God can see forces of darkness and deal with them completely.

There was a brother who was going to the USA for further studies and he threw a party before his departure. In the middle of this party, an enemy came and planted something evil into his life. From the day he arrived in the USA, he began to feel a pain in his stomach. All kinds of tests were conducted to no avail, yet the pain intensified. He struggled for six years, taking all manner of drugs until he finished his studies. When he returned to Nigeria, he heard that we were having a programme at Ibadan and decided to travel all the way from Zaria. The devil did everything to stop him but he finally made it on the last day of the programme. During the last message, he sat down and as the word of God was coming forth, the light of God hit him and suddenly, he began to shout, “I am free” because the pain of more than six years had disappeared. I prophesy to you: It doesn’t matter how long you have been carrying that sickness or disease; my Daddy will chase it out today, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

John 3:1-2 tells us clearly that Jesus was a teacher. It may amaze you that throughout His ministry on earth, nobody ever called Him Evangelist or Prophet or Pastor; they kept calling Him ‘Teacher’. Everywhere Jesus went, He went teaching, including by the seaside (Mark 2:13).

Jesus is a teacher and likes to relate with us as such; this is good news because the teacher is held responsible for the success or failure of a student. If the teacher can then prove that the student failed because he or she refused to obey instructions, then the teacher is relieved of that responsibility. You see this clearly when Jesus gave His report at the end of His time on earth in John 17:12. He said: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gayest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

Thus if you listen to all Jesus’ instructions and obey Him, He will definitely help you make it to heaven at the end of time.

After Jesus resurrected from the dead, His role advanced from teacher to Teacher of teachers. This is why, in John 20:16, Mary Magdalene called Him ‘Rabboni’, a special title used to honour great teachers. For those of us who are teachers of the gospel, James 3:1 says that we would receive greater condemnation on the last day if our works are found wanting. Of course, this is because such people are responsible for the souls of men that the Almighty God allocates to them. The good news however, is that we have a Teacher who will teach us how to pass this great test on the last day.

He is always there to teach you how to succeed in whatever assignment He commits into your hands. That is why I have always told my children not to get so busy with ministry that they lose connection with the Teacher of teachers. Believe me honestly, without Him, you cannot do ministry right. You cannot be snatching souls from the devil’s kingdom and expect him to be soft on you. He will deploy many tactics to bring you down, but if you remain connected to the Teacher of teachers, you will win in the end.
Stay connected to the Teacher of teachers.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In 1 Kings 19:9-14, God asked Elijah the same question twice: “What doest thou here, Elijah?” God is not talkative; if He asks the same question twice, there must be a reason behind it. Usually, when God asks you a question, it is a test. In John 6:5-7, when Jesus saw the crowd, He turned and asked one of the disciples where they would find food to feed the people. The Bible added that the question was to test him, for He already knew what He would do. The teacher knows the answer; He only tests the student when He asks a question.

In Genesis 3:1-7, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and hid behind a tree, God had already seen them. Yet He asked, “Adam, where art thou?” When Adam said “We heard Your voice and were afraid because we were naked”. He asked further, “Who told you that you’re naked?” He knew already, but still He asked to see what they would say. Unfortunately, they were pushing the blame and so they got the punishment they deserved. In Genesis 4:3-10, God asked Cain where Abel was. When Cain said he didn’t know, God responded, “His blood is crying to me from where you killed and buried him”. God knew where Abel was from the onset, yet He asked Cain where he was and sadly, Cain never told the truth.

When God asks you a question, especially concerning a sin that you committed, fall on your face and beg for mercy. That question is a test to see if you are really repentant or not. If, on the other hand, He asks you a question that is not pertaining to a sin you committed, my advice is that you ask the Holy Spirit to help you answer.

In 1 Kings 19:9-14, God asked Elijah the same question twice and he gave the same answer both times. I believe God asked the second time because He had hoped Elijah would answer differently. I feel that if Elijah had not answered the questions with frustration, he wouldn’t have been asked to anoint his replacement yet. In Ezekiel 37:3, Ezekiel was wise. God asked Him, “Can these bones live?” He did not know how to answer, so he responded, “You know, Lord”. God’s questions are tests; ask the Holy Spirit to help you answer them when they come.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In John 13:21-30, during the Last Supper, Jesus said someone was going to betray Him and Peter made John the Beloved ask Jesus who the person was. John asked and Jesus responded in a whisper that only John could hear.

In one of our Holy Ghost Services, God said, “All my sheep hear my voice, but very few hear my whisper”. There is a difference between when God speaks and when He whispers. When you hear God’s whisper, you will be several steps ahead of your colleagues. You will become number one in whatever you have set out to do. I pray that you will begin to hear God’s whisper from today, in Jesus’ name.

