THE GARDEN OF EVIL PLANTERS

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

Today, our message is entitled, “The garden of evil planters.” We shall start by considering Matthew 13: 24-28: “Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which seweth good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this…”

These are the last days and the Bible makes us to understand that part of the signs of the last days is that the enemy of man’s soul is going to be much more horrible and wicked. The Bible says that evil men shall wax stronger and stronger. Therefore, in this age of so much spiritual contamination, it is important for every believer to know how to deliver himself and how to help others. When we talk about deliverance, there are three ways by which a person can be delivered from the power of darkness:

1. By growing up spiritually: As you grow spiritually as a Christian, childish things depart from your life, your prayers become much more powerful, having more fire in them, certain things would find your life uncomfortable and go out without you making any effort. Your spiritual maturity would cause them much inconvenience to make them quit. This is what we refer to as deliverance by spiritual growth.
2. Deliverance by the word of God: When you become a Bible addict and you meditate on the word of God, thereby allowing the word to be inside your body, soul and spirit, certain things would leave because they cannot withstand that kind of situation. They will go without anybody making additional serious effort.
3. The ministry of conflict: This is the one most people refer to as deliverance ministration. When you declare a conflict against your enemies, you begin to fire on until they leave. Many people who come for deliverance are however not always patient. They want immediate results not knowing that in most cases, the ground has to be cleared and the garden of their lives fenced to prevent a reentry of evil spirits after the clearing. And this takes some time.

The life of a man can be regarded as a garden in which things can be planted, whether good or evil. The scripture above says that the man planted wheat in his garden, but when he was sleeping, his enemy came and planted something else there. But he quickly recognized that an enemy had done it. However, one thing is certain: it is not in the garden of every life that the enemy can plant things. Some lives are too hot for the enemy to handle while others are so cold that he easily plants things in them.

WHAT BREAKS DOWN THE IMMUNITY OF A PERSON’S LIFE AND MAKES IT ACCESSIBLE TO THE ENEMY TO PLANT WHAT HE LIKES?

I Corinthians 15:55 records a strange thing. It says, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?” It is because of the sting of death that the enemy is able to plant rubbish into many lives. There are quite a number of insects that sting and deposit poisonous venom into the system, and unless something is done quickly to eject the venom, the consequences can be gravely. It is the same thing spiritually. If the evil deposits that the enemy plants in people while they are asleep are not dealt with quickly it will result in serious problems. The Bible says, “While men slept, his enemy came and planted tares into his life.” What kind of sleep is the Bible talking about? Is it the usual sleep at night or spiritual sleep? It could be either of them. One of the ways the enemies operate against men is to come while they are asleep physically or spiritually.

The Bible says, “O death, where is thy sting?” Here, Paul personifies death as a creature, an insect that can sting. Verse 56 of the same chapter says, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” The Bible calls that sting of death sin. This sting of death has enabled the enemy to convert so many lives to a garden where he plants whatsoever he likes. Such evil things shall be uprooted today, in Jesus’ name.

One of the most hopeless things you could ask a minister to do is to officiate at the funeral service of somebody who had gone to hell fire. Such a minister would render the service as a matter of duty. He would not enjoy it because he knows that the person has gone to hell fire. The sting of death is so terrible that Jesus had to sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane to help us remove it. The Bible says that as He prayed, His sweat were like drops of blood. He received 39 strokes of cane. The kind of whips used in those days had sharp objects attached to them which peeled off the skin when they were used to flog somebody. Jesus, the Creator of man, was stripped naked in the street. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. One of the most painful deaths is death on the cross. The person does not die immediately. The suspension on the cross applies painful pressure to the heart, which causes internal bleeding, and excruciating pain. Our Lord Jesus suffered all these because of the sting of death. The ridicule and the painful death on the cross were the price He paid to remove the sting of death. This is why the Bible says that He is a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.

I was told the story of a certain schoolteacher who was telling his students about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. When he finished, one small boy said, “Excuse me, sir, the story is not true. It cannot be true.” He asked the boy why he said it was not true and the boy said, “If it were true, you would not be telling the story with your eyes dry. If Jesus Christ was actually dealt with like that, and you said He is your Saviour, your eyes cannot be so dry. So, it cannot be true.”

The sting of death made Jesus to cry out on the cross: “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” God Himself rejected Him because He was carrying the load of sin. Sin made God to be separated from Him. The stings of death are the worms that are in hell fire. The Bible says that those worms never die. The sting of death is sin, meaning that death would have had no power if not for sin. If somebody has the sting of death operating in his life, all kinds of things would be planted in his life. Some of those who say that they need deliverance probably only need to check if the gardens of their lives are well protected. Please, close your eyes at this point and pray this prayer point aggressively: “You the garden of my life, reject evil plantation, in the name of Jesus.”

Do you have the sting of death operating in your life? If you do, then the devil will be busy planting things there. When someone treats you shabbily, do you revenge the evil done to you? Do you take kindly to criticisms? Are you the kind of person who retaliates when you have opportunity to do so? Are you the kind of person who finds faults with your critics because they are criticizing you? Are you provocative to the point of retaliation? Do you absent yourself from a meeting because you are no longer the leader? Do you find it difficult to operate once you are to follow and others are to lead? Then you have a fertile garden for the enemy. If a person is called to do what you normally do, do you become angry? If you do, you have a fertile garden for the enemy. Are you a believer who has compassion for those who are lost? Or are you really not bothered whether anybody goes to hell fire or not? Are you the kind of believer who shifts your responsibility to others and anytime something goes wrong, the first thing you do is to look for somebody to blame? Do you cover up your bitterness? When you are prevented from having your own way, do you feel heat inside your stomach? Are you the kind of person who would curse and swear when you have made a mistake. You know that you are wrong, and still you are cursing and swearing? You have a fertile garden for the enemy. The truth is this: whatsoever hides in the heart of a person will eventually run out through his mouth. So, any spiritual poison that you retain in your spirit will lead to something inside which would be a fertilizer for the enemy. And the more sinful a man is becoming, the more violent his anger would become. The holier he becomes the less angry he becomes. Some people get so angry with themselves that they would want to destroy themselves. Let me ask you the following questions: Are you patient with others? Are you the touchy or sensitive type? Are you the kind who likes to be pampered, and if nobody is ready to offer the pampering, you become uncooperative? Are you the kind of person who takes offence when you are not given your due recognition? Or are you offended when somebody fails to greet you the way you want? Are you given to finding faults in others or do you always grumble? Are you the kind of person who loves the praise of men and if nobody praises you, you get upset? If you fall into any of these categories then you have a fertile garden for the enemy. I am telling you all these so that you will know that the fact that there is an enemy going about planting evil things in people’ lives, does not mean that he can plant them into just any life.

Some lives are very fertile for evil seeds. The reason some are not yet growing evil fruits is that Mr. Walk-about, the devil, has not arrived there. Do you have anything inside you seeking compliments? Are you willing to allow others to be praised instead of yourself? Or do you get envious? Do you withhold your offering because there is no public announcement of your contributions? When your effort yields results, do you demand that people should be giving you credit for it? Do you have secret pride? All these questions that I am asking you are for you to be able to do some surgical work on your life today. Do you have a feeling that your own talent is superior to that of others? Do you love supremacy? You just want to be the boss? Are you the kind of person who has the funny feeling that he has arrived? Do you fail to stand for your right as a Christian because of fear? Are you a stubborn or rebellious Christian? A stubborn Christian will say: “I will not do it,” and a rebellious one will say, “I will do it, but I will do it my own way.” Are you jealous of another person’s success or achievements? Are you happy with other people’s success? Do you pretend to be wiser than you are, or do you appear to be better than others? Are you the kind of the funny Christian who testifies about spiritual experiences that he doesn’t have? Some people would say, “Thus says the Lord,” whereas the Lord has not said anything. They forget that God does not speak to a talkative. If you are the type of Christian who says, “Thus says the Lord” when the Lord has not said anything, it is dangerous. You are making your life a fertile garden for the enemy. Unfortunately, the modern-day church is filled with Christians who play cards, whot and Ludo and half-naked people who say to themselves “Well, we are going to make heaven. We are covered by the blood of Jesus. Praise the Lord!” I have not seen the blood of Jesus covering an unclean material. Among the so-called holy people, we find those who shout very loudly when they are angry. We also find some people who can preach very well but are very trickish. Are you unteachable or do you lack self-control? Look at the hot complaint of our Lord in Luke 6:46 “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Many people call Him Lord, Lord, but refuse to do what He is asking them to do. Some do it half way, some do it a quarter of the way while some do not all. Some people give God conditions for working for Him. We must allow God to take out our brains today and wash them thoroughly in His detergent.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD

In Matthew 5: 20, our Lord talks about the qualifications of those that can make heaven. He says, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Mark 10:15 also says, “Verily, I say unto you, “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” Look at those two conditions. The first one says, your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and the scribes. The second condition says, You must be as a little child. You may then ask, what is the righteousness of the Pharisees? Luke 18:10-12: “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, (Look at his wonderful prayer:) “I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” That is the righteousness of the Pharisees. And Jesus says that except our own righteousness exceeds that, we would not make the kingdom of heaven. Sadly, many are yet to get to this level, let alone exceed it. This is why the enemy is having a field day planting whatsoever he wants in their lives.

WHO ARE THE PHARISEES?

The Pharisees were religious men. They were a body of teachers. Jesus said that they sat on the seat of Moses. They taught and preached in their time. They ran the schools and synagogues. An average Pharisee was a man of high morals. He knew the law, that is, the Old Testament. His way of life was strict. He maintained that the Jews had to be separated from other people. He would not eat with the Gentiles, nor do business with them. The Pharisees did not allow their people to marry Gentiles. You can accuse the Pharisees of all kinds of things but not telling lies. They did not tell lies. They knew the Old Testament and quoted it even to Jesus. They were not extortioners. They did not practice injustice or adultery. They subjected themselves to a rigorous code of conduct. In fact, there is no serious Bible student who would not admire the Pharisees. Many Christians compromise their faith but the Pharisees would never compromise their faith. So, we can see that the standard of God is very high.

MARKS OF ADULT BABIES

Most Christians are not even doing as well as the Pharisees. The devil knows that they are not doing as well as they are supposed to so, he plants so many things in their lives. Nursery and primary school teachers have a hell of time because one of the most difficult tasks one can get involved in is controlling children. Children complain all the time and the teachers are always busy running up and down to calm them. That is the mark of spiritual babies. They want to wait for the Lord to treat them like Jonah before they become wise. Many Christians who claim to be growing are not. They are just getting fatter and there is a difference between getting bigger and growing. When there is no change in your quality of prayer, Bible reading, study of the word of God and witnessing to others, then you are still a baby. The devil likes baby Christians, especially those who refuse to grow so that he can plant sins in their lives. They are fertile grounds for evil.

Another way of knowing those who are babies in the church is that they are more interested in getting than in giving. The mature believer will give. Giving is one of the marks of Christian adults. Miracle services are usually jam-packed with people because most of them are more interested in receiving than in giving. A certain man called a prayer meeting and found out that few people were interested. He devised a trick to make people come. When the meeting got half way, he shook his body vigorously and began to prophesy: “Thus says the Lord, Death, death, wants to kill three people and if they don’t come to this prayer meeting tomorrow, they shall die.” He succeeded. Immediately the meeting closed, people went home saying that it was a serious meeting and that they must not miss it the following day. The following day, the place was jam-packed. The man asked the people to close their eyes, and he began to pray: “O God, send down money, send down money, send down money,” and they were all saying ‘Amen’. Suddenly, he stopped the prayer and said, “Before this prayer can continue you must give something first to God. You must all empty your pockets. You must put everything down, including your transport money.” They put down all their money and the preacher said, “Now let us continue the prayer: “Oh God, send down money, send down money.” A mature Christian would have reasoned that God cannot be printing money in heaven. They were still saying ‘Amen’ when the man disappeared. When they did not hear his voice again, they opened their eyes only to discover that the man had gone away with their money. It was evident that they were babies. Children get easily excited.

If you call a meeting and say, “Possess your possession and wonderful success,” many people would come. But when you say, “I want to discuss the nature of hell fire,” nobody will want to attend that kind of meeting. Whereas, at the end of the day, that is the reality we are all going to face whether we like it or not. A time will come when the trumpet shall sound and the goats shall be separated from the sheep and we will know where each person is going. Those who shun salvation will get there on that day and say, “O Lord, open your gate,” and the Lord will say, “No. You did not want to be saved, that is why you cannot come in.” Like little children, some Christians don’t know what to do. When they offer them what they really need, they would prefer other things. Solomon was given long life, riches and power to defeat his enemies, but he asked for understanding to discern judgment. If you ask many Christians what they want now, they would tell you they want their enemies defeated quickly. But Solomon said, wisdom and understanding, and God gave them to him. God said to him, “Now that you have asked for the main thing, you can get the rest.” “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

A lot of Christians are not doing very much for God. There are people who have been Christians for 20 years, and still have not led a single person to Christ. They prefer to be fed with milk. Many seminaries and Bible colleges are only teaching people how to warm the milk for their congregation to drink. The reason there are so many problems in the church is that most people who go to church are babies. The man of God would be busy repeating the basic things that they ought to have known all the time. This does not help anyone. The Bible says, “Except you accept the kingdom of God like a little child it would be difficult for you to enter therein.” It is sad to note that some people have not even taken enough of the milk that is available and is distributed every Sunday. Some who have taken the milk have not digested it. The question is, when are we going to start learning the wisdom of the age to come? When are we going to start having more adults than babies? When the devil knows that he is playing with kids, then he knows how to deceive them and plant things into their lives. A baby Christian would be proud and oversensitive. He would be living by what others say instead of what God says. He would not be able to take decisions on his own. The faith of a baby in the Lord would be unstable and he would not be able to receive anything from the Lord. It is not everybody who grows up that grows old. You could be as tall as a giant and still be a small boy inside. There is a great difference between age and maturity. Normally, the older we are, the more mature we should be. But often this is not the case. I saw a 40 year old man crying. What did he do? He raped a two-year old girl. Will you call that kind of person an adult? He is only an adult physically but inside he is something else. This is why the enemy is recklessly planting things. The devil used to find it difficult to do things easily but now, he is having a field day because believers have refused to grow up. If Christians should grow up, they would become victors instead of victims.

