Pastor Taiwo Odukoya
While sharing the promise of the week, which was taken from Deuteronomy 20:4 at the June 12 Sunday service, Pastor Yemisi Akindolie said the Almighty, all-powerful, ever-present God is always there for His own, noting that He would not shy away from fighting their battles for them. She said, “For the Lord your God is He that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies.”
The Senior Pastor of The Fountain Of Life Church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, who delivered the sermon for the service, began by admonishing his listeners to always ascribe all the glory to God in prayers, stating that they are who they are by His grace. “For we are who we are by His glory, we are the creatures of His glory. Our very existence is for His glory,” he said.
Reading from Luke 18:1, where Christ stated that men always ought to pray and not faint, the Senior Pastor pointed out that a Christian who doesn’t pray will be faint-hearted and lose hope. “No matter what the situation is, never give up on praying. Never get to a place where you stop praying,” he said.
Going further in his message, Pastor Odukoya cited Romans 8:26 to say that a Christian is equipped with help from the Holy Spirit. He showed the congregation how God has designed it so that at all times, the believer is being helped in the place of prayer by the help of the Holy Spirit. According to the clergy, the Holy Spirit ministers through believers through intercessions that are beyond words. He also said that by speaking in tongues while praying, the believer is built up like an edifice and will grow from strength to strength and stronger as the Holy Spirit takes over.
Clearing the air about the doctrine of speaking in tongues, the clergy said that the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:2 was striking a balance about speaking in tongues to avoid confusion in the church, thereby urging moderation. He said, “When one speaks in tongues, he speaks to God and no man understands him but God. As the believer speaks in tongues, he sets his life on course and all things will fall into place and victory will be a daily occurrence at all times.”
He, therefore, encouraged the congregation to never let a day go by without growing up in the place of prayer. He noted that, “There would certainly be challenges on the way, but do not be discouraged, even when it seems answers are not forthcoming, keep at it and keep praying daily till the change comes.”
He continued, “The mere fact that there are challenges shows the devil is at work and he can only do that since he knows God has something great ahead for the believer. That’s the reason we can’t stop praying.”
He, therefore, led the congregation in a series of prayers, urging them to pray in the Spirit.
PRINCIPLES OF PRAYERS
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya
Thursday Showers
It was indeed an awesome time in the presence of God at the June 9 Thursday showers, which started with an opening prayer by Pastor Femi Megbope, a praise and worship session by the Grace Levites, while Pastor Dapo ushered in the testifiers. Mrs Adeyemi thanked God for her birthday and Mr Emeka testified of how God jealously guided and protected him from an accident due to his car bonnet, which opened up while he was driving at high speed on the highway.
While ministering, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya told Showerians that in prayers they must always start with thanksgiving so as to honour God for who He is. He also noted that testifying to God’s goodness should be one of the pillars in a believer’s life. “If indeed God is doing it, why are you hiding it? So that they don’t hit you? If they have not been able to kill you till now, they can’t kill you,” he said.
The Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church later called for more testifiers from the congregation. These testimonies ranged from God’s deliverance from insomnia to how God’s intervention over a lost family member who went missing and incommunicado in the US for three years and was later found at church by their mum, who had to travel from Nigeria to search for her.
Another testifier by the name of Deji shared with the congregation how God delivered and came through for his sister’s son who fell on his head and was not responding but is now hale and hearty. A lady also testified on behalf of her friend’s son who had a hole in his heart and went through a successful surgery. At the same time, another lady also thanked God for a successful surgery, provision, and also starting a business.
Another brother testified on how God helped him overcome rejections in the final stages of job interviews and how, through God’s sufficient grace, he finally got a job, while a lady thanked God for healing and delivering her family from sickness.
Pastor Taiwo continued his message by citing Luke 18:1, James 5, Ephesians 1, and Jude 1:20 to encourage his listeners not to stop praying even when all hope is lost; noting that prayer helps them overcome fear because the devil lacks the resources to root them out. “There is no limiting the power of your prayer; no power can stand the force of your prayer; rather than your problem wearing you out, your prayer will wear out your problem,” he said.
He then urged them from Isaiah 45:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 14:2, that praying in the Spirit as a believer helps connect with God on another spiritual level, and that if they do not want to lose heart, they should always pray. “Step forward in prayer. It is your life, destiny, and future. The problem is that you want your understanding to be fruitful while praying, but if you let your spirit pray, it will change your understanding,” he concluded.
