Transcript: The Power of Retreats

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The word of God meant broken heart, meets needs, and makes greatness out of ordinary men. Join us as God servant, apostle Emmanuel Boluwatipe, as he takes us on a journey. This is the experience, empowering you for greatness. Father, we thank you. Father, we love you. We bless you because you're such a good god. I worship you. Thank you for January, for February, for March, for April, May, June, and July, August, September, October, November, December. I thank you because I'm alive. I thank you because everyone that you have given to me is alive.

You have kept them. I've had no cause to mourn over anybody. I've had no cause to cry over anybody. You have kept your word. You have kept your covenant. You said to us that this year is our year of light and glory, that we are we are making quantum leaps, and we are jumping over walls. And we look at our lives and we see a track record of quantum leaps, a track record of jumping over walls. We thank you because we run through troops. We thank you because of things and miracles and supplies that only you could have done. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Glory to God. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Today, your holy spirit is leading me to do something I've never done before. But maybe a few times before, but the holy spirit, while I was coming, instructed me that we should have an intentional impartation service, and I should lay my hands on everybody here. I don't do that usually, but it's an instruction by the spirit to lay my hands and to touch everyone present here and to release an empowerment and to release a grace upon your life so that even before the end of the year, there can still be terrible miracles. The year is not yet over. I don't know about you, but for me personally, I still believe that the best of the year is yet to come. God has been faithful to me in this year.

God has been really faithful, but I still believe the best of the year is yet to come. A lot can still happen between now and December 31. I still believe that God is gonna do powerful things in my life. I don't know about you. I don't know if you think that the year is already done. I don't know if you think that all God can do in this year, he has done. But for me, for my household, I believe there is still so much that can happen. I believe there is still a tangible miracle that can befall somebody's life that can make this year worthwhile. There is someone even as I lay my hands on people, what I received is that what God will do by reason of this this this intentional release of virtue, this intentional release of power, what God will do between now and the December 31 would be what would define this year for you. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, everything will be summed up into one day.

That is what will happen. So it's gonna be an impartation. It's gonna be a very very serious unintentional impartation and I want you to be very very very intentional. Is that okay? So that we can profit maximally from this. You see, for an impartation to happen, for there to be an impartation, for there to be a release of virtue, there are two individuals that must be intentional. Glory to God. There are two individuals that must be intentional for there to be a release of virtue. The person releasing and the person receiving. Actually, the person releasing doesn't even have to be intentional.

Scripture has proven it. That the intentionality of the one receiving is actually enough to cause there to be a release of power from the one releasing because power actually does not need the permission of the one releasing to flow. Power moves in the direction of hunger, and usually, it does not always listen to the bearer in itself. We see this typified in the story of Jesus when he was going to that lady's house to go and heal that 12 year old girl or raise her up from the dead. And someone touched Jesus. Do you agree with me that Jesus was not intentional? One party was intentional in that transaction, and that was the woman. Jesus never faced the woman and said, you want a miracle? Now be healed. The woman was intentional.

However, our intentionality met with a vessel that was heavily anointed, heavily empowered, and they could be released. Now imagine when both parties are intentional. Imagine when the one releasing and the one receiving and intentionality collides. There is transference of power, and that power can be received. Are you with me? Stop. Yes. While I was coming, that was what I heard in my spirit, and would obey that is the holy spirit in the name of Jesus. Amen. Before we do that, it's gonna be very short.

Psalms 62 and verse five. I'm gonna speak to you. I meant to conclude on deliverance today, but being the last service of the year, I felt in my spirit to talk about something else. What I'm gonna be talking about now, I last spoke about it in 2019. The holy spirit quickened upon my heart to mention it again. The power of retreats. The power of retreats. The power of retreats. I believe that even as we go on this break, it is a time that those who are wise will maximize by secluding themselves in a secret place, finding a secluded spot to retreat before God. A lot of people already have this plan.

Some people don't even don't even know what a retreat is. For everybody, you'll be blessed. Psalm 62, it's gonna be instructive. It's gonna be instructional, so pay attention. Listen to me even as I give you instructions. Psalm 62 and verse five. All the instructions I'll be given will find its emphasis and its root in scriptures. But first, let's have a basis for why we believers should go on retreats. My soul, the bible says, wait silently for God alone for my expectation is from him. He is my rock and my salvation.

He is my defense. I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. God is a refuge for us. We live in a world of noise, noise everywhere. You don't have to look for it.

It finds you. Noise when you turn on television, noise even as you walk out right now, noise everyday Monday, Tuesday classrooms, going to work, conducting your business in the marketplace. We live in a world that is constantly surrounded by the demands of those that need us, either clients or the demands of those who we are accountable to, parents, lecturers, teachers, your boss at at your place of work. We live in a world where things are constantly making demand on your time, making demand on your on your on your resources, making it... Making demands on your energy. A world that is constantly bedeviled by noise. And you need to know how to separate yourself from the noise and listen to God. In Psalms 46 and verse 10, the Bible says be still and know that I am God. There are times when stillness is needed in journeying into God. There are times when you need to quiet yourself from the noise, where you need to quiet yourself from the demands of those around you and take a moment with God.

Jesus and his disciples were always surrounded by people. Every single moment, every single time, Jesus was always teaching, always teaching, working miracles, preaching the gospel, casting out devils, and it looks as though for everywhere Jesus went, there was there was always someone, always people needing deliverance, needing to be preached to, needing to be taught. His life was surrounded by busyness. But even in all of this, look at what the bible says in Mark six and verse 30. The bible says the apostles gathered in the new international version. The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and thought. Verse 31, then because so many people were coming and going that did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus then said to them, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. There was still work to be done. People were still needing to to repent. Still needed to be taught.

Demons were still harassing people. Many people were still sick. People were still thronging in and thronging out. Needed to be prayed for. Needed counseling. And the midst of all of that, you would you would think that would say the finance work is very important. Keep on attending to people until you die. The more the people choke to them, Jesus said, no. Take your time out. It is time to seclude yourself and have a moment of rest both physically and spiritually.

Are you with me? Yes, sir. First, Jesus says come away. Leave your current place away from the demands, away from the work. Second, it tells them come by yourselves. Leave the people. Don't bring anybody along with you. No other person is allowed. Come to a secluded place, it tells them, a quiet place apart from the normal, apart from your usual surroundings, a place where no one can disrupt you, where no one can distract you, where no one can distract what you are trying to do or trying to accomplish. It tells them rest a while.

You are tired physically. You are tired spiritually. You have been dispensing power. You have been working all through the year. You have been going to school for some of you who are students. For those of you who work, for those of you who have businesses you're doing, you have been... A lot have been required of you. You have dispensed even as a minister of the gospel, preaching to people from from January, Sunday to Sunday, meeting the needs of people as a fellowship coordinator or an escort in any capacity. Jesus says, take a moment apart and rest a while. You are tired physically.

You are tired spiritually. You are drained physically. You are drained spiritually. You need to be renewed. Elijah started ministry and he took off like a tornado. Nothing is known about Elijah and about where what he... Where he came from other than the fact that the bible says there was a man called Elijah, the Tishbite. The only thing we know about Elijah is that he's a fish bite. We know nothing about where he came from, who taught him, who trained him, but we know that someone trained him. How do we know?

Because when frustration came, he said, I'm not better than my father. So he had fathers. He had people who mentored him. But the bible never reveals. You see, when the fathers taught him, they delivered items to him. And those items or those tools were the things that was meant to sustain him in ministry. The man took off like a tornado and began ministry. And he was he was, oh my God, Elijah, the Elijah ministry is one that plenty preachers desire. The spirit of Elijah. He was making prophecies, stopping rain, starting rain, controlling nature, commanding fire, declaring famine, prophesying that famine would be over, giving kings prophecies, and this guy just kept on, but it was a roller coaster.

Some people came to him on a mountain, and they told him, the king wants you. Fine. I just came down from heaven at his word, at his command, at his voice. Fire came down from heaven, devour them, all of them. This guy was a terrible prophet. A time came in Elijah's ministry that he went and called all the prophets of Baal in the presence of all the people of Israel. And he told them enough of sitting on the wall. If God be God, let us know. If Baal be God, let us know. Let everybody call upon their God.

Let's pick a cow. Put the cow upon an altar, and let's call upon our God to to send down fire. The God that answered by fire, he is God. And the sons of Baal, the prophets of Baal kept on doing everything they were doing, and Elijah kept on mocking them as they were doing it. Every attempt that they were making, he was mocking the attempt. He said, call on your God. Maybe he's busy. Those people kept on doing everything they can do. They kept on doing everything they can. If they call on your God, maybe maybe he's sleeping.

Maybe he's meditating. The guy was just there mocking them with a level of assurance that when these people are done, when I call on God, he will answer with fire. Mhmm. Thank you, Jesus. Do you know that even the certainty of Elijah to know that their attempt to call upon their God to call down fire will not work is founded on the revelation. It's founded on the knowledge. He knew that if they call upon their God, fire will not fall. What if fire had fallen? You know why I'm you know why I'm telling you this? Because when Moses got to Pharaoh's palace, Moses threw his rod down.

Jambres and the other guy came and they also threw their rod down and the rod became serpent. It was not the first time that prophets of Baal are attempting to replicate the miracles of the new prophets. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? It wasn't the first time. Moses came and washed through the rod. And when he thought they had done something powerful, the sorcerers came and threw their own too and they became rods and they became serpents. Are you with me? So it wasn't the first time. And think about it. For the bad guys to accept the challenge, it means they were also certain that their God could answer by the fire.

