Transcript: Prayer — The Help of the Spirit
Prepared from the audio, so small errors are possible.
This message is from believers equipped, a meeting organized by the Disciples Christian Network where the word of God is taught with practicality and believers are raised to reign in life. Join apostle Emmanuel as he walks us through the word of God. Romans chapter eight and verse 26. Today, I'm gonna be discussing the subject of prayer. Oh, you'll be so blessed. I'm not praying. Likewise, the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. Likewise, the word likewise already shows us that there is a preceding discussion that has been had about some of the other things that the holy spirit does, then we are now being told that likewise. In other words, added to the things that have already been discussed. Likewise, the spirit also helps our weaknesses.
I think a a good place to start is to drum it in your ears that the holy spirit is a person. It's important for you to know that the holy spirit is a person. It's not a thing. Because the power of God and the holy spirit are always confused as one. The power of God or the power of the holy spirit is quite different from the holy spirit. And the reason why this confusion happens is because the holy spirit is the custodian of the power of God. He's the custodian of the anointing. And as such, when people see the empowerment of the spirit and the gift, the abilities of the spirit, they oftentimes confuse, misconstrue the two to be one. The holy spirit is not a dove. The holy spirit is not fire.
The holy spirit is not light. The holy spirit is not all the expressions that are used to typify him. The holy spirit is a person. Knowing that he's a person helps frame your engagement protocol. That is to say, how do you engage with the help of the spirit? Because the bible says, likewise, the person of the spirit helps. It's important you know that he's a person. The one that is helping you is a person. I hope you know that the it's not only it's not only within the realm of men to provide assistance or to provide help. Animals can help.
A dog can be acquired to help a blind man navigate his way. A dog can be acquired to help policemen check for narcotics and likes. A car can help. It can help you as a means of transportation. A phone can help. All of these things can help. So when the bible says the spirit also helps, do realize that his understanding of how these different things help that makes you receive their help accurately so? It means if your understanding of the spirit as a person is not gotten and is not known, you would not be able to receive of the help that he offers. Are you with me? Yes, sir.
Peter told Ananias and Sapphira, you have lied to the holy spirit. You can't lie to a thing. The holy spirit is a person. Knowing that he's a person helps frame your engagement protocol. Remember, the bible says grieve not the spirit. You can't grieve your phone. You can't grieve a thing. You can't grieve a nonliving entity. It suggests to you that the spirit of God has emotions. It can be grieved.
The way you engage with the help is going to largely be dependent on what and how you understand the help to be. The way you engage with a phone is not the way you engage with the person. If one ask information from someone, the way you will go about it is different from the way you will punch your phone to run a Google search. The holy spirit is a person. The source of the help that we so desperately need is a person. So we need to understand and to learn how to relate with the holy spirit as a person. Else, we will miss out largely from how help is supplied by the spirit. The bible says, behold, I will send you another comforter, hallows paracletters. The holy spirit is an extension, a continuation of the ministry of Jesus. The holy spirit is not a lesser type of God.
The holy spirit is God. God the father, God the spirit, God the son, God the spirit are not are not levels, are not classified based on the levels that they exist. God the father being superior to God the son and God the spirit. No. It is one in three persons. It's a mystery that can only be learned by faith. This kind of thing makes no sense to the natural man because the Bible says natural man understandeth not the things of the spirit because they are spiritually discerned. Neither does he know them because they are foolishness unto him. You can attempt to use different kind of things to explain that God is father, God is son, God is spirit. God is spirit, but the natural man would still not be able to conceptualize what you are saying.
It might even make sense to him, but you are still saying... You are... You you still have not helped him until his spirit is enlivened by the holy spirit. It is only then that he can understand spiritual things. And one of the spiritual things a man begins to know by his spirit. In other words, there are things you only know by your spirit. There are things you know by your mind. You can know mathematics by your mind. You can know philosophy by your mind. You can know anatomy by your mind.
These things are taught to you, and so you know them. You are in school to develop your frame of reference to increase your reservoir of knowledge, to increase your mental capacity. But you see, that does not profit you spiritually. When it comes to spiritual knowledge, your mind many a times is not the first recipient of information. Your spirit is. That's why the bible says that this... In Psalm one one nine and verse one thirty, what does it say? The entrance of thy word giveth light. You see, before it now gives understanding. In other words, the first thing your spirit...
Your... The word of God interacts with is your spirit. It's your spirit that understands the language of light. How do you... How does your mind explain light? That's why there are there are times you know you have gotten something in a meeting, but you cannot really tell what you got because your spirit had got it. Your mind is unfruitful. Your mind will now take time to begin to understand and comprehend for the for for the things that have been registered in your spirit to begin to sip out into your mind. So there are times you might be walking on the road, and like a flash of lightning, a download of knowledge enters your mind. And you say, my God, look at this.
It's not when you were walking that it came. It registered in your spirit maybe two months ago when you were studying. Light entered your spirit, but your mind was unfruitful. Are you with me? Yes, sir. The holy spirit is a person. Is is the continuation of the ministry of Jesus in time. Another comforter means another of the same kind. Paracletters of the same kind. So if I wanna know who the president of Nigeria is and I wanna use my phone as a source of help or a means of help, it's as simple as punching the details or punching my question right onto Google and requesting for the information on Google.
Is that not so? Yes, sir. But if I were to ask a man that same question, my phone does not have the emotions a man has. So there are many things I will consider if a man is the person I'm asking. My phone does not have a sense of convenience. My phone cannot tell me it's not in the mood. But I can observe the man I want to ask and check his countenance, check his facial expression, and see if it is the right time for me to bug him with that kind of question. Are you with me? The reason why I'm doing all the calculations is because I know who I'm engaging in terms of help. It means if you don't know the holy spirit, receiving of his help, interacting with the help he supplies will be difficult for you.
That's why a good place to start is to make you know that your holy spirit is a person. Your holy spirit is a person, and you must know him as a person. In the past few weeks or perhaps even months, I've had quite an interesting experience as there's been so many things that I've needed to sort out financially with bills running into millions. Then there's the ministry, and there's the expansion. What we spend as a ministry per week right now due to the expansion has tripled what we used to spend before per week. Glory to God. In the same time, I'm receiving messages concerning the different attacks channeled against the ministry. People praying, receiving all kinds of things. And there's family. Another spiritual leader, you've...
You have people under your care who you are directly responsible for. There's some of them whom when they share their concerns with me, I know God has to do something. And to pastor a people, to shepherd the people is quite different from being an itinerant minister. Because when you're an itinerant minister, you just go to a place, you never see those people again. So whether you prophesy and it does not happen is not your business. It's not your business. You can call somebody out by word of knowledge and say all kind of things to the person. You will never meet the person again. The person can go on five years time what you have said did not happen. It don't matter.
At least the person fell down. Everybody saw it. Glory to God. It's not the same thing when you are a chef at over a people because the person will come and meet you, sir. It's still there. And there are people whose burdens become my burdens because of their, you know, their sense of loyalty, sense of commitment, sense of dedication. You see, God does not have favorite. There's no favoritism with God, but God has intimates. There's no favorite with God. Every man have received of the same grace by which we are saved, but our level of intimacy with God isn't the same.
And there are people like that, a lot of them. Their burdens automatically become my burden. And then there are my personal condition, my personal issues, and all of that. Listen. And then the ministry expansion and the burden of the ministry in itself. Now in the midst of all of that, if the reality of the personality of the holy spirit does not dawn on you, you will not know how to engage the holy spirit so that you can draw from a source of strength that is beyond what is available in the natural. You know, when somebody says it's as though the weight of the world is on my shoulders, it's because you are carrying it by yourself. And truly speaking, a man can feel that way. Now when you... Who is from the outside is listening to this person speak, you will not understand what the person is saying because the problems are looking so small.
And you're wondering, is this what you're calling the weight of the world on your shoulders? You are not speaking... Or you're not you're not you're not at the same face. You're not at the same level. Are you with me? And so that person genuinely speaking, what the person is going through in the moment might look as though the world is about to crash. Whereas when you look at it from the frame of reference that you are that you are standing from, it looks like, guy, you should not be bothered about this this much to the to the extent that you are this worried and you are even crying. I've seen people that cry because they lost their phones. And it's as though the world has ended because you lost your phone. And now the person comes to you and the person is weeping, mucus dropping, and he's saying my my life is my life is finished.
And you're asking the young man, what happened? He said, I lost my phone. The young lady lost her pulse the the other time last year. And she came to me, I think she cried for a week. When she came on Sunday, her face was still red, swollen. She met me sitting down in front of me, and she was still crying. I was encouraging her. She was the more encouraged the more she cried. And at some point, I had to ask her, how much was in that purse? She said 3,000 naira.
Glory to God. Was it 3,000? Hallelujah. Now you are standing from outside and you're looking at... You you can... And as as as believers, if you not careful, we can be very judgmental and condescending because you would look at that person and say, why are crying? That's not what the person needs. It only shows you where that believer is. The believer has not tapped into the reality of the spirit. If you live your life solely with your physical senses and you stay just within the realm of the senses.
