LORD, BEHOLD THEIR THREATENING
Dr. D. K. Olukoya
In Acts 4, the apostles had been pushed around. They had been warned not to preach in the name of Jesus. Then in verse 29, they started praying, "And now, Lord, behold their threatening and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word."
I had a visitor sometime ago, who told me that she had been born again for thirty-three years, but recently, she met a member of Mountain of Fire and Miracles ministries who started praying with him. And right from the time that she started praying with him, it was as if she was not born again at all. She said that the way that the prayer was going and the kind of prayer points the sister called were strange to her, although he had been born again for thirty-three years.
Despite the fact that the prayer points were strange, she prayed them, and she was getting results instantly for the first time and that her life was never the same. According to her, this sister who prayed with her did not seem to recognise that there is something called fear. When you say something is big and terrible, she just moved in and demolished it with prayer. She said several weeks back, somebody fired an arrow at her and one hand and one leg was getting paralysed. And that sister just came with what she called anointing oil, applied it on her, and everything disappeared. She said she asked the sister if she was a pastor and she said no. She told her that she was only an ordinary member. Then she said to the sister, "If you, an ordinary member can be this good, I must come and see your pastor." Those are the kind of testimonies that encourage us. And not those who would say, "When my husband was talking rubbish, I just gave him a dirty slap and later, asked the Lord to forgive me." My prayer is that you too, will be a good example. And your life will record testimonies.
Any power militating against a true child of God is looking for problems. Such a power wants to sink into the red sea after the order of Pharaoh. It is also seeking to be destroyed by God's anger after the order of Senacherib. One angel defeated 185,000 people. I am very sure that nobody has up to 185,000 enemies. Any power militating against a true child of God is seeking to fight and oppose itself. It is seeking to receive the stones of fire, after the order of Goliath. Any powr militating against a true child of God is seeking to be substituted in the evil that he or she is trying. Such a power wants to receive what we call divine hail stones. Any power militating against a true child of God is looking for compulsory and forceful burial like after the order of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. It is seeking to be eaten up by worms, after the order of Herod and to be pursued by terrifying noises after the order of the Syrians.
Few months ago, I heard another testimony that gladdened my heart. The testimony was that the co-tenants of one of our members came to report him. What did he do? He said since this brother man moved into their compound, the whole place was always hot at night. Apart from that, his wife who used to attend witchcraft meetings to assist him could no longer attend because the brother has blocked her way. Then I said, since you could see that this man is praying and because he is praying, he has blocked the journey of your wife, why don't you seek to get the kind of power that he has? He said, "We are just appealing to him, we don't mind refunding what he has paid; but he should leave." I said this is good, for a change. That is how it should be, The wicked should run when they see a Christian. They are the ones who should be having the problems, not believers. Not the kind of testimony where somebody comes and says "Pray on these prayer requests for me sir, my co-tenant, the man on the first floor is a herbalist and the other one a witch, therefore, they are harassing me at night." This one was different, he was the one harassing them. Take the following prayer points with holy anger:
a. Every witch living in my surrounding, receive the stones of fire, in the name of Jesus.
b. Any evil vessel conveying my information to the evil world, be paralysed now, in the name of Jesus.
What is the principle of praying to get results?
There are many examples in the Bible of those who prayed and got results instantly. For us to understand the principles of praying to get results, we shall study the prayer points of some people who prayed and received instant answers in the Bible. There are many examples but we will look at three.
1. In Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram offended God by offending his servant, and in verses 28 - 33, that servant of God began to pray; "And Moses said, hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them; And the earth opened her mouth; and swallowed them up and
their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods. They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation."
2. 1 Kings 18 : 36 says, "And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me O Lord, hear me that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, the Lord, he is the God; the Lord he is the God."
The man prayed a prayer point of about 60 words and instantly, things began to happen. Compare his wordings with the wordings of the prayer of Moses.
3. In Acts 4, the apostles had been beaten up. They had been told not to preach in the name of Jesus. They had been threatened that if they continued to preach in that name, they would be killed. Verses 23 - 27 say, "And being let go, they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is; who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ" Verse 29 - 31 say, "And now, Lord, behold their threatening and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word. By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness."
What are the characteristics of these three passages?
1. A petition was filed to God. The Bible says, plead your cause before the Almighty.
2. The troublers of Israel were reported directly to God as if God did not see them. We too should form that kind of habit. Talk to God as a friend. When you wake up at night and you don't like the kind of dreams you had, you can sit down and say, "Father, when I slept last night, I had so and so dream. I don't understand what this means, explain to me and teach me what to do. Report the case to God, as if He did not know about the dream.
