POWERFUL PRAYER FROM PASTOR EMMA - IT IS YOUR RIGHT

https://youtu.be/jIQng8_Svsg?si=FmmP5ziLg3xmECyJ

WATER BAPTISM: WHO SHOULD OFFICIATE BAPTISM?

 Water Baptism: Who Should Officiate Baptism?

A moment of truth for the Church

It is time that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should stand up and speak the truth to one another. Not in the manner some people do today, in a manner that castigates and causes confusion among the people. Those are not speakers of truth but partners with the devil who is the accuser of the brethren. The truth that comes from the Spirit of God is spoken in love.

Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body Eph 4:25NIV

Truth spoken in love through the unction of the Holy Spirit brings liberation from demonic and mental bondage. If we judged ourselves, we can escape God’s judgment.

The Church of Jesus Christ in its present state needs the speaking forth of this kind of truth. One of such truth is that a powerless and impotent Church was never in the idea of our Lord Jesus Christ. A Church that is only sustained by ecclesiastical liturgy is very far from the agenda of Jesus Christ. That is why even after He had spent more than three years with His followers and invested more than forty days teaching them in the upper room, He still instructed them not to move out for the assignment until they are empowered through the coming and outpouring of the Holy Spirit

You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Luke 24:48-49NIV

He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7-8NIV

Unfortunately, many Christian congregations lack this power and are only sustained through religious rituals. Of a truth, many minsters of the gospel today will lose their essence for existence if they take away activities like marriage and burial ceremonies from their schedules. The rest try to find relevance by teaching mysteries and eschatology of the end of the ages. These would not be wrong if they were not taking the place of the main thing, which is preaching the gospel in the power and saving knowledge from the Holy Spirit.

Consequently, one fallen generation have begotten another until we have come to the point where the true revelation sounds strange to us. 

Do you know that some Christian believers think it strange that a woman should officiate baptism? I mean to say, they believe that only men can baptise people. This is because all their life, they have only seen men officiating baptism. In many Christian circles officiating baptism is the exclusive responsibility of the most senior pastor. One of my protégée narrated how he managed to bring an old woman to be baptised in the church baptistery but the district pastor refused to baptise her because, according to him, he has already stepped out of the water. The old woman who was also sick was asked to wait for the baptismal ceremony of the next year.

Many believers who would otherwise have been effective in the God’s kingdom business are hereby bound under religious servitude to men because they are not aware of the truth as expressed in the word of God.

Take a look at this;

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.  In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) Acts 1:14-15NIV

These number of believers, men and women, were the ones upon whom the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them Acts 2:1-4NIV 

The Holy Spirit fell on and also filled all those women. Even the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ was in their number and that means that she was filled in the Holy Spirit and spoke in Tongues like everyone else. All these women joined in the first open air preaching on the Pentecost Day to that great crowd.

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Acts 2:11-12NIV

Apostle Peter and the rest of the Twelve would not have baptised three thousand new converts alone. If the Holy Spirit fell on and filled all of them, at what point did they separate men ministers from the their “lesser” women members?

When the Lord Jesus Christ addressed them about their assignment after Pentecost outpouring, there is no indication that He made discrimination between men and women believers, or clergy and laity.

 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18NIV

The instruction to go, was given to all genders of believers and the signs followed everyone who would believe, irrespective of their gender. 

Regarding officiating of baptism, even though we have the bible records of when believers scattered and preached in many places, there is no single record where the Twelve or another Christian leader in the bible was invited for the purpose of baptising people.

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord Acts 11:19-21NIV

The people were recorded as believers because they were baptised. Later the apostles sent Barnabas to them and there was no record that he officiated baptism. Rather, it was stated;

News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts Acts 11:22-23NIV

Barnabas was impressed with the work the church planters had done and encouraged them to continue in the faith. He did not talk about baptism because these believers were already baptised. Even though a lot of the new converts were Gentiles, there was no mention of the taking up of Christian names after they became Christian believers. 

This is a portion of the letter written to Gentile believers by the Apostles in Jerusalem;

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Acts 15:28-29NIV

So, at what point did officiating baptism become the exclusive responsibility of church leaders? At what point did it turn out that when a believer wins a soul he must wait for the church leader to baptise the convert? At what point was it said that women who won souls cannot baptise their converts?