It means there was a level or a track record that they had with their God that had supplied a kind of evidence that made them bold enough and confident enough to say it. Alright. No problem. Imagine imagine a friend comes to you and says, let's know who is really serving God. Command now that money should appear on this table. Whoever calls their God and money appears is God. Do you know that for you to accept that challenge, you will accept based on a track record? You will accept based on something you know, based on an evidence you have. Are you with me? You wouldn't accept carelessly.

These people were so sure that when they call on their God, He would answer. Imagine their shock. It means there was an atmosphere that this man carried that shut down every altar that was not of God. This was the basis for his confidence to tell them that they should attempt to call their own God. He knew that what I carry, shut down whatever is not of God. So if you truly say you have the spirit of Elijah, one of the things that would follow you is that wherever you step into demonic altars cease to function because you are there. It's it's it's part of the package. Are you with me? It is part of the package. When a man says I come in the spirit and the power of Elias, one of the attributes, one of the features of the mantle of Elijah upon a man is that when he steps into a place...

Let me tell you a story. Somewhere in the West, years ago, they were having a festival. There were four chief priests in that community. It is a verified story. Verified story. The chief priest and everybody in the community had gathered, And they were reciting incantations. And they were dancing and drumming and beating the drum. And everybody was celebrating. Because it was time to renew the terms of the sacrifice so that the idol can favor them in the new year. So they had to sacrifice several things, and the chief priest were conducting this ceremony, and the king was dancing with the people, rejoicing that the God will favor them in again.

You have done the beads of the Gods. Are you with me? All of a sudden, as they were doing this, the chief priest, four of them, pictures. Run away with speed. Imagine that scenario. They are there concocting charms, chanting different kinds of incantations, and all of a sudden, they pick race. And the people out of fear running after them to tell them, what are you doing? Do you want the gods to be hungry? The chief priest looked at them and said, the gods picked race. We ran because the Gods ran.

When they checked, then they saw Babylon coming on a horse. He had not even entered into the city. Himself and his entourage were on their way to the city. And the God speak truth. It's it's a sign of the mantle. It's what Elijah knew that made him say call on your God. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's what Elijah knew that made him say call on your God. I went to a particular village some time ago with a young man. When we got there, we we...

It was... There's a ceremony there. There was a shrine beside the house we went. And we did not know because we were young then, we just started becoming serious with God. We thought that the shrine was an antique. We didn't know that it was it was functioning because it didn't make sense. We didn't... We had only heard about shrines in movies. We've not seen one that had a a properly decorated shrine. Proper, proper one.

We saw it. We said, my God, look at this. We thought it was... In all sincerity, we thought it was antique. Maybe maybe maybe a museum or something just to show that this is this is to happen here before. So we entered, and we're just looking. We touched... We we saw one one molded looking guy. And we'll just pick the guy and just look at him and say, Drops the guy. We're just excavating.

When we're tired, we're about to leave. An old man came and say, What are you people doing? You are dead. You are dead. We we we we are becoming serious with God, so we're young people with fire, with power. So we're not threatened by what he had said. Are you with me? But at the same time, my faith was still growing. So I knew I was not dead. But my plan was to just apologize and leave.

My guy had other plans. He told the old man, said, hey. What do you do here? The old man, with anger, started and said he should get out. Young man said,. In Yoruba. And the man laughed. They had some exchanges in terms... I was trying to push the man. The man was telling him that we've been doing this.

Why you? Small boy, this and that. I was just kept quiet. Humbled myself in the Lord. And I was watching this exchange. The guy was passionately preaching the gospel, and Baba came and said, drink this water. Even if you say that the Jesus who you serve is alive, drink this water. You won't die. But you will collapse. My waking you up back will be the mercy I will have on you that what you have is fake.

While the man is still talking, the guy picked the water and drank it up. He gave to 30. Do you want? I said, no. Thank you. I have no idea what is there. I mean, come on. I know about hygiene for crying out loud. What what what... Who knows where they got that thing from?

The guy did not care. He just picked it and drank it and said,. And both of them were staying at themselves. I was looking too. In about five minutes, the baba went down on his knees and was crying. Went down on his knees and was crying. Right there, gave his life to Christ. That was the first time I saw a native doctor come to Christ by power. I've seen others. That was the first one.

What happened there was that there was something that we were carrying that shut down the active. It was not as though that thing again was not potent. Are you with me? But it's an activity or should I say, there's a a system that follows the ministry of Elijah such that whoever carries that spirit will have the empowerment to shut down whatever is not of God. We're having a prayer meeting some time ago and we prayed to an extent. We prayed. It was in the fellowship where I was and we prayed. We call it prayers of prayers or encounters or something like that. Praying into encounters. And we kept on praying for three hours.

The lady went out under the powers we were praying. And she started shouting, she's hot. She's she's burning fire all over her body. When she rose up, she said she saw Elijah. But we did not see without. We believed what she had seen. When she went back home with her sister, it was not her. It was not the sister who saw. It was a lady. Are you with me?

But when she went back home with her sister, the sister, they opened the door and they were home. You know if someone hits you, the reaction as as if someone hits hits your shoulder. Yeah? They were walking in and their sister shrugged as though somebody hit her. And the one who saw asked, are you okay? But I just wanted to explain. She shrugged again as though somebody hit her. And immediately, both of them started hearing footsteps of people running out of the house without seeing who was running. Both of them... Both sisters.

Footsteps of multiple people running out of the house without seeing who was running. They came back and they told us about the experience. I said, my goodness. That was a verification that the encounter she had was true. Because when you go into a place with that spirit, it shuts down. Whatever altar that exists, that is not of God. Are you with me brothers and sisters? This guy was a mighty man and he knew what he had. Do you know that? Do you know that?

Do you know that the secret of Elias is knowing what he has? You don't know what I'm saying. He calls the men, and he told them if God be God, if Baal be God, the God that answered by fire is God. Look at the certainty. In other words, the the the the the power in Elijah's mantle is revealed in his identity. He knew what he had. He knew who he was. When they came to John the Baptist, they asked him, are you Elijah? He said, no. There was a problem of identity.

But when they asked Jesus, Jesus said John the Baptist was Elijah. Jesus bore witness. When the angel revealed his identity to his father, the angel said this boy will come in the spirit and in the power of Elijah. Now because of an identity issue, he manifested the spirit but not the power. Are you with me? Because the strength of Elias is in the identity. He must know what I have because Elias confront. It was that confrontational grace that led him into the palace to say I cannot see wrong and keep quiet. His forefathers did the same, but his forefathers knew who they were before they tried it. The moment he did the same without identity, he lost his head.

The first problem was an identity problem. What did I call it? An identity problem. It becomes a serious problem when a believer does not know who he is. Well, that's not even my message. This Elijah had power in you, and he rocked terrible things in righteousness. Jezebel heard that a prophet had bombed majority of the prophets of Baal that service the altar of Baal. When Jezebel heard this, Jezebel sent a messenger. He said, by this time tomorrow, if I don't have your head, Elias who called on fire suddenly became faint at heart. His heart become...

Becomes weak upon hearing the threat of a woman to his life. The husband of the woman sent for him and came through messengers. It wasn't the first time they were delivering messages to him. Messengers came before he called down fire and roasted them. But this time around when a messenger came delivering a message from a witch, his heart was weak. The question therefore is, what happened to this man? What happened to this man that his heart is now weak? We saw what happened by what he did after. The bible says he left ministry, left preaching. There was a guy that was with him who was following him for ministry.

The bible says he took the guy and returned him to his city. He said go away first. Ministry has closed. He sent the guy away, and he went to a place called the Juniper tree, sat down under the Juniper tree, and started praying unto God. Do realize that it was one of the first times we see this man in all the ministry he was doing, communion with God? There were many things. There were many things he said, by my word. By... He he could prophesy. He could declare, but he had lost touch with heaven.

He had lost touch. There there was no moment of intimacy in this prophet's life anymore. And so even though he was doing ministry, even though there was activity, even though things were happening around his life, the man had lost touch with the frequency of heaven. It was a call to retreat. Oh, had he not come back, he would have lost his life in that process. Because the man's heart had become faint. The strength that was missing in this moment was meant to come from the secret place. Do you realize that ministry, when it came to demonstrating power, demonstrating power, doing ministry, the anointing upon, this guy was functioning well. But when it came to a threat on his own life, it was what was within him that will that will stand up. Are you with me?

That was evident. It was an evident of the fact that there was nothing. The man had left the secret place. It was a call to a retreat. It was a call to find a secret place. It was a call to go back in silence. Stop the noise. Separate yourself and seclude yourself. That is how a man becomes accurate. There must be many moments of such seclusion in a man's life.

If you will be accurate, there must be some moment of renewal even as you dispel. It must not be once in a year even. It must not be the heading of the year. Retreat is something that must be frequent in the life of a believer. Have you have you read the story of the prophet Micaiah? Have you read that story? Where the kings wanted to seek the counsel of God, And they wanted to know what God would say, and they beckoned on all the prophets. And all the prophets kept on telling them that go for the war. Go for the battle. God is with you.

You will prosper. God is with you. You will win. God is with you. They did not know that there was a back end to that story. In the front end, all the prophets kept on prophesying. And do you know that if the first person prophesied one thing, the second person came and got in there, the bible, there were two or three witnesses that gathered in the mouth of two or three. If if if... Especially when the first one was not there when the second one was speaking. And you said, okay.

Let's call for another confirmation, and you call another person, and he says the same thing. You call the third person. He says the same thing. The fifth one. The sixth one. They called all the prophets. All of them said the same thing. There was a back end. The back end, there was a meeting and assembly in heaven, and God said, who will we who will we send? Because judgment was to befall one of the kings.

