ACCORDING TO BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO, LIFE IS A BATTLEFIELD NOT A PLAYGROUND; LIFE IS WARFARE NOT FUNFAIR.

FOR A SUCCESSFUL PASSAGE THROUGH THIS WORLD AND A SUCCESSFUL ARRIVAL IN ETERNITY, FAITH IS COMPULSORY.

IT TAKES A FAITH THAT IS ALIVE TO WIN THE VICTORY.

MANY PEOPLE ARE PRAYING BUT NOT MANY ARE EXPERIENCING ANSWERS.

THE DIFFERENCE IN WHETHER THE PRAYER WILL BE ANSWERED OR NOT IS THE FAITH CONTENT OF THE PRAYER.

DON’T EVER ALLOW WHAT HAPPENS AROUND YOU TO BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT IS WRITTEN ABOUT YOU.

-Pastor Paul Enenche on ‘THE NECESSITY OF FAITH.’
Combined Service, Dunamis International Gospel Centre.

Father, thank You for this moment, blessed be Your name for Your Word. Thank You for Your auspicious presence here today and thank You for lives You have touched, we give You the praise for what You are about to show us; we know our lives will never remain the same, blessed be Your name, in Jesus precious name.

This morning in this month of faith for overflowing grace and glory, we shall be looking at the subject of:
‘THE NECESSITY OF FAITH’
Habakkuk 2:4
Our objective is understanding the critical role of faith in the life of the saint. As we approach the end of the age, the Bible suggests that there would be a shortage and a scarcity of faith in the earth (Luke 18:8, 2 Timothy 3:1, Luke 21:26). Church Gist. That a time will come where there’s so much happening on the earth; you look here, you are hearing of terrorism. You look there, you are hearing of banditry. You look here, you are hearing of war in Ukraine. You look here, you are hearing of this or that. The Bible says, men’s heart will fall them for fear (Luke 21:26).

Before Jesus left, He also spoke about the possibility of faith failure to Peter (Luke 22:31-32). So, there is a possibility of faith failure and it is worse than heart failure in my understanding, especially as we are approaching the end of time. So, what is the summary of this introduction?
1). If there is any time to keep faith strong and alive, it is now!
2). If there is anything that must not fail, it is faith. Church Gist.
Faith is very critical to life, both in time and in eternity. For a successful passage through this world and a successful arrival in eternity, faith is compulsory.

• In the name of Jesus, your faith shall not fail!

Let me say something very important; the development of faith is not an optional activity; it is a mandatory activity. You don’t develop your faith because you want to, you develop your faith because you have to. There are things in life you don’t need to want to; you don’t want to eat before you eat, you have to eat. You don’t want to drink water before you drink, you have to drink water. You don’t want to bath before you bath; whether you are interested or not, you must bath if your head is correct and if you want to live a normal life. That is how faith is; it is not a matter of “I am interested in holiness but I am not interested in faith. I am interested in prayer life but I am not interested in faith.” Church Gist. No, faith is too crucial to be ignored and now, why is faith necessary?
Faith is not a thing you have a choice about, it is mandatory.
1). Life answers to faith. Life is at the mercy of faith (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38). Quality of life is determined by faith and durability of life is determined by faith. You live well by faith and you can live long, also by faith.

You cannot live a quality of life higher than what your faith has allowed and the continuity of your existence cannot be guaranteed where your faith has expired. We came back from Cameroon yesterday from the Crusade and I’ve suggested that some of our crew members (Instrumentalists, Television crew and all of that), some of them, we should try and rent a charter flight for them, for them to be able to be in church on Sunday. But they said, oh no, they have tickets already to come back on Sunday morning. They will come back on Sunday morning, let them just come comfortably via normal commercial flight. Just before we take off, someone called me and said, “We have a flight coming from Chad to Douala and it’s going to fly to Abuja empty, do you have anybody, can we pick you?” Church Gist. I said, “well, we already have flight picking us but our television crew and others are still available. He said, “How many are there?” I said, “about 10-12”. He said, “we can pick all of them” – free of charge because that was what I decided at first and they said, no we already have commercial flight tickets but God said, this is what you will go by now. Some of them for the first time in their very lives. They would have missed Church this morning. If it is not possible, it may not be the fault of the devil. It may be fault of your faith.