This is the Promise of God to all believers, men and women;

"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Acts 2:17-18NIV

What then is the responsibility of the Christian leaders?

To prepare the church people to do the work of ministry like baptism, evangelism and discipleship of new comers.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ Eph 4:11-13NIV

Again, they are supposed to watch out that false teachers don’t infiltrate the church with their poisonous teachings. 

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away 1 Peter 5:1-4NIV

Then to minister healing and deliverance to the people of God.

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:14NIV

To teach and build up the entire Body of Christ;

Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you 1 Tim 4:11-14NIV

A Body of Believers  who serves God in this manner will never lack the anointing presence of the Holy Spirit.  When we set our own standards we end up edging God out of our midst,  hence the powerlessness we experience today. 

I will love to get your reactions.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

THE DAY I DROWNED A POLICE OFFICER’S WIFE DURING BAPTISM EXERCISE

 THE DAY I DROWNED A POLICE OFFICER’S WIFE DURING BAPTISM EXERCISE

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Rom 6:4NIV

Yes, you read me right. I killed a senior police officer’s wife during baptism. And the man was a Muslim.

While my family lived in Borikiri area in Port Harcourt, a woman brought me a complaint about issues with her sister. Her sister would get pregnant, carry the pregnancy to term and successfully deliver her baby safe and strong. The problem was that if she takes in again, the living baby would die two days to the delivery of the new child. In this way she had lost four children. This woman was brought to me and, looking at her alone was sobering.

Before this occasion, I have handled this kind of case before while I lived in Onitsha. It was with a wife of a powerful witchdoctor. So, I know immediately this had to do with an inherited covenant. Either the father or mother of the woman had an existing covenant with a shine and the demons of the altars are trying to get her attention to come and service the covenant. In some cases, the demons want her to return to the shrine and serve as shrine priestess. Not many people would accept such conditions these days, especially when it was their parents that made the covenant on their behalf. These kind of cases are wrongly referred to as spirit spouse because they are not, and the terms of their covenants are different from spirit spouse. But just like spirit spouse, they hinder their victim from getting married, cause miscarriage, attack the human spouse of their victim and if these efforts fail to achieve their goal, they begin to create the kind of circumstances we are talking about now.

What some of the victims do is to approach the altars of the demons in charge and seek terms of peace. While I was in Adam-Palm Farm Settlement in Imo State, Nigeria, we had another case. The woman had settled for annual settlement of making sacrifices on the altar of the demons. The materials for the sacrifices often included expensive aprons, foot wears and costly perfumes. I don’t know how these spirits use these things. In fact, it is a common thing to see some of these items littering the roadsides. A time would always come when their victim will not be able to meet the demands and they either kill her or strike her with madness. The reason is that these demons are wicked spirits who will at the same time be attacking the sources of income of their victim and whoever is supporting him or her. This problem affects both males and females.

I warn people never to enter into an agreement with demons because satan will always fail on his own side.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies John 8:44NIV

In this case of Ada-Palm Farm Settlement, things became very hard for the woman’s family and they could not meet up with the demands, and the demons tried to kill the woman on one of the night we were having Deliverance week, so they hurried her to our centre. By the grace of God, she was delivered. We later baptised her and she has remained free ever since.

With these background of experiences, it was easy for me to understand what this woman was going through. However, we have a problem in this case; the woman that brought her was a Muslim and married to a senior police officer who was also a Muslim. In some Muslim circles in Nigeria, it is a taboo to even mention that you went to a pastor for prayers, not to mention that you need to convert to Christianity. I went ahead to announce to these women that I had no charms or talisman to give to them. I told them that it is only through the power in the name of Jesus Christ that I could help them, and they must need accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour. I also told them that I will baptise them into the name of Jesus Christ and then terminate the evil covenant with demons by the power in the name of Jesus Christ. They asked me to allow them to think about it and discuss the matter with their husbands as well. They returned the next day and said that they were willing to surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour. I instructed them briefly about baptism and asked to return again the next day for the exercise.

Till date, I do not still know why the police officer’s wife was showing interest of joining her sister in the exercise, because it was her sister that was facing the challenges. But the next day they both returned and they were prepared for the exercise. Yet, we met another challenge. The senior police officer’s wife had a bad dream.