Think about it. Are you growing or you are just getting fat? You are buying more Bibles and more commentaries, but spiritually you are not growing. Ask yourself a few questions. Are you becoming more and more patient in your daily life? Do you play with temptation or you resist it from the start? Do you find joy in obeying the word of God or you just read it because they say it is good for you to read? Are you able to control your tongue? Are you the kind of person that people come to for spiritual wisdom? Do you make your plans without considering God at all? Are you selfish when it comes to money? Are you unfaithful in your tithe and offering? Are you a prayer addict or do you criticize and gossip? When prayers of material breakthroughs are offered, baby Christians say a loud Amen but when you say, “O Lord, when the goats shall be separated from the sheep, let us not be found wanting,” the response would be a sluggish Amen. The prayers, which need to be violently prayed, are taken lightly. These are the marks of babies in the house of God. Baby Christians are fertile gardens for the plantation of the enemies. Things that ought not to chase them are chasing them. Instead of addressing these problems, many people come to church to gyrate and to dance. In those days, when you come into the church of God, you would tremble. You would know that you came before the Almighty God. The seriousness of the way people sat down, and the way they sang and worshipped, no sinner would find it comfortable. The Bible says, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the world keep silence before Him.” But these days, even men wear earrings to the church and do all kinds of things. They snake-dance and break-dance in the house of God and you still wonder why the devil is having a field day? The devil is having a field day because nobody wants to resist him again. Some people would say, “Well, let them do anything they want to do, as far as God is in their hearts,” forgetting that Christianity is a set of dos and don’ts. Some would tell you that we are under grace. But Jesus said, “You have read that Thou shall not commit adultery, but if you commit it in your heart, you have already sinned.” The law says that when you take another man’s wife, you have committed adultery. But under grace now, Jesus says that just thinking about it makes you guilty. So, which one is tougher? Righteousness is all about dos and don’ts. There are certain things you must not do. If you do, you will go to hell fire.

Enough is enough of these evil plantations. As some people are struggling to remove one, the enemy is planting another one. When some people have still not succeeded in pulling out the ones they have, fresh ones are being planted. Do you want these evil planters to succeed in your life? If you know that you were born again but have backslidden, I want you to slide back to Jesus. You can take that decision now. Today is the day of salvation, tomorrow may be too late. There may be no other opportunity. Slide back to Jesus now! Tell the Lord you are coming home. The Bible says, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. With what shall he exchange his soul.” Some people need to do restitution, apologize, appeal and withdraw from certain activities so that the axe of God can touch the root of every evil plantation in their lives. The Bible says, “Behold, now the axe is laid at the root of the trees and every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut off and thrown into the fire. It also says, “Every tree that my Father has not planted shall be rooted up.” Act now!

PRAYER POINTS

1. Every tree of destruction, be uprooted, in the name of Jesus.
2. Every evil night planter, be paralyzed, in the name of Jesus.
3. (Place one hand on your head and the other on your chest) Every evil material planted in my life in the dark, be uprooted, in the name of Jesus.
4. (Place your hand on your chest) All the powers preparing poison for me, drink your poison, in the name of Jesus.
5. Let the chariots of fire chase away every evil spy reporting on my life, in Jesus’ name.
6. Let every curse issued against me go back to the sender, in the name of Jesus.

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THE DARK ROOM OF LIFE

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

Our message this week should be taken seriously because we will be considering answers to some of the questions that are bothering so many minds. It is entitled “The dark room of life.”

Psalm 30: 5: “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” The ‘night’ in this text is what we refer to as the dark room. Where can the dark room of life be found? It can be found in the night.

There are only four main important questions to ask on any issue. These are: Why? Which? How? and When? However, the one people ask most is ‘why?’ Many of our problems come upon us when these questions are not asked. Take the issue of marriage as an example. If you do not ask these questions before you go into marriage, it may lead to failure. It is commonly said that ‘not all that glitters is gold.’ Proverbs 16: 25: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are ways of death.” That is, those things that look bright and fascinating in the eyes of men are coated with deadly poison. To Eve, the fruit looked good but it eventually spelt doom for her.

There was a sister who needed a husband badly and her prayer point was “O Lord, give me a rich, tall and handsome husband.” Eventually, she found one man who was attending a church as if he was born-again. Thereafter they started to talk about marriage. However, whenever there was a prayer meeting she noticed that the man could not pray more than two minutes, and he did not like calling the name of Jesus. That did not bother the sister. As long as the man was rich and had a fast car, she was okay, or so she thought. They did the marriage and on the second night after their wedding, she woke up in the middle of the night to find her husband at an altar in his bedroom naked and uttering some strange words that made no meaning to her. She was terrified and asked him how the altar got inside their bedroom. To her amazement, the man said, “Don’t worry, wait on that bed for your husband. I am not your husband. Your husband will soon come.” And truly, somebody walked in from nowhere.

When the relevant questions are not asked, it leads to problem. A brother came to a pastor and told him that he wanted to marry a certain girl and the pastor advised him to go and pray. After sometime, he came back and told the pastor that he had prayed. The pastor urged him to go and pray again. When a pastor tells you to go and pray again, he must have seen something, which he wants you too to discover. The brother went ahead and married the girl. When they got home after the wedding ceremony, the brother said they should pray. He prayed and the sister refused to say Amen. When he asked her why, she screamed at him and warmed him never to call on the name of Jesus again. Why? Correct questions were not asked.

I also know a fellow who went into business. He started with cocoa export. One day, he came complaining that the information given to him concerning his business was very strange. He was told that the ship carrying his cocoa had disappeared. The question was how could a whole ship disappear? Anyway, he lost everything. Then he started again, this time on wood business and invested a large sum of money. His major customer, a white man, came to him and said that the wood he sold to him had been infested with insects and that was how everything he had invested in that business got wasted too. So, we need to ask questions.

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A CHRISTIAN TO HAVE PROBLEM?

One question, which people have been asking through the ages, is: Why does God allow problems? A lot of people even say that God is unfair to them. Before we consider this question, I would like you to bow down your head and pray like this: “I receive the sword of fire to disgrace stubborn mountains, in the name of Jesus.”

A Christian can have a problem but the problem must not have the Christian. That is the most important thing. The Bible says that all things work together for good for us, children of the Almighty.

1. God does allow Christians to have problems because problems keep us from being attracted to the world. They keep us from becoming too attracted or too attached to this sinking world. They are to remind us that everything happening here is transient and temporal. I Peter 2:11: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” We are strangers and pilgrims. That is what the Bible says. The problems we encounter are all to remind us that this world is not our home. Woe unto that person whose life on earth makes him forget heaven, because he is not going anywhere but hell fire. The world is full of grief and wickedness. It is not designed to be attractive for very long. As believers, we are pilgrims passing by. We are travelling strangers here and so our activities should be geared towards reaching the better world.
2. Adversity or problem brings out the best in us. Many people would have remained spiritual babies forever if not for problems that kept on harassing them. I was invited somewhere for lunch and there I met a man with slightly grey hair. To me he resembled a pastor. So, when the meal was presented I requested him to pray on the food. The man stood up and read a psalm. He read the second and yet the third, fourth, fifth and up to the seventh. Meanwhile the food was getting cold. He read the psalms off-hand. After the seventh psalm, he started praying. He prayed for about ten minutes before we sat down to eat. Some of the people there were not very happy. I became very interested to know more about him, so I moved my chair over to his side and asked him how come he was able to memorise and recite seven psalms non stop. I said, “Sir, if you can read seven psalms like that because you want to eat, I am sure that by the time you want to really pray, you will not stop until you have read 14.”. He said, “That is right. I know all of them off-hand.” I later got to know that he was forced to memorise all the book of psalms when he had serious problems and wanted to be free from satanic oppression. Perhaps a man like that would never have bothered to read the Bible, let alone memorizing some verses. Therefore, problems and adversities have the capacity of bringing out the best in us. Only a bad school will promote a student who did not pass.

During my days in the primary school, pupils with very bad results were paraded before all the other students in the school at the end of every year. The shame that accompanied such exercise really energized them to perform better in subsequent examinations.

I know that so many sisters would have loved to be at the Barbeach or other resort centers enjoying with their spouses. But because of one or two slaps from satan, they have been turned into prayer addicts and consequently champions.

It is problems that drove many people into receiving eternal life. Many would not have been born again if not for the adversity that pushed them to Jesus and when their problems were solved, they stuck to Him. A lot of people entered into heaven because they were chased into it. Many too, have made heaven because they were scared of hell fire. Perhaps they heard that hell fire is bad and people should not dream of going there, so they determined never to be candidates of that place.

3. They give us occasion to silence the enemies of God. When the enemies of God have held their meetings and have concluded their plans to utterly destroy a child of God with the confidence that nothing can disturb them, then the Fourth Man in the fire comes up and scatters all their forces. Problems give room for God’s enemies to be silenced. If a person has never had a problem, he would never know whether God could solve it. If a person had never had a problem, he would never know what having faith in the Lord could do. Pharaoh had a field day for over 430 years, maltreating God’s children. Then, it looked as if God was sleeping. But when Moses appeared at the scene and demanded that Pharaoh should let God’s people go and he refused, God showed him who He is.

Nebuchadnezzar raised up an idol and commanded everybody to worship it. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego told him that they could only worship the Almighty God. Nebuchadnezzar threatened to put them in the fiery furnace and they told him that the God whom they served could deliver them. Nebuchadnezzar asked a question: “Who is that God that will deliver you from my hand?” What happened? The Lord silenced him.

Sennacherib too was harassing the children of God. He said: “The gods of other nations which I have conquered were not able to defend them why do you think that your own God can deliver you? Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Bring all your wives and everything here.” What happened to Sennacherib? He was disgraced and silenced.

There was a case of some demonic people who wanted to disgrace some children of God. The idea was to drop a corpse near their church to make it looked as if the church of God was into some sort of ritual activities. They brought the corpse around 4.00 a.m. but as they were about to drop it, an angel of God who was waiting for them ordered them to hold it and stand there. Their hands were glued to the corpse and their feet glued to the spot. They could neither drop it nor go away. That was the position at which the church members met them when they arrived that morning. Of course, God engineered that disgrace. And so shall all your enemies be disgraced today, in the name of Jesus.

4. Problems or adversities make us to appreciate the goodness of God. Many people take divine blessings for granted while quite a lot do not even know how to thank God for His goodness. A certain preacher went somewhere to preach and prayed a long prayer for healing. After the prayer, he said, “If you know that you have been healed, come out and testify.” Out of about 2,000 people, only one person came and said, “I was having a slight headache when I came here but that headache has gone. Praise the Lord.” The preacher was so sad because he expected more miracles to have taken place. He was not appreciative. When he got home that night, an angel of the Lord came to him and said, “You think that healing of headache is a small thing? We are going to test it on you so you can understand how it is.” The headache started and was on for a week. It was as if his head would drop off. He cried a cry of repentance to the Lord, before he was healed. When you have a problem and the Lord moves in to solve it for you, you should appreciate His goodness.
5. Problems or adversities make us to depend on God and increase our confidence in Him who is our Maker and Husband. When all other things have failed and you now depend on His mercy, He rises to help. When all the consultants and doctors have done all they could over an ailment, when money and knowledge have failed, then God is the next option to totally fall back on.
6. Adversity or problem purifies us. When there is a problem, you have to search your life and confess every failure and shortcomings to God. As you are trying to see that sin does not stand in the way of your prayers, you become a better person. You become toughened and stronger. Many Bible characters that we read about today passed through trials and came out victorious hence we are reading about them. Just as exercise is necessary for the body, problems serve as tonic for spiritual growth. When you solve a problem, you climb another step on the ladder of maturity. In every adversity there is a seed of goodness. Every hardship should make a Christian better. That is why somebody said, “To recognise the usefulness of an anchor, you must feel the storm.” If you have never felt any storm, you will not know the importance of an anchor in the ship.
7. Sometimes, a problem is a discipline from the Lord. God chastises His children much as earthly fathers correct their children to make them better. Deuteronomy 8:5 speaks on this. It says, “Thou shall also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.” Psalm 118:18 also says, “The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.”

If the Lord sees that you are speeding too much with your vehicle, He could decide to puncture your tyres, so that when you are busy fixing the tyres, you will escape from accident that lies ahead. Hebrews 12: 5 – 6: “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” So, if you are a child of God and you get out of the track, He will knock you back into it, even if He had to grind your nose against the wall to get you back. The important thing is to get you saved.

8. God allows problems to make us sympathetic with others. When somebody has not experienced a particular problem, he will not know how it feels. But if he has gone through it he would be able to sympathise with others.
9. Adversity humbles a person. It stops us from over-valuing ourselves. Paul said he had a thorn in the flesh so that he would not be puffed up beyond measure.
10. Problems teach us how to pray. Your prayers become different when you are a warrior. Take the case of a brother whose wife was pregnant and about to give birth. He took the woman to one of the best hospitals and there, he was told to pick between the wife and the baby because one of them must die. The man requested to be given sometime. He ran to his best friend. This was on a Thursday night. His friend advised him that since the doctors could not help the situation there was a programme called Power Must Change Hands where he knew that God would do it for him, but that he would need to fast for one and a half days. The husband of the pregnant woman lamented that he usually ate his breakfast by 10 am. The brother encouraged him and the man resolved to fast to keep his wife alive. He was given some prayer points which he prayed the whole of Friday and resisted every temptation to break his fast. But at 3 a.m. the following day which was the day of the programme, he felt like dying. He could neither walk nor talk. His friend who recommended the programme for him had told him to be at the church at 6 a.m. but as at that time, he could not hold his car key not to talk of driving the car. He phoned his neighbour and asked him to drive him to the church, the venue of the programme. He dragged himself to MFM that day. By the time we prayed for a little while, there was a word from the Lord concerning his situation. His wife and baby had been delivered. Here was a man who had never fasted before but when he was forced to do it, his lot changed. Many people learn fire prayers in the school of affliction.