Your life will be very painful. Have you read your bible? The bible says cast your cares upon me. Question, how do you cast it? You have not asked before. That's your problem. And you think you understand that scripture. So somebody should ask answer. How do you cast it? No.
I'm not. I'm asking you. You're supposed to provide the answer to me. Jesus is the one that said cast your cares upon me. Do you realize that the one that was speaking was with them physically? So if anybody had a care, it's as easy as locating where he was and just telling him everything. And then the man, the master will speak. He said, don't worry. Go. Your child is healed.
That's all. But the one who spoke no longer is in time. He has now sent Harlow's paracletos. So when he says cast your cares, how do you now cast it? Because the lecturer has changed. Get my teaching the spirit of truth. The lecturer has changed. So many believers don't know the person of the spirit and as such, burdens that are not designed for them to carry. They joked themselves with it, and it chokes them down. Whereas, there's a spirit on your inside.
The bible says he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world. Do you think that that only applies to when the power of God is needed and there's a witch you are confronting? Then you say, he that is in me is greater. I command you, die by fire. Whereas, you are... Your mother called you last week, told you about her problems. Your father called you, told you about problems. Now you have found yourself in school. You went out of your house or you're hostel by 8AM, 7AM in the morning. You had classes till 6PM, went for registration, and in a week, you're almost dead.
Is he that is in you still greater than he that is in the world? And you didn't get what I just said. Because that time you are feeling as though you are choked, is there someone in you? The bible says that Jesus was praying, and when Jesus was praying, he got to a point he was tired and weak. He had exhausted his strength. The next thing you see, the bible says angels came and strengthened him. And the moment angels strengthened him, the bible says you would think they will say, well, go and rest me. The bible says he prayed more earnestly. It means strength is not only available in the physical realm. There is a realm where real strength exists.
The bible says my strength is made perfect in your weakness. How do you experience the strength? How does a man come into the experience of that strength? You see, that's the problem many believers are. They are not tapping into the fullness of what the spirit of God has to offer because they've not been properly lectured as to who the spirit is and how does it profile help. When you go through unfavorable circumstances and things are bothering you, there are many things you think just sharing it. You see, you you you are bothered, your problems are much, and you you you know, you're going through a lot, and a lot is going through you. Now many times you might think that just sharing it with someone will make you feel better. That might be true, but feeling better isn't the same as being better. Because you might have a temporal satisfaction that the weight of the problem has been taken off your shoulder because now there's someone you have shared it with.
But the moment you leave that individual and go back to your personal space, you realize that you're sharing with the person did not take the problem away. So by the time you go home, you now find out that the problem is still there. The rent is still there. The fees are still there. So it's only a temporal feeling of relief that you had. By the time you are waking up the following morning, there are already three messages on your phone. Pay your house rent. Pay your this. Pay your that. Do you want us to arrest you?
Do you want us to do this? Now you who felt good yesterday is sad again today. Because we have tapped into... Listen. If you do not know the person of the spirit of God, you will be largely incapacitated. Today is really much a teaching service. And I want you to pay attention, listen very carefully. Have you heard the statement burnt out before? You say, I'm just burnt out. Just burnt.
Just... How did they how did they say that? You know, there are many things that are not my experiences. There are many things that cannot be my experiences. The person who is burnt out, by the time they start telling me what they do, I just imagine them being in my shoes. You know, it means you'll be roasted. Right there and then, you'll just be incinerated. You will die immediately. I was I was meditating in my spirit some time ago, and I was just... I I saw a message on my phone, and I just calmed down.
I was engaged. I was actually talking to my fiancee, and somebody sent me a message. I just saw it, and I just had to pray. So she saw that my reaction had changed and I needed to pray. So I started praying. I just became calm. I was praying, speaking to the Holy Spirit, but not physically. I was still listening to what she was saying, but speaking to the spirit of God in mind. But she could tell that something... She said, Apostol, what is it?
I said, I'm not telling you what it is. She said, no. We have to tell ourselves. I said, Alright. This is what the problem is. She started crying immediately. Immediate. Yeah. So so you so you see the... You see the problem now because to even hear the problem of people requires capacity.
Especially if the holy spirit has worked compassion on your inside. I'm not talking about some people who are dead emotionally. They are no longer in touch with the feelings of people. If only somebody tell you that somebody has died, you go and nothing. You can tell that such a person, really, there's a limit to how much God can use you because you are not touched by the feelings of the infirmities of people. But you can be touched by it but not weigh you down. That's where the help of the spirit comes. That one is not really is not really in the realm of men. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's not really within the realm of men.
And if you do not understand the person of the holy spirit and how to draw strength amongst many other things that a man can draw, There are times when it looks as though you are in the middle of a crisis or in the middle of a warfare, and sometimes your deliverance might just be in your ability to be able to relate with the person of the spirit. A week before the freestanding awakening, I had my car serviced because it was going to go through a lot during that period. So I need it to be at at at optimal condition. On the day of the prayer of the awakening, we had some of the children of the bundle man come around to steer trouble. Now when they came, I was not yet at the meeting, but I just felt in my heart to spend time praying, preparing. Whilst the meeting was going on, my pastors were telling me what was happening at every junction, and I had to jump inside my car and start coming down. And as I was coming, they were telling me telling me, this is what is happening now, dropping the updates. And it can be infuriating the things that they were telling me was happening. Glory to God. But I was driving, and they were giving me updates.
I'm aware of the aggressive tendencies that some of these people can have, and I didn't want the situation where they become hungry and then slap someone or it becomes violent, somebody pulls out a knife. And I wasn't there. And then they were giving me messages. Oh, now they are five. Oh, they were 30 before. Now they are seven. Now they are 10. Now they are this. Now they are that. Oh, they are shouting.
Oh, they are doing this. So knowing this, I called my contacts to see if I can have soldiers or policemen at the venue to ward off violence that may want to arise. As I was doing that, I was driving Whilst coming down, driving, remember, I had a service vehicle running at optimum capacity. And they were telling me, I post to this is what is happening. This is what... This is it. Now they want to enter. Now they are saying they want to enter. Now they are saying they want this. And I was driving.
I said, they they must not enter. Nobody should enter that thing. And as I was going, my vehicle just broke down. My vehicle broke down immediately. Now my first instinct was to call my mechanic and say, okay. I do not transfer the aggression that has built up on the people that were calling me and release an anointing upon the guy. In the midst of all that bruhaha, the holy spirit came and whispered, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. You got him. It's like they pour water on, you know, Copot. How many of have used Copot before?
Or firewood, and you pour water on it. And it just does... Immediately, knew that human beings were not involved in that problem. So I spoke to the car. I said, get out, you devil. And the car started working. I proceeded. Don't clap. Don't clap. I proceeded.
I started praying in the spirit. Whilst I was praying, I was thinking because they were still messaging me this and that and that and that. I was thinking, should we get this? Should we get that? And the holy spirit came again. And he whispered in my spirit. You have come before me with swords and spears, but I've come before you in the name of the Lord. And the holy spirit told me that the response to sword and spears is not sword and spears. It's not sword and spares. The response is the name of the Lord.
In other words, what you know, your knowledge of God can be used as a form of warfare even when your opponents are bringing swords and spurs. Before I got to the venue, they had dispatched, they had gone. I was thinking about the whole thing, and I felt, what if I was there? And the holy spirit showed me a picture of how the thing would have gone because I felt I should have been there. Why was I not there? And one guy from hell was sent on an errand to come and whisper something to my ears. And what he came to whisper was, if you were there now, all of this thing would not have happened. Why were you not there? And it now left to me to now open the doors and now begin to meditate on that thought. Are you with me?
The holy spirit now showed me the picture of what would have happened if I was there. And I smiled at the guy that he sent to come and whisper something to me. I said, okay. You see, if you don't have a relationship with the holy spirit, problems will kill The devil is not... The devil... You don't... The devil does not have to kill you. Cockroach can kill you. I'm telling you. Now you think it's a joke.
There are people who have seen rat and had heart attack on the spot. There are people who have heard news that your son is involved in an accident, but he survived. Say hello. Hello. He wants to speak to you. Hello. Hello. He wants to speak to you. He's dead. What he heard was your son was involved in an accident.
Okay. What happened though? Is he alive? How many... What is the casual? Nothing. He said, and there are people that this is how they live their lives. Anything anything anything can wreck them into pieces. And instead of knowing who the spirit is, that lady's concern is a boyfriend. What now happens when the boy leaves?
Not he for a certain way. Many of you don't know that. You don't understand the ways of the devil. The guy is not in a rush to destroy your life. You didn't get that. It means he can be very patient. He has already mastered you. It... You are 17 years old. He has taken seventeen years.