In her dream, she saw me put her into a coffin, dragged the coffin into the river and pushed into the river and she drowned. After she told me the dream, I was surprised that this woman still wanted to go ahead and get baptised, even though, she was aware that I was going to baptise her in one of the big channels of the atlantic ocean in Kpokolo axis of Borikiri. That was when our main text was laid in my heart by the Holy spirit. I explained to her that the dream was actually the exact expression of what I wanted to do to both of them. I explained to them that I was going to kill the old person that they were through the process of that baptism; the result will be that the new person that will come out of that water will be too powerful for those demons of the evil altars to handle.

It was only the heart of a hard-core missionary that made me to go ahead with baptising them. Joy, my wife, was with me and I baptised them. Glory to God that they returned safe and better. We ministered deliverance on them and they left. The great testimony is that the woman has had four children after that exercise, and all of them are alive today.

There is mighty power in the name of Jesus Christ.

If you are reading this now and you are still undecided to surrender your life to Christ, I encourage you to do so now. If you are among those who are still servicing ancient inherited covenants and satan and his demons are messing your life up, I need to let you know that you do not have to continue with that. There is sufficient power in the name of Jesus Christ to set you free. Maybe, you have a slightly differently issue, I encourage you that it is still the same name and the power in that name. you can be delivered too.

Here is what the bible said;

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:9-11NIV

for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Rom 10:13NIV

Just bow your head and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to do it again in your life. You can welcome him into your life and the miracle will start. If you need further assistance, contact me with information below. I have written a number of books and God can use them to help you too.

I recommend you read some of my books 

COVENANTS: HOW THEY AFFECT PEOPLE 

HOW TO OVERCOME SPIRIT HUSBAND AND WIFE PROBLEMS 

ORIGINS OF COMPLICATED SPIRITUAL PROBLEMS AND THE WAY 

+2348035724526

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

WHY WATER BAPTISM SHOULD BE IN THE RIVER

 Why baptism must be in a river.

(Position of a Deliverance Minister).

After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized John 3:22-23NIV

I took a lady who came to our Centre for deliverance attention to the river to baptise her. She told me that as I asked her to step into the water to get baptized, her spiritual eyes were opened and she saw a man warning her not to dare follow me into the water. That was her spirit spouse. She testified to her total deliverance after that baptism. One brother was deep into occult and hard drugs. He accepted to give his life to Christ and get baptized. He told me when he came out of the water that he saw the strong demons that controlled his life leave him as I baptised him. We have received many of such testimonies as we baptize people.

There are people I personally refused to baptize because they wanted me to baptize them in the swimming pool in the comfort of their home. Not that I had anything against the swimming pool baptism, but I saw that as giving them the mandate of the gospel within the terms of their flesh. Unfortunately, the principal reason for baptism in the baptistery or swimming pool is because of our comfort, not the absence of a nearby river and I have never heard someone present bible grounds for it. Those Christian leaders do not want to stress themselves. I have even seen a pastor deep someone in water while standing outside the pool. This is a height of official indiscipline. Standing with the new comer in the water connotes that you are bringing him into what you are. To stand outside means that you are a hypocrite. Sorry if that sounds hard but it is the naked truth.

Lately, some bible teachers have misapplied the bible scripture that said that John will baptise with water and Jesus Christ will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire, to mean that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ do not need water baptism but only the baptism in the Holy Spirit. 

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Matt 3:11NIV

This is a complete miscarriage of bible theology. Our main text states clearly that Jesus Christ baptised His believers in water. It is also stated in scripture that He instructed and supervised as His disciples baptised new converts in water.

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples John 4:1-2NIV

Apostle Paul who came sometime after the Lord had returned to heaven was baptised in water and he baptised others after him.

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."  Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized Acts 9:17-18NIV

Our main text put forward before us the kind of location where Jesus Christ baptised people; “because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized”.

There was no bible instance where people were baptised in a pool or baptistery. Without diverting our attention, we have dealt with the matter of baptism being for believers; that is someone who heard the message of the gospel and exercised his will to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour. This is an impossible art for a baby.

