This message focuses on spiritual robbers, who have robbed even the best of believers their miracles. I beseech you to read it prayerfully, and God will bless you richly, in Jesus’ name.
When physical things are stolen, they are somewhat easy to replace but it is a different thing entirely, when spiritual things are stolen. When next somebody wants you to pray against spiritual robbers, you must do so seriously, because a physical thief is still better than a spiritual one. Physical things are easy to replace. For example, a house can be rebuilt. It is those things which money cannot buy that spiritual enemies steal. For example, peace, health, etc.
The greatest spiritual thieves harassing believers and making them to lose their miracles and even their lives are four in number:
1. DOUBT:
The most ancient of all these spiritual thieves is known as doubt. It is a powerful thief whose activities affected the disciples of Jesus. It was so glaring that Jesus had to query them in Mark 4:40 as follows: “And he said unto them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith.” Jesus had to blame His disciples, because they doubted His ability to deliver. But Jesus understood His own ability so much that when He was on earth, He was never in a hurry. He knew what He wanted to do and how to do it. One of the terrible effects of unbelief is made explicit in Matthew 13: 58, which says, “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Let us look at Matthew 9: 22 where Jesus addressed a terrible problem. It says: “But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” Verse 29 of the same chapter has another wonderful utterance of Jesus Christ: “Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.”
To the first person Jesus said: “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” While He said to the second person, “According to your faith, be it unto you.” Let us read Mark 10: 52 for yet another utterance of Jesus: “And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” This is the story of blind Bartimaeus, the man who refused to let Jesus go when He came to the region where he lived.
Jesus addressed another woman in Luke 7: 30 thus: “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” Also in Luke 17: 19, Jesus commanded the leper to “…Arise, go thy way, thy faith have made thee whole.” Beloved, let me stress here that the most powerful statement that Jesus ever made is found in Mark 9: 23. It says, “Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
The basic fact or truth that can be established from the quoted verses is that faith can demolish every mountain of difficulty and win every battle. This perhaps is the reason Jesus stressed that anyone, whose faith is as small as a mustard seed, can command a mountain to depart from its location and it shall be so. You may begin to wonder why Jesus used the size of a mustard seed, which is without doubt very small. The reason is simple. Jesus wants you as a believer or as a person to know that your faith need not be same as the size of your problem. Although a mustard seed is small, it is nonetheless strong. Jesus used the illustration to canvass for a strong, iron-like faith, which cannot be discouraged. Regardless of what your problem is, you must never give up. No matter the size of a stone that covers a mustard seed, it will always have the strength to grow very well. Just as adverse weather cannot affect a mustard seed, the adverse problems of life must not affect you. You must never submit yourself to any form of satanic discouragement.
People who have no faith and cannot believe God for a considerable length of time are those who give themselves on loan to God. Such people refuse to rely solely on God. Anyone who gives himself or herself to God only on Sundays or few times a week is only on loan to God. The element of faith is very important in one’s relationship with God. Faith is something we cannot substitute for any other thing. You cannot substitute almsgiving, candle, incense, psalms, water baptism, confirmation, etc for faith. Keeping the Bible under your pillow cannot replace faith. Common sense and crying cannot replace faith. Self-pity and sympathy cannot replace faith. The Bible says in Hebrew 11:6 that “Whosoever comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” The Bible again says that “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” You may please your pastor without faith. You may please your friend or relative without faith. However, it is impossible to please God without faith. Therefore, faith is an important factor in our relationship with God. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. On many occasions, Jesus asked His disciples why they had no faith. The Bible gives credence to the position of Jesus as it says that the just shall live by faith. It follows therefore that as long as the just one lives by faith, everything will start to work accordingly. The Bible did not say that the just should live by begging or by crying or by self-pity. It says again, that faith comes by hearing and by hearing the word of God. This perhaps suggests why Jesus was fond of saying, "Thy faith hath made you whole,” giving the impression that without faith, there was absolutely nothing He Himself could do.
When you consider the whole scripture carefully, you will find that those that Jesus healed were not people who were completely holy, nice and righteous. They nonetheless had faith. They took God at His words. They reasoned that whatever God said was true. They knew that He could not deny Himself. Faith is indispensable. A faithless person is therefore in trouble. All serious believers know this fact.
Doubt prevented Jesus from working miracles even in His own city. Jesus again rebuked doubters and called them fools in Luke 24: 25: “Then he said unto them, Oh fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” This is perhaps the reason for the advice in James 1: 6-7. It says, “But let him ask in faith nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of sea driven with the wind and storm.”
I am sure you are no longer in doubt as to how powerful doubt is. It is a spiritual disease, which demands complete surgery. Doubt will lead to worry. Then worry will lead to fear, fear will lead to sickness, which will in turn usher in diverse negative effects that could lead to destruction.
Perhaps we need to recall the story of Jesus when He and His disciples crossed over to the other side of the river. You will find the beautiful story in Matthew 14: 25-31. Notice that Jesus did not say that Peter had no faith. He said he had hollow faith, which was tantamount to doubt. Doubt is so powerful that when Peter became fearful, he began to sink. He made a request to Jesus, got a positive answer and decided to act on the words of Jesus. He therefore left his boat and walked on water. But when he began to see contrary circumstances, doubt crept into his heart. And at that point, he took his eyes off Jesus. He also took his heart off the word of Jesus and began to sink. It followed therefore that Peter’s little faith could only advance for a while, after which it became stagnant. Many believers behave the same way. Whenever such believers attend Christian meetings, their faith soars up. The testimonies they hear also beef up their faith. However, they lose their miracles because their little faith cannot sustain them. Many Christians who love great things possess little faith. Faith is like a conveyor belt. Its size determines what it will carry or convey from one point to another. Doubt is such a powerful and terrible thing. The moment it got into Peter, he began to sink. It did not give him any warning.