And then seventy five years of your grandfather, eighty five years of your great grandfather, ninety years of your great great grandfather. He has checked what affects people in your family, what are your natural tendencies, what are your weaknesses, what are your inclinations, and he has realized that everybody in that family has high blood pressure. I'm sorry, the women. High blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, everything. When they start getting to age 40, age 50 because they have excessive emotional outbursts, and they're unable to keep their emotions and keep their sense of being. So he knows this, and then prophet now came and prophesied that there's greatness ahead of you. Prophet came and prophesied that this guy will study abroad, and then they are preparing for your masters abroad. So you came to UI. You know what the devil would do? He's got his patient.
He has seen that you love God. You come to church, but in your emotions, are foolish. And anything can easily weigh you down, so you will plant a boy, a very foolish boy. But because of the weakness of your emotions, you will not see. The devil cannot use a believer for such an assignment. By that... By a believer, I mean one that is subject to the spirit, fully sold out to God because the devil cannot use one of us to destroy another person's life. So it is one of his that he will bring. He stares amongst the wheat. And because of your emotions, your spiritual sense will tell you that this is not the guy.
You will know that you will not even marry this person, but he calls you and he tells you, baby girl. After all the rough time you had, they just came to you and told you the songs got nothing on you. And brothers are learning lies. May God have mercy on you. You know, I used to write love poems for my seniors when I was in junior secondary school. And they will pay me 50 naira. And they kept on coming. You know, I had a consistent track record. They were... I was getting consistent referrals.
Thank God for the holy ghost. The devil will now send the guy, and he will now begin to bamboozle you, get you gifts. He might not even get you gifts. He might just be there, you know. He might just be there. See, I... He's just there. It will now happen. And because the devil really wants to wreck your life, he will now make you see how that the church is not there. It's only that guy that is there.
So remember now, when you were sick in the hospital, did any of them come to check you? Who came? He's the one. When did not have money last week, did any of... Even that... Your HOT, did he come? He said, no. Come. They are calling in the follow-up. Come to church.
Come to church. It's only church they want you to come. They don't care about you. Who really cares? That guy. He said, In final year, two weeks to exam. They will now send you a message. He said he said, love you. I decide that. I doubt.
You are my... You are the you are the best thing that ever happened to me. You are my... He said, you are my world. You say, oh, thank you. And you are in love. We will not be going to reading room. As I go in, they will now see the guy in one corner and another girl. The girl is by the wall. His hand is like this.
You will see his, but is that that is that? No. Let me We now go there. I'll find out. Say ah. Keep us. No. Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me. That's how carryover is vetted.
The devil does not mean well. He has never meant well. He will never mean well. The bible says he comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Anything that he gives will always have that three nature. Either it is stealing, killing, or destroying doing three or or doing three of them. In other words, anything that comes from him will steal from you. Anything that comes from him will destroy you. Anything that comes from him will kill you even if it's a woman or a man, even if it's money, even if it's a relationship, no matter what it is. And because a lot of people have not known the holy spirit.
They don't know how to find... How to draw comfort from the spirit of God. So usually, you think you need an external device for comfort. How many of you have entered into some crisis and your first inclination is, can you just watch a movie? Now watch a movie. I'll be fine. You see, if you do not know the person of the spirit, the day calamity strikes, movie will not be able to solve it. The ones you have been watching movies for are meant to... There are small small things that are meant to build your strength and build your knowing the holy spirit. So that when the evil day comes, there's an evil day, and it will come.
It's in scripture. I'm not a prophet of doom. This is scripture. It's doctrine. An evil day for every believer, every ministry, every church, every business, everybody. When they came to come and destroy our equipment, is that a good day? Imagine I say, I I just want to watch a movie. To the little things that are happening here and there, that is meant to be your classes in the school of the spirit that God will use to train you, to depend on him, and to trust him for comfort, to draw strength from him. You invest it on a movie. So the day affliction strikes, you will now go and watch a thousand movies and realize that nothing will happen.
You are still as depressed as you were. The devil will now rob you of ten years. Don't you understand there's value in knowing the holy spirit? There's value in knowing the holy spirit as a person. My point is, in the middle of warfare, what kept me in a state of peace, in a state of joy was knowing how to interface with the spirit of God. After having that experience, after the meeting, after the, freighter's awakening meeting, all the workers came. I went to the technical boat, and I was playing songs by myself. And we're dancing and rejoicing in the spirit. It's not normal. You see, the...
As you grow in the spirit, the things that become normal to you when you interface with the world, you know it's abnormal. You know it's not everywhere. Are you with me? You know it's not everywhere. You check an exam result and realize that you had a d, and you studied well. You studied very well. And then you had a d. And then you... Or you have to even receive the exam, and you saw it. And a friend of yours who was there too saw the exam and also had a receipt.
Maybe that one I had c, and you have to receive the exam. And then you just look at it and you're smiling. Thank you, Jesus. And the guy who had the c is there crying. And so what did you get? He had the c. Can you imagine? And then you start comforting the one that has the c. He said, sorry. Don't worry.
I believe you can do better than this in the next exam. Just thought, you don't need to worry yourself. And when the guy is comforted, now ask you, what did you even get? You now tell him what you got. What I just described now is the normal experience of the believer in face of a calamity. If it surprises you, it means you're not... You need you need to grow. Somebody say, how will you be smiling? It's an evil deal. There's some of you who are in unpleasant circumstances, and God will not take it away.
I'm not go ahead of myself. I'm not go ahead of myself. God will not... Your prayer is, father, take this thing away. You come to prophetic service, and it's your prayer request. Because that's the reason. That condition is even the reason why you are in church. It's the reason why you are still pursuing God. So God realizes that this circumstance is an avenue for growth. It's an avenue to build stature.
It's an avenue for the fortitude of your spirit to increase. The spirit helps our weaknesses. The holy spirit is a person, and as a person, that means he can speak. You are dealing with a spirit personality. The problem is that because of that spiritual dimension to that reality, people think that it is less real than this world in which we live because it is spiritual in context. So a lot of people think it is less real. You see, you have to understand. That's why I'm teaching you that the spiritual realm is a lot more real than the physical realm. A lot more real than the physical realm. A lot more real.
One of the girls generals wrote, he said I have a more intimate relationship with the holy spirit than I have with my wife. Oh, what a lovely thing to read. Immediately, I made it my mandate that this will this will become my experience. As at the time I was reading it, it was not my experience. Now it is. The realm of the spirit is real. Believe it. What did I say? Just believe it. Believe it.
Settle it in your mind. The realm of the spirit is real. It's foolishness to think it is not just because you cannot see it because there are many things you can... You cannot see even in the physical realm that are real. And you don't because you cannot see them deny their existence. Ultraviolet rays, for instance, are real, but can you see them? In the spectrum of light, there are different rays and frequencies of light that you cannot see. It's an... It's invincible to your physical eyes, but they exist in time. They are not spiritual.
The movement of radio waves are real. They are not spiritual. They exist in time. There are handymasters that can see in spectrums that are not available to the human side, yet it is in the physical realm. You don't get what I'm trying to say. When you are exposed to radiation, do you see anything entering your body? Or do you see changes in your body? Yes. Do you say because you are not seeing anything? So if they put hazard, don't proceed radioactive area.
You say and then enter. Because you saw as... You can't see anything yet you carry your common sense and go. Somebody just put sign. You can't even verify. Why not just go there and test it? All of that exists in the physical realm. How much more what birthed the physical realm? The realm from which everything that you know now exist. So to think that because I cannot see it simply means does not exist is a realm of foolishness.
You are simply foolish. If that is somebody's argument of why God does not exist, it's a foolish argument. There are many things you cannot see in time you believe exist. It's not a reasonable argument. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. The spirit of God is real, and you must get to a point where it becomes more real to you. How that journey begins is by faith. It's not by an encounter. It's not by an experience.
It's by faith. That's why in Hebrews 11 verse six, the bible says whoever comes to God must first believe that he is. It means how you start your walk with God, how you start your walk with the spirit is to first believe that he is. In other words, believe that he exists. Believe that he's real. So when you begin to pray, are you praying abstractly without a conscious awareness that there is someone you are talking to? That is what it means to believe he is. In other words, if I'm speaking, I believe there is one who is listening to me. In as much as I cannot see him, I believe that he is. A man of God was going to a place, a state in Nigeria, and was a nine hour journey.
And we're going on an express road that is quite good to an extent. And as they went, there was a vehicle that was going at about 40 to 50 kilometers per hour, and they were just behind the vehicle. You can't be behind that kind of a vehicle and get to where you're supposed to go on time because that's quite slow for where you are going. That man can be going home. You are going nine hours. So the reasonable thing to do is to overtake. And the entourage that followed the man of God said, sir, over... Let's pass. This guy is slowing us down. The man did not answer them.
It was a long truck. Him. So, Basar, let's overtake. He said, no. The holy spirit said, it's not yet time. Now what concern the holy spirit with overtake? But they continue like that for thirty minutes. The man's sad. This car... Out of pressure.