We just said now that you don’t need to buy it to own it; both the quality of your life and the durability of your life, they are both affected by your faith. This is the summary; life is at risk without faith. Because you don’t know the forces of the enemy, the agenda of darkness, current plot and plans of the enemy regarding your life or your family. Life is at risk without faith and this is the conclusion: if you love your life then build your faith. The just shall live by his faith; faith is necessary because your life is tied to your faith.

2). Victory answers to faith (1 John 5:4, Ephesians 6:16). I’m sure you have heard before that “life is a battlefield not a playground; life is warfare not funfair.” I heard that from God’s servant, Bishop Oyedepo for the first time and the battles of life, they don’t serve advance notice; whether you know it or not, the battle is on. Church Gist. Whether you are interested or not, the battle is on. You don’t hate anybody but somebody is hating you and somebody may go diabolical because he thinks your gut is too much. So, it takes a faith that is alive to win the victory.

Somebody said he was going to build in his village and arrival at the village, at the construction site, first thing he picked up was charm and from then on, construction could not go on. This is the victory (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Some people were born into battle; you did nothing about it. In Cameroon the other day, I was ministering and gave a word about a particular community, occultic community. I didn’t know that whatever I was saying and seeing about them was shadow compared to what they were experiencing; where they’re worshipping the skull of their ancestors, that you have to exhume the skull from the ground and worship. One said he was already a pastor and his father’s skull is waiting for him to worship. They said, if you don’t exhume it by yourself, the skull will come out by itself from the ground. Supposing it is that kind of family you were born into, you need your faith to crush that skull and set all of them on fire and send them to hell.

Another community there said, somebody can eat banana and turn into an elephant and there, they can plant banana, it will grow and bear fruit under one hour. Have you seen such technology before? Even mechanized agriculture and no technology of agronomy can do that. The wars, battles of life, they are real but you will win them!

• There is no one person under the sound of my voice that shall be cut short before your time in the name of Jesus!
• Every current battle in your life is winnable and it’s won right now!

Our tool for victory is our faith. (1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7). So, you use your faith to win the battles of life. You use your faith so that you don’t end as a victim of life’s battle. You use your faith, so that you don’t end as a victim of the conflict of life. You use your faith, so you don’t end as a cheap prey to the enemy.

This is the summary; if you want to be unbeatable, you need faith. If you want to be indomitable, you need faith. If you want to be unconquerable by the forces of darkness, you need faith (Hebrews 11:32-34). The life of victory is inevitable with faith. The life of defeat is also inevitable without faith. There are so many things God has helped us to do in his vineyard and to do in one area or the other that nobody from our line or community or entire region ever dared, it’s as if there is an embargo, you can’t cross here. Church Gist. From your side, you can’t move beyond this in any realm. But you say, “No! Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass when the Lord commanded it not? And by the way, I’m not a citizen of that place, I am a citizen from up, manufactured from above. That village was only my port of arrival to fulfill my destiny and life’s assignment. I am not a citizen because I arrived at an airport. The Bible says, my citizenship is from above; a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. If a man be born anew, he’s a new creature. It’s like he has never existed before. So what tie people from that place can’t tie me down!” You need your faith to cross the barriers and overwhelm the embargoes.

3). Possession (inheritance) answers to faith (Hebrews 6:12, Hebrews 11:33, Psalm 27:13). So, you believe it before you see it. Faith is the arm with which we receive the promises of God, so the paralysis of faith is the bankruptcy of inheritance. The meaning is; the limit of your faith is the limit of your inheritance. When we were looking for a place for the construction of this Dome and for the rest of the things, the person we were talking with, he said how many hectares are we looking for? I said, we are looking for so and so hectares. He said, “I have ten hectares here.” I said, that’s too small.
“I have twenty-four, thirty-one hectares.”
I said, “that is too small.” He told my wife and said, “Excuse me Ma, wetin your Oga wan take plenty land do?” He couldn’t imagine. Church Gist. I said, relax, you don’t know anything yet. As we are now, we are looking for a hundred more hectares, adjoining this, for university and I have Goodnews for you; on Sunday, I told you that we are trusting God that very soon, approval for the construction of the overhead bridge right here will be given to us and 48 hours later, the approval was in our hands. Construction company and the authorities, they were here by 10:00am on Friday to access the place where the road will be and very soon, by the time we get the drawings, everything set, construction will be on. So, my wife said to me, please keep on saying things because when you say it, they happen. We said it on Sunday, I was called and told that the letter is ready, when do we bring it? I said now!