To hear God’s whisper, you must be closer to Him than everyone else. Before John heard Jesus’ whisper, the Bible tells us in John 13:25 the position he took: “He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?”

You cannot be closer to a person than the fellow lying on his or her chest. That is the position that you must take. You must get so close to God that you can practically hear His heartbeat. Only a few people are as close to God as this and you will see that they are addicted soul-winners because God’s heart beats for the souls of men.

The good thing is that God is willing to bring you very close to Him. He said in James 4:8:

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

The question however is, are you willing to draw near to Him and if so, how closely? Every time you sin, a distance is created between you and God (Isaiah 59:1-2, Psalm 66:18). The first thing you therefore need to do to get close enough to God to hear His whisper is to be holy. Once you are holy, God will begin to tell you things that are for your ears only. Do you want to hear God’s whispers and become a custodian of divine secrets?

Draw closer to Him in holiness, soul-winning, and fellowship today.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Several years ago, when I was a very young preacher, there was a good campground in Nigeria called the ‘Youth Camp’. We would often go there for retreats. One day while we were there for a retreat, the owners told me they wanted to sell the place for N100,000. We had nothing close to that kind of money then, but I had faith that God would buy the place for us. I gathered my people together and we prayed round the camp, confessing that it was already ours in line with the word of God in Joshua 1:3 – “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you”. Later on, when the owners saw that we were not forthcoming with the money, they sold it to a bigger ministry. We were devastated. We turned to God, “But Lord, we prayed, we used Your word”. All through, He remained silent. He remained silent because He had something bigger in store for us. He knew that forty acres of land would be too small for where He was taking us. By God’s grace, the auditorium we now call the Old Auditorium sits on over forty acres of land. Our new auditorium is now 3 kilometres by 3 kilometres.

If you have prayed, praised God, and are sure of your faith, but God remains silent, it is likely because He has something bigger in store for you than what you are asking for. He is a God who takes pleasure in exceeding His children’s expectations. The Bible says in Ephesians 3:20: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”

In John 5:1-9, the man at the pool of Bethesda was explaining his predicament to Jesus, hoping that He would help him get into the water. Jesus however ignored him and gave him something greater. This is the case many times when you are praying and it looks like God is ignoring you; He may just be preparing something greater for you. Don’t give up hope; trust Him. Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

“8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When I was a younger Christian, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 which says, “Pray without ceasing” used to baffle me until the Lord explained it to me.

I used to wonder how it was possible to pray without ceasing. What would I be saying? The Lord then let me know that the only way I could pray without ceasing was to do so in the Spirit. This implies that God expects every believer to pray in the Spirit all day.

Believe me honestly, you don’t know all you truly need. Even if you argue that you know all that you need at this moment, do you know what will happen in the next two hours? If you don’t know what will happen, then how will you pray about it? That is why you have the Holy Spirit to pray those prayers through you. You ask for what you want with your words; the Holy Spirit will help you ask for what you ought to have when you pray in tongues. Without the Holy Spirit, you cannot pray correctly. Romans 8:26 affirms this:

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Ephesians 5:18 says further:

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.

Alcoholics will tell you that they are always craving more and more alcohol. That is how you should become addicted to praying in the Spirit. The more you pray in the Spirit, the more filled you would be. You would realise that it is difficult to stop praying sometimes. As you pray, you get more and more engulfed in the Spirit and before you know it, everything you do would be influenced by Him. Galatians 5:17 says that the flesh and the Spirit are always at war. The more you pray in the Spirit, the more energized your spirit man would be to win that war against the flesh, so it becomes easy to put it under (1 Corinthians 9:27). You would begin to long for things of the Spirit rather than those of the flesh.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The greatest benefit of intercession is that God draws you closer to Himself. He tells you His next move because He needs you to intercede concerning it. When you are an intercessor, you get so close to God that you feel His heartbeat. You share in His very burden for the souls of men. God sees intercessors just like He sees Jesus because He is the number one intercessor. 1 John 2:1 says He is always with the Father, advocating for us. Intercessors carry a strong burden for the souls of men, just like Jesus did when He laid down His life for mankind. Moses – a true intercessor, illustrated how much he carried this burden in Exodus 32:31-32:

And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

He asked God to forgive the people of Israel or remove his name from the book of life. That is how much the burden of the souls of men is on intercessors. That is why intercessors are in the same department as Jesus Christ. Jesus is their Head of Department and whatever prayer comes from that department is seen by God as coming from Jesus Christ Himself.

