Unusual Encounter 2021 (Day 1 Evening)

UNUSUAL ENCOUNTER, 2021

DAY 1 (Evening Session)

Theme: Signs and Wonders

 Sermon Topic: You must be a Fighter to receive Signs and Wonders

Ministering: Bishop Michael Olushola Oyeniran

Text: Exodus 13: 17 – 18

“And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:

But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.”

 

 

MESSAGE

God knows the best way for you to pass. God in this passage says there is a shortcut that could lead the people through, but he didn’t allow them to go through the shortcut because His children cannot fight – they don’t have experience of war. Friends, listen to me tonight, “If you cannot fight, your journey will be long in life.”

If you cannot fight, what is supposed to take you a year can take you a lifetime. Hear me! Life is a battle. Whether you know it or not, life is a battle.

Whether you are conscious of it or not, we are engaged in a continuous battle and the earlier you realize this, the better for your life. There is a war that is going on and the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to be in the midst of this battle and not be aware, such a man will end as a casualty.

Can God fight for His people? Yes, but listen, if you are going to have victory, God has a part to play, you also have a part to play. God will not do all the role. There is what you need to do and there is what God will do.

Listen! If you cannot fight, your journey in life will be unnecessarily long. There is no point going through the Red Sea if the Israelites can fight. Let me tell you church, your father in heaven is a fighter. You must be a fighter, not a jester. What you cannot confront, you cannot conquer.

Very unfortunate for Samson – the great man, highly anointed man – the Philistines were all about him, but he was not conscious. They were battle ready but Samson was not. Samson didn’t know that going out with a girl called Delilah will end his life. The Philistines didn’t just come to Samson ordinarily, they also came against him diabolically.

They came against him with all their charms and that is the reason why when Samson was captured, there was a celebration in the camp of the enemy. They went straight to the altar of their god and give praise that he has handed Samson over to them. Let me pray for you where you are, “The enemy will not rejoice over your life!” Amen.

Please, you must be battle ready. You want to see signs and wonders? You must provoke it by developing a fighting spirit. David said, “You teach my hands to war and my fingers to battle.” Paul said, “I fought with the beast in Ephesus.”

There are some territory and terrains you can never enter until you have conquered the strong man. God loves you so much but he doesn’t want to lose you. He would prefer to make your journey long but not let you die.

The reason why some of us are where we are and what we are supposed to have gotten in January has not gotten to us in December is because we cannot fight. You cannot breakthrough if you are always looking for people to pray for you; if you don’t take it upon yourself to pray.

Do you know being poor in life is a choice? If you don’t want poverty, you can fight it. Go and make research, not everyone rich is born by a rich father. Not everyone that has great wealth come from a wealthy family. They made their choice that they are going to be great and they fight their way through.

They paid the price and becoming rich in life does not only answer to prayer, it also answers to your giving. So, until you are ready to fight poverty with your giving – give your way out of your poverty, give your way out of penury, give your way out of pain – you won’t see wealth. It is very simple, Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given unto you.”

He didn’t say pray and it will be given unto you. Most of us change the order, we are praying when we are supposed to give. You give according to your level and grow from there, because when there is a seed in the soil, harvest is in view. There is nothing you can do, it will definitely come and as the harvest come, you replant the seed; it keeps growing and you keep repeating it.

If you look at this compound, the first time I came here, all these trees standing were not standing. The last time I came, we are preaching inside this hall, but today, something is coming up here. Listen, a time will come when this place will look like Rome, and they say, “Rome is not built in a day” – it is step-by-step.

Get ready to fight anything that will not allow you to go. Some of you don’t have a good home because you are not ready to fight. You must fight the monster that doesn’t want you to enjoy your husband. The monster may be pride, unforgiveness, anger, but you will fight it. “My home will not break!”, “This will not destroy my relationship” – you will fight it.

Some of you who are supposed to be great in life have one sin or the other in your life. You have not resisted sin; you have not waged war against sin. There are some sins that won’t leave your life cheaply, you must give them a fight. “I don’t want this thing in my life,” you will fight against it. The Bible says, “When you shall have dominion, you will break his yoke from your neck.”

I pity Christians that cannot pray and fast. This meeting is with fasting and prayer. Some will say Jesus has done all the fasting, my pastor will do the rest. Ah! Your journey will be long like that. If you want your journey to be fast, anything standing in your way, you must give it a fight.

