FOR EVERYONE IN ANSWERS ASSEMBLY, GOD WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISES TO US!
THERE ARE LITTLE FOXES THAT HINDER ANSWERS TO PRAYERS
A LITTLE BITTERNESS, A LITTLE ANGER, A LITTLE FORNICATION, A LITTLE ADULTERY…
THEY ARE LITTLE BUT CAN CREATE A GREAT DAMAGE
THE FOUNDATION FOR EVERY ANSWER TO PRAYER IS A BURNING DESIRE
DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAD NOT LIVED RIGHT, YOU WOULD HAVE DIED PREMATURELY?
SOME OF YOU HAVE SPENT THE MONEY THAT WILL SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM ON INIQUITY
YOU PRAYED FOR IT IN RIGHTEOUSNESS BUT SPENT IT IN INIQUITY
IGNORANCE AND UNFORGIVENESS ARE BARRIERS TO ANSWERED PRAYERS
RELATIONSHIP IS NOT BY FORCE BUT FORGIVENESS IS A COMMAND
SOMETIMES LIVING RIGHT IS NOT ABOUT PLEASING GOD, IT IS ABOUT AVOID CERTAIN THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU PREMATURELY
-Bishop Wisdom Irabor on OVERCOMING THE HINDERANCES TO ANSWERS IN FASTING AND PRAYERS at the Multiple Miracles Mantle Service || Answers Assembly, Warri || 29th January, 2023|| First Service ||
We’ve been fasting for 21 days, as we prepare to round up, we will be taking care of all the hinderances and obstacles to answers to prayers. So I would do a short charge OVERCOMING THE HINDRANCES TO ANSWERS IN FASTING AND PRAYERS.
Songs of Solomon 2:15.
There are hinderances to prayers, there are obstacles to prayers. Remember God said that there shall be a place where people will gather in my name, when they call me in that place, I will be attentive to their voice. I will answer their prayers and that place shall be called Answers Assembly. Little wonder we tagged this church and we put here Home of Answers. And we have seen inexplicable answers. Church Gist. Answers that cannot be explained.
So I declare to you this morning: everyone in Answers Assembly, may God answer your prayers according to His promises to us! But however, if these prayers are not being answered, the foxes, the little foxes must be taken care of. Let’s go straight to the point, so that anyone that concerns you, we will just clear it before we place the mantle in your head.
There are foxes, little foxes, little issues that affect us. How little is little? A little anger, a little fornication, a little adultery, a little bitterness, a little sin, a little this, a little that. How little is little? They’re little but they can create great damage.
As a little child growing up, I watched a film where the enemies were pursuing the actor of the film. Church Gist. They were very plenty coming after him. When they got so close to him, he remembered that there was banana in his bag. He dropped the banana peels on the ground as he was moving. As the horses were coming, when they get to where the banana peel is, they will just slip and fall, slip and fall. That was not gun, that was not bomb, that was a little banana peel.
Sometimes what is fighting you may not be as big as you think. Just something little. I read somewhere that Volkswagen, what we used to call ‘tortoise car’, as small as the Volkswagen car is, that later metamorphosed to Golf. As small as it is, it is about 3000 parts. 3000 parts! Google it, it’s there. 3,000 parts make up the car yet among those parts, if one part is missing or bad, the other 2,999 parts cannot make it work! Church Gist. It’s as little as that and it’s as bad as that. Take for instance, it’s a brand new Volkswagen car and one of the plug is missing. Church Gist. You just removed one of the plug, will it move? Just the plug! Other parts are still there o! I’ve done this, I’ve done that, but there is a part that is missing and as we round up the fasting today, anything’s that will hold you, may God remove it out of your life!
So the hinderances to fasting and prayer are:
- Lack of desire
How strong is your desire? Mark 11:24. If you pray without desire, you’re playing without knowing. What you don’t desire, you don’t deserve! Church Gist. Check most of us, we no longer have the desire for the things we are praying for. The foundation for every answer to prayer is a burning desire! If I don’t desire it, I don’t deserve it! - The fox of iniquity.
