PRAYER IS THE LIVE WIRE OF EVERY GROWING CHURCH
MANY CHURCHES HAVE BECOME ENTERTAINMENT CENTRES JUST SHOUTING ON DRY ALTARS AND NOTHING HAPPENING
EXPLOSIVE CHURCH GROWTH IS GOD’S PROPHETIC AGENDA FOR THE END TIME CHURCH. IT’S NOT AN AMBITION
THERE SHALL BE A FALLING AWAY FIRST AND WE ARE HERE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO WILL FALL AWAY
WE ARE GOD’s RESCUE AGENT
THE CHURCH IS GOD’S ORDAINED ILLUMINATION CENTER
MOSES PRAYED 3 MILLION PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT ONE DAY
IT TAKES PRAYER TO PROVOKE GROWTH
PRAYER IS THE SHARPEST OF ALL SICKLES OF HARVEST
WHATEVER CANNOT STOP THE CHURCH FROM PRAYING AND FASTING CANNOT STOP THE CHURCH FROM GROWING
EVERY KIND OF GATE OF hell WILL BOW TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAITH PLUS PRAYER PLUS FASTING
WHEN GOD HONOURS A MAN, SHAME AND REPROACH WILL SAY BYE-BYE FOREVER
OBEDIENCE WITHOUT EXPECTATION EQUALS FRUSTRATION. EVERYONE IS ONLY PERMITTED TO BE A PARTAKER OF WHAT HE HOPES FOR
- Bishop David Oyedepo on “PRAYER AND FASTING – THE LIVE WIRE OF EVERY GROWING CHURCH” || 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting Day 15 || Youth Chapel || 23rd January 2023
Lord Jesus we can’t thank you enough for answers to prayers and diverse encounters granted each one of us since this fasting began. Church Gist. Receive our thanks in the name of Jesus. Now let your word come forth tonight. Let each one return with an encounter with you in Jesus precious name.
The encounter that counts with God is our personal encounter. You can’t receive an injection on behalf of someone else. Church Gist. You can’t take transfusion on behalf of someone else. It’s either personal or it’s fake.
- May this last week of this fast bring everyone’s way life time order of encounters! Something that would stay with us all the days of our lives.
Every praying Church is a growing Church and every growing Church must remain a praying Church to keep growing. Acts 2:46-47. Acts 6:4,7; Ezekiel 36:37. This is what makes prayer and fasting live wire of every growing Church. Church Gist. There are many entertaining Churches; just shout, “yay, Yoo, yaa, yah” there’s nothing going on. The altar is dry, full of fun, the pews a complete desert. Real Church growth, Jesus built Churches require Prayer and fasting because the Church is growing against the gates of hell some of which will never give way without prayer and fasting. Matthew 16:18.
Our exhortation line this week is, “PRAYER AND FASTING – THE LIVE WIRE OF EVERY GROWING CHURCH.” It takes word stirred confidence to command answers in prayers. Church Gist. Word aroused confidence to come boldly to the throne of grace. Now why this undying quest for Church growth? What’s the matter? What kind of an ambition is all these?
- Explosive Church growth is God’s prophetic agenda for the end time Church. It’s not an ambition; it’s in pursuit of God’s agenda for the end time Church. Micah 4:1-2. Church Gist. Nations shall come to learn from Church how to deal with the issues of their lives. That is a pointer to the fact that the Church shall be the solution center of the world in the end time. It is repeated verbatim in Isaiah 2:2-3. It’s a verily verily kind of prophecy. Zechariah 2:4. They’re all end time prophetic life lines. Churches being turned to towns without walls. Zechariah 8:20-23. That’s God’s order of explosion where each one comes to Church next Sunday with 10 others. Church Gist. And they and the 10 will come the next Sunday with 10-10 others. When you know that it is the will of God, you pray with confidence 1 John 5:14.