3. A war was declared against the opposing forces.
4. Instant divine intervention was requested. That is even if God is not going to give you the cash now, you can at least go with the cheque. That is a good way to start with.
5. They prayed from the bottom of their hearts. There is a difference between surface prayer and deep prayer. Whenever prayer comes from the bottom of the heart, it yields results.
6. There was instant faith and holy expectancy.
7. They prayed using the standard of somebody who is divinely dissatisfied. You have to declare today too that you are divinely dissatisfied with your unfavourable situation.
8. They asked for divine judgment against opposition.
9. They made an urgent request for the display of the supernatural.
10. Signs and wonders were expressly requested.
Having looked at the major characteristics of these three passages, let us consider the prayer points. I was not there but from what I can see in the word of God, I have an idea of the kind of prayer points they prayed. They must have prayed the kind of prayer points we sometimes pray for example, "Let God be God in my red sea situation." When you check what Moses, Elijah and the apostles said; "Let it be known that I do this thing, because You sent me; therefore, let it be known, that thou art God."
They might have also prayed: "Let it be known that you are God in every department of my life." Or, "Lord, do a new thing to my enemies that will permanently destroy their powers." God did a new thing to Korah, Dathan and Abiram. They broke record. They were the first men to go to hell fire without dying. They must have prayed like this: "O Lord, utilise uncommon techniques to disgrace my opposition." They must have said, "Let the earth open up and swallow every stubborn pursuer," O Lord, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, manifest yourself in your power," "O Lord, answer me by fire and roast every single stronghold," "Every power challenging your power in my life, be disgraced," "Let every rage of the enemy quench," "Let every evil imagination fashioned against me, be frustrated and disgraced," "Let every satanic plan that concerns my life be rendered a failure," "Every evil ruler assembled against me, be scattered unto desolation," "O Lord, behold these powers threatening me," O Lord, give me divine boldness to disgrace my oppressor," "O Lord, stretch out your mighty hand to perform signs and wonders in my life." These are examples of the kind of prayer they prayed and had instant results.
Many of us, whether we like it or not, have arrived at our Red sea situations. Some got there very early in life. Some have arrived now, some have just started to hear the sound of Pharaoh running them on.
A woman came to me and broke down and cried saying, "This is disgusting, if I had known that Nigeria was like this, I would have kept my husband in England. Immediately, we got here, he just forgot us and started running after other women who he brings to the house and they take anything they like and go away. The first time I tried to challenge them, three of them beat me up. O, what kind of thing is this!" Then I said, "Well, if you want to cry, I give you one week to do that and when you finish, you can come back. She said, "I have stopped sir." I told her so because prayer and crying do not work together. You may only cry for your sins, that is fine. Exodus 14: 30 says, "Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hands of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore." That was the end of that contest. They sank like lead in the Red sea.
A sister came all the way from Ijebu-Ode for the anointing service. She brought her boy who was five or six years old. The boy had never talked. At his young age, he had arrived a the Red sea. It is like when you go for an examination, and immediately you get to the door of the examination hall, the examiner asks you to bring your answer sheet. You give it to him. You have not even answered any question and he says, "Minus fifty!" A lot of people like that. Their enemies start with them from the womb. He has removed fifty marks from hundred before they even became adults. That was the case of that boy. At the anointing service, there as a word of knowledge that somebody who could not speak would speak. After the service, the mother gave him the anointing oil and they travelled back to Ijebu-ode. They both slept. And suddenly, the woman started to hear, "Amen, Amen, Amen! And by the time she looked up, it was her boy making the sound. The first sound that this boy produced in five to six years was Amen! That was how the boy started to talk.
Many people are presently camping by the Red sea. They were moving forward only to find out that they cannot move further. They have arrived at the Red sea! Things were moving smoothly and suddenly, the smoothness just faded out. Heaven became brass and the coloured prophets began to make money out of them. And the herbalists started using their money to build their own houses.
A man told me that one prophet told him to sell his big house in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos for three million naira, a house he spent 11.5 million to build. This prophet told him to sell it and use the money to work for Jesus. He did and the prophet collected the whole money and went away. That was the only house he had.
The door of escape for some people is getting farther and farther. That is the Red sea. The joyful morning of some is bringing in fearful nights now. Red sea. The nice flower in the hands of some people is being buried. Red sea.