• In the name that is above every name, everything that is your expectation shall be entering into your hands in this season!
• Everything that you are trusting God for as an expectation, shall enter your hand in this season!

All of us have equal inheritance in God but we don’t all have equal realities. God is no respecter of persons, what He does for one, He can do for another. Church Gist. We have equal possibility but not the same reality and the difference is the potency of faith; what you believe is different from what I believe. If you want to see higher reality, move into higher realms of faith, belief, light and revelation.

4). Answered prayer answers to faith (Hebrews 11:6, Mark 11:24, James 1:5-6). Many people are praying but not many are experiencing answers; they expect to be answered but it’s just a matter of religion. The difference in whether the prayer will be answered or not is the faith content of the prayer.

Let me say this now and then, we’ll look at this deeper in the month; never pray from a sentimental point of view, pray from a revelational point of view. It is not sentiments that answer prayers. You don’t come to God to say, “Lord, you know I am old enough to be married, why am I not married?” – that is sentiment. “Lord, You have favoured everybody, You have not favoured me, why? In praying, first of all, you know that there is a God who is real; you are dealing with a real God, not a plastic God. Church Gist. You have a revelation of the reality of God and then, you have a revelation of the promises of God to you. What has God said concerning what you are praying about? You are aware of it and then, you have done what is expected of you for God to do what is expected of Him, when you line all these up, then faith is in line.

For example, somebody is praying for money, he doesn’t know how to give (Malachi 3:20, Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6), he’s not aware of all of those, he’s praying give me money; you are praying a very useless prayer, it will never be answered. “Lord, bless me, bless me.” Why? You shall serve the Lord your God and He shall bless. So, you are not serving the Lord Your God and you are asking Him to bless, it won’t work. The journey of faith means that, you know that God is real, you know what God says in his word, you know what God wants you to do for Him to do what He will do and you have done what God wants you to do and now, you have come to him to ask Him to do what He’s expected to do. In that case, your faith is standing on rock solid ground. You are not even begging, it’s a matter of, “Lord, this is what Your Word says, Lord, this is what You said I should do. Lord, I have done what You expect me to do, I am expecting You to do what You say You will do in response to what I have done.”

• I speak to you today, you will never pray a wasted prayer another time!

5). Spiritual health or vitality answers to faith. You know that Christianity as a whole is called the faith (Acts 6:7, Acts 13:8, Acts 16:5). No wonder in those days, the king of England was called the Defender of the faith. Faith is central to spirituality. I’m about to show you that even holiness may not be possible without faith. For example, when your faith in the reality of God is shaken (that is, you are not sure there is God), when your faith in the reality of God is shaken, your spirituality, prayer life, study of the word, fasting is shaken. Church Gist. When your faith in the goodness, faithfulness, mercifulness of God is shaken, your spirituality is shaken. That is when people stop becoming active in church. He was a fire brand intercessor before, he was a serious usher before, he was a serious choir member before or something and suddenly, he’s just coming to church.
Why?
The faith is shaken; is God real, does God really love me, is God really good? If He is, why this or why that? The faith is shaken.
Some reduce coming to church, some are watching from their home. I reached out to someone some time back, “you have not been coming to church?” He said, “yes. I just wanted to watch from home.” That watching from home led into many things including child out of wedlock. Some, it is backsliding completely; if God is real, why this, why that? That is why, faith in the reality and the goodness of God sends the devil to hell, it just knocks the devil’s head on ground, it just tell the devil, “if you are looking for who to work on, I am not your candidate.” That was the kind of faith Job had. When everything around Job was not working, when everything Job had, almost literally got lost (Job 13:15), Job said, though He slay me, yet I will trust Him. That is when faith is intact, you tell the devil, you are on your own. Nebuchadnezzar threatened Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, if you don’t worship me, I will throw you into the fire (Daniel 3:16-18, Daniel 6:10).