The man now swerved. He saw that the car was coming in his front. We had calculated the distance and realized that if I apply enough power on the throttle, I will beat this guy. Are you with me? As they attempted to overtake, the man hit the throttle with the vehicle that was coming in front coming, and they were already reaching the high point where he will just turn to this side and balance well. His car stopped. Now I realized that... Was eventually... And they realized that one of the wire on the battery had actually removed the tete. So it was it was the energy of the spirit and the fact that the car had not gone off that the vehicle was still running.
They burned off. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes, sir. So the moment he ran, the thing just went off. The one that was coming in front of him could not apply the brake as fast. They collided on each other, rammed the man into the bush. It was mercy. Mercy that brought him alive. Two of the people were injured severely. Mercy.
Because all of them should have died. They were thrown to the other side of the road, into the... In fact, they left the other side of the road and entered the bush. Can you imagine that? Yet the man came out alive. How do you know who I'm talking about? With two of... He said, don't... The holy spirit said, don't overtake. In other words, he never knew what the spirit of God was protecting him from when he gave the instruction.
You see, the fact that you don't know what will happen five minutes time is part of the weaknesses that the bible is talking about. Somebody did not see that. It is likewise, the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. Let me not let me not go there yet. Let me not go ahead of myself. Let's circle this scripture well. You see, many of us, our natural tendency because of our religious orientation is to avoid God. Why? Because of our weaknesses. Because we know that God is holy.
We know that God is perfect, and we know that God insists that we should be holy, and God insists that we should be perfect. So when we notice that we are not those things that God wants us to be, the natural tendency is to avoid God. And the bible says, the spirit helps in our weaknesses. It means one of the reasons why Jesus said, I will send you another comforter, and he will be with you forever. One of the reasons why the holy spirit was sent to us by the father is to help our weaknesses, which means if I have weaknesses in my life, that is actually part of what qualifies me to be able to do business with the holy spirit because the holy spirit is here precisely to help my weaknesses. The tendency is for you to avoid him until you somehow sort out your weaknesses. So you now feel that you are now qualified to come to him. Meanwhile, the idea is that it is partly because you have weaknesses. That is part of the reasons why you need the holy spirit. The holy spirit does not say when you have sought out yourself, you can now have a relationship.
But the way you are like this, I can't deal with you. That is not the holy spirit. Ask your boyfriend. Ask your girlfriend. But guess what? That's the way our religious intuition works. It's a natural tendency. Everybody has to. So many of us deprive ourselves of the blessed privilege that the holy spirit can give to us. So many people are struggling in the flesh to do something that can never be achieved in the flesh to please the one who is meant to help them leave the flesh.
That is where a lot of the frustration in our spiritual lives and in the lives of many people come from. They are trying to achieve in the flesh. Something the holy spirit alone can help you achieve. But because of your weakness, you are shy. You are running away from the holy spirit because you think you are not good enough. But the holy spirit is provided for us partly because we are not good enough. It is... The reason I'm here is because you are weak. In other words, if you are not weak, you will not need me. It means in your weakest point is when you hug him tight.
But your natural inclination is to run. So why are running? Say, I'm I'm weak. Say, I'm weak. What did you do? He said, I've fallen. What happened? He said, I must not tell you. I can't come to church again. I can't face anybody again.
And the guy runs away. Now he's watching a movie. He he now buries himself in movies. When he buried... The devil will now meet him there. Things he has now left, he now sinks deep into it. It's like it's like it's like you go on a fishing cruise with your father, and he's helping you. He's teaching you to fish or teaching you to drive a boat. Let's even say drive a boat. And both of you are in the ocean together.
And the man is there. Why? The man says, are you ready to learn today? He says, I am ready. And you are excited. You jump inside the boat, and your father holds the... And you you are paddling. Your father helps you to paddle. When it's easy, your father now gives it to you and say, now let me see. And whilst you are paddling, he holds it so that the weight will not carry you away.
And then when he sees that when he sees that you are enjoying yourself, now leave it a little to see if you have gotten it. And then the wave now carries you, and you jump into the river. You fall into the river. You know what the believer now does? He now says, since I have fallen to the river, what's left? Why did your father follow you? Is it not to pull you out if you fall? Is that not what a teacher does? Is that not what a father does? He say he came to help you in your weakness.
If you were... If you had gained mastery over rolling a boat, he would not have followed you. The fact that he followed you shows you that whatever error you make in the process is there to help you and to pull you out. But the believer says, since I have fallen, my father has nothing to do with me again, so he now stays there. What now happens to him when he stays there? He starts to sink. You see, the the fall, the initial fall is not as bad as the drown that he will now start drowning. No doubt he has fallen. No doubt. He's no longer in the boat.
But the father is not there saying, come. Come. Come. Junior, come here. Junior, come here. And Junior says, and because he makes a mistake, because he falls, or because he watches a movie, or because he watches pornography, or masturbates, or does something that he thinks he should not have done, Junior feels as though God... God told me to fast and to wait what... Wait on him, AM every night. This is the third night I've not waited on him. What is now the purpose of my life?
I've even missed... I've aborted bodies. I've missed my destiny. Pray yourself. Pray yourself. And then Junior now begins to drown. You see? Now begins to drown. He now begins to sink. So what kills Junior?
Is it because he fell? Realize that falling does not kill you. It's drowning that kills. It's in bible that says that you have a father, your father is able to keep you from falling. Also says the righteous shall fall seven times, but shall rise again. So there is the ability of God to keep you from falling. But are your ears attuned enough to follow him all through that path even as you are growing? God knows that it's not so. So there are times where it's like a little child that you are training. There are many times that child will still do what you say you should not do.
Will you love him less? So the average believer believes that my imperfections, my limitations, we have found one thing. So I should go and deal with myself first. Let me feel. Let me be better. When I'm now okay, I'll now start praying. I'll now start coming to church. So somebody says, I have to go and work on myself. Why do you want to go and... Where will you now work on yourself?
Who will work on you? What exactly is your plan? Is it... I I have so many things I'm dealing with now. I just... I can't come to church. I just lost some time off. Let me just work on myself and some things about my life. Who will settle it for you? Where else will you settle it?
Don't you realize there's no other place to run? It means if the devil is able to convince you that God is the source of your problem, you are wrecked. Where else will you go? I love what the disciples said. He said, will you also go? They said, no. To whom shall we go? In your mouth are the words of eternal life. The question is, did they understand what he was saying? He said, my flesh, you will eat.
My blood, you will drink. When did you become vampires? Is that what you are listening us to be? How will eat your flesh and drink your blood? They did not they did not have a physical understanding of what he was saying. Everybody got offended and they left him. He said, you know what? Let's go and work on ourselves. When we felt... When we feel as though we have developed capacity enough to understand, you will come back.
Now to you also want to go. Says to whom shall we go? To whom? A point must come when you say to whom will I run? Who else? So if you leave God, can you tell me the other options you have? Why have you come... What what has bewitched you? Don't you realize that the fact that that thing is even coming to your mind means you are bewitched. It's the first sign of demonic oppression.
It is because you are not good enough that the holy spirit came. It means every time you notice you are not good enough, it becomes an alarm that you need the holy spirit. You need the holy spirit. You need the holy spirit. If the alarm that you are hearing is, leave the holy spirit. Leave the holy spirit. To whom shall we go? He said, I came to help your weaknesses. Hear me? Hear me?
Those areas of deficits, those areas of weaknesses in your life is an alarm that shows you you need the Holy Spirit even more now than ever because it is the spirit that helps our weaknesses. Your your weakness is what qualifies you to engage with the Holy Spirit. Your weakness doesn't disqualify you. It is the exact thing that qualifies you. It is perfect people that don't need the holy spirit. Weak people like me, I go to him, and I realize that I'm insufficient. I'm insufficient too. I have never thought for a moment that my ability to speak is what is changing lives. Now you grant me a microphone right now. Let me just start speaking.
You know, there are people that have that confidence because they have massive oratorial power and they, you know, they they are they are... Oh. You hear them speak. They can mix work together to give you a compound statement without thinking about it. And you see them say, just give me a microphone right now, and this place will scatter. We can't speak that way, but we know that without him, we are insufficient. You know why not? You know you know what the bible says? The bible says the bible says my grace is sufficient. In other words, humanity is naturally by default insufficient.
And you must you must know. You must know. I'm insufficient. I'm an helpless man. I'm not good enough. It's okay to know you're not good enough as long as it takes you to the holy spirit. As long as it takes you to the holy spirit to now rely on the one who helps. Who helps. Who helps. The Bible says, when they saw the eloquence of Peter and the wisdom with which he spoke, they said, what wisdom is this?
