Prayers the Peace of God That Passes All Understanding

[Announcer] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] He has promised He would never fail. His faithfulness is forevermore. His faithfulness is forevermore. Our Father, we thank you. Your faithfulness is forevermore. We bless your holy name for this opportunity to be in your presence again, for another time to fellowship in your word with your word by the power of the Spirit. Lord our God, we pray that as we come into your presence, as we fellowship one with another, your Spirit will work within us in the name of Jesus. Lord, we pray for our brethren who are physically here and we also trust you for our brethren who are joining us online that together, Lord, you will make this fellowship a time, oh God, of comfort, edification, instruction, oh Lord, encounter in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our eyes on you. Let nothing prevail against your purposes in our lives. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. This Monday is our last Monday in the month of May and, as we all know, our last Monday, we always try to create enough time to be able to pray. I would be coming briefly to that. We will be looking at the exhortation on the peace of God that passes all understanding. But before I do that, I want to quickly round up the matter I could not conclude last week. I will quickly do that in the next five, ten minutes and then we will take the exhortation on the peace of God that passes all understanding and then begin to pray. So what we could not consider last week under our topic, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. We have seen what ought to be the correct attitude towards persecution. We saw that and I said that this week, I will try to look at how will men, what brought men to this point where they could stand persecution? They could withstand suffering for righteousness' sake. And I will quickly take us through the Scriptures to make us see what happened to some men and how they got there. Quickly, I want us to look at the book of Exodus 3. Exodus 3. The Bible in this place spoke about Moses. The story of Moses, how he encountered God, was narrated in this place. The Bible, I read from verse 1. "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.' So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.' Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, 'I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.' But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?' So He said, 'I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.' Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is His name?" what shall I tell them? What shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."' Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations." Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, "The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, 'I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt...'"'" (Exodus 3:1-17) And on and on. Then I want to get to verse 19. "But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go." (Exodus 3:19-20) And then what happened? Then Moses said, that is chapter 4. Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you.'" So the Lord said to him, "What is in your hand?" He said, "A rod." And He said, "Cast it to the ground." So he cast it to the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), "that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." Furthermore the Lord said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom." (Exodus 4:1-6) What I am trying to make you see in this long reading is just one thing. Just one thing. Moses was a fearful man. It was a personal, continuous encounter with God that turned Moses to another man. Nobody can truly stand for God that has not encountered God. That is the reality of the matter. Nobody can truly stand for God. And so I want to encourage you as a believer. The secret to boldness, the secret of being able to stand in the face of fear, what makes men courageous in the face of fear, because courage is the ability to manage fear. What brings courage in the face of danger is a personal, experiential encounter with God. So if you ask me, how will I be able to develop and come to a point where I don't fear death, I don't fear kings, I don't fear those that can kill the body? The secret thing I will tell you is that number one, be sure you are born again. Number two, look at how the whole thing started. Look at that chapter 3. Look at how the whole thing started. The Bible says in verse 2, "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.'" The Bible now says in verse 4, "So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called him." I am just trying to bring out something to you from this story. I said encounter with God. How do we get there? Number one, you're sure you are born again. Look at the second thing here I want to show you. You notice that God did something. God caused the bush to be burning. That bush got Moses' attention. Moses turned to see. When God saw that he turned, I want you to look at those things. These are deliberate records in Scripture. You see many times in your life, God will be doing certain things to call your attention. Many times in your life, I am just showing you the principles of God on how God makes His men, how God raised men. Men are the oracle of God that will manifest that this is the earnest expectation of creation. They are not just going to manifest suddenly. No. God is raising them now. God is building them gradually. You notice in this place that God did something to get the attention of Moses. Several times in your life, God has been doing something to get your attention. When God wants to raise a man from one level to another level, God does some things to get his attention. It may just be a burden in your heart to pray the more. It may be a small concern to begin to study your Bible the more. It may be something that says, "Take your quiet time more seriously." Something. God will just raise something in your spirit. Something to get the attention. Because the truth is that the Bible says, "Draw near unto God and He will draw near unto you." But because it is God that works in us both to will and to do, you can see God working this thing in Moses. God needed the attention of Moses. God wanted to change Moses from a fearful man to a man that can stand for God in the face of anything. God did something to get his attention. It is the same way today. Number one, you are born again. Number two, the various things, be discerning, be sensitive to the Spirit of God. Because God works in us both to will and to do. Something will just crop up in your spirit sometimes. Take your Bible study life more serious. And you just dissipate the burden. "I am busy, I don't have..." You don't know that sometimes heaven is just trying to get your attention to turn you to another man. Sometimes