This nation is where we are today because we cannot fight. Any little push from the opposition, we all move back. Nobody wants to die! Esther said, “If I perish, I perish.” She fought for her people. She dared what she is not expected to do. You need to take that giant step.

What some of us need to fight is fear, and the Bible says fear is a spirit, you need to fight it. What you don’t know is that that which you fear also fears you; the reason you don’t know is because you have not given it a fight. Everybody ran away from Goliath, but when David came, He said, “What will you give me, I will take this giant out of the way.”

His senior brother said, you little rat, you are here again, get out of here! King Saul also said he cannot fight Goliath, but David didn’t allow them to discourage him. Even Goliath asked who is this small boy, I will chop you off, but David knows the God he serves. David took his life in his hand and looked at Goliath, saying one stone will finish this man.

He took five stones because he could see five giants – Goliath and his brothers; one stone for one giant. I pray for you, “That giant in your family and area is coming down in Jesus Name!” Amen.

Listen! There are powers that don’t want you to live, you must give them a fight. Herod said he will make sure he stop the church but Jesus said, “I will build my church. The gate of hell shall not prevail against it.” Herod took James and when he arrested him, the believers believed James will come out but before they know what is happening, Herod chopped off his head. He then picked Peter again, waiting to kill him, but in Acts 12:5, the Bible said prayer was made unto God for him; they prayed without ceasing. “Lord! Release Peter for us.” They gave it a fight, they fought so much that Peter was released and Herod died.

Rise on your feet for a minute! Look into your life and pray, “What is that demon or monster that is standing in my way; what is that monster that says I will not go. Say, my father, my fighter…” Do you know? God is our father, our fighter, the Lord of host who wants to fight on our behalf. “…my father, my fighter, every giant standing on my way, knock them down today.” Pray!!! “O God my father, arise in your power, fight for me today. Give me Testimony.”

 

Tonight is your night! Joshua was on the battle field while Moses was on the mountain raising his hands. Anytime Moses’ hands are up, Joshua will be winning; anytime his hands are down, the enemy will be prevailing. How is it easy to raise your hand for 2 hours? Nature will tell. Aaron and Hur looked at the whole scenario, they then decided to make Moses’ hands steady. Listen! Anytime you are tired, that is when the enemy will prevail and advance.

Anytime you don’t feel like reading the Bible, at that time, the enemy is getting closer; that is why you will ask God to renew your strength. Some of us, it has been long you prayed a long prayer; your prayer has been reduced to short prayers. Some of us even find it difficult to pray when we want to eat. Some of us find it difficult to pray for a long time all alone. How much can God do in your life when you cannot pray? Elijah went to the prayer room, Ahab went to the dining hall but the man that went to the prayer room outran the man that went to the dining hall. If you can pray through, you will breakthrough! 2022 is not far, don’t enter it without prayer; that is what will bring the signs and wonders.

Your God can do a lot if you can pray; I recommend prayer for your signs and wonders. God wants to do it like he did before! He wants to do it in your life and business. If you can pray, your helper will come looking for you. If you can pray, that man will see your picture just like it happened to Saul a day before he came in contact with Samuel. God has appeared to Samuel, “I am sending a man from Benjamin”, he is the leader of my people. God is speaking to somebody concerning you, the person has received every information concerning your life and I prophesy that in the next 17 days, that man will appear to help in the name of Jesus! Amen.

 

If you can pray, there is no door God cannot open. One woman was so perplexed, disturbed and depressed as a result of a particular bill. Her child schools in America and she asks, “What will I do to pay this bill? Who will help me? Won’t people ask me who sent me to undertake this project?” 12 million is not a little money and she needed it desperately. Can I pray for you? That money you need will come miraculously. Amen. This woman kept on praying even in her disturbed state – “Lord, let there be a miracle, let there be an intervention. Oh Lord! Help me.” Let somebody say, “Father, help me also!”

While praying, she slept off and in her dream, somebody appeared and told her to call a phone number. She was given the phone number to call and when she woke up, alas! It was a dream, but she remembered the phone number, all the digits. She rehearsed the number, and decided to give it a trial. Somebody say, “Signs and Wonders.” She decided to call that number and lo and behold! It was a governor’s number in the north. The man said, “Who is this?” She said, “I don’t know you sir, but your number was given to me in a dream.” The governor said, “I believe you because only 6 people have this number. What can I do for you?” She then said she was desperately in need of 12 million. The governor asked her to send her account details and in 30 minutes, 15 million was sent.