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned Mark 16:15-16NIV

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:41NIV

The inversion of the Church by the worldly system as leaders has led to the introduction of some practices which are alien to the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples. What I mean is that some of these practices were never expressed by the Lord nor His disciples directly or indirectly. One of them is the practice of baptising believers within the church hall baptistery or the swimming pool.

Someone had challenged me, “Just what is wrong with baptising people in the pool? Water is water anywhere”.

I asked him, “Just what is wrong in obeying a simple instruction of someone you claim is your God? Why not simply step out of the church premises and do what He told you?”

In extreme cases we can accept anything but I have travelled to as far as ten kilometres to get a river for baptism and I did not regret it.

It is true that many people have testified to having been blessed as they got baptised in a swimming pool, I want us to understand that there are spiritual reasons for baptising people in the river. As the testimonies I shared with you portrayed, it is a dimension of spiritual warfare.

1. It is a total obedience to the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ 

2. It is a direct confrontation with the marine powers that hold many people as captives.

3. It is taking the battle to the gates of our enemies.  More than twenty persons I have baptised in a river were initially afraid of the river before then, because of their dream experiences. They used to see themselves in the dream in rivers but after that baptism they were freed. 

4. Marine powers claim ownership of the river and when we take people to the river, we are asserting our claim over all of God’s creation.

5. It is a pattern of witnessing as other people see us by the riverbanks baptising, they are awakened to their need of the Lord Jesus Christ.

6. It is a public display of our identifying with Jesus Christ.

This is as much I can give on this article. You can read more on this subject from my book, Baptism as a Tool for Total Deliverance. Available as soft copy on our online bookstore.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

PRAYER PARTNERS: HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY?

 PRAYER PARTNERS: HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY?

It is a sign of a healthy Christian life when someone cries out, “I want to have a prayer partner!” We can never overestimate the importance of having prayer partners. The bible does not hide the fact that we will do better in life if we work as a team.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Eccl 4:9-11NIV

Nowhere else does this hold truer than in the matter of spiritual activities. The reason being that within the body of every human being is an ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit. The soul of man is the central processing unit (CPU) and it manifests whatever comes from either side. A man who is fighting this kind of battle will most likely fall one day, “But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want Gal 5:16-17NIV

Take note of the clause, “You do not do what you want”.

Also take note of another clause, “they are in conflict with each other”.

This battle runs in the life of every human being. The reason we did not feel this conflict before we came to Christ is because our spirit person was dead and our fleshly personality had the total control, so the desire for the things of the spirit were either dead or in its minimal stage that was of no threat to our flesh. The things the flesh desire are the things that satan and the worldly system desire. Since the real battle is between the world of good and evil and our flesh subscribes to evil, satan is at peace with the choices of the flesh.

On the contrary, when we come to Christ our spirit personality is resurrected and the battle for control starts. The spirit personality tilts to the things that are towards God and the growth of our soul towards godly virtues. This is not what our flesh wants.

In your spirit person, you know that you ought to read the bible but your flesh wants to watch indecent contents on the Social Media. You know you ought to fast at least every Thursday of the week, but your fleshly person wants to eat. You now know the benefit of getting up to pray in the night but the flesh won’t have that; it would prefer that you watch movies till late in the night or just go to bed. Before your salvation and the resurrection of your spirit, attending church services and fellowships, were not very important but now that you are born again and your spirit person is hungry for more of God, you don’t just want to go to church, you are interested in every detail of the activities that happen there.

Due to this conflict you need to know how best to fight and win. One of the most effective ways to fight this battle is to have other good believers who are pursuing this end as you. Even though we read it say that two are better than one, the same bible said that an evil person around you could mess up what God is working out for you.

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 1 Cor 15:33NIV

So, every company is not right for the believer. When the disciples were facing persecution, they had their own team or people to return to.

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God Acts 4:23-24NIV

It was these people who joined them in prayers.

When Daniel’s life was threatened by Nebuchadnezzar, he had prayer partners to ask to pray with him.

Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon Dan 2:17-18NIV

Even the Lord Jesus Christ required prayers from His prayer partners.

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Matt 26:36-38NIV

You cannot become so big that you no longer need prayer partners. In fact, the more you grow, the greater is your need for prayer partners. Unfortunately, many servants of God do not understand this. They even feel shy to express their need for prayers. This is especially so when servants of God boast about the spiritual power they have more than everyone else.