The bible says a a lying spirit presented himself before God in heaven, and he said, will go and deceive them. I will act as a lying spirit. The lying spirit came, a demon. Are you with me? All the prophets were speaking by a lying spirit. All of them. All of them. They should they should humble you as a man of God. They should make you check yourself to check if you are still accurate. It's one of the reasons why we go on retreat because you can speak by a lion's spirit.

You can't... You don't know if a time can come when you start to lie. 400 prophets were gathered, and all of them were bedeviled by a lying spirit. Do you know that there are people who have listened to such prophets to the detriment of their destiny? Where the prophet spoke and said, by ye is what God has said. And what he said to be what God has said was put in his mouth by a lying spirit. Lacking the... Ah, what was the problem? The question is, what was the problem? How come 400 prophets did not know that they've been oppressed by his spirit, that the vision they're now seeing was no longer of God, that their sight has been perverted.

Another entity has taken over the oracles of the spirit. What was the problem? When you read that story down, Micaiah was called. And when Micaiah was called, Micaiah told the king what he wanted to hear. Go. You will win the battle. The king said, guy, tell me the truth. Don't mind me. Tell me how it is. The man said, well, since you want to know the truth, I will tell you what God has said.

If you go for that if you go for that battle, it will be your hand. While he was speaking, one of the elder prophets who was always prophesying every day and night in the palace came and slapped Micaiah as he was speaking. Gave him a slap on the cheek. Pow. How dare you call me a liar? How will God leave me and come and speak to you? Can we find that scripture? Now Zedekiah, the son of Tenana went near and did what? And said, which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you? How come God keeps me?

Don't you know that I'm your senior in this thing? I started this thing way before you, and you come from nowhere and you are saying that come on now. How dare you? He gave him a slap. By the time you find a slapping prophet, you will know something is wrong with him. Many things are wrong with him. You would expect that a man will come in humility to say, you sure about what you are saying? That means I must I must have missed it somewhere. He arrogantly came and said, you think God will leave me and and speak to you? Pride entered.

Pride has sipped him. This guy ended a retreat because pride had seeped into his heart. A lying spirit had seeped into his heart. Pride had seeped into his heart. Anger had seeped into his heart. Several things had seeped into his heart, and he was unaware. Look at Micaiah's response. Next verse. And Micaiah said, you will think the man too will respond in anger. You know, several people now use Elijah and Elijah to mean prophets are always hungry.

So when you have a prophet, when you have a call of God upon your life as a prophet, one of the things that will show is that you'll be hungry. They slapped a prophet. The prophet did not slap them back. Do you realize that the ones who slept were the ones who have stayed long out of God's presence? Do you know that when the disciples of Jesus wanted to call down fire, Jesus told them, don't you know of what spirit you belong? And these people were referencing what Elijah did. That there was a time when Elijah once called on fire. We can replicate the Satan and bond these people. And Jesus rebuked them and said, don't you know of what spirit you belong? It means if Elijah knew of what spirit he belonged, he would not have caught on fire.

You didn't hear what I just said. It means the cooling down of the fire was not the will of God. To roast those 102 men. Those men died, but it was not in the will of God for them to die. Jesus revealed what the problem is. He says it was because this man did not know of what spirit he belonged, and it was revealed when he had stayed long from the juniper tree. This guy could, by the anointing, declare what? And it will happen as he's declaring it and did not check heaven to see if if that was what heaven was declaring. He declared whatever he wanted, but did not check to see is is this what God is saying? Or have I started speaking by my own will?

Have I started speaking by my own flesh? I've not seen prophet that because a black man made you hungry, you say, it will not be well with you if I'm a man of God. That's the reason why authority is now missing in the body of Christ. We now use declaration for play. We now declare if I'm a man of God even when God is silent. If you are if you are a genuine prophet, you will know God is not always speaking. Do you hear what I said? God is not always speaking. There are times when we will speak as as as men of God over our people because we wanna see them prosper. So we speak words over them.

It's not the same thing as prophesying. Because to prophesy means to declare what the spirit is declaring. It means to bubble forth. Are you with me? You must be able to tell the difference. A man who, God, has said that if I bless you right now, that open door will become a snare. You will lose your soul in the name of an open door. Let's not push the thing forward. Let's work something in his heart. The guy can come to a man of God who is undiscerning, and the man will say go and prosper.

And the door will open. A door... Come on now. He will prosper and then lose his soul because the man did not check whether that was what God was saying or not. The man did not check to see, is that what really God was saying? He just came and said, recover all. And God says, no. There's no recovery here. I'm building strength inside of this one. I'm building patience in this one.

I'm building trust in this one. And so there are times when prophecy come... When prophecy comes, what God will say is there is comfort for you. There are times things will go, and you just meet an understanding man of God, and he will say, I prophesy restoration. And that's not what heaven is saying. Heaven is saying, let it go. Die to the flesh. This thing left because I'm teaching you how to die. I'm I'm killing something in you. There is a lust for money, a lust, an attachment for material things.

So when they came and took it, let it go. And the fact that the attachment is sold is there, is revealed in the fact that the guy the guy really... And he's trying to manipulate every man of God he knows by what he calls seeds. So when they come out of them, restore the restoration. Recover. I say they will bring it back. If he finds one who is anointed, they will bring it back by the anointing. Are you with me? But he would have missed a school in the name of the spirit. Are you seeing what the problem was here?

This guy started speaking by a spirit that was no longer of God. He had no... He had no connection But he could speak a thing and it could happen. Believer authority will teach you. It can be done. Spiritual authority will teach you, should this be done? Did you hear what I just said? Yes. There are times that God is quiet, God is silent. An aligned minister must know how to be silent when God is silent.

There are times when a lying spirit wants to possess your soul. The first thing it will do is that it will put a... It will put a... It will it will it will take use of your lust. Your lust to please men. Your lust to make men know that you have something on your head. So even when God is not speaking, you know that, my track record might suffer because everybody is already expecting prophecy. So if they come right now and they don't see me calling names and calling numbers and calling these things, They might start thinking something is wrong. Even if they don't think something is wrong, they might not come back next week Sunday. You must keep these people.

And how we keep them is bad. They must see something spectacular. So even when God is not speaking, I can now use... I would ask for these strange things that are not of God. To say, you know, the color yellow means progress. So when you see a man wearing color yellow, what it means is that you have to be careful. It might mean that God is either giving him progress or he's not progressing. And God wants to introduce progress. Number two, check the hair that they are making. If you see that it's a lady and the hair is barbed, it might represent so and so, and the guy will keep on learning and say, and he will go to YouTube and they will petition him prophetic mysteries.

And the guy will now call someone out. He say,. I see that you're trying to make progress. And there's been a delay somewhere in your life. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. I'm looking at your mother now. What is she selling? When the lady now act... Looks confused and said, my my mother is not saying anything.

She's teacher. Okay. What does she want to start selling? God is putting... She must start selling something. All in a means to ensure that people are pleased. When you become a prophet to please people, you have missed God. You have missed God completely. How many people, both evangelism and they are compulsively looking for a word of knowledge so that the person they are speaking to might be impressed? That is the onset of a lying spirit possessing your tongue.

It's how it begins. You can tell that the motivation the motivation has switched. It is just so that this person can know. Let this person know. The heart of Jesus is preach the gospel. As you begin to preach the gospel, it says these signs will follow. So as you begin to preach, you will now drop something in your heart by himself of his own doing. So you find yourself that you are knowing things even without telling the person. Are are you with me now? Yes, sir.

When you find out that, you you are always looking for something to say. Must look for something to say, and there's always a pressure to look for something to say. And your roommates already know that this guy, ah, that's the prophet of our time. They will even bring their friends to your room just so you can speak to them because they know if he just sees you like this, you have become a sorcerer. What you are now is a sorcerer. It's only a matter of time you start charging for it. You want me to bring 5,000. So you see here a problem of pride has eaten deep into the soul. A problem of hunger has eaten deep into the soul, and his his tongue had been possessed by a lying spirit. His sight has been perverted, and the prophet did not know that he had any of this problem.

He even slapped someone and still thought he was right. A prophet also like himself. How come God left me? I want to speak to you. Look at pride speaking. Next verse. And Micaiah said, indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide. So what was the problem? The problem is that you have left the inner chamber. You have started doing palace ministry.

The reason why you could not tell, the reason why you could not discern is because you left the secret place. If you were still in the secret place, you would have seen the back end in heaven. Go on with it. You would have seen the back end in heaven. All that there was a discussion that took place, and everybody who is speaking is now speaking by a lying spirit. Is it possible that in a whole nation, only one person is accurate? Because 400 voices were corrupted. 400 voices that were trusted to be accurate prophets were corrupted. So what happens to a man when it begins to when it begins to fail on retreats? Retreats is where a man is...

Where a man's soul is renewed, where a man's spirit is renewed. I read some time ago about the eagle, and I found out that a time comes when the eagle starts to die, when the eagle starts to feel as though death is approaching. And the eagle has some one year or two years more to live, then the eagle will go to the top of the highest mountains to abanate. When it gets to the top of the highest mountain, the eagle will begin a very painful process. The eagle will pluck out his own feathers with its beak. It will begin to pluck out its... It's a bloody process. It will pluck out its feathers. Everything. Do you know that plucking out his feathers means he's exposing himself to cold, to the harshness of the weather?

It will pluck out its own feathers, then removes the talons. Pluck it out. A very painful process. When it's done plucking out everything, this thing would take days, sometime months. When it's done plucking out everything, then it will begin to strike its own beak against the rock. Pow. Pow. Because the the victim must break off. The eagle literally becomes naked. And while it stays there in nakedness, a new beak begins to grow out.