Iniquity simply means, what I am into and I refuse to quit from it. I am in it and I don’t want to quit. Iniquity! Iniquity! Psalms 66:18. So if your own is lack of desire, take it now. Take your own now.
I saw a scripture many years ago. Isaiah 59:1. Anytime it seems as if, God where are you? Check your iniquity. Iniquity is a separater between divinity and humanity. Church Gist. Between the Creator and the created. I know you’re praying and fasting, but you still did abortion. Who are you praying to? Even in the 21 days, you still lie! The mouth that will pray the prayer that God will answer is not the mouth that still lies. That lies is a habit, you lie as a tradition.
That’s why the day Jesus will come, I pray there is no business for that day. The day Jesus will come, market should not open. There should be no buying and selling. Because we have many “I swear, I swear, I bought one hundred Naira, that is why I’m selling it 120(naira). I swear. God knows. How can I buy something 100 naira and sell it for less than 100 naira? My gain is 20 naira.”
Meanwhile, me and you know you bought it for 40 naira.
You will just hear pam pam pa pa pa paaaa (trumpet sounds) The son of God has appeared! That small 40 naira lie has carried you to hellfire. Church Gist. That’s why sometimes I want to believe that sin will not take us to hellfire. Because if sin will take us to hellfire, una dey sin everyday! So which day you wan live above sin?
I’m telling you! Small anger, small lie, small sin!
If sin will take us to hellfire, hellfire go full o. Many of una go dey there!
So I don’t want to believe those people. Because there is a group of Pastors in Nigeria who says that you don’t go to hellfire because you commit sin. Sometimes I want to believe them because many children of God are committing sin.
Is it that God is wicked? All of His children will go to hellfire in judgment! So live ready! Because I don’t know how God would do His judgement.
Because on that day, you no go come tell me say na my pastor tell me say sin will not take me to hell. It will take you to hell o. Sin will take you to hell! But if we wake up that day and it’s only You reject Jesus Christ, you nor accept Jesus, that consciousness of sin will take me to hell made me live a decent life, you no lose. Not you come dey bite finger, God you mean say this person enter heaven? This person I know am for Warri, she Dey commit sin. God said, she’s born again. She never rejected my son,Jesus but she has weakness, she falls and rises, falls and rises. But she no come one day say Jesus I no serve you again, so enter. You now say God wait, I want to go and commit my sin first. Let me sin my sin and come back.
No regrets. Even if somebody who did not leave right makes heaven, you who lived right, there is no regret. Do you know if you had not lived right, you would have died prematurely? Church Gist. Sometimes the living right is not about pleasing God, it’s about overcoming certain things that would have killed you before your time.
The girl who died on her way home from night club many years ago in this same city, if she worked with this consciousness, that night club is a sin, will she die that day?
Living right may not guarantee heaven or hell. But it will save you from the wahala that people go through on earth.
She died on her way! Another person died! The one who sat on my car and went to night club that same day. Sat on my car and was smoking ‘Igbo’ where I went to do funeral service. That young man. And the same night, he went to night club too, to smoke and drink and then he died. Had accident and died. So you who is saying I for drink, I for smoke, na so you for end o. If smoking doesn’t take you to hell, at least it won’t take you to early grave. Your not smoking won’t take you to early grave!
Drunkards will go to heaven because drunkarfs are born again! We no follow you argue, you may be right, you may be wrong, until we get to heaven before we know. But it would finish your kidney, finish your liver, finish your lungs, finish your health, finish your life and finish your wealth and resources.
My father used to have one Oga in his office. Whenever the man says, Samuel, go and buy me cigar, one packet. Cigarette, one packet! Yes sir! My father will write the amount somewhere. Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, every week, he write am. Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, every month, he write am.
After about some time, maybe 3 months, my father now came with the list of cigarettes that he had bought for that his oga. And then he said, Oga, I’m not saying you should stop cigar o. But over a period of time, see what you have smoked.
The man said, You’re a liar! You’re a liar! I didn’t smoke this amount.
He said, Sir, we started it this date. This is what you have smoked.