When prayer partners are most needed -

When you are stressed and depressed. Just invite your prayer partner or walk into a prayer fellowship and be quiet for a while.

When you want to make an important decision. Tell someone to pray along with you.

When you are seeking to hear from God or getting some direction on some issues.

When you are too tired or confused to utter prayers on your own. At moments like this, devil will want to stalk you because you are in your weakest moment and vulnerable. You need to contact your prayer partner as soon as possible.

When you need someone else to kick-start your prayers. You are not just able to start praying on your own.

When you have a big spiritual challenge like the sudden death of a child, spiritual attack on your family or a bad news from home.

When you want to develop and grow your prayer life to a higher level. You need to have a fix time and place to meet with your prayer partners or team.

Where do I find the right prayer partners?

From what we stated above, you can see that your prayer partners ought to be people around you. Too sad that most of us brag that we don’t relate with people in our immediate environment. If you cannot mention one person around you that fits in for a prayer partner, then you have to review your connections. May be you are in a wrong company.

Your prayer partner does not necessarily have to be very strong spiritually. He may be someone who is also seeking to grow up in spiritual matters. He mostly will have struggles of his own. Both of you are just coming together to keep yourselves warm.

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Ecc. 4:11

The advent of technology makes it easy for us to have prayer partners who are staying even in another continent. There is no problem with that for a start. Yet, there are things that only people nearby can do.

Even if your spouse is not as strong as you would want, still ask him or her to be your prayer partner. Start with short moments of prayer and then grow with time. Your colleagues at school or workplace can be your prayer partner. I strongly advice against an opposite sex who is not your spouse as a prayer partner, unless there are other persons present. That brings me to add that you can have more than five members in your team.

You did not have the power to choose your parents or siblings, but you are the one to choose your friends. Now, think of at least three persons you would want to propose to as your prayer partners. Write down their names and take two nights to ask the Holy Spirit to open their hearts to accept to be your prayer partners. You can also ask the Lord to show you if they are not the right ones for you. They maybe members or your local church.

I think your spouse will be wonderful for this.

(Please, let us know before you ask someone on PNUR Network to be your prayer partner, unless you know that person before you joined the PNUR Family)

Let me know what you find.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

ESTHER: LIFE OUTSIDE THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD 3

Our Troubles and Troublers

Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman." Est 7:6NIV

Recently I was a guest preacher to a church program and the theme was, “Haman Must Die!” The focus of the program was to do spiritual warfare against spiritual and natural forces that represented the enemy of their progress. From the first day I received the invitation, the Holy Spirit kept impressing in my spirit that Haman was not their problem. By this I do not mean that there was no Haman, but that the power Haman had over them was because they relinquished their God given position and so lacked the moral standing to exercise their Kingdom authority, therefore they became vulnerable and weak before the powers that resisted their wellbeing. This will form our next focus in this meditation

After a period of fasting and prayers to seek God’s intervention, Esther was able to secure access to meet her husband in the inner chamber of his personal retreat. After explaining herself, the king was shocked and wanted to know who could have devised such evil against his wife.

Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman." Est 7:6NIV

That is the way we present our troubles and troublers. We talk about them like they came from nowhere and we pray to God about them like, if God was serious enough with doing His job and protecting us, there would never have been troubles or troublers. The truth however remains that God sees our future troubles and troublers before they manifest and He takes steps to spare us the pain. But our tendency is to respond to the troubles when we can see them. At the time we are able to see them physically, they would have taken roots spiritually. At that point, like trees with ancient roots, we will then need great efforts to deal with them and in most cases, at a very high cost to us. That is the situation with the enemy that Esther now introduced to her husband as “this vile Haman”.

Who is Haman?

He was from Amalek. Far back when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt, without any provocation the Amalekites attacked them from the rear. They attacked the weak and despairing among the people of God. The Lord Himself told Moses and the people of Israel to brace up and fight back. Ex17:1-3

From this point God knew that Amalek would constitute a great threat to the establishment of the people of God. So,

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."  Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord. The Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation." Ex 17:14-16NIV

So Haman was an offshoot from a generational enemy. Many years before Esther was born, God undertook to prevent this situation that caused her threat to life. One of the first assignments that God gave to King Saul was to deal with Amalek. 

Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'" 1 Sam 15:1-3NIV

If King Saul did what he was commanded to do, there would never have been a Haman. Unfortunately, 

The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?"  "But I did obey the Lord," Saul said. "I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king 1 Sam 15:17-20NIV 

Now, the vile Haman, according to Esther, was an Amalekite and from the royal root of King Agag. So great was Agag that even the Spirit of the Lord recognized him. King Saul killed the common people but preserved the members of the royal family. It was Samuel who killed Agag but some members of the royal family remained alive. We can now see that if the ancestors of Esther did what they were instructed to do, Esther will not have to fight with vile Haman today.

Secondly, I hope you remember that at the start of our meditation, we said that Esther, Mordecai and the rest of the Jews that are now facing the threat of the vile Haman were among the great number of the people of God who refused to heed the Lord’s call to return to their own country. 

"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you — may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem Ezra 1:2-3NIV

So, if Mordecai and Esther had joined the rest of their people, Mordecai will not have a face to face confrontation with Haman that will lead to the issues we are talking about now.

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles … When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. Est 3:1,5-6 NIV

On the one hand, this vile Haman came to be because of the failure of the ancestors of the present generation of the Jews. I make bold to say that a great number of the battles believers are confronted with today are the result of the sins of omission and commission of those who lived before them. The Lord Jesus Christ made the same statement to His audience.

What it means is that every drop of righteous blood ever spilled from the time earth began until now,. from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was struck down between altar and sanctuary, is on your heads. Yes, it's on the bill of this generation and this generation will pay. Luke 11:50-51(from THE MESSAGE BIBLE): 

Whatever calamity that would come on this generation will be the result of the seed their ancestors sowed. the imminent death that forced them into fasting was because their ancestors failed to obey the instructions from God. The location they met the crisis was because they themselves failed to obey the Lord.

This calls for introspection from my reader. It also reminds you that whatever things you do today, are seed that you are sowing. If you do not reap them, your generations will. Those of us who are returning to idolatry and occult; those of us that are robbing temples; those of us that are oppressing people; those of us who are building beautiful houses by destroying the future of other people’s children and those who attacking and abusing servants of God should know that someone will reap what they are sowing. This holds for both the positive and negative side of life.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Gal 6:7-8NIV

We like to point out here that Haman did not fall from the sky and it is not the result of failure on the side of God. Most of the complicated spiritual battles we are facing today are the result of negligence on the part of our fathers. The rest are there because we are failing in our responsibility. God is very ready to help us get through out of them but we need to face the truth.

I strongly believe that the three days and nights of fasting and prayers was not directed at asking God to kill Haman. I believe it was a period of national repentance and reconciliation with God. It was a time to call out their sins and the sins of their fathers. 

In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Est 4:3NIV

Sackcloth and ashes represents repentance and humbling themselves to ask for God’s mercy. They were not out to bind and destroy Haman. They were aware that they would not be in such circumstances if they had obeyed the Lord.

Repentance clears the way for God to step in. Are there things you need to repent of? In the course of reading this, are you reminded of some generational iniquity that you need to repent of?

Once they began to offer the right kind of prayers, God began to move on their behalf. Their destiny helpers began to remember them. Their enemies began to fall down and serve them. Court cases they could not handle began to go in their favour. 

That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. "What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?" the king asked. "Nothing has been done for him," his attendants answered. Est 6:1-3NIV

Even the so-called almighty Haman fell down before them to beg for his life.

Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman." Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life   Est 7:6-7NIV

Hmmm!

Our troubles and our troublers are not nearly as powerful as we have made them to appear. We only need the right heart attitude and prayers. 

Do you feel like praying now?

Please, go ahead. I will come back to you.

(To be continued).

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com  

ESTHER: LIFE OUTSIDE THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD 2

 Intimidated by the fear of suffering

"Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." Est 4:16NIV

Unless you have been in the same position, it will be difficult to understand all the implications in Esther’s statement; If I perish, I perish. Here Esher decided to confront what she had feared all her life; the fear of suffering.

Oh, how many of the Lord’s people fear hardship and suffering. We sing it in our songs and shout it from our pulpits; we don’t want to suffer and we don’t want to die. I beg to disappoint you by saying you can never find a life of true purpose outside the realms of deliberately embracing suffering and death.