How how... The Bible says they discern that these people are unlearned men. So the question is, if they did not go to school, how in the world can they be dividing scriptures accurately? Tell your friend, tell your neighbor the holy spirit helps men. God will wait for you to exhaust your human strength. When you think you are wise, he will wait for you to try everything you can try. Go on. Live the next thirty five years and build everything you can build with your own man's strength. And God will be so patient to make you see the futility of what you are building. He said, I came to help your weaknesses.
There are all types of weaknesses. Not knowing what will happen in five minutes time is a weakness. So if the holy spirit tells you slow down, you will. But if you know everything, you don't need that type of intervention. You don't need it. You you... The reason why you want to coast along with your plan and purposes is because you know the future. A strong man. You have vision so you can see like doctor Strange. I've calculated 1,000,400 and something possibilities, and you have scanned through everything.
And you sat down and say, this is the only one. And God says, Strong woman do not need God. That's why that's why that's why it is pride to think you can do anything without God because you are insufficient. Another weakness according to this passage is prayer Because he says, likewise, the spirit also helps in our weaknesses for we do not know what we should pray. In other words, prayer is a weakness. Now that's not the only weakness. In fact, NLT says, for example. Give me NLT. The holy spirit helps in our weaknesses. For example.
So this is only an example of the amount of weaknesses that the holy spirit helps us for. When you come to the place of prayer, you do... Can we read... He says go back to NKJV. He says, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. So prayer is one of the areas where the holy spirit helps. And the first challenge is what do you pray for? That's the first challenge. It then says, as we hurt. In other words, by adventure, you even know what you should pray for.
How should you pray for it? So there are two challenges. What do you pray for? How do you pray for it? Even if you know. There are all kinds of limitations that we sustain as mortal, finite human beings, limitations that the Holy Spirit does not have. And when you're in partnership with such a personality, one of the ongoing benefits will be that you'll be receiving help for your weaknesses. You should not run away from the holy spirit because you perceive that there is a weakness, a limitation, a deficiency in your life. That's precisely when you need to hold on more tightly. And one of the ways where your holy spirit helps a man is in prayers.
Do you know that we live right now in a falling world? The world that we live in is not the one that God originally created. The world we live in is falling. And in this falling world, in this broken world, prayer is no longer natural to the natural man. That's not the way that God designed it. That's not the way God designed it. The problem was that sin entered into the world. And because sin happened, there's been like a virus that was introduced into creation. It's like a software corruption that happened in cosmos. That virus not only affect humanity, it also affected creation.
So in Romans chapter eight from verse 20, the bible says, for creation was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. 21, because creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22, for we know that the whole creation groans. The whole creation groans. Even creation wants to be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Because when sin happened, the whole creation was broken, including the human component of creation so that what the New Testament now calls natural man is not God's original definition of natural. It was sin that changed the definition. What does natural mean? Who can tell? Yeah.
Compare intelligent, aren't we? Anybody should just stand up and tell me what natural is. Something that is in original state. Who was this? Shoot. Something that is not... K. That is not man made. Okay? Created by God.
Okay? You can... Okay. Natural is as they've defined it. It means this was how it was originally created. Are you with me? In the original context. However, sin now changed the definition of natural for man because man now entered into a state where he was not created in that way. A state where he's now dead, where he has no connection to God. So when the bible talks about the natural man in the New Testament, it's not...
I'm not talking about that natural man in this context. Are you with me? I'm talking about natural man in terms of how God created man. Is that okay? So I'm saying that the natural man now is natural proceed. That's not the way he was originally meant to be. The original man that God created before sin took delight in relating with God. But after sin happened, it was God that came and man was running away. The first instance of man running away from God was immediately after man fell. The bible says God would always come in the cool of the day to fellowship with man.
A man in his original state that God made him long for this moment of fellowship. God created a man the desire to fellowship with him. But the moment man fell, God now came. Man was now running. Are you with me? Bible says, God called unto Adam. Adam, where are you? Adam now said, hid from you. That was the origin of man's condemnation, shame, and running away because of his weakness. Are you with me?
From that day, interfacing with God was no more natural for the natural human being. In other words, it was no longer a thing that the the the the man that God made now wants to do. It was now a difficult thing because man, because of sin, no longer has that inherent desire to interact with God. In fact, majority of man's relationship with God became transactional. And this fear now took men to look for deities other than God. And even when they found this deity, they still maintain that transactional relationship with those deities. Have you observed that nobody loves their deity? You have not observed that nobody loves the deity they worship. I don't know of any culture that sings love songs to the gods that they worship. Have you found any?
I don't know if it happens in your village. But according to my findings, nobody loves. Nobody loves. What's the name of your own? The one that exists in your village, what's their name? Nobody loves their hideous. So the way we sing, I love Jesus. I love Jesus. Oh, I love Jesus. Nobody come and say, oh, I love.
I want to live for you. Even the chief priest of that shrine does not love the Tahitidiah. That relationship is a contractual agreement. If you need something, you go to the gods. They tell you what they want in return for what you want. If you can do it, you'll get it. That is the basis of the relationship. In fact, the chief priest is there and he services that altar so that he will not die because the gods can come and knock him on the head. So he has to go there and ensure that the terms of the agreement are kept Because he found himself there because his great grandfather willed him to the demon. So he he know he knows that based on the terms of the agreement, these things must be done.
Nobody loves their diet. The basis of our cultural engagement with dieties was extremely contractual, extremely transactional. So one day, you just remember that, ah, I didn't get promotion in my office. You go back to the village to go and meet the idol. And when... You know, if you don't eat anything, you forget about the idol. And when the idol realizes that you have not visited him for a long time, will now come and oppress you in your dream. And when he now oppresses, you narrow him back to the idol that oppressed you for a solution. So it was basically a transactional thing. And in as much as many of us here have not actually grown up in this way, many of you can't even understand what I'm saying because you never saw this.
You never grew up to witness this, but it has been passed down. This transactional way of real... Relating with gods has now been passed down culturally even into religion. So much so when many of us became Christian, our our our walk with God now became largely transactional. Many of us have a cultural memory of the way your forefathers engaged with the gods that many people have now brought into Christianity. So a lot of our dealings with God is contractual. God has power. I have needs. And so, God, what can I do for you so that my needs can be met? It's the way many people operate.
But in Genesis, that was not a context of God's relationship with man. God simply came down at the cool of the day to fellowship with man. We say it in our Lord's prayers. Don't we say the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the spirit. We even had the sweet fellowship. We've not even mastered fellowship. We've gone to sweet fellowship. The word sweet is not even the original translation, but we've added it there. And the people who say sweet fellowship don't even know what fellowship is. Fellowship is koinonia, communion, partnership, intercourse.
It is not need oriented. It's not need driven. It's not it's not I I want something, you want something. A lot of people's relationship with God is contractual. It ought not to be so. In the beginning, it was not so. But from the day we fell... Are you with me? Yes. From the day we fell in Adam, interacting with God is no longer natural to us.
So the holy spirit is the way that God rigs the system with against our nature. Naturally, prayer is unnatural to the natural man except for the holy spirit. That is to say, if we left you to yourself, prayer is not one of the things that you would desire to do. So when people say they are struggling with their prayer life, it's not news. It's to be expected because we live in a broken world. And in a broken world, prayer becomes unnatural to the natural man. So that if the holy spirit does not help you, a man cannot pray. That's why in Psalms 80, the King James version and verse 18, the bible now says, so we will not go back from thee, quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. It means if anybody ever prays, it's because they were quickened. Oh, I'm struggling with my prayer life.
We need to pray quicken us. It is in the office of the holy ghost to quicken you. Because if the holy spirit does not help you, you cannot even pray. Your prayer adventure will be a struggle until you are exposed to the quickening ministry. To quicken is to make a life. It's to revise, to make a life. And the psalmist is saying that what gives you the ability to call upon thy name is that you have quickened us. It means that if any man ever calls upon the name of God and you see a man who becomes a prayer, a a giant in prayer, it's because that man has been weakened. He has been helped by God. In other words, if you are going to seek God, you are going to...
If you're gonna look for God, if you're gonna engage God in any capacity, there is something God must first do in you first. And the psalmist called it quickening. If God does not quicken you, you will have no desire for him. Anytime you see a successful and a productive enterprise of calling upon God that has any bearing in the realm of God, the first help came from God. It was God that instigated it. And the way he did it was that he quickened the person. God made the person alive by the holy spirit, and that quickening made the person call upon God. It was a response. So prayer actually is a response to quickening. It's one of the ways that the holy spirit help.
It says quicken us. And when you quicken us, we will call upon you. We will call upon you. Have you read your Bible? In John chapter six verse 63, that was what Jesus said. Jesus said it is the spirit that quickeneth. One of the ministry of the holy spirit in terms of administering help to you is that he quickens you. He comes and he quickens you. He comes and he does what? Quickens you.