Difficulties bring out the talents in people. God is like a surgeon who will tell you, “I may hurt you, but I will not injure you.” You have to be completely melted before you can be molted up. Human beings are like a tea bag. Until you pour hot water on it, it will not cooperate with you. Until God pours hot water into some lives, they won’t be useful.

Therefore, today, even as you are about to finish reading this message, I want you to know that there is a God in heaven who knows all secrets. He said in Romans 8:28: “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.”

Whatsoever may be the problems you are having now, no matter what mountain may be confronting you, just know that they are ordinary raw materials preparing you for a great testimony. Remember, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Put all your trust in God and He will never fail you.

PRAYER POINTS

1. Every good thing my hands have started to build, my hands shall finish them, in the name of Jesus.
2. Every dream of poverty, I dash you to the ground, in the name of Jesus.
3. I will arise above all the unbelievers around me, in the name of Jesus.
4. Every war waged against my staff of bread, receive double disgrace, in Jesus’ name.
5. Every satanic hunter of my career, receive double frustration, in the name of Jesus.
6. Any power hiding my key of promotion, loose your hold, in the name of Jesus.

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IDOLS OF THE HEART

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

Ezekiel 14:1-4:“There came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their tale: Should I be enquired of it all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that set up his idols in his heart, and pulleth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols.” Ezekiel 14:9-10: “And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing. I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hands upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him.”
The elders of Israel came to the man of God to enquire of the Lord. You would have thought that somebody who needed to go and see a prophet would mean well by doing so, but they went there with idols in their hearts, and because they had idols in their hearts, the Lord said the reply they would get would be according to the idols that were already in their hearts. That is, if anyone has an idol inside his heart, and he goes to a prophet for information, God would ask that prophet to answer him according to the idol in his heart and the person ends up getting the wrong information.

Many people have secret idols hidden in the chambers of their hearts from the sight of men but not God. And these idols decide sometimes what they get from God, Hebrews 4:13: Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” So, as far as God is concerned, all the things that many people try to hide are open before Him. But the problem is that the Christian idols are harder to recognize than the others.

When I was in junior school, I was taught a song that says, “Break down every idol in your heart.” I could not understand it because I thought it was not possible since I was a Christian and we did not worship idols in our house. My idea of an idol was the carved head of Ogun or any other graven image. But as I got matured, I began to understand what the Lord means by breaking down the idols in our hearts. The Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). When the heart is filled up, it would pour out through the mouth. Those talkative most of the time speak from their hearts and not from their brains. That which a person has in his heart will eventually come out. Sometime ago, I was counseling a couple. The wife said something and the man got angry and said that the God of iron should break the head of her father. I said, “But you are a Christian, why are you talking like that?” He said he was sorry. The truth is that that was how his heart was working. You may try to hide but a time is coming when you will be exposed. The Bible says that everything is naked before God. All fornicators and adulterers are naked before God like a television set.

There was a man who refused to give his life to Christ even though he was the son of a catechist. One day, as he was sitting down, somebody tapped him on the shoulder and said, “You have an appointment?” He said, “Appointment?” Before he could understand what was happening, the person pulled his spirit out of his body as one would pull off clothes from another person. Behold, it was an angel of the living God. “Where are we going?” he asked the angel. The angel said, “Be patient, you will know very soon.” Eventually, he landed before the throne of God and could not behold the glory. God called him by his name and told him that he was 25 years behind schedule of what He wanted him to do for Him. God said to him, “Before I start on you, let us look at a review of your life.” And all of a sudden, there was something like a television set and the brother was watching his life right from the moment his mother gave birth to him. He saw all the funny love letters he had written, all the fornication he had committed, all the abortions he sponsored and encouraged, etc. Everything was so clear. After he had watched to a point, he begged God to turn it off for he could not stand it any longer. That experience changed the man’s life.

Any person or thing that can replace God in your heart has become an idol. Anything you place before God or side by side with Him has become an idol. The moment the affection you are giving to God is given to any other thing or person, that substitute becomes an idol. A lot of Christians have secret idols in their hearts and these idols put them in trouble. At this juncture, I would like you to close your eyes, lay your hand on your chest and pray like this: “O Lord, show me the idols in my heart, in the name of Jesus.”

When some people come to see a man of God. They forget that it is not every time that God has a message for them. They would want to force the man of God to see a vision for them. Sometimes when you pray with such people and tell them that God says everything is fine, they can go, they will not believe because they have idols in their hearts.

Sometime ago, a man and a woman came to see me. The woman requested me to help the man., that his enemies were destroying him. As I started praying it was as if my prayers were bouncing back to me. I stopped and asked the woman to go out. After she left, I asked the man who she was, and he said she was just somebody who was concerned about his situation I asked if that was all and he said yes. I asked him to go too. Later, they came back and the man said “Please, sir, forgive me I can see that it is not good to tell lies to a man of God. That woman is supposed to be my fourth wife. I am just planning to marry her.” This confirms what the bible says, that the Lord will answer them according to the idols in their hearts.

A lot of singles have already made up their minds concerning the type of people they would like to marry before praying to God to show them who to marry. As a result, they find it difficult to accept God’s will for their lives. God eventually gives them the idols they want. Pray this prayer point: “O Lord, deliver me from secret idols, in the name of Jesus.”

If you are a good Bible reader, you will find that there is a man whom the bible does not talk well about. His name is Jeroboam the son of Nebat. The Bible describes anybody that committed a serious offence in the Bible as Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He was a yardstick. What was his offence? He set up an idol in Dan and another one in Bethel and called the people of Israel together and said, “You house of Israel, behold the god that delivered thee from the land of Egypt.” Before Jeroboam started putting the physical idols on ground, the idols started in his heart. Along the line, something happened. Jeroboam’s son became sick and because Jeroboam was far away from God he did not know that the prophet of God in Israel was already blind. He told his wife to take the child to the prophet and find out from him whether the son would die or live. He also asked her to disguise herself so that the prophet would not recognize her. As the wife of Jeroboam, who had dressed like a man got to the door of the prophet who was blind and knocked, behold a voice sounded from inside saying, “Come thou in you wife of Jeroboam, why frameth thyself to be another?” (Why are you pretending to be another person?) Before she could open the door, the prophet went further to tell her why she had come.

Many people who come to church find it difficult to function in any group because none of the groups is ready to admit them because they still paint their faces. Such people keep running around just because of an idol. If the Lord tells you to serve Him in an area with a condition attached to it and you do not want to abide by the condition, it means that you have another god.

Those who find it difficult to put away their false finger nails, attachments and make-ups need deliverance because those things have become idols in their lives. Beloved, think about these things seriously.

When God gave Saul an instruction, he carried it out in his own way and God told him, “Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of ram.” God also told him that stubbornness is an iniquity as idolatry and rebellion is as witchcraft (Samuel 15:22-23). So, a witch and a rebellious person are twin brothers in hell fire. A stubborn person and an idol worshipper are the same thing before God.

Nowadays, we have a lot of modern-day idols that people worship. They include the following:

1. Money: A lot of people now just keep running after money all the time. They do not understand any other language except money. When you tell them to get serious with the Lord, they would say, “I will become very serious with the Lord when I make my first million.” When you ask them to come to night vigils, they will tell you that they must do over-time to make ends meet. They do not know that the only person that can make ends meet is the Lord Jesus. I know a man who had a simple boil on his neck that cost him more than half of his salary to treat. So, at the end of the day, it is only God that can make ends meet. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all other things shall be added unto you,” The Bible says. But when you start seeking all other things before the kingdom, you have an idol in your heart. The Bible says, “I have been young but now I am old, I have not seen the righteous being forsaken or his children begging bread.” There is no man who sought the kingdom of God and got it that ever remained poor. What is the use of gathering money and at the end of the day, you go to hell fire? What is the use of gathering money and at the end of the day, some people are just waiting for you to die so that they can fight and kill themselves over the money they did not make?
2. The world: There are so many fellowships now where all they talk about is financial prosperity. According to them, if you are a herbalist, a thief, or a fornicator, God will prosper you. They say, “Come whoever you are and donate money.”
3. Fame: A lot of people are looking for popularity. They just want to be known. Without knowing that if the whole world knows you and God does not know you, you are wasting your time.
4. Pleasure: People just want to relax and enjoy themselves.
5. Power.
6. Knowledge: Some people have turned their certificates to their god. God hates idolatry with perfect hatred. Once you give what is due to God to an object, special demons move in and turn that thing into something powerful. The internal idols will then invite wicked spirits from outside. Until these internal idols are destroyed, you cannot make a headway as a Christian.

Let us look at the secret idols that many Christians are going about with. You will do yourself a lot of good to look deeply into your spirit because these may be the things that the enemy is using to harass you and you think it is witches or wizards that are harassing you.

1. Unforgiveness. This is common amongst Christians. Many Christians harbour malice in their hearts concerning others. If you are living in a house and you cannot get on with the people there, not because of your faith but because they are abusing you, or they ask you to sweep or keep your things somewhere, then you have an idol. You may try to prove that you are right but you have an idol, which you must pull down. Unforgivenness in the heart is an idol. Some people cannot forgive their pastors, group leaders, university lecturers, etc. Don’t forget that anytime you come to God with an idol in your heart, the first thing that the enemy would say is, “O God, hold on, look at this.” And the unforgiving idol will say, “I am here, sir.”

Sometime ago, a woman came to me for prayers. She complained that things were rough and her business was grounded. As I was praying, the Lord said, “Son, there is somebody this woman does not want to forgive.” I opened my eyes and said, “Madam there is somebody you do not want to forgive. God says you should first of all forgive that person before any other thing.” She looked at me and said it was her husband. I asked her to forgive him. She said no, that the man had hurt her badly. She said when they were poor and struggling, the man did not abandon her. But when they became rich, the man went and took a girl, the age of their last daughter, as second wife and abandoned her. So she would not forgive him. I told her that the Bible says she must forgive him no matter what he had done. She went away in anger because I refused to pray for her. But the next day, she came back and said she was ready to forgive him. After she repented and forgave the man and we prayed, all the miracles that she had been asking for, for five years came within a week. And things have been going on well for her since then.

2. Bitterness.
3. Jealousy.
4. Envy.
5. Hatred. Unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy and envy give birth to hatred. There is no how these three things will be in the life of a person and the person will not have hatred inside. And any believer that has hatred against anybody and does not repent will go to hell fire.
6. Discouragement. Many people get easily discouraged. They lose hope when their prayers are not answered quickly or when they are disappointed. In a vision, a sister saw the shop of the devil. In that shop, she saw hypertension, diabetes, bad luck and all sorts of things with their price tags. She asked the devil, “Mr. Devil, what is the most expensive item in your store?” The devil told her it was discouragement. He told her that once he was able to get believers discouraged, he captured them. She asked him, “When does discouragement come to a person?” He explained to her that discouragements sets in after depression; and both of them give birth to hopelessness. Sometimes when somebody is heading towards a miracle and the devil wants to hinder the person, he uses discouragement.
7. Worry. The reason some people are looking older than their age is because of worry. They worried over any little thing.
8. Confusion. Confusion gives birth to fear. This is present in many lives and is an idol. It must be cast out today.
9. Impatience. Impatience is the opposite of patience. Patient is a virtue. The patient person always laughs last. But the impatient person will spoil the blessing that God has for him. The perfect wife or husband is the one who agrees that he or she is not married to a perfect partner.
10. Selfishness.
11. Evil thoughts. These give birth to evil imaginations. Many Christians commit sins in their hearts. No serious Christian will bow down to physically carved idols but they worship the idols inside their hearts. You see believers watching films, which they are not supposed to watch. This is because of the idol in their hearts.
12. Doubt. Many believers are clever doubters like Thomas. Thomas said, “Well I am a honest doubter. I am not asking for too much. All I am saying is, let Jesus come and show me His hand because I saw Him when He died on the cross and I was there when He was buried. Now you say He has resurrected. I will also like to touch the holes in His hands and feet because the holes cannot heal within three days.” So, when Jesus got there, He said, “Thomas it is because you have seen me that is why you believe. But blessed are those who have not seen me and yet they believe.” That simple word he told Thomas changed the life of Thomas. He died preaching the gospel. Doubt is an idol and the Bible says a doubting man is like the wave of the sea. Such a person does not believe that he can receive anything from the Lord. Some people have high level of doubt. Such people even ask if there is God at all. Some people doubt so much that they do not even believe that witches exist.
13. Indecision. This is another idol, which has destroyed so many people.
14. Pride. Pride leads to self-exaltation and unteachable spirit.

All these secret idols must be chased out by the Lion of Judah. The problem of the idol is that it hinders the move of God. God is saying, “Clear away the idols. Cast them into the fire. Then you can see what I can do.” There was a medical doctor who died. When he died, his wife prayed that he must come alive again. She prayed for hours. Eventually the man came back to life and narrated what he saw when he died. He saw himself arriving somewhere. In that place, somebody held him by the right hand, another person held him by the left hand and they were dragging him away. He first of all thought that they were dragging him to heaven but as they dragged him along, he felt heat on his face. He remembered the Bible and thought: “If this place is heaven the breeze will not be uncomfortable.” Then he began to appeal to them to leave him alone. He said he was born again, and that they should not drag him to hell fire. They did not listen. Then they dragged him to the edge of hell fire. He said people were being dumped into hell fire like tipper lorry tips sand down. He was amazed and suddenly as they were about to throw him inside, a voice sounded from above, “Release him.” And they left him. Immediately they released him the devil came out and said, “O God, You have no right to take this man to heaven, because he is free from all sins apart from one, and that is idolatry of the heart.” Just one, but many of us are committing serious sins daily. God said, “Okay, agreed” (The devil does not tell lies against anybody. If the devil is reporting you to God, he tells God the truth. But you cannot tell God a lie anyway). God said. “Devil, you are right. I am not taking this man to heaven, because he is not qualified as you have said, but at the same time, I will not allow him to go to hell fire now because of his wife.” The importunate prayers of his wife compelled God to send him back to life. Although that man was a Sunday School Teacher and he taught the Bible very well, there was an idol hidden in him.

On the last day, if an idol is still in a person apart from the idol hindering his blessing, the person cannot go to heaven. Our greatest prayer should be: “O Lord, break down every idol in our hearts, in the name of Jesus.”