We must address doubt today. More than any other thing, it has stolen the miracles of many believers. After some people might have prayed in faith to God for some things, they will later begin to doubt the ability of God to grant their requests and the much-desired answers will never come. God, as a matter of fact, cannot answer the prayer of a doubter.
Doubt is as terrible as a cancer and can eat away a person’s faith. Without mincing words, doubt is the devil’s prostitute. It will seduce the faith of God’s people and rob them of their blessings. Whenever doubt raises its head in a person’s life, God cannot but keep quiet. Whenever God is made the tail and people the head, problems persist. This was what happened when Paul’s counsel not to travel at a certain time was disregarded. The journey turned out to be a dangerous one. Terrible waves and storms troubled them a great deal. In fact, the entire atmosphere became very dark. They could not eat for two weeks as they went on compulsory dry fast. Paul who was an expert in fasting was quite happy to watch the people who had never fasted before. After two weeks, Paul the man of faith assured the people in the ship that none of them would die, but they must remain in the ship. He received a revelation from God that all would be well with them. And when he told the people, they believed his vision and cast doubt away and the good vision came to pass. Paul who was in the ship as a prisoner became the master of the people because of his faith in God. When you become a man or woman of faith, you will be able to control your circumstances. When a circumstance demands that you cry or fight, the faith in you will guide you so well that you won’t do anything contrary to God’s will for your life. It is certain that a doubtful person will always miss his miracles.
HOW TO DEAL WITH DOUBT
1. You must believe what Jesus did for your sake. Remember that doubt is a sin. Cast away your doubt and repent.
2. Always ask in faith and expect answers.
3. Stop doubt at the door of your mind. We can stop satan at the door of our mind with the word of God, praises, witnessing and praying in Spirit.
4. Never confess doubt or unbelief with your mouth.
5. Refuse to listen to the doubt of others. Stop discussing your problems with unbelievers.
6. Engage in regular study of the word of God and prayers. It will make you move closer to God.
2. FEAR:
Fear is a spirit that is seated in many lives. On many occasions, fear wins victory over people’s faith. People who are defeated by fear are defeating God’s love for their lives. This can result in a terrible and dangerous situation. Some of the sleeplessness that people experience as well as anger, bitterness, envy and spiritual paralysis can be traced to the problem of fear. The power of fear affects both the rich and the poor. A person who is doing well in business will be afraid that the business could fail. A student who is facing an exam would be afraid of failure. A president would be afraid of coup or whether he would not win the election. Many musicians also fear that their music may not sell. Many pregnant women are afraid of miscarriage and all kinds of things. There are all kinds of fear haunting people, but the trouble with fear is that it will make somebody a candidate for destruction. Once you begin to fear, you are breaking God’s law, which says, “Fear not.” Fear can kill, and can cause confusion. It can also cause discouragement as well as cause the spirit of suicide to come upon a person. Fear can also cause loneliness, over-eating, etc. All these things are ancient robbers, and anybody who has them must throw them into the fire by the resurrection power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. DISCOURAGEMENT:
The person with a broken spirit is someone who has lost courage. Such a person’s spirit has been beaten down by the enemy. Such spirits need to be revived. When things are like this, what the person needs is the comfort and encouragement of the Holy Spirit. One of the secrets of spiritual power and progress is to keep drinking the wine of the Holy Spirit. Those who have ever been spiritually catapulted to any reasonable height are the men and women who normally got drunk on God’s wine. Cast worry and discouragement out of your life or they will steal you dry.
4. SADNESS:
The joy and happiness of Christians have nothing to do with their circumstances, because at the end of the day, whether positive or negative, all circumstances will fade away. The day they say, “Dust unto dust, ashes unto ashes,” or the day that the trumpet will sound, everybody will forget about everything. Even money and wealth will no longer be important. In fact, the Bible says that they shall be roasted with fire. A complete Christian must be happy always. So, if you find that you are not happy or that your happiness is tied to your money, clothes, houses, etc, then you better seek for genuine salvation. If all the testimony you have to give is; “I thank God, when I got in to this church I was wearing bathroom slippers. But now, God has given me Italian shoes. Or I came to this church with a motor bike without an engine, now I have one with an engine. Glory be to God. Or when I came here, I had a Volkswagen Beetles car but now, I have a Lexus car.” If that is all you have to say, check your salvation. Your greatest testimony should be the salvation of your soul because all those other things will end here on earth. No matter your situation, always count your blessings and rejoice in the Lord.
PRAYER POINTS
1. (Take this prayer point with one hand on the head and the other one on the chest). Every curse of affliction and oppression, be paralyzed, in Jesus’ name.
2. All chronic diseases, return to your sender, in Jesus’ name.
3. All the counsel of the devil against me, be frustrated, in Jesus’ name.
4. Every stronghold of the power of darkness in my family, I pull you down, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every effect of ritual killing done by my ancestors upon my life, be cancelled, in the name of Jesus.