• I pray for somebody here, your faith will not fail!

Lift your right hand and say, “God is good. I am not getting the revelation of God from the devil. I am getting the revelation of God from the Word. In the name of Jesus, my position with God does not change. Church Gist. It is either God or God; not God or the devil!”
When you come to the point where nothing moves you, then there is nothing the devil can do about you. You are telling the devil, “My God will deliver me from your hand, from this fire, but in case He decides not to deliver me, I will still not serve you devil.”
“He gave me husband, He is God. He has not given me husband yet, He is God. If He gives me children, He is God. If He hasn’t given me children yet, He is God. If He gives me a job, He’s God. If He has not given me a job yet, He is still God. He’s not God because He did something for me; He’s God because He is God and He created me (Isaiah 42:21).”

So, your faith determines your life, victory, possession, answered prayers and your spiritual health. What is my counsel today?
1). Make investing into your faith the most important investment of your life (Romans 10:17). We spend so much time on many things but we spend such a short time on our faith. Investment into your faith should be made the most important investment of your life.

2). Don’t ever allow what happens around you to be more important than what is written about you (Galatians 5:6). We walk by faith, not by sight. The counterpart of that Word says, let the voice of God’s Word drown the noises of the world in your life. There’s a lot of noise in the world (2 Corinthians 5:7). Satan is a roaring lion, he has a lot of noises, a lot of followers who have a lot of noise.

• It’s a new day for you!
• It’s a new season for you!
• This morning, every trace of uncertainty will be destroyed!

🎶My eyes are upon You
Lord, all my hope is in You (2x)
I cannot fear what the future holds, for You hold the future in Your hands (2x)🎶

The most important verdict of life is the verdict of God. It is not the verdict of men, it’s not the conclusion of situations; it is the verdict of God. Let God be true, let every devil in the world be a liar because, any other verdict is subject to circumstances but the verdict of God stands. If God said it, stick your life to it. Any other happening is subject to diverse circumstances; circumstances beyond your knowledge. I prayed for somebody on the wheelchair and he stood up and walked and one day, I was praying for one on the wheelchair and he just stood there and I said, “do you want to walk?”
He said, “I need money.” Church Gist.
I was wasting my energy and wasting my faith for somebody who is looking for money. You are in the foreign world, there is what they call disability allowance. For as long as they cannot move out and work, the government is paying them something. So, if you ask them to work, you cut their money. Don’t let any devil confuse you regarding the position of God and His Word, under no circumstance. At the Cameroon crusade, crutches were like broomstick, by yesterday morning, a man who had his testicle removed by surgery about seven years ago, in the course of the service, a new testicle appeared. The God who can do this, what can He not do? – Nothing!
A woman in the yesterday morning session with two extra breasts, the strange two extra ones disappeared. Woman with brain tumor, by virtue of the brain tumor, breast milk was coming from her breast, other terrible symptoms. Tumor disappeared; milk dried up. While we were praying in Douala, prophecy came that in Bamenda, about eight hours from Douala, that somebody’s relation was been raised who was crippled and paralyzed, not one, two, three. Church Gist. It was an epidemic in Bamenda, there were some, they were showing us live as they were walking; little baby, seven years old never walked, stood up right there in Bamenda and was walking. We were at the crusade ground and miracles were happening in people’s houses, 7-8 hours away. What can God not do in your life.
You are going to speak to God, every time you have any question of any failure, it is never on the side of God. You examine yourself; “Lord, show what to do to change my situation. Show me what is wrong.”

You are going to lift up your voice, “oh God that manifested Himself that I just saw in this crusade in Cameroon and manifested here today, show Yourself in my life.”
Lift your hands and say, “Father, show Yourself in my life today, family and situation; reveal Yourself to me Lord.

(Altar Call)

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