 Unknown to us, the devil has discovered this weakness in us and so has technically taken us captive within the prison walls of our fears. For the fear of suffering a young minister sacrificed his daughter to satan so he could have a big congregation. For the fear of suffering our brothers in the business world joined occult so they can get contracts. For the fear of not having our own fruit of the womb, believers have drunk concoctions in the satan’s coven. There is no limit to what satan can take you through if he could intimidate you with the fear of suffering. 

One of the principal assignments of our Messiah who suffered is to deal with this fear.

Free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death Heb 2:15NIV

Fear is a merciless slave master 

We are not told at what age Esther was when her parents died and the circumstances that led to their death. However, we know that she was born at a time her people were living as slaves among ruthless gentile people with emperors who were reputed for their mindless torture and murder of their enemies. Nebuchadnezzar was brutal; just imagine a man who felt no quam as he attempted to kill hundreds of young men he had spent three years to train, just because of the issue of a dream. Not many people knew that all those young people were castrated as eunuchs, that included Daniel and his friends. That explains why we never heard of the children of Daniel. The emperors enjoyed absolute power. That included king Ahasuerus who ruled at the time of Esther.

The fear of suffering and death was part of Esther’s everyday life. It was the fear of what they could suffer that kept Mordecai from joining others in Jerusalem when King Cyrus opened the doors for them. Fear of suffering made her hide her real name and nationality. Imagine to find yourself in a situation that you don’t want anyone to know who you really are. Though in a marriage. the same fear kept her from complaining when she began to lose her place in the palace. 

Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, "All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king." Est 4:10-11NIV

She suffered in silence. She married the man out of fear of offending her father. Oh, did we forget to mention that the king also married her just to get back at his wife for disobeying him. History said that the king’s marriage to Esther did not last.

Later when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. Then the king's personal attendants proposed, "Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. Est 2:1-2NIV

There are many, today who still make decisions, not because of sound judgment, but because of what they fear. Some for fear of poverty, married a rich unbeliever. Some for the fear of parents married someone from their tribe. Some for fear of suffering like the pastors who keep begging for mission support, clung to the job they know they ought to leave to make their service to God more effective. I have met families who are now childless because they aborted their children earlier because they feared they won’t be able to raise children then.

Like Esther, fear has become the prison house.

Fear made Esther silent about what she knew of the saving power in the Lord Jesus Christ. She dared not talk about Jehovah because she was afraid. How she was afflicted in her soul for the period she lived in that fear. Oh, the emptiness in her heart. In today’s parlance, she only hummed Christian hymns and wished for the days when she owned her life.

Despite all she had sacrificed, the enemy did not spare her. The family she belonged to had been taken, her peace had been taken, her prayer life was taken, she cannot remember the last time she opened her bible, and now, her father is telling her that, not only himself, but her entire race was about to be destroyed. She was afraid.

We are often deceived to believe that satan will let us be if we do not disturb him, but that is a lie. While Esther played it cool, the enemy of her soul was gaining more and more grounds. Haman had bought her husband over and had total control of the whole kingdom because he now wore the signet ring. 

Esther could not even see her husband’s face for the space of one month but Haman could visit even in the midnight.

The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had erected for him.  His attendants answered, "Haman is standing in the court." Est 6:4-5NIV

Esther decided to face her fear. All the compromise was to her lose. 

Now, if I will perish, let me perish.

Everyone will now know that I am a true child of God. All my friends and staff will hear the testimony of my conversion. Everything about me will once again radiate my true personality in Christ 

If I perish, I perish 

I can see in my mind’s eyes as the Queen Esther walked into the conference hall and ordered all her staffs and servants to suspend all activities and give her their attention.

“Everyone in this office must join us for a three days fast”.

I can see the shock on everyone’s face. Who is talking?

“Yes, I know you are surprised but I want you to know that I am actually a Christian child of God. From today, no more those worldly dressing and everything in this space that is under my control will reflect the glory of King Jesus Christ”.

That was the first time anyone of them ever heard the word, fasting and praying to Jehovah. I will shock you further; are you aware that Queen Esther went into the presence of the king under a fast? When you fast for three days without food and water the way they did, your body will omit a smell. Before now, that would bother Esther. No longer so.

If I perish, I perish.

(To be continued)