- It is the dictates of the Great Commission delivered by Christ. This quest is in pursuit of the Great Commission as delivered by Christ Matthew 28:18-20. Now all those laid out tasks are Church based tasks Jeremiah 3:15-16. Pastors are in Church teaching them and it is till the end of the age- It is a task of ‘Occupy till I come’! For before He arrives here, the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea Isaiah 11:9. Church Gist. Why this undying quest? It is in pursuit of the Great Commision as delivered by Christ. He wants all men saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth as He makes it available in Church 1 Timothy 2:4.
The Church is God’s ordained illumination center Psalms 73:17. You enter the Church and Service has not started and yet Light starts breaking forth. When the Word comes in, you find Light striking and erupting. Why this undying quest for Church growth? Church Gist. Multitudes are still in the valley of decision to go for the devil and to go for suicide. They are just at the edge of life and we are at a rescue mission for them Joel 3:13-14. So we are God’s rescue agent into this valley of decision- To rescue them from falling into the mouth of the lion.
You can imagine someone who has depression from childhood till 28 years old and Jesus said that it is enough! Rescue mission! Church Gist. A boy already going to die, I mean virtually dead, Jesus brought him out and he ran and wore a suit last Sunday! Rescue mission! So it is not an ambition, it is applied revelation.
This is God’s agenda and we buy into it and then He keeps backing it up to prove that you are on course with Him. Church Gist. God never backs up pride, He resists the proud man from going forward! You see anything moving forward? God says, “Yes, that’s My stamp of approval”. We have a stamp of approval for an unending quest for Church growth. We had 900 plus that signed up for membership of the Church. Awesome God!
Now finally, satan is all out to see as many as he can push off the Kingdom as soon as possible. Let no man deceive you, there shall be a falling away first before the day comes 2 Thessalonians 2:3. So we are here to stand between the dead and the living to ensure that the falling away agenda of the devil did not come to pass for as many as we can save through the live line saying, “Come out! Church Gist. Come over to the City of Refuge for upon Mount Zion, there shall be deliverance”! We pull them out from outside the City of Refuge and pull them in to preserve them. The devil is busy blowing his evil wind Luke 22:31-32. We are to stand on the way against them and we are sure to prevail!
So praying with confidence when you are praying for Church growth and for revival is God’s agenda for the hour. We discovered that prayer is the sharpest of all sickles of harvest recognised in Scriptures with capacity to make the earth bring forth in one day and birth a nation at once. Church Gist. We saw the prayer of Elijah how he turned the whole nation to God, check that in 1 Kings 18:23-39. The whole nation exclaimed, “The Lord is God! Baal, you are stupid! Baal we are not going for you anymore! Idols and cultism go away”! That was stirred by prayers.
The Elijah passionate kind of prayer rescued the nation in one day Isaiah 66:7 and 8. So pray with a sense of mission! Your prayer counts on the throne of God. We saw Elijah’s testimony as the raw interpretation of Isaiah 66:7 and 8. Church Gist. Direct and raw interpretation! Moses prayed 3 million people out of Egypt in one day, that’s how much of prayer that counts when we pray with a sense of mission, that is, it takes prayer to provoke growth!
In Exodus 12:42, it is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt… This is that night of the Lord to be observed of all children of Israel in their generations. He brought them out in one night, He called them the Church in the wilderness Acts 7:38. That Church was born in one day! 3 million people came out of darkness into Light! Amen!
-Something is breaking forth!
That’s how potent prayer is above all other means!- All other channels of Church growth!