He said, You mean I have smoked what is enough to solve the problem I have?
Most of you, the problem you have, you have spent the money without knowing you spent the money. Church Gist. You spent it in sin and you spent in sin. You are praying for it in righteousness but you have spent it in iniquity. I pray for you today: the sin of any kind will not spoil this mantle.
The mantle worked in the hand of Elijah, worked in the hand of Elisha, but failed in the hand of Gehazi, because Gehazi was a thief.
Anybody that this mantle is supposed to work in their life but sin has been arranged to spoil it, it will not stand! I say it shall not stand!
- Ignorance.
You see when it comes to iniquity, we must dwell there very well. You see lack of desire, I just do am one minute. When I enter iniquity, the thing hold me, keep me there. That should tell you, you have a pastor who wants you to keep right.
This message has left the body of Christ, has left many altars. I want a church where even if you don’t live right, I will not be held responsible, I will not be blamed for not telling you. I will tell you the truth and I will leave you to decide for yourself.
The real church is not when we meet o, it’s when you are alone. This one is just fellowship. Everybody can package himself. But when we are alone, everybody go show him true color. 1 John 5:14. Ignorance is a barrier to answers in prayers. When you are ignorant of your right in Christ, you don’t have the right to ask and receive. John 15:7. Look at the formula: if you abide in Him and His words abide in you. If you abide in Me (New birth, Sanctification, Righteousness etc) and My words abide in you, then you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Ignorance of your right in Christ is the reason why we pray for too long without answers. If you don’t know what God has said concerning you in this Book, you will pray and pray and pray, you will not get answers. Know your right! This is my right!
You may have everything bequeathed to you, your father may have given you everything in his will as his heir apparent, if you don’t know it by reason of the knowledge you have from the attorney in charge of that estate, you may die poor, even though your father willed everything to you.
I heard the story of somebody who everything was willed to him, but he never knew it. Church Gist. He suffered and suffered until he met a man who said, Are you the son of so and so? I remember he told me that everything he has belongs to you.
He said, No, they said there was no will and everything is just there like that. And that one took him to the person who is in custody of the will. And the day he got to know, his life changed. Everything about him changed!
It’s your right, it’s your destiny, it’s your inheritance, but do you know it? Church Gist. Don’t go to God and be begging as if you are a slave. You are the king’s kid! Tell Him, You are my Father, you said in Your word, that if I do this, you will do this. I have done my part, now do your part! You speak from the point of knowledge. Knowledge: what you know that gives you and edge.
- Unforgiveness
Mark 11:25. Forgiveness is the key to answers to fasting and prayer. Church Gist. That diary where you write people’s offense, is the reason why you pray and God has not answered. There is nobody on this earth that I hold in my heart, that I keep in my heart that I’m angry with. Quote me anywhere! We may not relate but I will not live with you in unforgiveness. Forgiveness is a command, relationship is a choice. So relationship is not by force, it’s a choice but most of you don’t know how to balance unforgiveness and relationship. You believe that anybody you forgive, you must relate with. No, it’s not correct, that’s not scripture.
We are commanded in scripture to forgive. We are not commanded to relate. Infact, when it comes to relationship, Come out from among them and be ye separate unto me. When it comes to relationship, Blessed is the man who walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, or sits in the seat of the scornful not stand in the way of sinners but his delight is in the law of the his God. In that law doth he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the side of river whose leaves shall not wither, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalms 1:1-4.
So forgiveness is a command, relationship is not a command. Forgive your husband, forgive your wife. Forgive that your friend. We don’t say you should relate. How do you know you have forgiven that person? Whenever you remember the person there is no pain, there is no bitterness. No animosity, no rancor, no acrimony. No resentment, no rejection.
There are people I don’t talk with, but I have nothing against them. That your ex, forgive him. It’s the reason why your prayer is not accessing heaven. All this one they say, Judgement service, write the name of someone God will judge. And you are putting the name of your former boyfriend, you no chop money? Dem no buy cake for you on your birthday? Dem no buy gift for you? Remember all the good things wey dem do before, everyone get good side and bad side. Even you get bad side, let us put your bad side in front of you, you no go fit even enter church.