New talons begins to grow out. New feathers begin to grow out. And it is said that when the eagle successfully completes this particular process, it can go ahead to live thirty years longer. Twenty to thirty years longer after this process is done. So when the bible says those who wait upon the lord shall mount up with wings as eagles. This is what the bible is saying. Because the moment the new wings now sprout out, the bible... In fact, record have it that the eagle is able to swerve higher and fly higher, than he has been doing all along. You know why? Because all they hear they have been swearing, the feathers has accumulated death.

The wings are now heavy. It can no longer swerve. But the moment the the the eagle is renewed, there is no dirt. There is no heaviness. There is nothing. It picks up the mountain, and it begins to sway massive heights. New talons for hunting, new pick for feeding. But a moment of exposure, a moment of nakedness, a moment of seclusion, a moment of fasting. Because without pick, it means it cannot eat. It means it goes on a compulsory fast.

A time of seclusion, a time of nakedness, a time of being alone to renew. The bible says those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. The retreat... The place of retreat is a place of renewal. A place where strength is renewed, where the evidence that has perverted your soul, the corruption that might have invaded your soul is washed out clean, and there is renewal, where old talents are shaken off, Old ticks are broken off. Old feathers are shedded off, and there is a moment of retreat where a man stands naked before God. Stand naked before God, and God himself start closing that man with glory. New and fresh glory. New and fresh anointing. It is why when men go on retreat, when they come out, you know there's a difference.

Something changes about them and aura even themselves cannot explain. It is only reasonable that after a year of gathering death in the feathers, as the year concludes, you find a time to seclude yourself, a time to go before God, a time to retreat and separate yourself to say, I know what God will have me do right now. I've been busy around this year. I've been going from class to class, from school to school, from from work to work. I've been I've been looking for different kind of things, conferences, meetings, fellowships here and there. I've been busy. I'm a leader, counseling people, doing all sorts. I'm a doctor. I'm an engineer. I'm a lawyer.

I'm a family man taking care of the needs of the family. I'm a mother feeding my children, but it is time to separate myself. It's time to seclude yourself. It's time to shut the door and close the door and say, no. I can't start the new year like this. There's a need for a retreat. Mark chapter two and verse 21. The bible says, I read in new international version. No man sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old making the tear worse.

You find an old garment. Look at this. You find an old garment. The bible is saying that you don't take an old garment, and you need to patch a new garment. If you do this, what will happen is that the new garment still has enough tensile strength. The old garment... Have you have you seen some old garments before? Some old materials you've been wearing and you just pull it and it tears. Have you found such things? Now you use a new garment that is still that is still that is still is still...

The newness suggests that it's still stable in strength. It has not been worn out of use. When you use this old garment, this new garment to patch a piece of a piece of fabric that is old, the bible says the new garment to have had it will use its own strength to pull the hole so that it tears. The tear is now worse than how you began. So God says, if we see that... Go to the next verse. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If a man does so, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. So you see, God wants to preserve two things. He wants to put up the wineskin and the wine.

God's concern. The concern is not only if he had said the wine will be renewed. It would have meant that God has more concern for the wine than he does for the wineskin. For the fact that the bible says, both the wine and the wineskin is ruined shows that God is both concerned about the wineskin and the wine. So what God does is that he pours new wine into new wineskins. Listen to me. This means that if God sees that the man are subscribed to hold mindsets, hold mentalities, or you're posturing the realm of the spirit, it is now defined as hold. When new wine is to be poured, it won't come to you. Your posturing in realm of the spirit is now hold. When a new revelation for the body of Christ is to be given, it won't come to you.

When God wants to release fresh ideas for those doing the same business that you are doing, what thing... What new things to start to take your business from where it is currently into several digits ahead because the the wineskin has been tagged as whole. God will say, this one is unfitting. If we give this one an idea, if we give this one that resource, if we give this one a capital, both the wine skin and the wine will be damaged. The wine represents a manifestation of the spirit. The release of the spirit into a vessel. The release of the spirit into a vessel. Are you with me? So moment of retreats is when a believer sheds the old wineskin, and a new wineskin is put on that believer. Do you still remember the old prophet in first Kings chapter 13 verse one?

The bible speaks of the old prophet and the young prophet. There was a particular word. The bible, and behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord. And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. Do you know that I'm always humbled by the fact that a man of God went from Judah to Bethel? It means God literally went to Judah to give this particular word to this man of God. It was not his territory. The word was not for his own pre city. The word was for Bethel, and God went to Judah to pick a man of God in Judah and gave the word for Bethel to a man in Judah. The question is, was there not a prophet in Judah?

Was there not a prophet in Bethel? Was there not a prophet in Bethel that God could have come to? Do you know that when this prophet was done delivering the world, the prophet in Bethel, the bible calls him the old prophet, now sent for this prophet and said, come. Come and eat with me. God had told the prophet, don't eat bread. Don't drink water. Don't drink wine. Don't do anything. Even the king offered the prophet bread, wine, everything, and the prophet had strength enough to refuse. The moment the prophet met with someone called the old prophet, The bible calls the man an old prophet.

If I were the young prophet, the first question I would have asked is why would God skip you by? Your territory is Bethel, and God did not deliver the word of Bethel to you. God found me in Judah and delivered the word of Bethel to me in Judah while you were in Bethel. Why? The bible does not call him an ex prophet. The bible does not say a former prophet. Bible calls him an old prophet. In other words, he could still hear, but he had become an old prophet. So if a new word is to be released from heaven, it won't come to an old prophet. If new wine is to be released from heaven, it won't come to an old wineskin.

God had to find someone who had a new wineskin, and God found all of Bethel. And he found that the most accurate person in Bethel is old. And do you know that he... By his oldness, if anything like that, derailed the young prophet? That is what the bible means when it says, when you combine both the old and the new, then the old. The moment the old and the new mixed, what happened immediately was that the prophet died, killed by a lion, killed by a bear, or by a lion rather. Are you meeting brothers and sisters? God has a model of candy, a way of doing things. And what God does is that the moment he finds that your vessel is becoming hold, he will wait for you to go and conduct a renewal. He will wait for you to go and wait on him like the he who does so that by the time he is found or he has found out that you have you have renewed your vessel, then he says you are ready for new wine.

You are ready for your fresh anointing. You are ready for your fresh oil. The apostle Emmanuel that you will meet next year is not the one you see now. It's not because the man is different, but when men stay with God, when men stay in the presence of God, the oil, the freshness, the renewal that come to their presence. Even as they speak, you know, something has changed. The world is heavier. Something has shifted. Even in their business, you know, something has shifted. They are talking to you as your friend. You know, something has changed.

Your character is different. How you respond now is is different. Are you with me? Understand that one of the most important spiritual moments in your life is when seasons are ending and when seasons are starting. I'm going on a break right now. It's the end of the year. Everyone of us must ensure that we pick a few days within this one month of... For a quality retreat, a personal retreat, a retreat where you are exclusively alone with God. Not husband and wife retreat, not father and children retreat, not family retreat. In as much as all of these things are good, I'm talking about a personal time of fellowship with God.

There are certain things that God will never tell you in public. There are certain things that you would only hear from God in the secret place. A retreat must be a... I'm not talking about one hour, two hours you pray and say I've retreated. Oh, no. I'm talking about ample time in God's presence, a minimum of two or three days dedicated solely to God in seclusion to hear, be still, and know. I will wait. I will wait upon the lord I will wait upon the lord for in his presence there's fullness of joy our life will be renewed when we wait upon the Lord. That is what a retreat is. A moment of waiting.

Waiting upon the Lord. There are certain things that God will only tell you in the secret place. A retreat must be must be a time of intimacy, a time of fellowship, a time of communion, a time where you... It's just you and God. No distractions, no social media. You kill all of those things. And you say, no. I've had a busy year. It is time to shut down. I like to call it shut down.

In Luke chapter eight and verse 15, Jesus Christ was talking about the parable of the sower. And when it got to the good ground, it started giving us the meaning of the heart... The the the heart that defies the good ground. The bible says, but the ones that fell on the good ground are those who the the the the who haven't heard the word with a noble and a good heart. Keep it and bear fruit with patience. What's the meaning of the word noble? Give me NLT. NLT. You will find that the word noble there means honest. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represents honest, good hearted people.

Honest. In a retreat, you are honest before God. You are sincere before God. One of the things that makes you know that a man has a good heart is the honesty of his heart. In a retreat, you have nothing to hide. It's like the eagle naked. In a retreat, you are naked before God with nothing to hide. This is the place of encounters. Do to me what you want. This is a place of surrender.

Do to me what you want. This is the place where my life gives way. Do to me what you want. This is a place of surrender. Do to me what you want. Before you go. Do to me what you want. That's what happens in the retreat. Look at the heart in the district. Do to me as you like, as you please, as you want, Lord.

Do to me what you want. That's what it retreats us. Do to me what you want, how you want, what you please. This is the place. A retreat is a place of surrender, is a place of rebuke, is a place of chastening, is a place of correction, is a place of instruction, is a place of encouragement, is a place where God will challenge you, where God will encourage you, where God will applaud you, where God will reveal to you your feelings and your faults. Your weaknesses even. This is how you missed it in this year. These are opportunities that you miss out of fully. And even as you pray, the Lord will begin to open your eyes. Remember when you said this.

This was what I had in mind for you. When you rushed and made a decision, I told you be patient, but you lack patience. There are times your eyes will open. You will cry. You say, my God. My God. My God. There are moments. It's a moment of rebuke. Remember, at the beginning of the year, I gave some instructions, a tenfold instructions to live your life by...