If you have not given your life to Jesus, and you try to remove any idol from your heart, the idol will resist you because you belong to the same camp. So, to be able to break the idols in your heart, you must give your life to Christ.

PRAYER POINTS

1. O Lord, break down every idol in my heart, in the name of Jesus.
2. I cast out every idol from my heart, in the name of Jesus.
3. I break down every hidden idol, in the name of Jesus.
4. Let the fire of God boil all rivers harboring my enemies, in the name of Jesus.
5. Let the blood of Jesus wipe off all my evil dreams, in the name of Jesus.
6. I destroy every satanic accident organized for my sake, in the name of Jesus.

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MADNESS OF THE MIND

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

We are looking at a very important topic this week. It is what I call, “Madness of the mind.” Ecclesiastes 9: 3: “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

When the mind is sick, a lot of things go wrong. In fact, most things go wrong. This is why the writer of the book of Proverbs screamed out in Proverbs 4: 23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” That means it involves taking action with all seriousness, and making sure that you barricade your mind so that you can keep it well, because out of it are the issues of life. Mark 12: 30: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

DIFFERENT KINDS OF MADNESS

1. Low- level madness: Examples of low-level madness:
   When a so-called male prophet washes an adult woman by the river at night, it is madness but a low level one. So is somebody who loses his temper and suddenly begins to vibrate and fume in anger. Also, at times, you see some people roaming the street, ringing bells and sometimes they reel out a stereo-type message of “repent ye for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Among them are women who bleach their skin and insane looking men. What do you think is wrong with them. Madness, but low level. There are many mad people in our streets wearing clothes and looking normal but they are not normal.
2. Middle level madness:
   There is also the middle level madness. This is the stage before complete madness takes place.
3. Complete madness:
   This is full-blown madness.
   As madness of the mind is in the physical, so it is in the spirit. When somebody runs mad, it means the person has lost his inhibition. He is like a drunken man who doesn’t bother about what is going on around him.

What does it mean when the mind runs mad?
The mind is the battlefield of man. And once the mind is captured, the battle of life becomes very tough. That is why the greatest battlefield is the mind. A lot of people roaming around the hospitals would do a lot better if they could pray for the healing and deliverance of their minds. Many things could go wrong with the mind. Let us look at some of the symptoms of a mad mind.

MAJOR SYMPTOMS OF A MAD MIND

1. Worry: It is spiritual madness for a person who sings joyfully in a church service to get home only to become dejected and be saying, “God, are you sleeping about my plight.” It is spiritual madness. This contrast indicates that something is wrong with the person. Such a person has something removing his faith from the Lord, which he needs to address, otherwise the warfare will continue until he surrenders to the devil by confessing eventually that nothing is working. When faith goes out of the window of your heart it will invite doubt, and when doubt comes in, it will invite his elder brother which is fear, and when fear comes in it invites its younger brother worry. When worry comes in, all kinds of things will begin to move in too. So, if you are a worry bag who would confess that God is almighty, who is able to do all things, but immediately you get home from the church, the devil comes in and starts to remind you of some negative things in your life and you give in to him and as a result you break down, it is madness of the mind.
2. The feeling of uselessness: There are some people who feel worthless and useless. They complain of trying many things without success. They therefore contemplate suicide. So the devil will quickly capitalize on their thoughts of suicide to attack them. He may suggest that they jump from the top of the bridge into the lagoon. He may persuade them to hang themselves or use other means. This is nothing but madness of the mind. It is a normal thing with unbelievers, but for Christians, there is no basis for it. You either believe the Bible for what it is or you stick to other things.
3. Depression: The Bible has another name for depression. It is called the spirit of heaviness. A victim of this spirit feels as if there is a big load in the spirit pressing him down and making it difficult for him to move. The spirit of depression can make a person to lock up himself and refrain from talking to anybody. Whoever suffers from depression will also give room for other demons to attack him. And when they move in, the person’s case can result in serious mental problems. It originated from the mind.
4. High-mindedness: The victims of high mindedness don’t want to start from something low. They focus on high things. The devil is happy with people with high mind because he would make them to scatter the table of good things prepared for them by themselves. A high-minded person may be saying “I want to have my own wedding in the airplane so that when it is flying around, I will break record.” This is high-mindedness. It is madness of the mind. Some minds sometimes decide to run contrary to the peace of a person.
5. Sadness: This feeling of hopelessness comes when one’s situation is bad and the person does not know what to do. When somebody had asked God for forgiveness for a sin he committed and God had forgiven him, the person still nurses the feeling that he has not been forgiven and attributes every misfortune that befalls him to his past sins. God will look down from heaven to discover that he is the one accusing himself.
6. Dwelling on the past: Yesterday is gone. It is too late to worry about it since you cannot go back to it. It is madness of the mind to dwell on the past.
7. Unnecessary agitation: Getting perplexed and agitated and the inability to concentrate is a sign that there is madness in a mind. Inability to read the Bible with understanding and lack of prayer is part of madness of the mind.
8. Lack of confidence: This is also a sign of madness of the mind.

MINOR SYMPTOMS OF A MAD MIND

2. Fear of death.
3. Loss of motivation.
4. Frequent desire to cry.
5. Feeling of isolation.

The human mind is the greatest vagabond in the universe. For example, as you are reading this message now, your mind may be somewhere else. If you don’t put this vagabond mind under control, it will eventually cause problem for you. Many minds have cobwebs forming in them. As God is willing to shine a new light into them, they are withdrawing from it. They want to continue in their former ways without knowing that it is only a change that can bring progress. This is because most people hate change. They prefer things to continue the same way. Many people who claim they have open minds don’t really have open minds, what they have is a blank space. Jesus did not have that kind of open mind. He pronounced woes to the scribes and the Pharisees without mincing words.

Jesus was the only person who spoke most about hell fire. He told the most truth we know about hell fire. He makes us to know that the place is not prepared for us but the devil. However, if we are prepared to go with the devil, we will get there. Therefore Christians don’t have the kind of liberality that people are claiming now.

When somebody’s mind is very little, little things would wound him in the heart. Great minds are not easily hurt. Somebody was addressed as a brother and he felt slighted and got angry and said, “Do you know what God has deposited in me? Why are you calling me a brother? Call me a pastor.” Things like this will definitely bother little minds, but great minds would remain unperturbed. Anyone who thinks constantly about himself alone will be discouraged. Note this truth. Another truth to be noted is that it takes a strong mind to control a wild tongue. If your mind is weak then your tongue will be loose. When your mind is not renewed with the word of God and there is no fire in it, it becomes a dumping ground for all kinds of rubbish. The devil will give you topics to be deliberating upon. It is a very dangerous thing to invite enemies into your mind. This is why anger is bad.

A strongman is the head of the demons in charge of a location. At the gate of his palace is the demon of anger, standing, looking cool and normally well dressed like an executive gateman. But when you get angry, he would open the gate and beckon to his colleagues like hypertension, diabetes, and other diseases to surround you. Thereafter, he locks his door and waits for your next moment of madness.

It is even more dangerous when one’s mind has been taken over without one knowing it. If your mind is not free from evil influences, you will become the property of the devil no matter how bright you look on the face and the Bible College you attended. That is why the Bible says; you should renew your mind with the word of God. When you get born again, it does not mean that your mind is completely cleared of all the rubbish of the world. But as you continue to renew your mind with the word of God, you pass it through the clearing process. It is a daily affair. It is certain that if you win a person’s mind, you will have him and when you capture his thoughts, you will control him, that is the trick of the devil. No wonder satan fights to gain control of the minds of men because he knows that once he gets it, all other things are easy. 2 Corinthians 11: 3: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

When the devil came to Eve, he manipulated her, and gave her the impression that God was telling them a lie. He fed her with wrong information which introduced doubt into her mind, and eventually he got her. I want you to lay your hands on your chest and pray seriously with holy anger like this: “My mind, go back to your resting place in the name of Jesus.”

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE’S MINDS WANDER DURING PRAYERS?

No matter how hot the prayer tempo is, some people’s minds still wander during prayers. You find that people who sincerely want to serve God cannot remember the information passed to them by the Lord in their dreams. They forget easily. The mind of man is like a tester and the extent to which you allow it to influence your thoughts is the extent to which it can control you. You may claim to be speaking in tongues, but the devil may be controlling you. In fact, the devil must work with the human minds or else he has nothing to work with. Even all the bodily afflictions originate from the human mind. The heart is the centre of serious warfare. The Bible makes us to understand that the devil has immediate and instant access to the human mind. He has a complete picture of your thoughts, imaginations, motives, intentions and secret ambitions and is familiar with your strengths and weaknesses. And if you permit him either by carelessness or ignorance, he would plant evil ideas into your mind. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Many of us like to forget our mistakes or faults, but the devil does not forget at all. He starts every wrong feeling and passion. He gives appetizing suggestions, which correspond with a person’s weakness. If he discovers that something is your weakness, he would use it against you. For example, if you were prone to crying, he would always bring things against you that would make you to cry. But the day you say, “No, I refuse to be a student in the school of crying,” he will not be able to use it against you again. If you were a worry bag, he would always cause you to be thinking. If you were the fighting type, there would be many people opposing you. But the day you said that you are not going to fight anybody no matter the provocation, he would loose the battle in that area and look for another area. If you were the gluttonous type, he would always put you in trouble through food. He makes wrong appearance as right and darkness as light. He is an expert at introducing deception into the hearts of careless people.

When the mind is not working according to God’s wish, mental and physical ailment, failure, defeat, poverty, family breakdown, oppression, suicide, profitless hardwork, chronic sicknesses and strife will follow. What we are saying is that your life is determined by the state of your mind and what you feed into it. What you think about is what will decide what happens. I would like you to close your eyes at this juncture and pray like this: “O Lord, shine your divine light into my mind and let all strangers fly away, in the name of Jesus.”

PARTS OF HUMAN MIND

The mind of man has two parts:

1. The conscious mind. 2. The subconscious mind.

The conscious mind is the tiny portion of the whole person, while the sub-conscious mind is the larger part of it. This means that if I speak to you and you respond by speaking back to me, then your subconscious mind is at work. But inside that sub-conscious mind, we find long forgotten memories, and experiences of childhood stocked there. When the subconscious mind is filled with dirt and you combine it with the physical environment that lacks Christ, the mind will run mad. Our subconscious mind must be renewed, changed, reprogrammed and be made to conform to Christ. Failure to do this will make the mind to fall under evil control. This is where Philippians 4: 8 becomes relevant. It says, “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” These are the things the Bible says we should be thinking about. It says our minds should not be dwelling on lies but on honest things. Anytime dishonesty comes into you, throw it out. Your mind should not welcome impure thoughts and the report of the enemy. Failure to do this will result in the mind falling under evil control.

THE MIND CAN BE ATTACKED IN SEVEN WAYS

1. The forces of Egypt: This is a situation when satan and his cohorts come against one’s spiritual progress, advancement and understanding. This can result in frustration and confusion. Have you been born again for some years and you do not seem to be making headway in life? Do not listen to the voice of the devil telling you to go back into the world. One of the greatest tragedies that can happen is for a person who was once born again to begin to use charms and patronize herbalists. It is like saying that the devil is more powerful than God. This is a big lie. Anyone who denies God for whatever reason would be in trouble. Such a person will never prosper. The intention of the spirit of Egypt is to cause a backward movement. It is good to prosper. In fact, a child of God is designed to prosper exceedingly, but if your prosperity is not balanced with holiness, you will go to hell fire.
2. The forces of suppression: These forces cause one’s spiritual life to be dominated by fear.
3. The forces of depression and heaviness: They discourage people and make them sad.
4. The forces of oppression: They weigh people down and keep them from using their authority. They cause physical and mental distress. Majority of churchgoers experience one form of oppression or the other.
5. The forces of obsession: These forces besiege the mind in an abnormal way. They can change the mind and force the victim to take unreasonable actions.
6. The forces of possession: When the forces of possession enter a person, they gain total control over the person and make it difficult for the person to reach God. Such a person will eventually run mad if care is not taken.

HOW DO WE CURE THE MADNESS OF THE MIND?

1. Recognize that there is a problem. When you know that there is a problem, you have started addressing it.
2. Accept the Lord Jesus Christ fully. Don’t be a part-time Christian.
3. Surrender totally to Christ. Every unsurrendered area of your life will open the door to the enemy. When you are not surrendered to Jesus and you lack commitment to Him, you open the door of your life for the enemy to enter. Demons know whether you have surrendered or not. You can accept Jesus, but to surrender and to be committed is another thing.
4. Commit yourself completely to Jesus.
5. Study the word of God.
6. Pray all evil deposits out of your mind.

It is the devil that takes away people’s attention from Jesus. He engineers bad thoughts, evil imagination and evil desires. All these take place in the mind and if they are purged from the mind, the person’s life will be affected. If the tree of poverty is planted in a person’s mind, it does not matter how much you give to him, he would still be poor because he would carry out all the suggestions that tend to poverty. Therefore, you need to pray the following prayer points aggressively:

PRAYER POINTS

1. Every power of familiar spirit and witchcraft working against my mind, release me now, in the name of Jesus.
2. I frustrate every demonic arrest over my mind, in the name of Jesus.
3. Holy Ghost fire; destroy every satanic plantation in my mind, in Jesus’ name.
4. I bind every spirit withstanding testimony in my life, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every river of backwardness flowing into my mind, dry up, in Jesus’ name.
6. Every evil association with un-friendly friends, break now, in Jesus’ name.
7. I destroy anything representing me in any demonic meeting, in Jesus’ name.

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MY LIFE IS NOT FOR SALE

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

The Bible makes us to understand that the spiritual existed first before the physical. Once you understand this principle, many things become clear. The Bible also makes us to understand that things like bondage, freedom, power, anointing, etc. are spiritual items and if they are not sorted out in the spiritual realm, you are wasting your time in the physical. Real power is not in the physical world but in the spiritual world. The children of darkness understand this fact very well.