Papa, what of my enemy? All the bad people? Go and forgive them! Look at me: if a man’s way pleases the Lord, He will make even the enemies to be at peace with him. Church Gist. What it means is that the effort should be to please the Lord. Your enemies are taken care of.
I don’t pray against enemies, I just renew my Back to Sender regularly. My Back to Sender spirit regularly. If Back to Sender hit anybody, no be you do am. All this one: my mother in law, die! My husband, die! This one, die! Sister in law, die! Everybody go die! Na only you go Dey the world alone!
To every married woman, the mother in law is a witch. One day, you will become a mother in law, you will become a new recruit witch. You know why mother in law is a witch? Mother in law knows, I have lived with this my son all his life. Two of us are like 5 and 6, we grew up together. This thing is like my life. Then somebody is coming to take him away from me. Naturally, you will react. It’s just that some women overreact. When they interview my mama on my wedding day those days, I didn’t know how to cut video. If it were now, I will cut her face and edit it and remove it there.
They say, Mama what do you have to say today that your son is getting married? My mama say, Make dem tell my pikin make he no forget me o. Make dem tell the wife, say me and my pikin dey together o, make she no come separate us. Make dem tell Onome, I allow her marry my pikin, make she no come separate us o.
Dem go my mother in law, what do you have to say? Me and my daughter dey like this. We are living as one. They should tell that person, whether na Pastor him call himself. They should not separate me and my daughter o.
Everybody is fighting for his interest!
And do you know what? If it is real marriage, mother and son must separate. Mother and daughter must separate. A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to your wife. If there is no leaving, there cannot be cleaving! Until you pay the leaving price, you cannot fulfill the cleaving mandate. Leave then you go and cleave! So most men can’t leave. They still dey behave like say dem dey suck breast m. At 30, still dey suck breast. The man still dey do like small pikin. At 40,45, mummy can I tell you what I see in this my marriage last night? Tell me, my son, tell me! He go say, dem serve me food with one meat. Mama go say, Come back home, come back home, come back! That’s not the standard! Na 3 meat I normally dey give you.
The mama no go ask am say, the money wey you give dem, na 3 meat e reach cook or what? E no go ask am say, na today the one meat start or e don dey do am like that before? She no go even tell am say, Shut up your mouth! Don’t tell me about your marriage! Face your marriage, you are a man!
Thy mother and son love that supposed to have expired is still there.
So the woman is responding because somebody wants to take something from her.
If you understand Bible, and you cannot manage marriage, Bible wey you understand no correct! By wisdom is every house built. So, to carry Bible for head and you no fit handle marriage, the Bible you carry is wrong. This Bible is handling the whole heaven and earth, e never fail. Your own small marriage, you wan take an make Bible useless.
He say but the man knows Bible, he knows the wrong Bible. Forgive! Your wife? Forgive! Your husband? Forgive! Your Neighbour? Forgive! Person who jilted you? Forgive! Your ex? Forgive! Person you gave your virginity to wrongly? Forgive!
You say, I will never forgive him, he disvirgined me. If your head correct, after he disvirgined you, you no go stay? You no go close your leg? You have slept with 60 men after the first one, you still dey fight the first one? That first one even help you start the journey. You should go and take the first one, say na him help you start the journey wey wan destroy your life.
The only time when virgin go swear and God go hold the swear, na 2 things.
- They disvirgined you against your wish. You were raped. But not that you lick ice cream, eat shawarma, lied to your mother, lied to everybody say you dey go church all night.
They asked somebody, why is the most useless thing you’ve done with your life? She said I lied to my mother and father that I was going to an all-night, and I went to my boyfriend’s house. And the father and mother decided to join her in the all-night, dem come all-night dey find their pikin, pikin no dey all-night. Dem call their pikin, for example, “Janet, where are you? We dey the all-night.” Janet no know when she talk say dem cancel the all-night. They say, No we are in the all-night. Service is going on.