A boy used to fail all available examinations. He failed the school certificate exam several times. Every year, he had F9 in all subjects. There was a particular year he did not enter for the examination, W.A.E.C. still sent him a result of failure. It was that bad. What am I trying to say? He was barricaded on every side. Some people are under hot pursuit. They are being pursued by forces with evil rage, it is a Red sea. Perhaps, you too have been hearing the battle cry of the enemy, the battle cry of witches and wizards, sounding right there in your ears. I have news for you now: The Lord shall fight for you.
Jesus has all the strength and victory. All creatures, which are living now, which have lived and which shall be, are less than the smallest dust before the power of Jesus. When the Israelites were being pursued, they could not fight. They had no army, no chariots, no horses, and no trained soldiers. Everything seemed to be working in favour of Pharaoh until something happened. A voice spoke from heaven and immediately that was the end of the contest.
The Lord said, "Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forth." Then Pharaoh learnt a big lesson: that man is nothing. He even learnt a second lesson: that God can use the instrument that saves His children to destroy another. That was what He did in the same Red sea. The Israelites passed through. The same Red sea swallowed the Egyptians. All the tests and their preaching did not work as far as God was concerned.
Therefore, beloved, I want you to close your eyes and pray with holy madness like this: "Let impossibility be disgraced before me today, in the name of Jesus. I want to apply a parable from In Matthew 22 : 11 - 13. There was a feast and something happened at that feast: "And when the king came in to see the guest, he saw there, a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him, how comest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, bind his hand and foot, and take him away and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Notice certain points about that parable. A king invited people to his feast. He did not force people to attend but there was an enemy at the feast. Every enemy at the feast of your life, shall be disgraced today, in the name of Jesus. The enemy who walked in by his own legs became the criminal. Then the executioners of the firing squard quickly removed the criminal. But it is interesting that the members of the firing squard were also present at the feast. Whenever God is doing something good in people's lives, a proportion of unworthy forces try to attack them. Whenever God is doing something great in your life, a proportion of members from the camp of the enemy will attend the meeting. No matter how good your spirit system is, they creep in unawares.
God wants to use good materials. If a person then decides to be a useless material, the person will have himself to blame. People should understand that just as this man went from the wedding feast to hell fire, the same thing happened to Korah, Dathan and Abiram. There are powers like that. The feast is what God is doing in your life, the king is Jesus, those invited, the guests without the wedding garments are the enemies that have come in; satanic agents. All such agents shall be paralysed now, in the name of Jesus. So this is why God calls His people the apple of His eye, the delight of His eye and the joy of His eye.
Make this declaration: "Evil powers might be drinking other people's blood and wasting their lives, my case is different. Every power designing shame and embarrassment for me, be paralysed, in the name of Jesus. Any power that say I should eat sand, should eat sand, in the name of Jesus.
All those who have been harassing the children of God are probably not reading their Bibles. They have read about Pharaoh, Hamman, or those who threw Daniel into the lions' den. The big truth is this, there is no one who has battled against the saints who were not ruined by the God of the saints. Check it out. Those who fought against Daniel were runined by the God of Daniel. Those who fought against the Israelites including Pharaoh, were ruined by their God. An angel just gave Herod a little slap, not a big one because if he did, that would have roasted him. In fact, we need to ask for angelic assistance today because when God sends His angels, they can slap our enemies, block their transport routes, they can invite special fire, attack with the sword or give a last warning.
Angels too can issue curses. They can stretch out their hands for destruction. They can chase or persecute people. So, when you see the Psalmist praying, "Let the angels of God pursue them. Let them have no rest day and night."
At this juncture, I will like you to pray like this: "Let the angel of God pursue and persecute all the enemies of my soul, in Jesus' name.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Let God be God in all my situations in the name of Jesus.
2. Lord, let it be known that your are God in the name of Jesus
3. Lord, do a new thing to my enemy
4. Let the earth open up and swallow every stubborn pursuer in the name of Jesus
5. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, manifest yourself in your power.
6. Lord God of Elijah answer my prayers by fire in the name of Jesus
7. Every power challenging divine power in my life be disgraced now
8. Every satanic plan against my life be rendered impotent in the name of Jesus
9. Every evil power assembled against me, be scattered unto desolation in the name of Jesus
10. Lord behold the threatening of my enemies and silence them
11. I shall laugh last in the name of Jesus
12. Lord let my prayer letter arising in your signs and wonders to me .
13. Every rage of the enemy, be quenched in the name of Jesus