Ezekiel 13:18-19 : “Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls. Will you hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? And will you pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?” In the foregoing, we could see an exchange-taking place. The souls that are not supposed to die are being slain. They are not supposed to die but they are slain to save the souls that should not live. There are also some people that are destined to die but they look for the lives of younger persons, snuff them out and add theirs to themselves . They save alive the souls that should not live by lying to the people that hear their lies.

Verses 20-21: “Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against your pillows (pillows in original Hebrew means magic band), wherewith ye hunt the souls to make them fly (meaning that people can be initiated unconsciously), and I will tear them from your arms and will let the souls go even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear and deliver my people out of your hands and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” So, deliverance is needed to get out of their grip.

This is an interesting Scripture. Some people are using magic bands to trade the souls of men. The souls that should normally be at rest, they make them to fly. This is why when some people are asleep, they face battles. There are people after their souls, exchanging their souls for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread. Somebody went to a herbalist and said, “I want to destroy this person,” and he was asked to go and bring kolanut and goat, which would be used to snuff out the person’s soul. These are powers that engage in selling souls. They exchange things. That is why I said, “My life is not for sale.”

All reasonable people sell disposable things, but when a man decides to sell an indispensable item, it means that spiritual madness has crept in. Many lives are on sale. Many are being sold now and many have been sold. There is something in the spirit world known as prostitution of the soul, that is, when the soul of a person becomes a prostitute in the spirit world, all kinds of things will be happening to the soul of the person in the physical. There are people who complain that all night when they sleep, they always see spirit husband. Such people may have become prostitutes in the spirit; they have been sold off. It is very sad.

Jesus says, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. With what can a man make exchange for his soul? Nothing.

When the soul of a person is out on sale, it is a great problem. Jesus says, “What can you give in exchange for a soul?” In Ezekiel 13, we see people exchanging souls of men for mere pieces of bread. So, the worst enemies of men are soul traders. They hunt for souls and trade with souls.

Revelation 18:11 says, “And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.” What is their merchandise? They are listed in Revelation 18:12-14 which says, “The merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet and thine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble. And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots and slaves and souls of men.” These are merchandise of soul traders. Please, declare this to yourself, “My life is not for sale.”

Isaiah 50:1 : “Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.” That means that you sell yourself consciously or unconsciously, or your parents or friends can sell you off. Isaiah 52:3 also says, “For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.”

When a life has been sold off, there would be destiny disorder. Several years ago, I met a sister who had this problem. Her grandmother married her off to someone in the spirit world, collected her dowry spiritually, spent it also spiritually and that grandmother was now dead. Every night, when she slept there was a short demon by her bed. She prayed and bound and loosed it to no avail. It would disappear for a while only to reappear again. When she was going to the toilet at night, it would step aside physically for her to pass. It was always there watching carefully over her anytime she was in bed. If there were other people on the bed, she would be the only person seeing the short thing. It was the guard of the husband which her grandmother married her to in the spiritual world. Five people tried to marry her but each of them ended in disaster. The one that had the least disaster was the one who drank the water of his car battery.

Please, take the following prayer points:

– Every power bargaining for my soul, die, in the name of Jesus.
– My soul, be delivered from satanic flying, in the name of Jesus.

When a life has been sold off, there would be destiny disorder. The prefix “dis” means to remove. For example, dis-ease means “remove ease.” So, dis-order means a removal of order. Therefore when there is destiny dis-order, it means that the order in a destiny has been removed. Once the order is removed, the destiny is as good as dead. This is the major problem of the black man. Let us look at the names of some black people in the Bible:

Hagar: an Egyptian who married Abraham.
Keturah who married Abraham.
Asenath who was Joseph’s wife.
Ziporrah who was Moses’ wife.

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. He sat Moses down and taught him how to do most of what he did as a man of God. Obab who acted as the eye of the Israelites in the wilderness. They were going to the Promised Land and did not quite know the way and this black man was their eye. Rahab who saved the Israeli spies at Jericho. In the New Testament, there is Simon of Cyrene. When Jesus was on His way to Calvary and the cross became too heavy for Him, this man carried the cross to the place of Jesus’ crucifixion. In the book of Jeremiah, we read about a man called Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian. There was a time that Jeremiah was thrown into the dungeon. It was this black man that brought him out. In Acts of the Apostles, we read about the Ethiopian Eunuch whom Philip preached to. When Paul was going on his missionary journey, two of the three men who laid hands on him in prayer were Lucius called Niger and Simeon of Cyrene. They were both black men.

Did you know that the gospel got to Africa before Europe? Did you know that whenever God has a major step to take in history one way or another, a black man would come along? God has always used Africa to protect, support and provide for His moves. Whenever the world was in a crisis, God brought a black man to the scene. With this background, you may now ask, what exactly is wrong with the black man? Why do white men often tell funny tales about us? Why did we blacks go through the horrifying slave trade? You cannot read the story of the slave trade without crying. Men and women were gathered and packed into the ship like sardine. There was no walking space and no toilet. When they fell sick, the only solution was to throw them inside the sea and they served as food for fishes. Why did they suffer that treatment? Why is it very difficult to find a single black nation that is now doing very well? What is responsible for the demonic and diabolical attack from hell fire to stop the black man from executing his prophetic mandate? Why should things like poverty, inferiority complex, confusion, insufficient education and civil war be rampant with blacks? It is because of destiny disorder of the individuals. When Mr. A, whose destiny is in disorder, marries a woman, whose destiny is also in disorder, they produce children who inherit destiny disorder, and the circle continues.

Please, pray like this: “I refuse to enter the dustbin of life, in the name of Jesus.”

There are many human beings who are already dumped into the dustbin of life and they are weeping and crying. Sometimes ago, something happened in one city in the western part of Nigeria. It was noticed that a man had a big farm and the farm was prospering. The produce from the farm was very good. But the surprising thing was that no one had ever seen any worker on that farm, yet it was the largest farm around and belonged to one old man. The man’s son used to wonder about the farm. He did not understand who was planting the crops because he knew that his father was old and could not do much. As he began to cleverly study his father, he discovered that anytime he arrived at the farm, he would wash his face with some concoction. One day, the son used the concoction to wash his face and he saw the people working on the farm. They were people who had died in the village. Imagine his father’s wickedness. Holding down people who were dead to serve him before they go to hell. The devil had traded their souls to the old man. When they died the man bought their souls to work in the farm. The boy screamed when he saw them. Then his father knew that he had touched the concoction. He ran after him but could not catch him because of his old age. The son disappeared into town screaming. Until now no one had seen the old man again. The farm is still there.

If you allow your soul to be sold, it is your own business. That is why when you come to the house of God, you better face your business. Do not waste time on joking with the enemy or on things that do not concern you. If you do, your disorder will multiply. It will be a major disaster if you finish reading this message without having a touch from heaven.

God has a purpose for everything He does. The fact that someone is walking about does not mean that the person is alive in the book of the Almighty. He may be moving about, breathing or going to church, but by God’s reckoning, he might have died 20 years ago. God has a purpose for your life. Before you were born He has written certain things about your life. The enemy can see those things, therefore he can cause destiny disorder if he succeeds in grabbing your soul. So, the most precious material on planet earth is the soul of a man. The devil is after it, God too is after it. When Peter said to Jesus, “You cannot die like that, how can you die?” He looked at Peter and said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of Him.” Something was written about you. Is that thing in disorder now? If it is in disorder, then the soul sellers have done their worst.

Sometimes ago, a woman gave birth and somebody visited her at the maternity. She gave her baby to the visitor while she went to the toilet. Shortly after, another visitor came in. As she came out of the toilet, she overheard her two visitors arguing and wondered what was happening to them. Immediately she got into the room, they became quiet. She said, “If two of you do not tell me what you were discussing, somebody must die here today.” Then one of them said, “When I got here, my friend had already removed four and she wanted to remove the other three. So, all I was saying is that she should leave the other three for me.” They were referring to the stars on the head of the newly born baby. This is the wickedness going on in the world.

There is no need to be alive if your life does not fulfill its divine destiny. Once your soul has been sold off, unless it is bought back, you may not be able to fulfill the destiny that the Lord has for you. For several years I thought Biology in secondary school, and in an adult education school where the youngest person in my class was 36 years old. One day, I taught about amoeba for three hours. After the lecture, I said, “Any question?” A bald headed man at the middle said he had a question. He said, “During the wedding of Amoeba who collects the dowry?” I was shocked because it means that he did not understand anything out of everything I had said for three hours. The trouble with that fellow was that he was doing the right thing at the wrong time. It is destiny disorder. He might have been interested in going to school but witches had eaten up the money of all those who would have financed his education. He might have had the brain but was unable to go to school. His destiny was in a mess.

Nahum 3:3 says, “The horsemen lifteth up both the bright sword and glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses, and there is none end of their corpses, they stumble upon their corpses.” What is responsible for these corpses? Verse 4 says, “Because of the multitude of the whoredom of the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredom and families through her witchcrafts.”

SOUL TRADERS

1. Witchcraft Powers: The first major sellers of souls are witchcraft powers. We can see where their activities have led the black man today. Unfortunately, they have wangled their way into many churches. In fact, in many places today, it is mostly the witches who say, “Thus says the Lord.” And many people go to them for prayers out of ignorance. Most times in their prayer, it is only names like Olodumare, Osanobua, Chineke that would be mentioned. They do not mention the word Jesus.

When human fell in the Garden of Eden, the religion he turned to was witchcraft because he fell in rebellion. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. I used to think that Taiye and Kehinde (twins) love themselves until I saw a Kehinde who told me that she had put the life of her Taiye on the shelve, that until she married and had three or four children, her Taiye would not marry. Both of them came from the same womb but look at what witchcraft has done. We need to be aggressive if we do not want soul traders to sell us off. A lot of people have been sold already so they do not understand what is going on. Perhaps you have been sold already and do not know. During the slave trade, they just went to a village, capture some people and sold them off like that.

It is often said that the people who look are very many but the people who see are very few. The greatest enemy of man is not outside him, it is inside. Unless the internal defeat is registered, external defeat can never come. Unfortunately, many people who come to the house of God do not possess this ability to see. There is a need to pray the prayer of Elisha who said to his servant, “Brother, do not worry, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And straight away the servant could see two armies – the armies of the Lord and their own army.

The foundation of spiritual failure that the modern man is experiencing is due to spiritual blindness. A person has been sold but he does not know. A person has been thrown into jail but he does not know. A person is wearing a three-piece suit and is studying for Ph.D. in the university but already he has been sold. Evil birds have eaten up the good seed planted in many lives. For instance, do you know the real life you are supposed to be living? Many people do not know. Have your enemies converted you to a hewer of wood and drawer of water? Look at yourself. Is your correct life dead or alive?

Have your dreams and visions, been extinguished? Are you a living dead? Is there anything that makes you to accept an inferior or disabled life as your life? Is there anything that keeps you permanently depressed and unhappy? Are you deceiving yourself by having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof? Are you the type of person who will x-ray a man or woman in the laboratory of your heart?

Perhaps you are not who you should be now. The real life of many people exist only in the dream. They count money in the dream but they live in penury in real life. They own companies only in the dream but are jobless here. They preach to thousands of people in the dream but are powerless here. They live in houses in the dream but here they have three quit notice letters.

There is something you must destroy today. You must refuse to be caged or boxed in by the enemy. You must re[1]fuse to accept the satanic substitute for your destiny. You must pray and get your unused things, and your buried Lazarus must resurrect. You must renounce the curse of powerless living. You must disallow the enemy from dulling the edge of your sword. You must disallow the enemy from closing down the factory of your life. You must refuse the call from the camp of the enemy that you should drop your weapon.

2. The second means through which souls are sold is prophetic manipulation: This is where many people make mistakes. That is why the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries is a do it yourself church. It is not a place where “the man of God must pray for me” syndrome is welcomed. No. It is a “do it yourself” place. When people surrender the totality of themselves to the prophet, they are looking for destiny disorder because when God does not give a message and you ask the prophet, “What do you see?” He may give you an information that is not from God. The work of a man of God is a work of high responsibility. Men of God have to be very careful.

The devil knows that people believe their pastors and would do whatever they ask them to do so he looks for his men and pushes them into the position of fake men of God who give people demonically inspired prophecies to confuse their lives. Sometimes, parents go to the fake prophets behind their children to make their children do what they want. For example, a parent could go to such a prophet and say, “Prophet, there is one fine man coming to look for our daughter but we don’t know what is wrong with the girl, she is chasing away the fine man. What we want you to do is to call her and tell her that the man is her husband.” The prophet would then call the girl and say to her: “Is there anyone coming to visit you at home? That person is your husband.” He says this without prayer or revelation. The sister too is not given time to pray. That way, her destiny is put in disorder.

Several years ago, a pregnant sister going to the market met a white garment prophet who said, “Thus says the Lord: Unless you bring this or that you will die with this pregnancy.” She held on to his clothes and said, “You must reverse what you have said if not, you will not leave this place.” People started gathering and saying, “Sister, leave the man of God alone.” She told them what he said and said they should ask him to reverse it. The people now said, “Why did you deliver such a message to the woman?. Reverse it quickly.” Then he said, “You will deliver safely,” etc.

Several years ago, another sister came and said that a prophet in her mother’s church told her that she would die, that I should pray for her and cancel it. I said, “No. You go back and tell the prophet that your pastor said, I should tell you that you will die.” She went and the prophet did not last beyond the next seven days. The arrow of death went back to its sender. The devil has a way of gluing one’s mind to evil prophecies. If you know that evil prophecies have been uttered against you by astrologers, unholy prophets, herbalists or that any ungodly person has foretold your future, pray this prayer point aggressively: Every satanic programme for my destiny, die, in the name of Jesus.