You can’t birth a child without a travail in the labour room. Galatians 4:19. There is a travailing that births souls into the kingdom. So let’s pray with a sense of mission. Whatever can’t stop the church from praying cannot stop the church from growing. So you have distractions here and there like they had in Acts 6. Busy with welfare activities and revival fire was burning low and was going to go out and they said wait a minute, it is not reasonable for us to go this way. Let’s reason. Church Gist. This is not what was handed to us. Acts 6:1-4. Then the fire went on. No matter how religiously right and morally right it might be, whatever stops a church from praying and fasting will stop the church from growing. Do you know why? We are in contention against the god of this world who has held them captive. Luke 11:21-22. We are in a battle, He has given us the souls of all men but the captor is holding them bound and we are out to overcome him on the altar of prayer and fasting. I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So the gates of hell are out to resist it. Every kind of gate of hell will bow to the authority of faith plus prayer plus fasting. It is three combined forces against any demonic stronghold. Matthew 17:18-21. It will clear any demonic stronghold.
Now good news, what is in this for me? Jeremiah 30:19. In the growth of the Church is the glory of the saints. All engaging saints are ordained to experience a change of story via their engagement. Jeremiah 30:19. In the Church Growth agenda of God is the glory of His people. “In the multitude of people is the King’s honour” and “he that honours me, I will honour”. In the growth of His Church is the honour of all His engaging children. He has not asked the seed of Jacob to seek Him in vain. Church Gist. We are going to see a dramatic change of stories. As each one puts His heart into what we are talking about. Engaging with his heart, not ‘make them see me’ kind of stewardship. That man that engages with His heart will emerge a governor, a celebrity and a captain of industry in his field by engaging His heart to seek after me. When God honours a man, shame and reproach will say bye-bye forever. As the Lord lives no one will remember the shame of the old time anymore. For everyone’s shame, you will receive double. It shall be double honour for every shame anyone has suffered.
You know the interesting part of it is that it is for a long time. You better strengthen the hands that hang down. It is till the end of the age. What does that mean? The honour is till the end of the age. The glory is till the end of the age. You will never be grounded anymore. You never suffer setbacks anymore, as you keep doing your bit you have committed God’s integrity to confirm His word. Church Gist. Just keep doing it. That makes stewardship a lifelong task for any serious-minded believer. Anybody who can eat can pray.
Prayers: In Church growth lies the eradication of shame and reproach in my life. Lord upgrade my passion for the Kingdom. Passion for souls.
— COMMUNION MINISTRATION —–
Obedience can be great but obedience without expectation equals frustration. Everyone is only permitted to be a partaker of what he hopes for. What you don’t expect, you don’t experience. Now we are in the third day of the fifth module. It ends today. There remain two modules of three days. This thing must not miss you. Expect to be visited. Don’t wish, expect. Expect to be visited and you shall be visited. Expect to be rewarded. In all labour there is profit. In all labour there is profit. We are not helping God, we are obeying God to be blessed in return. Without expectation, you won’t see it. If you push in my Kingdom, I am committed to making a noble out of you. Church Gist. Nobody can see anything in you but I will make a noble out of you. You are committed to advancing my kingdom, I am committed to advancing you supernaturally. It is my job to advance you when you advance me. Forsake me, I will forsake you. You are for me, I will be for you. It was the Lord that advanced Moses. Expect this season to result in your supernatural advancement. Expect to be glorified.
It is not enough to obey God, we must have an expectation mentality. He has not asked the seed of Jacob to seek Him in vain. You are not permitted to end this prayer and fasting with any sickness in your body. Your sleep must be restored to soundness. Your mental system will come back to life. Your spiritual life must change levels. Expect every outcome of prayer and fasting to come to pass in your life. Don’t wish for it, expect it. I expected that Matthew 6:33 holds the answer to all my needs when I caught the fire, I expected that except God is no longer there or Jesus Christ has left the throne. What He says to do, that is what I am doing so I expect what He said He will add. Church Gist. I expected it. He is up to it. I shouldn’t bother about Him. Expectation is stronger than intercession. Intercession without expectation equals frustration. You praying for ten hours won’t make any meaning, what do you expect out of it? Faith is the substance of things expected.
- No one will end this adventure in frustration.
- Every aspect of our lives, spirit, soul and body shall be supernaturally decorated.
As we engage our hearts not ‘make them see me’, as you engage with your heart God will bless you.
Give God thanks.
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