 

God is still in the business of doing miracles, but can you pray? Can you pray until something happens? Until your helper locate you? What God can do for one, He can do for all. Fight for your life! Don’t allow situation to push you back. Some have been put back from serving God in church, so overwhelmed by their problem in life. Some have been push back from coming to church regularly, because they have been going but nothing happened. Some have been pushed back because of a particular sin, but if you will return tonight, God has been waiting to help you and give you smile.

He has been waiting to help you out of that situation. Pray where you are seated, “Father, let my journey be short”. Listen! When Jacob appeared before Isaac, Isaac said, “How is it that you come so early? What happened?” Jacob said, “The Lord your God, brought it to me.” Pray! “Father, bring my miracle, blessings and testimony to me”. Bring that testimony and blessing to me. Pray! He will do it for you.

 

Listen church! Even pastors that cannot fight, yes, their journey will be long in life. When you see someone like our daddy in this house, if you see the way God is helping him, you will know he is doing something. He refuses to recognize obstacles, saying we will overcome it always, and then He will go back to His place of meeting with God to ask, “Lord, What is the way out?” God will tell him, this is the way, walk in it. In those days whenever Kings want to travel from a particular place to another, Isaiah 40: 3 – 4: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the desert a highway for our God…” this is what used to happen. Kings travel in a straight line, our Bible verse says, “…make straight the desert a highway.”

Verse 4: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:” that is, when they see valleys, they fill it up, every mountain and hill shall be made low and crooked paths made straight and the rough places made plain. But do you know the way some people travel? When they see a valley, they turn; when they see a mountain, they turn again and go round like that. Reason why the journey of one year can be 25 years. Same reason while the journey of a river is long. Rivers turn when they meet an obstacle, always turning. That is how some of us travel.

 

In Joshua’s turn, the wall of Jericho was standing, but he said this war must come down. Let me pray for you, “That barrier between you and your helper is coming down in Jesus Name.” God told Joshua to march round the city once in a day, it was not a simple instruction. Can you march through Ilorin in a day? Let’s not even say Ilorin, just Tanke, from where it starts to where it ends and on the seventh day, march round it seven times? It wasn’t a simple instruction, but they obeyed. The reason God has not helped a lot of us is because of our disobedience. Signs and wonders can happen to anyone ready to obey instructions.

 

God asks me to tell somebody here, “Between now and next year meeting, he will settle you maritally. You are not yet engaged, you don’t even know who to marry, but the wedding must have taken place between now and next year’s meeting.” In John 2:1 – 10, Jesus was in a wedding ceremony when his mother came to him and said, “Wine has finished”, but Jesus says “What does it concern me?” To make wine, correct wine, takes years.

But within some minutes, Jesus collapsed time – that is Signs and that is Wonders. I can hear in my spirit, for the sake of somebody here, God says he will collapse time. But, what is the key, “Whatsoever he says unto you, do it!” Sometimes, the instruction of God may not look like it. There are three ways to get things done: (1) the right way, (2) the wrong way (3) the God’s way. Hear me! The God’s way doesn’t need to be right or wrong, because if it is God that wants to do it, even you may say it is the wrong way, but He will do it.

 

Hear me! Between now and December 25, “there will be a supernatural turnaround for you!” Jesus told them to go and get water and put it in the water pot! Those water pots are the kinds of pots put at the entrance of houses, so that when guests come, they will wash their hands and feet from them. It is not meant for drinkable water and that is what Jesus asked them to fill up.

The governor of the ceremony didn’t know where the wine came forth, but the servants knew. Jesus brought out wine from dirty water, and when they tasted it, they said “Wow!” After this meeting, everyone who sees you will say “Wow!” When they see you post your picture in America on Facebook, they will doubt it and say “No”, but it has happened. I pray for someone, “That miracle they say will never happen will happen in Jesus name.

 

 

Prayer Points

1. Father, let it be my turn for testimony.
2. My father, my fighter, everyone who says I will not reign in life, cut them off from the root.
3. Father, visit my foundation and give me a miracle.