Solomon cared about the people of God more than he did about himself. That is why, when he only asked for wisdom to lead the people right, God decided to bless him far beyond his expectations. Intercessors hardly have personal prayer points because before their needs arise, God has already resolved them.

Real intercessors don’t intercede just for their own benefit. Intercession is borne out of love and passion for the souls of men. Like Daniel in Daniel 9:1-19, when an intercessor sees the promise of God not being fulfilled in the life of a person or nation, he or she would begin to pray concerning that situation. He or she would keep reminding God of that promise until it is fulfilled, just to ensure that God’s will is established and that the souls of men are preserved from danger.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God doesn’t only need people who will pray for others, He also needs people to enforce His Will on earth. For example, when elections are coming up in your state or country, you and other Christians in that vicinity should come together and pray fervently that only the will of God would stand. You must pray these kinds of prayers not only during elections but all the time. The Lord said in Isaiah 62:1: “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.”

When you hear of or know someone working especially hard for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, you should begin to pray for that fellow. Your prayer and fasting for that person will be very instrumental in their success and you will also be a part of that success. In Esther 4:15-17, when Esther was going to turn around the evil policy that sought to kill the Israelites, she asked that everyone on her team should fast and pray for her. That is why she received so much favour from the king, so that he quickly ordered the death of his well-trusted right-hand man who had generated the said evil policy.

We need to pray for our leaders. They may not tell you, but they face a lot of battles from the devil and need your prayers to win these battles. Pastors are included in this group; you must pray for pastors and ministers of the gospel if you want the Kingdom of God to continue to win against the devil.

Lastly, Matthew 5:44 says you should pray for people who despise and persecute you:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Can you pray for people who are about to kill you? That is what Stephen did in Acts 7:60 and we see the result in Acts 8:1-8 when Jesus came Himself to witness to Saul, who later became one of the greatest Apostles of his time. Pray for those doing evil too, for them to encounter God and they may be some of the greatest vessels of the Lord in their time.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Intercession is an assignment for every true child of God. Intercessors are people who carry the burdens of God. They pray the prayers God wants them to, not just their own prayers. When God needs something done on earth, He looks for intercessors to partner with. He looks for a man to stand in the gap for others.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Ezekiel 22:30

Remember when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18 – it was clear that God was looking for someone to stand in the gap for the people of Sodom. You will see that God agreed to every plea Abraham made for the people. God always looks for someone to stand in the gap for others; when He looks your way, will He find you to be an intercessor?

You may ask, “Why can’t God just reveal to the fellow who is about to get into trouble so he can pray for himself?” The truth is, sometimes, God needs someone else to pray for other people so they are not destroyed. At such times, He puts it in the heart of an intercessor to stand in the gap in prayers. This is clearly illustrated in the case of job and his friends (Job 42:.

Many people are perishing today because there is a shortage of intercessors willing to carry the burdens of God in the place of prayer. Enough of praying for yourself alone. Don’t be a selfish Christian. When you pray, let God put into your heart what or who you should pray for. If He lays in your heart to pray for another country that is not yours, don’t say, “What is my business with those people?” Pray as He has laid in your heart so that at least one person there can be saved. Sometimes He will ask you to pray for one fellow; do so, because your prayer may be what would make the difference between the fellow living or dying. God is seeking intercessors, will He find you?
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We learnt yesterday about the importance of increasing our spiritual capacity and a bit about how to go about this. Today, we would go a bit deeper in discussing how to increase our spiritual capacity. The main goal in increasing our spiritual capacity is to be more spiritually-minded; to be more like Jesus and less like our default human nature.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Romans 8:7

The first thing you must do is to surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, be baptized by immersion, signifying your death to the flesh and a new life in Jesus. After this, you seek to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and invite Him to dwell in you and take control of your life.

Once the above steps are taken, you must begin to do less of the things your flesh wants you to do. Don’t let your flesh control you. You cannot be spending all your free time on social media, attending parties or eating as often as you like. If you give your flesh everything it asks for, you will remain under its control and this can only lead to eternal damnation. Paul said in Acts 17:28 that it is in Jesus that we believers live, move and have our being. That must be your testimony too. You also need the Holy Spirit to keep the flesh under control. You are not strong enough to deal with the flesh by yourself (Romans 8:13).

To continue to grow your spiritual capacity, you must truly pray without ceasing, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says. If you are not willing to pray consistently and fervently at all times, you are not yet willing to increase your spiritual capacity. When you cannot pray in understanding, switch to praying in the Spirit. Fasting and studying the word of God daily must also become your lifestyle (Jeremiah 15:16). You must also seek to hear God at all times. Ask Him questions about things you don’t understand in the Scriptures.

These steps may appear simple and straight forward, but many people find it difficult to do them consistently.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.