3. Joining yourself to a harlot: If you sleep with a man or woman outside marriage, you introduce disorder into your life. The Bible tells us that you become one with a sex partner. If you have gone with up to 30 to 40 men or women, it means that is your life has been fragmented into many pieces. You need to pray. The destiny of Samson was reversed because of this. The way he ended up was not God’s plan for his life. It was a plan of the powers of wickedness. A man who sleeps with a married or single woman outside marriage is digging his own grave. You may think you are enjoying yourself. No. You are putting your life into disorder.
4. Contamination from the womb: This is the reason pregnant women have to be careful where they go. Drinking concoctions, attaching strange things to your dresses, paying aimless and useless visits and consumption of demonic food will cause destiny disorder.
5. Idol worship: God hates idol worship with perfect hatred. If you check your name and find something idolatrous about it, that should tell you that there is destiny disorder in place. You must cut off every linkage with that kind of thing.
6. Anger: Anger can manifest itself in several ways. It may be in shouting, slamming the door, abusive language, pounding on the tables or the ground, throwing objects at people, or destroying objects. It may be fighting, senseless argument or negative and critical comments. It may be strange look, hissing, hatred, depression or murder. Anyone with the spirit of anger already has a spirit that will put his destiny in disorder. Anger will control that person if it is not controlled. It is a powerful killer of spiritual lives. Angry people normally have retarded spiritual growth and crippled spiritual lives. They quarrel often and so they cannot pray. Angry people have bad testimony. It destroys their ability to serve the Lord and puts their destiny in disorder.
7. Household wickedness: There are many examples of this in the Bible. Jesus told us in Matthew 10:36 that the enemies of a man shall be members of his own household. Eve was used by the devil against Adam. Cain was used against Abel, Lot against Abraham and Jacob against Esau. Joseph’s brethren dealt with him. Miriam, Moses’ sister who took Moses out of the river was against him. Absalom overthrew his father. Judas Iscariot one of Jesus’ 12 disciples was household wickedness to Jesus.

We need to pray, not the type of prayer the enemy will hear and rejoice. The first thing we need to do is to repent before the Lord of anything that has given the enemy the ground to sell our souls or tamper with our lives. We need to ask God to forgive us so that we can start moving forward. After asking for forgiveness, we will move on and identify the disorder, and then call God into our situation. It will be a tragedy after reading this message you do not receive the touch of God. The Bible says, “The Son of man goeth as it is written.” Are you going as God has written of you, or you are going as your enemy has written? Or are you going according to verdict of witchcraft? You have the opportunity to ask God to forgive you.

If you are reading this and you are yet to surrender to Jesus, you better do so quickly before you move into the prayer section. Otherwise you cannot introduce order into your life. If you want to surrender your life to Jesus, pray this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come before you and confess my sins. Forgive me, O Lord, and cleanse me with your precious blood. Come into my life now. Take control of my life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

PRAYER POINTS

1. O Lord, let my prayer arrow bring results, in Jesus’ name.
2. (Use your right hand to cover your two eyes as you pray this prayer with faith): Oh Lord, reveal hidden things to me that will move me forward, in the name of Jesus.
3. Every power that has refused to allow my star to operate, die, in Jesus’ name.
4. I recover my stolen stars by fire, in the name of Jesus.
5. I recover my stolen stars by thunder, in the name of Jesus.

6. I reject every evil prophecy, in the name of Jesus.

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WHEN YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

Isaiah 59: 19 says, “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Many people do not understand this Scripture because they do not read it correctly. It is the Spirit of the Lord that shall rise like a flood, not the enemy. People usually say, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” But the original version says, “When the enemy shall come in, like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against him.” That is our working verse in this message.

WHY DOES A PERSON COME UNDER ATTACK?

• A person comes under attack because the enemy wants to conquer him.
• A person comes under attack because the enemy wants to suppress him.
• A person comes under attack because the enemy wants to contend with his destiny.
• A person comes under attack because his existence is threatening the existence of another person.
• A person comes under attack because his destiny is an eagle destiny.
• A person comes under attack because he is trying to escape from the hands of a slave master.
• A person comes under attack because somewhere somehow some persons, powers or personalities do not want to see him around.

Two years ago, I prayed with a man who was completely down. As he continued to pray, the Lord showed him a vision of himself the day he was born and was taken to a herbalist. Like the practice of many tribes in this country, his parents took him to a herbalist where they enquired about his future and the herbalist said, “This one is the saviour of the family. All of you without exception will benefit from him. You shall bow down to him. He will be your anchor in the family.” Unfortunately when the herbalist was saying this the other seven wives of his father were around. His mother was the last wife. His battle started not because he had offended anybody but because of his divine destiny.

Of all cities in the world, none has been so frequently attacked like Jerusalem. Why is it so? It is because the place has a prophetic destiny. So, as a child of God, in case you are seriously under attack or you are wondering why you are sweating and struggling, it means that there is something in your destiny that the enemy does not want to happen. The enemies dealt with this man; he spent 14 years in the primary school and eight years in the university to get a degree that usually takes four years. They bombarded him right, left and centre. He could hardly feed when he was the angel who was supposed to feed his family. His family was very poor, until God showed him that vision, and he started praying that all the agents of the enemy that were present when his destiny was being proclaimed should lose the information from their memory, in Jesus’ name. Then he began to possess his possessions.

The problem is that at the baby stage, there is nothing a baby can do. People would come and say, “Let me carry the baby, let me put the baby here, let me give the baby food,” and little by little, they would be destroying him. So as this man started praying, God started blessing him. All the attacks he had were not his fault. His destiny was proclaimed in the presence of his enemies.

Beloved, be rest assured that you will be under attack from time to time. Jesus was under attack most of the time. Many Christians make the wrong decision when they are under attack. As Christians, our decisions should be based on some principles when we find that we are under attack.

1. Our decision must be based on what the Holy Spirit is prompting us to do.
   2. It must be based on the word of God.
   3. It must be based on biblical principles.

Any time a person comes under attack and he does not listen to the Holy Spirit, he would have problems. If you do something outside the word of God, you will have problems. If you do something contrary to biblical principles there would be problems. When people come under attack, they sometimes forget these principles. In Exodus 14, we see a beautiful example of how somebody can be under attack. The Israelites marched out of Egypt. An angel and a pillar of fire went back and forth to lead them. When the pillar wanted them to move, it would move and when it did not want them to move, it would stay. There was also an angel attached to their camp and something happened. The angel and the pillar led them to a place where they could march no further, where there was no door of escape. In front was the Red Sea, by the sides were walls of rock which they could not surmount and at the rear was their deadly foe with a deadly rage, pursuing them. It was a time when all hope should be lost. The attackers were ready to devour. Every true child of God, at one time or the other in life, can find himself in this situation I have just described. For many years the devil had kept the Israelites in Egypt moulding bricks and all of a sudden, their eyes opened and they escaped. But before they knew it, fresh terrors had gathered around them again. What do you do when you are under this kind of attack? The most costly mistake that people make usually occurs during the first few moments of any attack. Once you make that initial mistake, you get into trouble. The enemy uses the weapon of fear.

WHEN YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. Do not panic: Be calm. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Do not panic, rather praise the Lord. Panic will always lead to trouble. There is this testimony of a woman who did not know that the man next door was a satanic agent. Her child was convulsing and she was praying for the child. She did not know that the man had a nail in the wall and anytime he banged the nail the convulsion would start but as she prayed, the nail would come out of the wall. Whenever the nail came down, the boy would recover. The man would take the nail again and bang it in the wall and the convulsion would start. This went on for five hours. When the herbalist saw that the nail kept coming out, he took a bottle of concoction and knocked at the door of the woman, saying, “Madam, any problem?” The woman answered, “No problem.” The man said, “But something is happening here.” He gave her a container and said, “Give the child this medicine to drink.” She rejected it. If she had accepted it the child would have been well but another problem would have been planted in him. So, when there is an attack put your ear in the neutral position and listen carefully to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit.
2. Analyse it by the wisdom of God: Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.” We should know that any working system would occasionally develop crises. So, sit down to analyse it and see what you have learnt from what has happened.
3. Seek for godly counsel: Proverbs 11:4 says, “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” So, ignorance is destructive. Don’t neglect knowledge. Somebody somewhere will know something that would help you to survive. Try and reach out for people with such information.
4. As a child of God, expect the power of God to move: It is easy to sit down and believe that all hope is lost. But, as a child of God, if you read your Bible well, you will find that anytime the devil was preparing his soup, it was usually scary but by the time the God who delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego arose, He would just take the enemy’s pot of soup and smashed it to the ground. Expect the power of God to move. Adversity is the enemy’s reaction to your progress. It is the enemy’s attempt to steal your approaching blessing.
5. Fight back: James 4:7, a very popular verse says: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” When you say resist, a lot of things are involved. To resist means to fight. Somebody cannot just stroll into your sitting room and carry your T.V. set, video machine and all you have in the room and walk out. You have to resist him. To stop him might require that you fight. The Bible says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” This means that if the devil is not fleeing from you, you should check whether you are really resisting him. What some of us call resistance is to stand up and start praying when you have a bad dream. No. You should pray before the bad dreams come. Satan loves very fearful people but real fighters intimidate him.
6. Use your spiritual weapons: 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” The weapons of our warfare are: The word of God, the fire of God, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, praises, testimonies, prayers, etc. Learn how to use them.
7. Soak yourself in the Scriptures: When some people have one or two problems, they stop reading their Bibles. Some people would say to them, “Since you have been reading it what have you got out of it? Don’t waste you time.” Psalm 119:92 says, “Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.” Your mind is like a garden, it would grow any seed you plant there, good or bad. Plant words spoken by God in your heart, then you have sown energy, life and hope in your spirit. Be a Scripture addict.
8. Remember that seasons change: Psalm 30:5 says, “For his anger endureth but a moment, in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Know that as a child of God the attack will not last forever. People change, so also circumstances. Therefore, expect God to change things on your behalf.
9. Be spiritually tough: Life is a battle and the violent takes it by force. God is in control and is bigger than whoever you are dealing with. He is stronger than any enemy you are fighting with. Hebrew 13:5-6 says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
10. Guard your mind with all diligence: You will never be defeated as long as you are victorious in your mind. But if you are defeated in the battle of the mind, you will lose all the battles everywhere. Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Everybody ought to memorize this scripture. The only people God would keep in perfect peace are those whose minds are stayed on Him.
11. Never give up: 2 Timothy 4:7 says, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” He did not give up. Luke 9:62 also says, “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” So, your perseverance destabilises the enemy. Therefore, other people stone of adversity will just be your stone of promotion. If the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Paul is your God, you will certainly overcome.
12. Pray to locate and fire at the unprotected forehead of your enemies: No matter how strong your enemy is, he must have some weak points. You pray to locate those points and then fire at them.

I counsel you to read through this message again. Then tell the Lord to forgive you for the various ways you have failed when you were under attack. When you are supposed to be the David to kill the Goliath, the Goliath was boasting all over the place because your strategy was wrong. Talk to God to forgive you. I want you to pray with the spirit that believes that your God is a God that knows no impossibilities. There is no situation that is beyond His power, no matter how strong it may be. The battle is not greater than the One described as the Almighty. The battle is not higher than Him who is the highest. The following prayer points are powerful and effective. Pray them aggressively.

PRAYER POINTS

1. Every arrow fired into my destiny this year, backfire, in the name of Jesus.
2. Every power that stole my destiny when I was a baby, return it by fire, in the name of Jesus.
3. I possess all my blessings for this week, in the name of Jesus.
4. Every wall of Jericho standing against my progress, fall, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every hidden authority and stubborn pursuer that is following me, I command you to die, in the name of Jesus.
6. Every garment of wickedness and shame, be roasted, in the name of Jesus.
7. The glory of the protection of the Almighty shall be upon my life, in the name of Jesus.

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DESTROYING SATANIC MASKS

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

ln Matthew 3:10, we see a powerful verse of Scripture which says, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” So, if you see somebody standing somewhere and praying that unprofitable trees be axed down, his prayer is scriptural.

Matthew 15:13: “But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Meaning that if there is anything growing somewhere that was not planted by our Father in heaven it must be rooted up. God does not plant poverty neither does He plant frustration, depression or disappointment.

Doctors may have all kinds of names for different sicknesses, but the Bible has one name for them. It calls them “every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted.” So, it does not matter who planted it, it shall be rooted up.

In the olden days, there used to be a very popular saying which is still very relevant today. It says, “Kill the spider and there would be no cobwebs.” A lot of people abandon the problem spider and keep busy fighting the cobwebs and then confusion sets in.

Confusion comes in when the spider is a front or is wearing a mask. When somebody wears a mask, it is to hide his identity and for him to want to hide his identity from you shows that he is a person you know.

It may be very frustrating when the enemy is using another person’s face to attack you. But the Bible says, “Don’t marvel at this because angels of darkness sometimes present themselves as angels of light.”

There was a certain brother who got born again properly, not the way many people get born again nowadays by shaking the hands of a disco preacher or signing the back of an American tract and claiming to be born again. Those are the kinds of people who still chew gum during the service. When you try to tell them to have respect for God, they would say, “My God is not a hard God.” They forget that He is the same God who rained fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah and killed the sons of Aaron by the altar. The problem is that they do not read their Bible well. So, after this brother got born again, he asked the preacher what else he should do and the preacher told him about sanctification and encouraged him to pray for that. When he got that, he also prayed for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and got baptized.

He lived in the same compound with a herbalist. And this herbalist used to disturb him at night with all kinds of spirits making funny sounds inside his room and his numerous customers who came in at all times to consult with him. He used to get scared but one night when he got home, he was ready to deal with anything. He now waited for the herbalist to start discussing with his evil spirits. Immediately the first spirit came, the brother got up and started praying. Suddenly, he heard the sound of their foot steps as they were running away. As he continued praying, a man in white garment appeared to him and said, “Brother, stop praying. It is all right, you have finished your assignment.” He wanted to stop but reasoned within himself that Jesus would not ask him to stop praying. He might just change the prayer points. When he looked closely at the person in white garment, he found stains on the garment and said, “Oh, he’s an enemy in disguise,” and continued praying until the evil spirit was defeated.

There is something known as fighting a spiritual dummy. A dummy is an object that is made to look like the real thing but is not the real thing. The problem with spiritual dummies is that they waste your spiritual bullets.

FOUR KINDS OF SATANIC DECEPTION

1. The enemy may be operating using a front.
   2. The enemy may be operating wearing the mask to hide his identity.
   3. The enemy may be operating using the face of another person, particularly that of somebody who loves you.
   4. He could use a dummy and you would be wondering why nothing is happening in spite of your prayers.