For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. Usually, when we go and pray, you come with specific prayer points that you have in your mind that you bring to the place of prayer. And if you are submissive to the governing influence of the holy spirit, sometimes you will notice that when you begin to pray, the items that you had in mind before you decided to engage in prayers will somehow begin to change. And you will notice you are beginning to have a different emphasis in your prayer that will stand out to you like a burden and into... It will be so imposed on your spirit that you cannot pretend not to know. Are you with me? When you attempted to pray for one thing, but now you are feeling something quite different that was not captured in your initial prayer objective or your initial prayer points that you came to pray, what was happening was that the holy spirit was helping you. You know why? For we know not what we should pray for. Let's say that you now know what you should pray for.
The question is, how do you pray? What will you now pray? So you go to the place of prayer, and he was impressed upon your heart. Pray for your brother. Now you know what you should pray for. What do my brother need? Now what am I praying for for my brother? You are... How many of you have you been praying and then you you... If a face flashed in your face, you just saw someone, might be your mother, might be a distant relative, and you just felt, let me pray for this person.
That's what you should pray for. Is that that ministry is the help of the spirit. The question is, what has we hurt? Now that I've seen this person, what do I begin to pray for this person? What specifically is the holy spirit engineering in my heart to pray as it concerns this individual? So because you don't know is also a weakness. The holy spirit now be the one to also tell you how you ought to pray. For instance, you might be going through a situation that is not pleasing. And you come to the place of prayer with a prayer point, and your prayer point is, father, take this situation away. Take me out of this challenge.
And you have constructed that prayer point in several ways. Every power placing their hands around my finances, around my family, further and die. Enemy of my breakthrough. Powers enforcing delay in my life. What is standing against my progress? These things are not bad, though, in themselves. Don't think in any way that I'm saying this to mean that these things I'm saying are not quality prayer point. You need to go and ask my workers the kind of prayer we prayed. When some people think that they were smart and they rose up against us, I opened the Psalms. So don't don't think that, oh, this man...
No. No. You are wrong. This is only an illustration that is as innocent as anything. If your mind paints it otherwise, your mind is corrupt. You need help. It's a weakness. Are you with me? So you're praying, father, take me out of the situation. In as much as God might not be responsible for that challenge, for that circumstance, for that situation that you have found yourself in, in the grand scheme of things, it could have been that God had...
God have now decided, heaven has decided that what the enemy meant for evil through that situation has presented heaven with an opportunity to now teach you how to deal with fear, how to trust God in hardship, how to walk in boldness. In such a situation, you will now realize that when the spirit is praying inside of you and you submit yourself to be led by the spirit, The holy spirit is not praying, God, take this challenge away. Since what God wants to do is to ensure you grow out of that issue, to grow out of that challenge, to grow in stature to a point where where what you see as a problem no longer becomes a problem. That's why the holy ghost is working on your inside. So when you come to pray and rely on the help of the spirit, it will now begin to move you towards praying for strength. So you get the enough that you're praying, father, I'm strengthened in the name of Jesus. Strength in the name of Jesus. Oh,. And you are praying. Sometimes you burst out in joy and you are laughing.
As creatures on joy, the joy of the spirit, the joy of the spirit is at work in me. The joy of the spirit is at work in me. And then you are seeing scriptures like the peace of God that parteth all understanding, caries in my mind. It shall keep him in perfect peace whose face is set on him. Oh, I'm in perfect peace. I'm in perfect peace for my sake, my face is set on you. Thank you, Jesus, for you have to... I... And you are praying. You know that's not the reason you came, but because you're allowing the holy spirit to find expression, your words are now reflecting what the holy spirit is praying at that moment for we know not what we should pray for.
You will now find out that God's intention was not to take the challenge away, it was to make you the answer to the challenge. It was to use the challenge as an opportunity to to cook you, to boil you, to roast you. It's like I've explained here primary immune response. It's like you give somebody vaccine and the initial work of the vaccine because the vaccine is a lesser weakened, deadened state of the real thing. So there are mRNA vaccines that are being created right now. But you get the idea in this context. It means because it is the weakened, deadened state of the real thing, what the vaccine will first do is to weaken your immune response. The moment somebody is vaccinated, it is gonna work on the body and the immune response is trying to build immunity against what has now been introduced into the body. And you become weak, sometimes you can become sick because you were vaccinated. That vaccine is meant to protect you.
It's meant to help your life, but first, you will become sick. Now it's like praying, father, this sickness, take it away. And God says, no. The sickness, what is making immune response growing your body. Without the sickness, there will be no immune response built. So there are times when you'll be exposed to that situation that according to the vistas of heaven, this same thing will happen to you ten years time when your ministry becomes great. And the devil is now bringing a lower version of it ten years before. And I'm praying God take it away, and God is saying, no. Grow stature. Grow stature.
Learn not to be affected by the emotions of people, by the words of people. Learn not to be affected by what people are saying. So you realize that the thing is taking time, and I wonder why it's taking time, and God is saying close deafening your ears to what you are hearing. Look at me. And you are passing. You look at us say, yeah. Is is is that it? Is that is that it? And they are laughing, making gesture of the guy. Look at me.
Let your face be set upon me like a flint. And I... In that in that situation, you learn to trust God. This is how the school of the spirit operates. The problem is that many of us are not trained. We are not schooled in matters of the spirit. And as such, we have no idea how to engage with the spirit of truth. You have no idea how to engage. When God wants to work things in your life, especially on your path to destiny, The school of the spirit is not what is happening here. This is busy entering ground.
What I'm... What is happening here is that I'm teaching you how to interact with the holy spirit so that when he now takes you to his own classroom, that lecture will be profiting. Immediately, you can understand. When God wants to kill anger in you, he will not enter your heart and pick anger out. He will ensure that everybody will meet and annoys you. Every situation will work against you. Things will not work as you have planned. Instead of getting annoyed, the rich will now come in your heart and say peace. Be still. Peace.
Be still. You are in the school of the spirit. Now you're going to pray. As you are praying, you are saying, God, that lecturer, and as we're gonna pray, God is saying pray for favor for him. Yes. That's it. But pray for favor. Pray that he's lifted. Pray that he's promoted. And then you are wondering, no.
You see, what is happening that you are failing in the school of the spirit? Because God is now helping your heart. God is helping what now? Your heart. He's making you someone that is prepared for the future that awaits. Listen, before the palace, there must be the cave. Are you with me? But the cave is not the only place God trains people. Even before you arrive at the cave, there is the wilderness. The wilderness is where you take care of sheep.
David was not even taking care of human beings in the wilderness. He was taking care of his father's sheep. It was the fact that he qualified and he got 100% in that school that even made him worthy of the cave. It was the fire he got 100% in the cave that made him worthy of the palace. How God started with David was sheep. And when David came to come and meet Saul, how he presented himself to Saul was I was put in charge of sheep. A lion came and struck my sheep. In other words, that event would be the open door that will grant him opportunity to face Goliath And it's the reason why he needed to take care of sheep. Whilst he was taking care of sheep, David can be praying, father, when will my life change? My brother is in my bar.
I'm the only one. I'm the last... David can't last born. Why am I here? My father don't even love me. Nobody love me in my family. God help me. Why am God take me away. Change my story. Change my story.
Rewrite my destiny and all these other things that we do. Whereas God is saying no. This is the path way of becoming a king. So let me teach you how to care about even the even the slightest individual, even the lowest individual in your administration. Let me teach you how to care about them. Let me use goat. And his father told him, go and take care of the ship. And whilst he was there, it was a school. The little spirit was working something in his heart. I'm telling you that that difficult roommate might be a school.
When the bible says follow peace with all men, how do you think you will learn it? There will be situations that will arise that you know that what you want to follow is with all men. This is... What is what it means to be spiritual? You are a rewarder Listen. There's nothing wrong in having prayer points when you go to pray, but hold them lightly. Because it is the help of God that enables you to pray. What did I say? The help of God. This is my reservation with manuals of prayer.
I don't have anything against it because there are times when what the holy spirit is saying is inside you, and you have to learn the way of prayer using what somebody else has downloaded from the spirit. But there are times when what God is working in your heart is not following that path. So that when you pick 24 ways to destroy your enemy, what God is teaching you is love. The class you are in is walking in love. So the Holy Spirit doesn't just tell you what you should pray for. It also shows you how you should pray for it. Now that's not all. The Holy Spirit, apart from telling you what you should pray for and showing you how you should pray for it, I love the holy spirit. It doesn't stop there. It now continues.
But the spirit himself. In other words, he does not now leave that prayer adventure to you and say, she did have shown you. Now go and do it. The bible says the spirit himself makes intercession for us. It means it means he shows us what to pray, how to pray, and then he prays for us. This is a strong revelation. It's a strong revelation. It's a powerful one. Do you know that there are two entities that pray for you? Do you know Jesus is praying for you?
I don't have time for that. The bible says he makes intercessions for us with groanings, which cannot be altered. Please pay attention. The way he makes the intercession is with groanings. The groanings are sounds that cannot be captured in words, sounds that makes no sense to the human understanding. Tongues is one of them, but it does not stop at tongues. Because there are times a man can begin to make a sound, it's obvious it's not it's not tongue. Yeah. The man is praying. The man is not...