Na that kind one wan swear you say make God answer the swear? No na you need swear. They should swear for you.
Somebody say Forgive. One pastor spoilt my name, spoilt the name of this church when he left this church. When I saw him, I said My son, how are you? How is the wife? How are the children?
He shock say I call am Son. He no know whether he wan answer. To him if he answer, him fit just die.
A pastor was there and said, I am shocked that with all the evil that you (pastor) have told me about this pastor and this church, when he saw you, he still showed you the true love that only a true father can show. Church Gist. Go and repent and ask for forgiveness. Even me, if I was in his shoe, I won’t sit anywhere with you. I won’t stand anywhere with you.
I said, I still love him, he’s my son. There’s no law that says we must serve God together under the same roof for the rest of our life. Anywhere you are serve God, anywhere that I am, I will serve God.
The hinderance is called Unforgiveness. Lift up your hand, say in the name of Jesus, I curse the root of Unforgiveness in my life. Let it go! Let it die from the root!
Can I shock you now? Even in this church, you have some people you don’t talk with. Can you put the devil to shame now, if it’s your junior go and greet the person, greet the person, put the devil to shame.
Look at it, if all your neighbors, all your friends, all the people around you are your enemies, you don’t talk to them. If you were to be the woman whose husband died and you needed a prophet to intervene on your behalf and the prophet said, go and borrow vessels and she went and borrowed vessels from her neighbour and as soon as the miracle started, she was putting the oil in those vessels. If she was not talking to her neighbor, who will go and borrow her vessel to carry the miracle? You don’t go and look for people the day you need them. You relate with them before then, so that the day you need them, they will have no reason to tell you No.
Fill the vessel with oil! They said Madam we have filled them, there is still oil left.
Go and borrow, go and borrow! And the oil was just multiplying, miracle, miracle was just flowing! Church Gist. And Elisha said, Go and sell and pay off your debts.
The vessel did not come from her, it came from her neighbors. You go dry cloth for outside, neighbour no go comot am, because dem know say you go suspect say dem put juju. Nobody wants to offend you. There are things only neighbors can do. Never live in a place, you are quarreling with your neighbors.
I went to a house to go and pray and I could sense enemies everywhere. I said, My son, you are living in a coven. There’s an enemy in this compound.
The wife said, Eh Papa, thank God you can see o. Thank God o. If na me talk am, dem go say na the wife. The man said we are ritualistic, we are doing blood money. We are evil. Na everyday dey pray against us for the compound. A tenant! Somebody build house, make you tenant. All your prayer everyday na to make landlord die!
If landlord die, who will build house for you to rent? I said, you can’t live with this enemy, chase him away, chase him away. Church Gist. It’s too late to say start again and begin to repair relationship. When a new person comes in, start to live with the person as your own blood, your own flesh. They won’t know who is Landlady, who is Tenant. All of una go be one.
These are small small things that hinders prayers. My neighbor heard I was building, he is not a member of Answers, never worshipped in this place. Not an Edo man, not from the same place. For 4 years I’ve lived with him, we have never quarreled one day. We have never had any cause to quarrel one day.
One time I saw the way they opened their gate, it hit the fence separating our compound and it was breaking. I never complained once. Church Gist. I would just look at it and say, I know that he is a decent man, he is a responsible man. Any day that he sees it, he will fix it.
Always avoid issues that will lead to quarrel. Then one day, I saw an alert with his name. No member in this church has given me that money in the name of support, in the name of love offering. He said, Just a little contribution to that thing you are doing.
You call that thing little, it’s massive. If we are fighting, will he do it, if we are quarreling, will he do it? I don’t teach you how to be a mafia o. How to be a hooligan. I teach you how to be a responsible citizen. Not a member of this church, not from the same village! Yet he gave me something he has not given to someone he has known for 30 years.
All these hinderances, that is why your prayer is not answered. The Bible said, Deal with your wife with knowledge, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
That’s why some husbands and wives cannot pray. Their hearts are not the same. They live in unforgiveness. The man is facing North, the wife is facing South.