You cannot recognise enemies by physical appearance. This is why if suddenly in your dream, somebody comes and begins pursuing you or firing an arrow at you and for any reason the arrow enters and is working, the first person to blame is yourself because the Bible says, “Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.” When the anointed is being touched, and the prophet is being harmed, it means that he has problem. So, do an internal check-up before you look outside. No matter how strong a demon is, it cannot withstand a life that has sufficient fire.

There was an old, illiterate woman. Somebody came to her in the dream with a big club in his hand and as the person was moving close, she said, “Stop, in the name of Jesus,” and the person stopped. Then she said, “Stand at attention so that I can look at you well,” and he obeyed. She said, “Now what do you want?” He said, “I have been sent to destroy you.” She said, “Right now, I command you, in the name of Jesus, to begin to hit your head with the club in your hand.” He started hitting and eventually killed himself. If the woman was hit and she woke up the next morning to say it was her husband or somebody else she knew, she would be wasting her time. The important thing is not to allow it to happen.

Before a tree can bear fruits, it must have root. Sometimes we are busy fighting the fruit. You may fight the fruit all your life and will not get anywhere. A long time ago, in a particular place where I lived, at a certain period of the year, a masquerade festival was held. During the festival, masquerades would be all over the town chasing people with whips and little children would stand afar off and make fun of the masquerades so that the masquerades would react and pursue them. When these masquerades catch up with people, they beat them up terribly. One day, a masquerade chased somebody into our compound, and a neighbour of ours who cared less about the sacredness of masquerades just picked him up and slammed him on the ground, and unmasked him. Everybody was surprised to know that it was one lazy man in the vicinity called Sunday who under the guise of a masquerade was beating up people he could not withstand normally.

There are many mask-wearing problems like that in many lives. It is good to take the masks off them so that you can see exactly what you are fighting. You must take the mask off the spiritual face of the enemy and see the reality of what is exactly harassing you. It is not every problem that is caused by witches and wizards. Some things come from other sources too.

Somebody told me the story of some Red Indians living somewhere. These Red Indians noticed that people were dying in their midst on a daily basis. They thought their water gods were angry and offered some sacrifices to them but the death continued. Then they blamed it on the disunity amongst them, the white man’s attack on them, witches, and so many other things, but there was no solution until one day somebody took the mask off the problem. The mask was this: It was their tradition to use a particular blanket to cover people who died, so before a person was about to die they used the blanket to cover them. So the problem was the blanket.

We know that the devil is the active force behind all evils, we also know that the devil cannot be everywhere at the same time. He uses his agents.

The real enemies of many people are yet to be unmasked. Some people do not know why things are going wrong. They would say they have tried prayer, praises, fasting, confession, and deliverance, but the problem is still staring them in the face. It could be that there is a mask in place. The enemy can wear the face of a lion, a snake or a child. The mask is meant to conceal the identity. But when the mask is taken off, the actual identity may look big but the solution maybe easy. This is where we need to pray for divine revelation.

Balaam was supposed to be a prophet. He was harassed by the angel of the living God. He paid many useless visits. He tried to carry out his duties but failed and invited God’s anger upon himself. He might have complained that his problem was great but when you take the mask off the face of his problem, you find out that his problem was actually covetousness.

A woman noticed that men always jilted her after few months of courtship. She tried prayer, she tried washing her head in a red garment church, and she tried dressing more attractively by adding attractive colours, but all these did not work. She tried attending parties, and serving as an usher at such parties so that men would see her very well. That too didn’t work. Then she tried horoscopes, but it was not helpful. So, she got fed up with life and said she would commit suicide. One day, the mask was taken off and she found that the mask was anger. Meanwhile, all kinds of people have been blamed for her predicament. She had blamed her stepmother, her classmate, wicked witches flying at night, her stolen clothes, etc, but alas, the real thing was anger. Many times, people blame all kinds of things for their problems, while the actual cause remained untouched. That is exactly what the enemies want.

Many people find out that they are just wasting their prayer bullets because enemies have sold dummies to them and they are busy attacking the dummies. There are thousands of people in this category. God in His infinite wisdom has decided not to open the spiritual eyes of many people. Many times, they attack the fruit, leaves, branches, and stems of their problem trees, but the roots remain in place.

FUNCTION OF THE ROOTS IN PLANT

Physically, the root of the plant has so many functions which can be related to the root of a problem spiritually.

1. The root anchors the plant to the ground: That is, it ensures that the plant stands. By implication, the root of a problem makes it to stand firmly in a life.
2. It absorbs food into the plant. That means, it feeds the problem and makes it grow. A lot of people feed their enemy to fight them harder. I normally say to myself that, “I will not feed any problem, in the name of Jesus.”
3. It helps the plant to store food. That is, it compounds the problem or reinforces it.
4. It may be used for propagation. This in turn prolongs the plant which eventually bears even more fruits. Likewise, when the root of a problem is left untouched, it expands and many things would continue the way they were.

Because of the importance of the root, God’s method is to get to the root of a problem. When there is a problem before God, He starts treating it with a diagnosis- the root of the problem. When He gets to the root, He cuts it down with His axe of fire and after the cutting down, He throws it into the fire. He does not leave it there. After God has uprooted a tree (problem) He does not take the wood and begin to make furniture out of it.

However, if the root of a problem is not discovered, there would be trouble. When the root is discovered and you have the wrong axe like candles, charms, rings, waist bands, horoscopes, magic books, or other occult materials, the problem would still be remain intact because the wrong axe you are holding is also an enemy who will direct your axe against you and you won’t know.

There are many examples in the Bible of people who refused to go to the root of their problems. One of them was king Asa. The Bible tells us that king Asa did not seek God when he was sick, so he died. 2 Chronicles 16:12 – 14: “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.”

Sometimes, at funerals, the officiating priest would say, “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken, blessed be the name of the Lord,” when the Lord did not take anything. Most times it is household wickedness that took the person, or it could even be ordinary mosquitoes.

A certain brother had a problem and went to a place to pray. The “prophet” told him to stay behind the door, that he wanted to consult Angel Michael. The Brother said: “Are you saying that Angel Michael is inside that room? He said “Yes.” So, the man started to pray saying: “God of all ages, the supreme excellence, the great one, the one who can hear all voices, the one who has such a long hand as to remove his children from the pit, save your child from the pit by your eternal name, Amen.” Then he sang a chorus. The brother did not notice that in all the prayers rendered by the man and the chorus he sang, he avoided the name Jesus. Suddenly, the supposedly voice of Angel Michael began to speak saying: “My son, I know you. You are an engineer and God wants to help you.” The brother said, “Please, correct Angel Michael, I am not an engineer. In fact, I read commerce.” So as the man went inside, the brother picked his bag and ran away. That was how God saved him. If he had waited to find out the outcome, he would have needed deliverance. There is another man in 2 Kings 1:1-4: “Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and he said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. Now therefore thus saith the Lord, thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die.” That is an example of somebody who used the wrong axe.

When problem arises, some people would begin to say things like, “It is because I left my green-garment church,” “It is because when they said I should come and become a senior apostle, I said I was not qualified,” “It is because I left the religion of my forefathers, I must go back there,” “It is because I did not offer sacrifices.” “It is because my daddy did not pray for my husband and I when we got married.” What prayer would your father, a lodge member and your mother who married him as her 5th husband, pray for you? The prayer of a sinner, the Bible says, is an abomination unto God. The devil has kept many people busy chasing shadows and they will not look at the roots. He keeps some people busy with holy water, thereby prolonging depression in their lives, fornication without control, chronic fear, self-pity, hearing voices, inability to receive the Holy Spirit, sicknesses, financial insufficiency, unreasonable moods, etc. All these are evidences that there is a root that needs to be uprooted..

Some people cannot understand that their problems are stubborn because the problems started when they were one to three years of age. They were too young to be conscious of those things. Some people too are suffering from certain things that happened in their lives which they have forgotten, even though they were old enough to remember them. The devil makes people to forget things that happened to them because he has planted some evil things in their lives through those things. These things must be uprooted. If the earliest memory you have as a child is sad, it could affect your adult behaviour. If you were sexually abused as a child, it will affect your adult life and can become the root of so many problems. The problems maybe wearing another mask.

If anytime you pray aggressive prayer, you see the vision of yourself as a small girl or a small boy, going back to when you were younger, it means that at that age, something was planted.

Many people are being initiated into witchcraft and cults without their knowledge. Many people are surrounded by unfriendly friends who give them things to eat and then trouble starts. A lot of us have eaten things we should not have eaten.

Another place where the root of a person’s problems can be traced to is the kind of house the person lived when he was young. If you have negative, unhappy or bad feelings about the house or room where you were, know that something bad had been planted there. If in your dream you see yourself going back to where you lived before, it means that something went wrong with your life in that place. Maybe you had a school mother or school father when you were in school and now you see the person in the dream, there is a root there to deal with.

Photographs you took during your childhood that can no longer be located could be the root of the problem in your life. If you see the kind of wickedness that have been done with photographs, you will be shocked. This is why we advise women whose husbands are keeping strange women not to fight with the strange women. To fight with them is sheer waste of time because most of the time, their photographs have been demonically tied to those of the strange women and buried somewhere by demonic prophets. So no amount of fighting can deliver such men. They have been trapped through the photographs. So a person maybe facing problems now due to photographs manipulation.

Evil agents can take the photographs of young children and destroy their innocence through the photographs and certain things would begin to happen. This is the root of many people’s problems.

Another place where a root could be planted is rejection. As a child, did you feel that your brothers and sisters were receiving more attention than yourself? Did you feel that you were not loved like the other children? Was there ever a situation where you cried yourself to sleep or you sometimes felt like running away? Have you ever wondered why you were born? Have you felt like your parents never wanted you? There is a root planted.

A certain sister was having terrible problems. She prayed and tried all kinds of things. One day, she said, “Oh God, I am not sleeping tonight unless I know where I am going.” She prayed and suddenly, she saw a vision. She was in a labour room and could recognise her mother trying to give birth to a baby and as soon as her mother was delivered of the baby, she opened the legs of the baby to look at the sex. Immediately, she saw that she was a girl, she said, “Take this thing away from here.” Then the vision closed and the Lord said, “Your mother has placed a curse on you by calling you a ‘thing.’ She then knew what to focus her prayers on. It was then things started to happen.

Even now, a root could be planted in your life. There seems to be some powerful spirits attached to the ages of 21 and 40. When some people are getting to 40, life seems to fall apart. They lose control of so many things. Just as a lot of people get confused at the age of 21. So age can also be the root of a person’s problem.

There is another root called the spirit of depression. It is worse than witchcraft attack. Do you frequently wake up in the morning thinking that it is not even worth getting up from the bed? Do you have the feelings that your situation can never change? Is your life out of control? Do you often feel that there is nothing worth living for? Do you harbour suicidal thoughts? Do you experience hopelessness, sleeplessness, or loss of interest in life?

Another root is the spirit of anger. Anger is generally a reaction to that which displeases us. The question is, “Did God give you anger at birth?” If uncontrollable anger is your problem then you are worse than all the witches and wizards in Nigeria put together. Do you have a reputation for blowing up? Do you get angry at things and then later realise that it was not necessary?

Do you have to take sleeping tablets before you can sleep? Do you toss for hours before you go to sleep? If you attend our meetings at MFM and you pray our prayer the way it should be prayed, it is certain that sleeping can never be your problem. When you wake up from a bad dream, do you find it difficult to go back to sleep? Do you have a feeling that something bad is going to happen when night is coming? Do you overreact to every noise you hear at night? It is certain that if you have a bad night, and do not sleep well at night, you would have a bad day next day. When your sleep, that is your rest has been caged by the enemy, you will have sleepless nights.

There are so many other roots. If you come from a family of alcoholics, you will lead a meaningless life. Do you have any hidden evil urge within you? Are you having extra marital affairs? Are you interested in multiple marriage?

Beloved, you have to take off the mask and see what the problem is. There are some people called little mothers. These are women who become mothers at the tender age of 15 or 16. Have you aborted or asked somebody to do it? All these could be the root of so many things. Two things pursue anyone who aborts or has aborted: the demon of frustration and the spirit of abortion. Such people need deliverance.

HOW TO UNMASK PROBLEMS COMPLETELY

1. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is the first step. It says, “If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2. Be accountable. Don’t shift blames, accept that you are wrong when you are wrong.
3. Pray seriously for restoration.
4. Forgive all those who have done you wrong. Ask God to forgive them too and bless them abundantly. Ask God to forgive you for holding on to unforgiveness, resentment, anger, bitterness and hatred.
5. Praise God. Spend time praising the Lord your God.

PRAYER POINTS

1. Every mask-wearing problem, be exposed, in Jesus’ name.
2. I refuse to direct my spiritual weapons on dummies, in the name of Jesus.
3. All my misfired arrows, go to the right target, in Jesus’ name.
4. Every evil spiritual front delegated against my life, be paralyzed, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every problem initiator and expander, be paralyzed, in the name of Jesus.
6. All quenchers of spiritual power, I render you impotent, in the name of Jesus.
7. Every material in my possession, carrying satanic power, be exposed, in the name of Jesus.
8. You stubborn pursuer, I command your ways to be slippery and I ask the Angel of God to pursue you, in Jesus’ name.
9. Satanic problems anchor, be roasted, in the name of Jesus.
10. I withdraw the food of my problem, I command the problem to starve to death, in the name of Jesus.
11. No reinforcement, and no regrouping for all the problems that have gone, in the name of Jesus.
12. You problem propagators and problem prolongers, be paralyzed, in the name of Jesus.
13. Every power touching the anointed, receive the sword of fire, in the name of Jesus.
14. Every spiritual parasite, I command you to die, in the name of Jesus.
15. Every root of problems, be axed, in the name of Jesus.

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DETAINED BY THE GRAVE

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

Psalm 30: 3 says, “O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit.” In Psalm 49: 14 – 15, the Bible says, “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me.”