He is not speaking. You can tell that that what he's saying does not have a definite language to it. The man is not praying in tongues. However, sounds are coming out of him that makes no sense to the human understanding. He's groaning, literally, literally groaning. You can look at him and think he's wasting time, but the bible is now saying that that thing that he's doing that does not that does not profit your human understanding nor even profit his own human understanding is actually what the holy spirit use. Praying in tongues is one of the ways the holy spirit prays for you. One of the advantages of praying in tongues is that when you pray in tongues, it is difficult to pray amidst. Let me say, when you pray in tongues, you cannot pray amidst. You know why?
You know why? Do you know why? First Corinthians fourteen fourteen. First Corinthians fourteen fourteen. Just the first line. My god. Are you ready? Just the first line. One two three. Go.
For if I pray in all my spirit. So what is praying? That's why a believer cannot pray amiss when he prays in tongues because Roman... That thing Romans is describing. Do you... Are you are you seeing the lines? That the holy spirit helpeth our weaknesses because he himself makes intercession for us. He himself prays, and the agency with which he prays is by groanings which cannot be awkward. In other words, groanings that have no definite human language attached to it, but there are sounds, nonetheless. I'm not telling you that one of those sounds is the praying in tongues that we do.
I've expressed in first Corinthians 14 and verse 14. That if a man begins to pray in tongues, it is actually the holy spirit praying. So when a man begins to engage in tongues, what is happening is that the spirit is praying. So I say, even though I pray, it is not me that prays. The spirit prays in me. Listen. Listen. I will explain what that song means to you. Stay with me. Hey.
Stay with me. When I'm praying in tongues, it is my spirit, the holy spirit within my spirit that is praying. My mind is not cognitively in touch with what it is I'm saying to God. My mind cannot understand what I am saying. However, my spirit is praying. So that's why first Corinthians 14... Now there's a problem here. The problem is that when I pray in tongues, the holy spirit is the one that has taken over my prayer adventure. And when that happens, my mind does not know what the spirit is praying. My mind is unfruitful as to the request the holy spirit is praying for in that moment.
Are you with me? So now Paul is saying, what will I do about this? What is now the conclusion of this matter? Because I also want my spirit or my mind to understand, to engage in prayer. I don't want my mind to be completely unfruitful. So in the next verse, Paul now says, what is the conclusion then? The conclusion now is that I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the understanding. Stay with me. No. I did not say I will pray in my understanding, and I will pray also with the spirit.
He arranges it in order of priority. So when Paul says, I will pray with the spirit, what is Paul talking about? Verse 14, when I pray in tongue, my spirit prays. So when he says I will pray with the spirit, what are you talking about? Tongues. He's saying I will pray in tongues. So what does it say? I will pray with the spirit. Now note, it says, I will pray with the spirit, not I will pray in the spirit. There's a difference between praying with the spirit and praying in the spirit.
The reason why he said I will pray with the spirit is because in this adventure, in this enterprise, the spirit is the one praying, but he's making use of your vocal cords to pray. Hence, I will pray with the spirit. Do you understand what I'm saying? The spirit wants to pray, but he needs your vocal expression, your vocal cord to give expression to what he has in his heart to pray. Are you with me? In other words, in this adventure, it is the spirit that is praying. However, you are partnering with the spirit and that you are opening your mouth to pray. Even though I pray, it is not me that prays. The spirit praises me. So I feel Listen.
Listen. It means it means look at... Go back. Go back to Romans. Let me show them there. Romans, my time is gone. It says, likewise, the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. Right? It shows you what we should pray for, but it also makes intercessions for us with groanings that cannot be offered. Now watch this.
Watch this. Next verse. Watch this. He then says, look at this. Now he who searches the heart, watch this, knows what the mind of the spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So the only spirit is the only one that can pray according to the will of God. So how you know you are safe in prayers is that you are praying with the spirit, is that you are praying in tongues. But watch this. Watch where I'm going. The Bible says, even though your mind is unfruitful in the enterprise of prayer, he who searches the heart knows what is in the mind of the spirit.
In other words, the moment the spirit starts praying, the one that searches the heart knows what the spirit is saying. Do you understand what I'm saying? Now have you read a bible that says no one knows what is in the heart of a man except the spirit of that man? No one know what is in the heart of God except the spirit of God. So what happens here is is intertwined. The holy spirit goes to the mind of God and now picks what is in the mind of God, what God wants to accomplish in your life, through your life. After he picks it, he now comes and quickens you and say, oh, yeah. Spray. Pray. Pray.
Pray. It's time to pray. It's time to pray. The reason why that you have finger button at that moment is because he has searched the hand of the father. He now knows what the father wants to do, but the father cannot do until you begin to pray. Because the spirit of God must now begin to pray that the father should do what he wants to do. But you cannot pray unless your mouth open. Now if you cannot pray in tongues, you now have to depend on your ability to hear God to know what you pray. It means if you can't pray in tongues and that burden comes, you have no idea what the burden is for. Now you can get to the bit of prayer and be, ah, God, fill me up.
Holy ghost, help me. And God is saying, no. No. No. It's Nigeria. It's Nigeria. But you cannot... Your your your senses have not matured to a point where you have grown in alignment, in understanding whatever... What the the exact thing that is in the mind of the spirit. So what it does is it neglect your senses, takes control of your...
It says your mind is slow. It will catch up very slow. I will do the prayer by myself. Just give me your mouth. Are you with me? So when a man begins to pray, what is what what is happening? That's the meal of the spirit quickens. It means I have searched the heart of the father. I now know what is in the mind of the father and what the father wants to do that I showed you that last week, the the house of God, the house of prayer. It is true you to now happen.
As you begin to speak in tongues, the holy spirit is now using the expression to start praying. As you are doing that, the one that now searches the heart of the spirit now knows that, this is what I showed the spirit that I want to do. That's what he's praying for right now. That's why the the the the way to pray and you know you are praying right is in tongues. Is this confusing? What does praying in the spirit mean? Praying in the spirit means praying under the leadership and the guidance of the spirit. That can happen in Isoko language, Yoruba language, Igbo language. As long as you are led by the spirit and you are able to attune your ears to what the spirit wants you to pray at that moment and you pray it, you are praying in the spirit even if it's Yoruba. Are you with me?
Praying with the spirit means the holy spirit has taken over that prayer adventure. Is there anybody here who does not pray in tongues? Raise your hand. I will not ask again. Raise your hand. It's not a thing to be... Okay. Wait. Put your hands down. Let me ask again.
So the way you answer now, now make me know if you are serious. Is there anybody here who does not pray in tongues but wants to pray in tongues? If if you see your hand like this, it means it means you are weak. Your spirit must first help you to raise your hand. Before we even go to tongues, your your problem is first with your hand. So let me see the hand above your head. It's not above, above your head. You don't know the kind of person you... Ah, like this man. But you just love me the more.
That's the problem. Put your hands down. So you don't need to be able to pray in tongues to pray in the spirit. However, you must be led by the spirit to pray in the spirit. So if you are still struggling to hear God, how do you pray in the spirit? I'd rather... So what God now does is he helps you. He gives you the one that is free of charge. Why you still are growing? Why you are still learning?
I want you to pray right. So let... Instead of just let my spirit pray for you. God is good. Now the question is, how will God now hold this beautiful resource and face only for a few people? Is that the kind of... Look at what the bible says. The bible says in Matthew seven, you don't ask your father for bread that he gives you stones. You don't ask him for fish. Gives you a snake.
It is how much more the heavenly father give to those that ask him the holy spirit of promise. It means it means God is so good that when you ask him for the spirit, he gives. But this is not... This statement that I have just made now is not even accurate, and I will show you why. So in first Corinthians fourteen fifteen, Paul said, what is the conclusion? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with your understanding. I will sing with the spirit so a man can sing with the spirit. And I will sing with the understanding. Are you seeing this? A man can pray.
Now what I want you to note is this. There are some people that have this misconstrued idea, and that is actually why they've not prayed in tongues till today. People have laid hands on them. People have touched them. The holy spirit is resident in their inside. In fact, if I touch them now, it's not as though another holy spirit comes again. What... The holy spirit is already sitting down like on their head. And he's saying, okay, I'm here. But you know what?
The guy believes that the experience of speaking in tongues will come by the holy spirit now taking control of my vocal cords. I will now lose control. I will now not know what I'm even saying. I will now go out under the power. I'll now be rolling. I'll now be just be speaking things. Only preaching now the one that is speaking. Now that stronghold that that young man has or that young woman has is the reason why that young woman will be unprofitable every time he wants to speak in tongues because he realizes that this thing is supposed to take over me. I will not know what I'm doing or what I'm saying. I don't wanna be speaking.