In this year. I told you whatever comes into your hand, ensure that this is mine. This is separated onto me. I told you, if you are making any friends, let me know about them. I told you before you enter into relationship, can I know about it? Have I given you the authority and the instructions go to go ahead? Before making any business deal, hear my voice. I told you every Thursday, let's meet in the night by 12AM in a video. You did it twice and forgot about it. A moment of retreat, the holy ghost will come.

It will come like a hammer, rack you into pieces. But in nakedness, a man surrenders. In nakedness, a man's heart gives way. A man says, do. Lord, do. That's why I came. That's why I came. Remove the whole feathers. Pluck it off. It means it might be painful at times.

The plucking might be painful. It's a bloody process. There are times when God will begin to reveal to you your feelings. You will realize your obvious stupidity even when you do not know it. Instructions disobeyed, several of them. I told you in this year that I want to lift you financially. Do not fail in your tithe. You tithe it 10 times. Is that how much I blessed you? Is that how faithful I was to you?

There are instructions I gave to you to save, to give, to empty in your finances. Look at how many of them you obeyed. Do you know that I gave you the instruction, but you, because you wanted to please people, disobeyed me for them? Is that how much I mean to you? And with tears in the eyes, Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm naked in your presence. I'm naked in your presence like an eagle about to soar, like an eagle about to fly, a painful process sometimes to pluck away the feathers, pluck away the talons. The talons mean there are times you'll be subjected to fastings so that you can deaden the flesh, sharpen your spiritual senses so that when God speaks, you can easily pick the signal of the spirit. You do away with social media.

Get out from the noise. In Mark three and verse 14, the bible says, he called the 12. He appointed the 12 of them. I... And he ordained them that he might send them out. He ordained them to be with him. The first thing he told them was to be with him. Listen to me. He only sends you out when you're being with him as prospered. In other words, if you go out, if when you go out, you are starting to return to the state you were while you were...

While he was working with... Working on you when you were with him. Then it's a call that it's time again to be with him. It's time to withdraw from being sent out to be with him. Many of you... What are some of the things that must happen in a retreat? When you separate yourself before God and you pick a time of fellowship, what are some of the things that you must commit yourself to do in a retreat? Number one is that you must give thanks. The first thing that every man must do in a retreat is to commit himself to thanksgiving, become as grateful people. God never gets tired of hearing people thank him.

Lord, I thank you for giving me bread. Thank you for you give me tea. In the book of Psalms one zero three verse one and verse two, the bible says, bless the Lord all my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not his benefit. In other words, when you are blessing God, you must mention his benefits. That's the purpose of not forgetting it. And you must be specific in the mentioning. Oh, father, I thank you for the bread that you gave. Last year, there was no butter.

This year, you added butter to it. You mean you noticed it? My goodness. What a grateful heart. I didn't know you would notice. I noticed Jesus. I noticed. I can't be ungrateful. Last year last year, all I was doing was flying bike. Now I can afford both once in a while.

Oh, it is you who have done it. I thank you, Jesus. And God says, you noticed that one too? I did. I did. You helped my finances. I mean, I started a business. It didn't even fly as much as I expected, but look at the boldness I I I had to start. Last year, I wanted to start. Two years ago, I wanted to start.

Three years ago, I wanted to start. But I finally started. You were the one who supplied boldness. You were the one who supplied strength. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. And God says, ah, even though your business is not even making as much sales as as you would expect it to make, you are still thanking me. Say, yes. I thank you. I appreciate you for it's your faithfulness, for it's your mercy, for it's your loving kindness.

This one is grateful. This is what you do in a retreat. You mention his benefits. You look at your life at the beginning of the year and you trace the benefits of God. You can write it down in a book and say, I thank God for so and so. I thank God for so and so. I thank God for so and so. You will notice there are many things you thank God for if you sit down and you think. Forget not his benefit mean that it must be an intentional thing you must do. I will choose not to forget.

I choose not to forget. What are the things you do in the retreat that you begin to thank God for what he has done? Oh, I thank you. I thank you. Thanks. Thanks. We give you thanks for all you That is one of the things you do in a retreat. You go into a retreat with a grateful heart. A heart that blesses God. Remember, be specific about your thanksgiving.

Don't just say I thank you God for the favor. That's foolishness. In August, I needed help seriously. I had looked for it everywhere, and I thought I would be embarrassed, but you came through miraculously. Oh, only you could have done this. I give you all the glory. I give you all the things. I give you all the honor. Do you know that you can spend one day alone thanking God? One day alone.

There are times you will need to go down on your knees. There are times you will lie down flat. You will say, oh, I glorify your name. Look at how you have crowned my head with glory. Look at how you have crowned my head with honor. You have delivered me from shame. You have proven yourself to be my deliverer. I give you all the glory. I give you all the honor. You must learn the heart of thanks.

Please don't be ungrateful. Do you know that there can be that temptation at the end of the year to start looking at your ear and start saying that, okay. What what what did I even what did I even... What progress did I even make this year's f? And start comparing yourself with people and start and start and start judging your your your life by the testimony all that I'm sharing. And you think that nothing happened in your life because it doesn't measure up to what happened in the lives of others. You see some of your friends who you began together, and you say, oh, no. This person, what what can I even say happened this year? This year has come and gone like that. Don't join the banquet...

The banquet of fools who speak like this. You'll be grateful. You'll be thankful. Don't say, ah, all the prophecies that you have... That that your pastor has propheted over you, how many now came to pass like this? Look at... You see all kind of foolish thing on social media. It's not the end of the year. Have you have you have you prospered? Have you run like a chariot?

And then I put all kinds of images. And after falling, you will now screenshot it and put it on your own status too. You're not wise. You don't put the things that mock the name of God. You don't propagate them. They have no business on your wall. Are you with me? Yes. I thank you for... Do you know that one of the benefits of God is that you are saved?

Verse three says, who forgivest all our iniquities. That is a benefit. It means I can thank God because I'm saved. I thank... I can thank God because my sins are forgiven. I can thank God because he heals all my diseases. This... The psalmist begins to mention the benefits one by one. One by one, this is how to thank God. I thank God for this exam I wrote.

And you made the meme of the exam. How that when you got there, you thought you had filled it. But all of a sudden, there is spirit in man and the inspiration of the almighty given him understanding. From whence the inspiration came, I know not, but it came. It came, and I was able to write, and I confess... This was the holy spirit. I thank you for remembrance. I thank you for inspiration. You have done me well. You have done me well.

You have done me well. Jesus you have not The second thing you're doing in retreat is what I like to call divine introspection. Divine introspection. This is where you sincerely and unashamedly conduct an introspection of your life by the assistance and by the help of the spirit of God. A review of how your year was, how your life was in this year. A complete review. You do this. Listen. When you go for a review, you go with a note, a... In fact, a new note if you can.

A hardcover note. Don't go with your pay... Don't go with just a paper you tear you talk from somewhere. That's for life writing down. Many people will come to church and just pick a notebook, pick something, pick pick pick. Charlie one attend a free book that that that cost them nothing to come and write priceless things, priceless truths in it. You can tell they will not read it. Somebody will come to church and forget that he even has to write. When the sermon start, will now... Can you just tell something from India?

After he's done writing destiny, he will now squeeze destiny behind his back pocket. Sit down on destiny. Watch destiny. When you go for a treat, it's a serious moment you carry a notebook and you begin to conduct a divine introspection. How did my year go? How did my life go this year? There are six areas or so or five areas where you must conduct a divine introspection. Are you with me? About five areas that in your life that you must conduct compulsively a divine introspection. Number one is your spirit.

Number two is your soul. Number three is your body. Your spirit, your spiritual life. What do you know now that you did not know last year? What do you understand now that you did not understand last year? Review your character. Have you been growing spiritually? How far have you grown? How much have you grown? Are you still a baby?

Or are you... Have you matured a little in the spirit? What is the extent of your maturity? How much of the fruit of the spirit and the character of Christ is in you? Spiritual growth is governed by two things primarily. Number one is your access and your engagement of light. Your access and your engagement of the truth. In other words, you review, have I accessed light, divine illumination, and have I engaged it? How much of what I know have I practiced? How much of what I know have I done?

These are the things I was taught in this year. Did I live by these things? Did I practice these principles? These are the things that measure spiritual growth. The second indices is how much of Christ you are becoming. Your degree of conformity to the image, the person, and the character of Christ, both in character and in power. In my character, am I becoming like Christ? The... What is the health of your spirit man? Is there maturity?

You do this in a retreat. It's something you think about by the help of the holy spirit to say, am I growing spiritually? Or have I just been busy in church and serving my way up and down and just coming every Sunday and I'm not committed to anything? And have I been growing really? Am I seeing changes in my life? Is there transformation in my life? Am I patient? The way and manner by which I love people, is there a change in that? How much of joy is resident in my spirit and they manifest outside? How did I respond in negative circumstances in my life?

When did evil before me in this year? What was my response? When were the times I was under prayer this year? What was my response? Did I respond how I wanted to respond, or did I obey the word of God? Did I burst out in joy singing? A divine introspection. Did I grow in this year, your spirit? Number two, your soul, your mental recalibration. You review your mental transformation, your mental development.

Did I cooperate with the word of God to develop my mind, my soul? There are three parts of the soul, the mind, the emotion, and the will. The question you are asking yourself is, these three parts of the soul, were they subject to the word of God in this year? In other words, how much of my emotion was put under objection in this year? Do I still flare up in anger? Do I give in to negative emotions, easily depressed, easily sad, easily gloomy? Or have I mastered... Has the word of God been able to subdue that negativeness, that negativity? Then my mind, my mental development, how many books did I read? Did I acquire useful information that will set me on the cutting edge of relevance?