The man says Oh God change my level. The wife says, Father, you cannot change his level. This current level, I’ve seen too many devils. This current level, I’m going through pain in marriage. This current level, he cannot feed us, he cannot take care of me. This current level, we dey suffer. If you come change him level, the pain go increase. Father, demote my husband now!
And Gid answer the prayer of wife more than husband o. I don’t know why.
But God answers the prayer of women more than men. That’s why any man who is doing very well, there is a woman praying for him. Any man whose life is scattered, there is a woman swearing for him.
Marry a wife who will be your prayer partner, not your prayer point.
Come pastor, I want to marry you, I want to be your prayer partner. I marry you, you are my prayer partner. Let us pray for the next level of this family. I want to progress, in my ministry. Oya, begin to pray. He is my prayer partner. But when you go and marry a person who is not your prayer partner, he is a prayer point.
In your mind you think you are praying with somebody, you are praying with your enemy!
I woke up this morning, I saw a text from mama, body sweet me. Thanks for everything you are doing for this family. God will give you grace to do more! That was the first thing I saw around 3:30, 4:00 am. I noted it.
Your own na swear you dey always see. The first thing I saw was Thanks for everything you do for us. That’s the word she used “For us”. I saw the text with this phone, I carried this other phone to send money, but I stopped myself. I say, make dem no dey use the same person dey catch me every time. Next week now, she will send another text. And you know women, the day you stop, you no love dem again.
Say neighbour, neighbour! Are you married to a prayer partner or a prayer point?
- Wrong confession
Job 6:25. Never play with your words. Right words are very forcible. Proverbs 18:21. Mark 11:23. There’s power in your mouth. Your confession is your possession. What you say is what you see. You confession is your manifestation. Your statement is your accomplishment. Your tongue determines your turn. It is your utterance that brings about your deliverance! Infact, your speech determines your speed. Church Gist. If you want speed in life, be careful with the kind of speech you accept in life. What you talk is what you take. Your voice determines your choice. Your saying determines your seeing. What you say is what you see. From Genesis 1, God said, God said, God said. There’s no time, I would have been showing you all the things God said. God said and said and said till the point where he was not tired of saying it. We now saw in one of the verses, 31 or thereabouts, God saw.
Any person who is kot afraid of saying it, one day he will see it! Say it! My children are great! I did not give birth to wayward children! My husband is great! These children are kingdom stars! They will be greater than me! Where I can’t enter, they will enter! Church Gist. I suffered, they won’t suffer! As my children are growing, their wealth will e growing, their life will be growing! My own will jot be a misfit! My own will not be a misnomer! These are Presidents! These are Governors! These are Generals! Any career you choose, you will be the best in it! Not because the child is behaving very well. Not because the child is not misbehaving. Not because the child is not stubborn.
Your words are stronger than the character of your children, than the behavior of your children!
Every time you swear for them, you curse them. You say things against them. You will live to regret it.
Have you prayed? Have you fasted? Be careful with the things you say. This year is bad o, this year is tough o. I don’t understand Buhari. We will die in this country. Nothing is working! Hear me: if they like, let them turn fuel to 1,000 naira. I turn you to millionaire! If they like let them play politics with our life! Everything happening in Nigeria is politics, it does not take more than 4 years to change to change this nation!
What are you telling me! It’s so bad now that APC is now fighting APC. All their doing now is to finish Tinubu, they are now fighting Tinubu. If I am a president and I am now fighting my successor, the one to take over from me, the one they will succeed me. Church Gist. I’m doing everything for people to suffer! When they suffer January and February, they suffer fuel, they suffer hunger, they suffer old naira and new naira. They suffer everything towards presidential election, they will know who not to vote for. That’s what they’re doing! To vote for APC means you are under a curse! To vote back this government, even if they are favouring you, Haba! To hell with the favour you get! One man, one man favour you, then your generation dey suffer, you say you wan dey enjoy. No, no, no! Don’t say what you see, say what you want to see! Say what you want to see not what you are going through! Say where you are going to!
Rise to your feet!
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