At the MFM, we pray lots of prayer points. Some of these prayer points may sound strange to some people. But for those who understand the war going on in the spirit, they are familiar items. For example at MFM, we pray a lot about buried virtues. On three occasions, people have brought pots to me. The first person was a small girl several years ago. She was about 13 years old. Her daddy was having problems and I think he prayed very well. One day, she came with a pot wrapped inside a black nylon bag and insisted that I was the only person she would show the contents of the pot. She opened it and the first thing she said was, “Daddy is a dead handsome man.” I said, “I don’t understand what you mean by that. What is inside the pot?” I looked into it and saw three items: some hair strands, a piece of clothing that seemed to have been cut from a shirt and some fingernails. I asked her where the items came from and she said they were all from her daddy. She said, “Let me tell you what these things stand for. The hair is his glory, which we have buried. The piece of cloth, which was cut from his shirt, was used to introduce shame into his life because spiritually, when somebody removes your cloth, he is putting you to shame. The fingernails represent whatever he does with his hands. So, daddy is a dead handsome man. But if he will repent of the sin of anger and pray well, then he can be delivered.” I said, “What if we burn the pot now?” She said, “Yes, you can burn the pot now, but we can always find another pot.” At this juncture, I think you should pray like this: “Every satanic pot prepared against me, crumble in the name of Jesus.”

Beloved, these are practical things. A time will come when believers will only go to fellow believers to make their hair. People will get wise. Believers will no longer enter salons with names such as ‘Mermaid.’ They will look at the fingernails of hairdressers before they patronize them. Now, you see believers putting down their anointed head for demonic hairdressers because they must dress their hair even if it means their destruction.

The second pot was brought by three girls from one of the universities. When I asked them what was inside the pot, they laughed and said, “Man of God, it will be very awkward if we tell you the name, but you will understand.” I looked inside and found a white substance. I asked them what it was and they said, “Male seed,” i.e. sperm. I asked them how they got it and they said, “We collected it from some boys in our school and we have dealt with all of them.” I said, “But what have they done?” They said, “They jilted us. They were our boyfriends but they did not know that the three of us are powerful. They took us for granted so, we dealt with them.” I asked them what had become of those boys and they said two of them were dead and one was mad. I asked them what they wanted to do and they said, “We want to give our lives to Jesus. We are repenting.” This is the mystery of the gospel. Jesus will accept them and the one that was mad might still remain mad even after they have repented. This is why you and I must know that the best system of defense is to attack. If you are put in the boxing ring and told to fight, and you begin to say to your opponent, “Before we start, don’t touch my head, don’t touch my nose,” he would not listen to you because the fight has been declared. Our fight with the enemy has already been declared in the book of Genesis: “I would put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed” (Genesis 3: 15). Those girls gave their lives to Jesus, but meanwhile, two foolish boys were dead and one was mad.

The third time somebody brought a pot to me, it contained blood. “Where did this come from?” I asked him. He said, “I took it from some people.” I said, “But why?” He said, “Because I want to finish them.”

THE POWER OF THE GRAVE

When things have been collected and buried, there is trouble unless you understand how to withdraw what has been buried. That is why the Psalmist talked about deliverance from the grave. He also talked about the power of the grave. The grave has some powers which are behind certain things people call difficult cases.

What Are Difficult Cases?
Difficult cases are situations where the evil pipe through which a problem is being fed has not been demolished. Then you say it is difficult.

A difficult problem is a problem where all the secrets behind it are not known. And because of that ignorance, the enemy keeps rejoicing.

A problem is difficult when it is linked to multiple curses or multiple bondages. For example, somebody locked someone up and you asked him or her to unlock the fellow and he or she did. You then ask if the person is now free and he or she said, “No, because we used 14 padlocks on the person.” It means that if such a person who was locked up came to a prayer meeting and prayed for one hour and broke only two, it would remain twelve. And at the same time, he or she could pray and all fourteen would break at one operation. That is possible. So, once a situation has a lot of covenants formed against it, it looks difficult because there are so many chains tying it down. Some people live with angry parents who curse people easily. For example, on Monday, they would call you an idiot, the devil records it. On Tuesday, they call you a zombie, the devil writes it down, the third day, they say, “Your head is not correct,” the devil writes it down, fourth day: “God will punish you,” the devil notes it down. In a month, some children accumulate a minimum of 30 curses. In a year, they would accumulate 360 or 365 on their heads. Such people may come to a revival meeting, pray and remove 200. There would still be 160 left. Their situation will look difficult because there are many curses issued against them. Some of the poorest people I have ever found in my life are the gate men of primary schools. As these children go in or come out, they issue curses on them everyday. And some of these children are not normal. So these gatemen accumulate about 100 curses per day and by the time they spend a month, they have accumulated 3000, poor men. Generally these gatemen live in places where even the shortest of men have to bow down before they can enter. And whenever there is rain, there would be problem. Their cases are normally difficult because of the enormity of the curses they accumulated over the years. That is separate from what their wives and other people issue on them at home.

A difficult case is one that has been circulated in four worlds. What are the four worlds?

1. The second heaven, that is the headquarters of evil.
   2. The earth.
   3. Underneath the earth.
   4. The sea.

When somebody’s case has been taken to these four places, the person would have things to break in four places. Then it looks very difficult.

Man was formed out of the dust of the ground. The Bible tells us that in Genesis 2: 7. Also animals and plants were formed from the ground (Genesis 2:19). But later, God cursed the ground (Genesis 3). You discover too that all the elements in the body of man can be found in the soil. That is why the Bible says in Philippians 2:10 that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth and of things under the earth. So, it follows that most of the things we see now around us are underneath the ground. The only major thing that comes from heaven is the spirit, which is inside a man. Wood, iron, clothes, steel, etc. come from the ground. In John 3: 31, Jesus says, “He that cometh from above: is above all, he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.” Therefore, there are certain things that come from the earth and certain things that come from heaven. I Corinthians 15: 47 –48: “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.”

The Bible sometimes addresses the ground as a person because there are spirits within it which it refers to as the powers of the grave. In Numbers 16, Moses said, “O God, if you would do a new thing and let the ground open and swallow.” What happened? The ground heard what Moses said and opened up. So, there are powers within the earth we call the powers of the grave. A knowledgeable black man understands this very well, much more than a white man. For example, blacks pour libation on the ground to demons of the ground. This is why evil people remove sand from underneath people’s feet and use it against them. It is also the same reason herbalists pay homage to the ground. Some people swear by the earth and use the soil as charm. Some people inquire their future from the earth by pressing sands. It is these spirits from the grave that answer them. They believe in the power of the earth. When I was a small boy, my school was close to a burial ground. So we were warned that whenever we saw unusually short creatures on our way to school, we should take some sand and pour it on them and they would disappear. I never saw one. But my friends used to say they saw them and poured sand on them and they disappeared. Why do you have to pour sand on them? It is because they are powers from the earth.

In a church I used to attend, we had a very unusual pastor. Unusual in the sense that five minutes into a prayer meeting, he would start sweating because he prayed aggressively unlike the one before him who would call prayer points and sit down to pray. One day, I sat at the back and suddenly, the pastor ran to the back as a woman came in, dancing and clapping with a baby strapped at her back. The pastor looked at her and in anger, said to her, “Turn over. Why should you come to the house of God walking on your head?” I did not see her walking on her head. I saw her standing straight and carrying a baby and dancing. But the woman knew that the pastor could see what she really was. She said, “Sorry sir,” and entered the church. Why was she walking upside down? She was communicating with these powers underneath the earth. During one Power Must Change Hands programme, somebody was caught trying to pack sand from the church premises. He was asked what he wanted to do with it and he said, he wanted to go and use it so that people would be coming to his own church in large numbers. We told him that he would have made a mistake because it would have meant him pouring liquid fire there and causing more problem for himself. Also, there was a certain man who was told to come and bury charms in MFM and he accepted. All he did was to accept. He had not even come when trouble started until he was brought to the same MFM.

WITCHCRAFT BURIAL

In a nutshell, every goodness of man has a spiritual representative and once this spiritual representative is caged, trapped, buried or imprisoned in the graveyard, that is the end.

In Matthew 10, Jesus gave His disciples matching orders. Verse 8 says, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” So when you go to a prophet and he asks you for money, you should know immediately that he did not receive his power from Jesus because Jesus says, “Freely ye receive, freely give.” Verse 11 says, “And into whatsoever city ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till you go thence. And when you come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.” It means that peace is an entity that can be transferred, given out or withdrawn. It is like that for everything, whether it is money, husband, wife, children, etc. They can be captured and buried spiritually. So, although they are around, they will not be available. You must recognize as a reality the fact that once a matter is settled spiritually, the physical has no option but to toe the line of the spiritual. When something has been buried or in other words, put in the grave, the thing is said to be committed to mother earth. Whatever happens, anything that is buried is not easily available again. That is why we talk about witchcraft burial. When witchcraft powers bury a person’s clock, they deal with his time. The person will become a vagabond moving about without direction. If they bury the person’s purse, his finances will be in trouble. If they bury the person’s wedding ring, problem would start with the person’s marriage. They take significant things like that. I have seen cases, when on a wedding morning, a bride ran to the man of God and said that she could not find her right shoes. It had been stolen. What were they going to do with it? They would bury it.

There are satanic agents who call people’s names into materials and bury them. Sometime ago, a lady led some people and I to a place where she dug out the picture of a wedding. She said, “Will God forgive me now that I have given it to you?” I asked her what she did to the couple and she said, “We separated them. The wife is in South Africa while the husband is in Russia.” People construct artificial coffins for people and speak words against them to the coffins or put materials from them into the coffins and bury them. The people then become walking corpses. When this happens, hospitals become useless to you.

Many years ago, in my former church, we got to church one morning and found a big charm inside the church. Some people saw it and ran away. But thank God there were some people there who understood what they believed. They took the thing up and said, “Holy Spirit, look at this useless material that was dropped here. We would have destroyed it and kept quiet, but let us teach those who dropped it some lessons. Therefore, let the angels of the living God take the charm and conduct a reverse burial.” Shortly after, those who buried it surfaced when they could no longer bear the fire. If as you are reading this message, you know that you have buried things on the instructions of a herbalist, witchdoctor or fake prophet, you might have done it in ignorance but the devil knew what he was doing. You might have been tricked into burying things that belonged to you with your own hands. Perhaps, it was a cow or some other materials. What they did was that the night before you buried the cow or whatever, they came and smuggled your virtue inside the animal and then you buried it with your hands. So they were free because you buried it with your own hands. Some people organize parties where they distribute demonic foods to many people and things will start happening after they have eaten them. I saw wickedness of the highest order when somebody who had almost N10 million in the bank was asked to borrow money from people and bury it in order to bury their finances and add them to his own.

A certain brother was led to the grave in his dream by an angel. The angel struck the grave and shouted the name of someone the brother knew three times and the person came out. The brother withdrew his blessing from the person and that was the end of his problem. It means that even if the person that stole your blessings from you or did evil to you is dead, you can still withdraw your blessing from him or her.

Nothing will work for someone whose virtues are detained by the grave as far as the person is walking on the earth. Things will only work if the person flies in the sky. But as far as his legs make contact with mother earth, nothing will work

There are many things that a lot of believers do not understand that is why the Bible says that the children of this world are wiser in their own ways. There are so many things that are not clear to believers but people of the dark kingdom understand them very well. That is why the Bible says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Many people in Nigeria are just carrying Bible and watching American videos. They say, “We don’t have to pray as hard as this. We don’t believe in this kind of hard prayer.” The problem with such people is that they have been caged. They are not the ones talking. Something is operating demonic logic through them. Without aggressive prayers, you cannot harass these powers. They just stay there and expand.

WHO ARE THOSE DETAINED BY THE POWER OF THE GRAVE?

1. Those who always dream of the dead. If you are always seeing dead people, eating with them, talking to them, or generally doing things with them in the dream, the Lord is trying to tell you that part of your virtue is with the dead. All you should do is to unseat them and withdraw your virtues. When somebody has been captured by the power of the grave, it would seem as if the whole world is against the person. Anywhere he goes, he will be antagonized.
2. They are people who always have the feeling that somebody or people are following them but it is only they who will see them or feel them.
3. Those who have been captured by the power of the grave sometimes suffer from very terrible spiritual blindness. They see nothing, hear nothing, and expect nothing. They are totally blank spiritually.
4. Spiritually, such people are clothed in spiritual rags. The clothes of a buried corpse turn to rags easily. Such people would live in poverty except they cry unto the Lord.
5. They have unashamed and determined effort to destroy themselves.
6. Sometimes they dream of very slow animals like tortoise, snails, etc. One day, I prayed for a man and as he stood up to go, on his seat was a tortoise. I said, “Come back sir, what is this?” He looked at it and said, “Aha, a long time ago, a herbalist did something for me with a tortoise and asked me to drop it into the sea and I did.” But there it was on a seat after many years. That shows that the devil is very clever. The man thought he had thrown it into the sea but he did not know that the evil powers planted it back into his life. Now he could not make progress and was wondering why.

It is because of this that Jesus had to go into the lower parts of the earth. Ephesians 4: 8 –9 says, “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.” Why did He have to go there? He had to go there because a lot of good things had been buried there. Jesus had to go and set the captives free. He preached to the spirits that were in prison under the earth. That is why one of my favorite passages in the Bible is Revelation 1: 8. It says, “I am he that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” He has given us that same authority. Only the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ can command the materials seized by the spirits in the grave to come forth like Lazarus and they shall come walking out. Beloved, why don’t you ask for this power to come upon your life?

PRAYER POINTS

1. Lay your right hand on your head and pray like this: All my blessings imprisoned by the grave, come forth, in the name of Jesus.
2. I release my blessing from the hand of any dead relative, in the name of Jesus.
3. I withdraw my blessing from the hand of any dead relative, in the name of Jesus.
4. Put your hand on your stomach and pray like this: I disgrace every witchcraft burial, in the name of Jesus.
5. Just as the grave could not detain Jesus, no power will detain my miracle, in the name of Jesus.
6. That which is hindering me from greatness, give way now, in the name of Jesus.
7. Whatever has been done against me using the ground, be neutralized, in the name of Jesus.
8. Every unfriendly friend, be exposed in the name of Jesus.
9. Anything representing my image in the spirit world, I withdraw your representation, in the name of Jesus.

All the camps of my enemies, receive boiling confusion, in the name of Jesus.

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