Or was I only praying and fasting, built my life spiritually without growing my my my mind, my sociological relevance. It matters that you not only grow spiritually, it also matters that you sustain the ability to be useful in your environment. You must be able to communicate the life of Christ to your environment, and you will do so with a healthy soul, emotional maturity, mental maturity, and then your will. How much of the choices and the decisions I made today or in this year rather was governed by the holy ghost? How many foolish mistake did I make? That is your will, your decision. It's a part of your soul. Did I decide in this year as led by the spirit of God? How many careless mistakes did I make? The way that seemeth right, how many did I follow?

Only to discover at the end my old destruction. So you review what books diary. What do I know about leadership? What do I know about influence? What do I know about mindsets? Am I still carrying my village around in my head and moving with it while speaking in tongues? Am I still carrying Egypt all around? There are so many people still carrying their village in their minds, walking up and down, carrying their village in their minds. How much of my mind has been renewed? How much of my mentality has been subjected to the word of God?

How many books did I read to get knowledge governed by scripture? To flush away nonsense mentalities on marriage, on leadership, on finances, on influence, on business, on character development, then your body, your spirit, so your body of physical health. You review that as well. You conduct a divine introspection in the retreat as it concerns the physical health. You need to review how much you've taken care of your body and your health, your physical health. The bible says that your body is the temple of the living God. So the only person you really have... You you really have offended when you mistreat your body is God. You should not be careless about your physical health so that you don't depreciate the threshold of your health with careless living, So that you don't start looking like you are 67 years old when you are 35. And then you cut short your destiny.

It has been revealed in time that the purpose God has given to you will need one hundred and twenty years to fulfill. And you cut short that life by careless living. God has ordained for you that eighty years is what this... We've given this guy to fulfill purpose. After eighty years, everything is doing the enjoyment. Sixty years, what will give honest God will give purpose? And due to carelessness in his health, carelessness in his body, he takes no kind of things when he's... When he was younger, he should not have taken By the time he's 45, when purpose... When he when he reaches the prime of his destiny, where light is about to start shining, he's diagnosed with cancer. He said he has breast cancer.

He has stomach cancer. And then a better a better time of his life that is meant to use and start pursuing destiny is now spent taking care of cancer, trying to fight for survival so that I will still be I will still be alive and believing. Or diabetes or hypertension. High blood pressure by careless living. By careless living, you should retreat to find out, have I been taken care? Have I been faithful to my health? Have I been faithful to my body? Some of you just allow different kind of diseases knock you down and you don't care. Even when I'm meant to go to the hospital to find out what is wrong with you, some of you don't even care. You rather not use your money.

You have the money, but use your money to take care of yourself. Oh, no. If there's nobody to buy drugs for me, I'll always be carrying the signals around like that. And you die and just cut your life short and purpose is done for. Do you know that several people can die because you died? Do you realize this? At the same way several people can live because Jesus lives. In the same way souls connected to yours are dependent on yours for survival, for light, for revelation. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? Yes.

You should never be careless about your life. You should never be careless about your life. There's a young man, one of my guys who's here. When he came... When I met him, he came to come and stay in our place, in our house. When he came, he came literally... I was always... His his testimony is one to always speak about. A a a massive testimony of transformation. A massive testimony of transformation.

Came to the house, and it was basically literally a thug. Literally a thug. I'd experienced the cultist. I'd experienced the the guy was just living a rough life. He was just dead. And he would come around. Cut long story short, met with Jesus because I was in that house, met with Jesus, became transformed, mentally transformed, now a man of God, rotten, terrible works in righteousness where he works. And I can only think, what if I had not found purpose? Because I considered it and I found that this young man would never... This young man is not young.

He has spent a larger percentage of his life, and nobody ever revealed truth to him. What are the chances that he will never have found it if he don't rise? What are the chances that there are several people who will never find light if you don't rise? Understand that you cannot live a selfish life. You must take care of yourself because life is not all about you. You need your body to last very long, very, very long. You shouldn't be careless. You should pay attention to what you should eat. What should I eat? At what point should I eat?

What should I stop taking? How was I careless about my health and leisure? The number four thing that you conduct a divine introspection over is your your... The area of your assignment and your purpose. With respect to this, there are three areas. Number one, discovery. Number two, preparation. Number three, manifestation. In other words, have I discovered my purpose? Have I discovered my assignment?

Or am I just living a useless life? Do I even know why God made me? Do I know the reason for which I'm in school? The reason for which I'm alive? Did this year go again without me discovering purpose? Or can I think that in this year, there was a discovery of purpose? Discovery. Number two, preparation. Now I've discovered how much time, resources, energy did I give into the preparation for my purpose? How much time in prayer?

How much books in study? How much fastings? How much preparation? How much conferences did I pay for any cost to sharpen my skills in this area to get better in this area? Did I get more knowledge in this area? These are the things you do in a retreat. The reason why a lot of people waste time and waste their lives is because they are not occupied with purpose. The reason why anybody can call you and say, follow me, I just stand up and start going is because you are not occupied with purpose. The fifth area you must reveal is your finances. Listen, I'm not one of those people who downplay the role of financial authorities in helping and in living a useful life.

I'm not ashamed to acknowledge that financial authorities is needed to live a useful life, both to yourself and society, even to the kingdom. I'm not ashamed to declare that. I believe in it, and it is sincerely true by the word of God. So you must review your your finances. Was I able to engage the keys that bring for wealth and abundance this year, or was that unfaithful? This year, I saw exponential increase in my financial flow. What did I do with it? What are the lessons to learn? What brought about the increase? What must I maintain?

What strategy must I maintain? What structure must I maintain? What must I stop doing? What must I continue to do? You don't you don't change the working principle. But in order not to change it, you must know that it is working. In other words, you must be able to identify the principle that is working. Are you with me? So in the presence of result, you must be able to think back to say, what exactly was I doing that generated this result? What was my structure?

What was my strategy? There are times when those things don't change or except by the instruction of the spirit. You are able to know, okay, in my business, this was what I was doing. We set this structure in place. It was when we started doing this that we got massive financial flow. Let us scale more. In my business, did I multiply did I multiply? Did I scale up my business? Did I make more sales in this year? Or was I only stagnant?

Why was I stagnant? Did I market my brand even more? Did I put myself out there as I should? Okay. I did, but I didn't get as much results as I should. Why? Do you understand what I'm saying now? This is what you do in a retreat. Why? You must answer the question why.

That is in fact the purpose of retreat. Not only to know what the problem is, but to maybe to identify why the problem exists and the solution to it. So it means you don't get out until you have all the answers. The retreat ends when the answer have all been gotten. That is how you know you have... You come out full and satisfied. Yes. I'm ready to launch into a new season of my life. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? Yes.

When God gives you resources and you waste it, it is evil. It is a sin. Lord, in this year, I gave a ridiculous amount of money as offerings. 10 naira, 20 naira, and it was not commensurate to the amount to the... Or to the way you blessed me. I know that the way and manner by which you blessed me was more than how I was given. I repent, Jesus. Forgive me. I repent. It is a sign that you're not a serious believer.

What is the measure of your passion for the house of God in giving? All these 100 naira offerings, 10 naira offerings, 10 naira offerings, sometimes we lie to ourselves that it does not matter. It matters because we are bible students. The bible says, oh, is ill so sparingly. Sparingly means scanty. Shall reap also sparingly. This is scripture. He who gives bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Was I committed in giving in this year? Was I committed in saving in this year?

I taught you the laws of financial management, the seventy thirty principle as as some call it. That whenever money comes into your hand by labor, by favor, a percentage of that of that amount of money must go to God first. Your fights, your seeds, your givings, your offerings, your profit seeds, all of that must go to God for... There must be a percentage of every amount of money that comes into your hand that goes to God. Number two, there must be a percentage that goes to yourself in terms of savings and investment. Number three, the last percentage then goes to others. You check, was I faithful in doing this? In my givings, in my tithings, in my seeds, in my savings, in my investments, or did I spend carelessly? Did I live above my means? Did I buy things only to impress people?

Things that some of you spend ridiculous amount of money in purchasing things you should not have purchased for that amount of money. You would have gotten something lesser, probably even of more quality, but just to impress people. So that when they ask you how much did you bite, you you can say 100,000 because it makes you it makes you worthwhile. Ah, I like your shoe. How much did you bite? This... You mean this one? No. The one at home. Are you with me, brother and sisters?

Earth. He now remembered one that they gave God tithe and offerings. Now when you go on a retreat, you find out, oh, no. I was foolish. I was foolish. Have mercy, Jesus. Have mercy. I repent of falling in this in this season. This thing is a sign that you are an unserious believer. It's a sign.

Listen. The bible says where your heart is, your treasure will follow or where your treasure is whether your heart is there. So the... What if your heart is with God, your treasure will be with God. Let's not... Let's stop joking up and down. There is nothing shameful as a man of God in telling people to give. It is scriptural in all its essence. It has scattered it shall be watered or shall increase rather. Yes.

Give me KJV. Let me see. There is either withhold it and it tended to not. Either becomes... Give me give me NLT. NLT. The bible says give freely and become more wealthy. Be stingy and lose everything. This is scripture. So when when a man of God wants to talk about giving, he's being careful so that people will not tag him as somebody who needs money.