Now the man of God who is laying hands does not know that this person is expecting to fall down. And because he's not falling down and nothing is nothing spectacular is happening, he believed that what is what is going on within that moment cannot be real. He believed that it must be that my mind is formulating things. Are you with me? Except for the fact that the Bible now says, what is it then? Paul says, I will pray with the spirit. Did you see, I will pray? Did you see, will? Yes, sir. In other words, it is a matter of choice and decision to pray with the spirit.
In other words, it's a matter of choice and decision to pray in tongues. The same way I will pray with the understanding. No difference. So if I come and say, direct my path. Direct my path. Lead me even as I go. I'm praying with my understanding. As I'm doing that, I can switch. What is happening? I have...
I am praying. I will. So that thing of will now pause. It's not the biblical experience. Paul says, I will. You know how Paul is? Paul speak in tongues more than you all. It means it means I choose to constantly constantly exercise my spirit in prayers. I choose to constantly give the holy spirit more expression through me. That's why the more...
Do you know what this means? It means it means it means if God says, I will pray in my spirit, it means they are... How much the holy spirit can pray is up to you. It means how much God can find expression. God has left it totally up to you. That if I invest fifteen minutes in prayers, Holy Spirit has taken that amount of time to exercise prayers for me. My possibilities will directly be in proportion to how much time I've invested in prayers according to my ordination, according to my purpose. It is... The responsibility is up to you because he says I will. Can sit down and exercise my spirit.
Kabbalah. In fact, when I was baptized with the spirit, I was in my sitting room. In my my bedroom, brother. I was in my bedroom. Guess what? I just went to a meeting that night. No. That wasn't in my bedroom. I was working I was working. But I prayed more that night when I got to my bedroom.
I went for a meeting. It was a prayer meeting, and I saw people praying in tongues, and it just occurred to me, I can't do this. I'm a believer. I have to release prayer on my inside. I was walking home after that fellowship, and I said I prayed in tongues. Why? I will pray with the spirit. Acts two four, the Bible says, when the Holy Ghost first came initially, in Acts two verse four, the Bible says, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they began to... Who was speaking? Who gave the utterance?
Did the Holy Ghost possess their mouth? The Holy Ghost was speaking through their voice. Who did the speaking? They. They began to speak. They began to speak. Now watch this. Right now, the reason why the apostles are to tarry Jerusalem was because the holy ghost had not yet been released from heaven. The holy ghost had to be released from heaven when Jesus was coronated because what the holy spirit is trying to form in the believer or create in the believer is not Jesus of Nazareth. It is Jesus who is now God.
So your declaration process had to be complete before the holy ghost came. That was why they had to tarry in Jerusalem. So now that they have received... Now that the holy ghost has been released, nobody else needs to tarry again. So when you read the New Testament, you will not find anyone who was saved and spoke in tongues tarrying for it. Nowhere. The bible says even the Gentiles, whilst Peter was speaking to them, even the Gentiles, whilst Peter was speaking to them, the Bible says they believed what he was saying. Immediately, the holy ghost rested upon them whilst Peter was speaking to them. Watch this. Fell on all of them which had the word.
What now happened? Next verse. Those of the circumcision, watch this, who believed were astonished as many as came with Peter. Watch this. Because the gift of the holy spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Question, how did they know? What did they see? Did they see a dove resting upon each of them like this? There were immediate signs that followed speaking in tongues inclusive. Are you with me?
Are you with me? In Acts 19 and verse two, when Paul met with those people that were zealous for God, Paul said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. Watch this. What did Paul ask them? Did you do what? Did he say the Holy Spirit come upon you? Did you do what? Receive. It means the Holy Spirit has been given.
If you have not yet manifesting the gift of the spirit, it's because you have not received. It's not a question of God, feed them up. It's a question of God, please open their hearts to receive. Are you with me? Because all the release of the spirit has been given. Goddess Pride now wants to come and help your prayer life. Has been given. So everyone who wants to pray in tongues right now, the question is, have you received nor has it been given. So in Mark chapter 16 and verse 17, the bible says, this sign shall follow all that believe. We are done.
In my name, they will do what? They will cast out devils. What's the next thing they will do? So what is the preoccupy for somebody to speak with new tongues? Believe. All that belief. Do you know why you have to believe? Because in first Corinthians 14 and verse 14, 14 and verse two, 14 and verse two, the bible says the bible says, for if I pray in tongues, my spirit prays. Verse two. He who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God.
But to God. But to God. That's why you must believe. The bible says whoever must come to God must first believe that he is. So the bible notice when you start praying in tongues, you are not speaking to men. You are speaking to God. Why is this important? Because no one no one there means no man understands him. Are you a man? It means even you do not understand you.
When a man begins to pray in tongues, even the man does not understand what the man is saying. Are you with me? Why is that so? Because he speaks mysteries. He's speaking to God. He's speaking to who? To God. To God. That's why you have to believe. Because you see, the devil can now come and meet you and now tell you, keep quiet.
You're saying rubbish. You're saying rubbish. And then you get filled with your other tongues, and then you start you start saying, oh, I tie my tie. I lose my tie. I tie my tie. Lose my tie. And now as you are saying it, now you're wondering, this brother's own is sounding like, shut up. And and you're now... Listen. Listen.
Listen. Listen. You're now wondering, this brother's home must be the original version. Okay. We have agreed that it's original. What is the brother saying? Now ask the brother, what are you saying? Because no man understand what he says. That's why the bible says, this sign shall follow them that believe. Because if a man does not believe, he can't pray in tongues.
Your first problem is your unbelief because your unbelief will make you think they are saying nonsense. So what is stopping several people is unbelief. It's unbelief. Not is their problem is just unbelief. These signs shall follow them that believe. When a man believes, there are people that there are people that when they come to me and I teach them this thing and I lay my hands on them, the way they will start speaking in tongues, you will think they have a PhD in it. The the the way the tongues will be sounding, know they're not trying to learn it. Yes, sir. Why? Because it has been there.
It has it has sucked. It has sucked. It has... For every hand that came, it has sucked. Remember, the spirit gave them utterance. So the utterance had always been dead. What what was what was her hindrance was her unbelief. So then when she started speaking, that was their belief. The belief equation was settled. The moment it was set like a like a dam that they opened.
The the the utterance was unleashed. Rise up on your feet. Amen. Amen. If you don't pray in tongues, place your hand on your belly. Act. Can you come out fast? Can you come out? If you don't pray in tongues, can you come out? From here.
Just from here. You can just just you can just stay in the middle there. Acts 19. Listen. Acts 19 verse two. Verse two. Everybody in the front, please watch this. He said to them, did you receive the holy spirit when you believed? So they said to him, we have not as much as heard whether there is a holy spirit. Next verse.
And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? So they said to him into John's baptism. Next verse. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him that is on Christ Jesus. Next verse. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Next verse. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the holy spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues. Immediately. Immediately.
So if there's anybody here who has believed, I'm gonna lay my hands on you and what will happen is that the holy spirit will come upon you and you will speak. Is that okay? Now listen, the holy spirit will not speak with your mouth. I will pray. I will pray. So right now, I want you to just say I receive the holy spirit. If you are in the front, just say I receive the holy spirit. I receive the holy spirit. I receive the holy spirit. The moment my hand touches you, the power of God will come upon you.
Utterance will burst out of your spirit right now. In the name of Jesus, receive the holy spirit. Speak with new tongues. Receive the holy spirit. Let it come like a river from within. Let it flow. Let it flow. Let it flow. Let it flow. Receive the holy spirit.
In the name of Jesus. Receive the holy the name of Jesus. The holy spirit. In the name from of Jesus. Let it flow like a Oh my god. Let it come strong. Let it come strong. Come Let strong. Let it come strong. Now, take it.
Now, take it. Receive the holy ghost. Receive the holy ghost. Receive the holy ghost. Flow now. Holy spirit. Holy spirit. Holy spirit. Holy spirit. Flow now.
Rivers of living water. Living water. Of of living living water. Of living water. Let us speak out. Let us speak now. Let us speak now. From within. From within. If I've touched you, you can go.
From within. From within. If I've touched you, you can go. From within. Rivers of living water. Is upon you already. Speak with new tongues. It's upon you already. Speak with new tongues. It's upon you already.
Receive it now. Jesus. In the name Jesus. Receive it now. In the name of Jesus. If I've spoken for you, you can go. I've not touched him. I've touched him. I've prayed for him. If I've prayed for you, you can go.
If I've not prayed for you, you can come forward. If I've prayed for you, you can go. Pray in tongues. Pray in tongues. Pray in tongues. Tongues. Pray is there. Hey, my God. Look at them praying. Look at them praying.
Look them Look at them praying. Look at them praying. Look at them praying. Look Exercise your spirit man. Exercise your spirit man. Exercise your spirit man. Come on pray. Come on pray. Come on pray. Even though I pray spirit We believe you were blessed by this message to connect with the Disciples Christian network and get more from Apostle Emmanuel.
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