We don't give... Listen. No man of God is successful because people give to him. Every man of God is successful because he himself practices the laws that makes for wealth. Are you with me? If this is not so, then every man of God you know will be prosperous. There are men of God who don't pay tight and yet the collector of orders. Do you know that do you know that if you do that as a man of God, you are shutting the doors of those who pay to you? Let me say this, as a man of God, that is what you do. When people give to you and you don't give yourself, that that channel is a closed channel.

Those who give to you can be blessed. The reason why people will be blessed is because yourself is a source for us. There must be... You cannot be a dead channel as a man of God. Where then does the blessings flow? Do you understand what I'm trying to say? So when you find that as people give, the people who are giving are becoming blessed is because the man himself gives. Oh, thank you Jesus. So this thing of being hurting finances and all of that, it's a sign you're not a serious believer. You must reveal this in your finances.

The next thing you must conduct a divine introspection about, the last one, is your relationships. Career relationships, business relationships, marital relationships, family relationships, friendships. There are people wasting their lives today because of bad and useless friends that they have, bad and useless associations, associations that are that are... That has nothing to do with their lives. And they plot themselves in it, and they are wasting away in life and destiny. Proverbs 13 and verse 20. The Bible says, he who walks with the wise shall be wise. A companion of fools will be destroyed. Whose presence destroyed your productivity? Who came into your life?

And then all you started talking about was movies. You you were distracted away from purpose. You were serious before, but the moment some group of people entered your life or you entered into into an association of people, everything you were serious about, everything you were passionate about, everything you loved, everything just ceased. There was a deviation in your passion, a deviation in your in your... In what you loved and and and your attention to God, everything died because some people came into your life. The bible says a companion of fools will be destroyed. You must edit even in a retreat those who are your friends. Do you know that? Who did you give access to in this year that destroyed your potential for more results? Who should have...

Who who should you have given access in this year that would have improved your life? Your entire life revolves around these three... These six areas. There's no man that will never be a failure if he succeed in these areas. That will ever be a failure if he succeed in these areas. You must look at the worst performing area and the best performing area, and you must be able to answer why. Why was the best performing area performing well? The worst one, why was it performing well? If it's my spiritual life that is the best performing area and I failed in every other area, I've not done well. I've not done well.

But why is my spiritual life succeeding at the expense of every other thing? Must be... Is it a mindset I have where I think that you're looking that matters in my spiritual life and my finances does not matter? Then I must fix that mindset. Are you with incliners? Yes. Did I fail in my relationship? The worst part of my life was with my relationships, my ability to sustain quality friendships with people that matter. If so, why? Am I a jealous person?

Am I a angry person? Do I talk too much? I can't keep secrets. Somebody tells me something I've heard it. They've heard it several places. And so people don't people don't like me for no reason or for this reason. Am I a shy person? When people try and engage with me, I just start closing my eyes, taking my eyes away from them. I can't look at someone in the face and have a reasonable conversation. If someone walks up to me and say, hello.

How are you doing? I'm already looking down at my shoes as though my shoe is talking. You review this and find out, oh my god. I'm poor in this area. I'm poor in this area. If I'm poor in this area, I won't have helpers in my life. Somebody asked you how are you doing to express the faith is is a is a problem. I must read books. Books on friendships, books on managing friends, influencing people. You see that?

Books on influence. How to relate well with people. Is it my finances? I need to study books on leadership, on influence, on business management. I employed three people in my business this year. Three of them stole money and ran away. Oh, no. They are not the problem. There's something I don't know. If I see consistency in behavior or following people around my life, it is possible they are not the problem.

I must check myself. What don't I know about managing people, managing employees? Are they CEO? There are books I must read. You don't wait until you become a giant and start reading those books. You read it now. In that moment, I've employed one person working with me. I must learn how to marry that person. It is one that become a thousand. Are you with me?

Yes. How many books did I buy in this year that I left on the wardrobe? And I kept on procrastinating that I will read, that I will read, that I will read, and I never read. I have a polyp procrastination. Holy spirit, help my heart. How do we solve this? What knowledge do I need? What method must I get? What is the next step not to kill this once and for all? I checked the goals I set at the beginning of the year and I conduct an introspection.

Out of 15 things I wrote I want to achieve, only one I achieved. The question is why? I said, my goodness. This one was an unreasonable goal. There's no way even if I was an eagle, I could have I could have achieved this. This. I set a goal for myself, a target for myself that I had. I I don't even have the power. I told myself I wanna sell my first 5,000,000 this year without even planning on to to think of how to how to how to to happen. They were...

By the time I was making the goal, there was no sort of income in my life. I I said, oh my goodness. I made a foolish goal. A foolish goal at that. It was... It was... It had no target. It had no... Yeah. It was not feasible.

It had no plan. It had no strategy. Alright. I've seen the problem here. These are instructions of the spirit. Are you listening to me? Yes, sir. Yes. This is how you ensure your life is effective. So I said, what what do you do in your retreat?

Number one, give thanks. Number two, divine introspection. And there are six areas of your life where you conduct divine introspection. Your spirit, soul, your body, your purpose, your finances, your relationships. The third thing you do in a retreat is effective planning for the future. That's the third thing you do in a retreat. Effective planning for the future. I think this will be the last one I will give you. Effective planning for the future. Proverbs 21 verse five.

Many believers are foolish. This is so true. We use spirituality as an excuse for fooling. The bible says the plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty. The bible is not against effective planning. To have visions without having requisite plans is to be foolish. Your vision will remain a vision. It takes plans in partnership with God to birth visions into reality. How do you plan effectively for the future? You must set clear goals, clear goals, clear attainable, achievable goals.

Ensure that the goal that you are setting have a scriptural reference or a scriptural backing. The reason is because you are most... If you set a goal without a scriptural reference, it doesn't have a basis for committing God. Many people do these things without involving God intentionally, but your success in this kingdom is based on your partnership. You're not gonna do anything alone. It is you and God. And so the reason or the way you'll be able to commit to God is when you have a scriptural reference or a scriptural backing. God is only committed to his word. Are you with me? So if I'm setting goals, I don't wanna do these things alone.

I want the strength of the spirit. I want the partnership of the spirit. On what basis does the spirit partner with me? It is on account of scriptures. Are you seeing this? I want to pray for an hour every day at least for the next six months. Pray without ceasing, the bible says. Pray without ceasing, the bible says. I put it there. Men ought always to pray and not to faint.

Every time I look at this goal of mine, there are scriptures that strengthen my spirit. Are you saying this now? You must set clear, achievable, attainable goals that have a scriptural reference, a basis to commit God to work on your behalf. If you wanna set attainable goals, one of the secrets to setting attainable goals is to put a clear time target to your goal. It puts a healthy pressure on you to be able to achieve them. The reason why some of you have defaulted in your goals is because there's no time target, and so it looks like every day is conducive. You have no time target that you set for yourself to do something. You just wrote it there carelessly. I want to give my first 100,000 naira. So every time you should walk towards it, you see it and because there's no time attached to it, you feel as though there's every...

I can... Oh, if I don't do it tomorrow, tomorrow is there. Tomorrow is there. Tomorrow is the only December comes. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I wanna read five books within the next five months. How do I do it? I wanna read a book every month. How do I divide these books? I want to study on finances in the month of January.

The month of February, I'm studying on leadership. The month of March, on ministry, on purpose, on assignments. The month of Abraham, suddenly the anoint... The anointing of the spirit, the gift of the spirit. I'm studying on faith, and so I get books on faith. I wanna read two books every month. And so when I get that book, I check how many pages does this book have. I find that it has 247 pages. Alright. I wanna finish it in two weeks.

How many pages must I read in a day to finish in two weeks? And the discipline by the spirit to ensure that you do. So when you set that goal, you find a scripture. The bible says, and Daniel understood by books. There are things I must understand by books, and so I will give myself to books that I might understand. Do you know what Daniel understood by books? Prophecies. Prophecies. The prophecy of Jeremiah that he gave concerning Israel. It was a mystery and a parable unto Daniel until Daniel started studying books.

It means there are things God will tell you you will you will understand by books. Put time targets for your goal. Is that okay? Yes, sir. Plan. Tell your neighbor plan. Plan. To be spiritual is not to be foolish. Plan. Many of us just open and pray without planning.

You have to be like Nehemiah. With one hand, you are building. With with with the other hand, you're holding a sword. Both hands cannot hold a sword. One must build while the other holds a sword. While you pray, you must plan. While you plan, you must act. So when you say, I want to improve my finances this year. Ah, this coming year, I want to... That's not a goal.

What's the plan to get there? What am I doing? Am I learning a skill? If so, when am I starting? How am I going about it? When do I start? What do I need to start? How do I get the things I need to start? These are questions that must be answered. You don't just say, I wanna improve my finances next year, that's a goal.

And you think by prayer, it will happen. The bible says the effective planning of your diligent list of plenty. Some of you will need to tell yourself, this childishness must end this year. It mustn't follow me to next year. This foolishness must end this year. This stupidity in my life must go this year. The bible is when I was a child, I behaved as a child. I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. But when I grew, I put childish things.

It is time to put away childish things. Enough of irresponsible fathers, irresponsible men, nuisance to society. A gentleman who should be capable of taking care of his siblings and busy about his own career is still dependent on his old and hated parents for food. But he's there blasting in tongues. It should not be so. Enough irresponsibility. Take hold of your life. And when you call him and sit down and say, what what is going on? He will tell you, God said, I should just wait. There's a pattern to the instructions of of God.

The the speakings of God follow his character. Are you with me? Yes. Plan. If you're a man, tell yourself I must plan for my life. I'm speaking to everybody, but listen to me men. Plan. I want to marry in the next two years. Enough of wishful thinking or stupid thinking, thinking that has no basis for action. Ah, I will get a house next year.

I'll get a car next year. If I get a house next year and I get a car next year, two years' time, I should not marry. This thing is easy. I now meet when I now come to the companion of fools. And I'll tell them, you know, I'm getting the house next year. There's a guy. I'm getting the car next year. It's easy. Once you can conceive it, once you can sit, once you can picture it, your life guy will now tell you, this is true. You are right.

The bible says that the people said to themselves, let us build on to us a tower. And when God came, he saw the city which they builded. And he said, nothing they imagined to do. Brother, as long as you imagine it. Next year, we are giving the millions. Oh, glory to God. And when they when they all disperse, nobody ask themselves, so how do we do it? So how do we go about it? How do we go about it? And if somebody now asks how they go about this, you don't even have faith.

You don't you don't even have faith. Is all we're talking about here? It's not by power. It's not by might. It's by my spirit. It's also not by folly. It's not by stupidity. It's by wisdom. Say it the Lord. The Bible says except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.

Except the Lord watches over a city, they labor in vain that watches it. The bible then says, through wisdom is a house built. By understanding, it is established. The bible says the labor of fools will ease them because they know not the way to the city. In other words, one thing that categorizes fools is that they know not. In in other words, the reason why a man is foolish is because he does not know. Are you with me? That means he has no wisdom. So when they build houses and a man thinks that what is... What it means is that God is the one that will come and arrange the block for him, there will still be a man arranging the block.

The difference would be that he's doing it with wisdom. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Because the same bible says, true wisdom is a house built. There is wisdom for strategy, wisdom for planning, wisdom for effective planning. How do we reach? We set a target for my team. How do we get there? We we just started a ministry. We wanna reach a 100 people, a 100 people in three months.

Oh, glory to God. Everybody shouted, hey. Oh, When you calm down, how? What is the strategy of the spirit that will be released? How do we plan to get there? Are you with me? I want to start... In fact, I want to rise... Listen. If I give you a prophecy and I tell you in the name...

Don't say amen. In the name of Jesus, God is increasing you 10 times higher. As you say amen, you didn't go and sit down and say, what's the wisdom for it? What is the strategy for it? The wisdom of the spirit to ensure that I have multiplied results, amplified results, greater dimensions of results even for effort that I put. Are you with me? What must I do? Listen. Listen. The bible says that that man came to Jesus and asked him, what must I do to be saved?

That question, what must I do? You must ask it. What must I do to prosper? What must I do to make wealth? What must I do to be rich? What must I do to change my financial level? What must I do to make sales? What must I do to multiply? What must I do to spread? Don't assume...

Listen. Assumption is the lowest form of intelligence. Never assume. Don't assume you know. Find out facts. Find out truth. Sit down with those who know. Pay for courses. Go for conferences. Go for seminars.

They will be part of things you write down. I will pay the price in the coming year. Oh, the rate at which... The rate and manner at which I paid the price this year is so weak. It's so weak. Oh, the coming year will pay I will pay the price. I will pay the price. There's a coming seminar, and they are bringing the top voices in the industry. And they said that the ticket is 10,500 naira. I will save for it.

I will be there. I will sit down. I will hear what they have to say. Sometimes what they say might be things you know. You might not be after what they say. It it might not be new to you what they are saying. However, the the depth and the wealth of the experience they're using to communicate what they are saying is different. And so there are stories they will tell inside what you already know that will give you a strange kind of enlightenment that you never had. Are you with me? Yes, sir.

So somebody might tell you that there's a conference, for instance, for web developers or for fashion designers, and you are warned yourself, and you say, oh, they are bringing the top voices in your field to come and give a lecture. I'm there. I'm sitting right in the front one hour before I sit down. What do they have to say? How did they become great? Are you with me? How did they become great? Now the person is giving you principles. Some of the things they are saying that you have read before in books. But the moment they start telling stories, your ears are open.

K. This is it. This is where I've been missing it. Okay. Alright. And you remember, one of the things you want to work on is relationships. So as the meeting is over, he said, alright. Now I shake over. I I I take away all that. I I pray in tongues.

I rebuke shyness. I rebuke timidity. I rebuke all of this nonsense in the name of Jesus. As I'm walking up to people right now, their hearts are open unto me. Hello. My name is Benga. My name is Shola. My name is Biodu. I'm from Ibadan. I am also a fashion designer.

I make clothes. What what is your name? Can I know you? What do you do? What brand of fashion do you do? Oh, can I have your number? Because one of the targets I set is that I must work on effective relationships, associations that will lead to greatness. Are you with me brothers and sisters? Yes. Thank you, Jesus.

Are you learning something? Yes, sir. Instructions. If you give your life to these things, you can't fail. You can't fail. Plan. Plan. By the grace of God, there's a message for almost every area of your life in this house. Almost every area of your life, relationships, finances, leadership, character development, almost every area of your life knowing the holy spirit, spiritual growth prayer. You can go to the media department department.

They should help you. What do you want to develop? Where do you need messages on? Get these things. Listen to them like a drug. As to you are listening to a drug, like capsules you are feeding on. Flushing away foolishness. Flushing away fully. Are you with me brothers and sisters? Yes.

Last one I would give to you and then we close. And we pray. First Samuel chapter one and verse one. I will never be the same. I've touched your grapes. My life must change. I will never be the same. I've touched your grapes. My life must First Samuel chapter one and verse one. Listen.

Now there was a third man of Ramapham Zohim Zohim Zohim of the Mountains Of Hebron, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jehoram, the son of Helio, the son of To, the son of Zuf, and Ephraimite. Next verse. And he had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Penina. And Benina had children, but Hannah had no children. Next verse. This is where I'm going. The bible says this man went up from his city yearly. This was something that he did every year. At the start of every season, the man will go up.

And what is he doing as he goes up yearly? This was a consistent practice for the man to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Give me verse 21. The bible says, now the man of Cana and all his house went up to offer to the Lord, the yearly sacrifice and his vow. The last thing that must become a commitment of yours even as you go on the retreat is to have a sacrifice that comes from you. That becomes a vow and a basis for a covenant within you and God. Many people have different names for this thing. As a matter of fact, what this this yearly sacrifice here, what the bible is talking about according to his custom was false fruits. Another name that they call it is called is false fruit. It's part of decisions that a man makes in his retreat to say, I will open this season with a sacrifice.

When seasons are closing and seasons are ending, when you're about to enter into new seasons of your life, either... Listen. I must be able to tell when new seasons of your life are beckoned on you. It might be by the instruction of the spirit. God can tell you. You can have a prompt in your life, in your heart that there there... There's about to be a shift in my life. It doesn't have to be a new year. It can be in March. It can be in April.

You just know that there's about to be a shift. God is doing something. God is doing something. Something's about to happen in my life. There there there seems to be a change of season. The tectonic plates are shifting. Are you with me? The moment the man begins to sense, one... That one thing that man must do is that he must offer a sacrifice. Something that will cost him.

It is this thing you use in securing covenants. Psalms 15 verse five. The bible says, gather unto me my saints, those who I have made a covenant with by sacrifice. This is how men and these are men partner with God to exempt themselves from calamity so that when evil befall others, your own house is shielded. Are you with me? When everybody is dying of a sickness and a plague befalls everyone, you have secured yourself and your family and your household. A sacrifice. This is my sacrifice unto God. This has been my culture for several years. I've never thought this.

I've never thought this. Nobody knows this about me. But every time I sense in my spirit that a new season beckons onto me, there must be a sacrifice. Every time my birthday comes, there must be a sacrifice that leaves me because that is the start of a new season. Are you with me? Every time a new year comes, there must be a sacrifice that leaves me. For some is the first fruit. This is the first thing I'm receiving in this year, and so I offer it to God as a sacrifice. This is the first fruit of my business. I offer it to God as sacrifice.

This is the first fruit of my pit... Of my of my of my career, of my workplace, for the work I'm doing in this year. And so I open this year with a sacrifice. I open this season with a sacrifice. What you do is that you strike covenants with sacrifice. The bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse one, cast your bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days. Next next verse. Give a portion to seven and also to eight. A eight, the eight there signifies sacrifice. As a matter of fact, eight in the name of the spirit stands for new beginnings.

New beginnings. So when the bible instruct that you should give a portion to it, what the bible is saying is that you should give a portion to start new things in your life for the purpose of new beginnings. When God tells you, I will do a new thing. It's a call to give a portion to it. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Yes. Rise up on your feet. Thank you, Jesus. My life must change.

My life must change. Listen. The prayer is quite simple. There's no... I'm not I'm not really interested in what is about to happen doesn't need so much excitement. Are you with me? It's not in the excitement. Oh, no. I'm just gonna place my hands on you and you return to your seat. That's all.

Is that okay? Yes, I'll place my hands on you, you return to your seat. The power is in the instruction, not in the excitement. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Yes. The power is in the instruction and not in the excitement. Very orderly. I just place my hands on you and you return back to your seat. Is that okay?

Very orderly. We pray, can you tell God what you want before the end of the year? A shift, the miracle, I still believe something is possible. I still believe that there can be a change, a shift in my life. A change and a shift in my life. My prayer is that some people will be intentional in this meeting right now. Pray. Thirty more seconds to pray. Thank you, Lord Jesus. You, you, Lord Jesus.

Jesus. You, Lord Jesus. All along, we thank you. We love you. In Jesus mighty name, we have prayed. You'll be amazed at the testimonies that will the of Jesus. Let us share the grace with them and fellowship, everyone. Be with us now and forevermore. Amen. We believe you've been transformed.

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