you may just be watching something on the television and a burden just drops in your spirit. "No, I need to set time apart to seek God the more." But before you know it, after some time, you don't take that thing serious, you don't meditate on it further, before you know it, it will just dissipate out of you. You notice Bible says that when God saw that Moses turned, then God called. He turned, then God called. I pray for you, you will not miss your visitation in the name of Jesus Christ. God is still raising men today, getting the attention with several in different ways so that He can bring them into His presence and turn them into men that can stand for God. So there is the place of being born again. There is the place of separation unto God. There is the place of deciding to meet with God, deciding to take your life more serious. And then there is the place of God revealing Himself. That is how God makes His men. And I'm going to do that, I'm going to because I said I want to round this up and go to what we'll use to pray today. I'll just mention all the other ones that I have here because of time but I'll just mention them very quickly. You will see the same thing with Gideon. The Midianites were oppressing the Israelites. The Angel of the Lord came to Gideon. And when he came to Gideon, the Gideon he came to meet was a Gideon, the Bible says he was trying to gather heads of corn so that he can hide it. He was afraid. Then the Angel of the Lord spoke to him. He said, "The Lord is with you, thou mighty man of valor." He said, "Oh, if the Lord is with us, how will this be this, how will that be that, how will this be that?" Eventually, go and check Gideon too. Judges chapter 7, chapter 8. You will see how God began to deal with Gideon. "If okay, if we are this, I will set a fleece. Let only this place be wet, every other place be dry." God did this for him. "Ah," he was still afraid again. He said, "God, okay if it is you, let every other place be wet and only here be dry." God did this for him. He was still afraid. You will see how God was building him systematically from a fearful Gideon to a mighty man of war. Nobody can stand for God who God has not granted to encounter God. It's not possible. There must be an encounter. There must be an encounter. And so what God normally do is to look for different ways to get your attention. Different things. Someone may just say, "Look, bro, why are you behaving like this? Why not take time to know God better?" Sometimes you just joke with it and throw it away. Sometimes you don't know that it is God trying to get your attention in different ways. You can see the way God came to Gideon. "Thou mighty man of war, the Lord is with you." And he was wondering, "How can I be a mighty man of war, ordinary me?" Inside that fearful Gideon, there was a mighty Gideon, a mighty man of war. Yet because there was no personal encounter with God, he could not realize who truly God has made him. And that is the situation of so many of us today. I pray you will not miss your visitation. On and on you can multiply it. But let me round up with this. If you look at these the three Hebrew boys, or the four Hebrew boys, Daniel and the three other boys, some things happened with those boys. Remember the case of the fiery furnace? Remember how those boys, you know what they did? That was courage par excellence. Is that not true? That was courage par excellence to stand in the face of adversity. For some of us today, if your job is at stake, you will quickly compromise. For some of you, even if promotion is at stake, you will quickly compromise and tell a lie. For these boys, what was at stake was not their job, it was their life. And the people noticed that they did not bow to the image set up by the king, and they called the king. When you are far away from the king, it is possible to misbehave. So the king felt maybe because they were far away, that he needed to bring them closer to himself. So he brought them closer to himself. He said, "I heard some reports, but I just felt it was those reports. Now, is it true that you are not ready to bow?" They were speaking with a world ruler as at that time. Because Nebuchadnezzar, God gave him dominion over all the earth as at the earth of the world of that time. That was Nebuchadnezzar. And they were standing before him, young, young boys. I pray for you, that young person hearing me, may your vision not be blurred. May your vision not be blurred. May your vision not be blurred. May you stand for God in your generation in the name of Jesus Christ! Young boys! Young boys! And the king said, "Okay, I give you opportunity to..." And they said, "Oh king, there is no need trying to buy time. We, our mind is made up about this thing. It's not as if because we were far away. We will not bow to this thing. Don't bother to want to give us another chance. You are just wasting time. Don't bother. We will not bow. And we know that our God can deliver us. And even if He does not deliver us, so let it be. Let it be." The Bible says then the anger of Nebuchadnezzar started burning like white fire. And so he told them, "Heat up the furnace seven times! Mighty men, go and throw them inside!" You know the end of the story. Look at Daniel too in the lions' den. The decree was made. Nobody should pray to any other god except the king that very evening. Daniel opened his window. Some of us will quickly close up. "Let me use wisdom. Let me use wisdom so that they don't come and catch me." Daniel opened the window. "Oh Lord my God!" And of course he was arrested. Of course the next thing, I am trying to show you men where life... these people they were human beings. But look at what Daniel said about the secret of what made them like that. Look at Daniel 11:32. Look at what the Bible says. Daniel gave us the secret to their strength. The secret to that life, Daniel gave us the secret. He gave us the secret and I am showing you that pray for an encounter with God so that you don't die an ordinary person in your generation. Pray for an encounter, seek an encounter. Daniel 11. Look at Daniel 11 verse 32. That very popular Scripture. It gives you something very, very clear. Daniel says, "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt by flatteries; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." So the secret of not being able to corrupt these men, that's the secret. That's the secret. If you look at what happened in that what led to Daniel 11:32, it begins from verse 30. It was talking about a corrupt king. It says, "For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, to do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flatteries; but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits." It was not just four Israelites that were brought by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon. It was the nation of Israel that was brought to Babylon. But the four boys who knew their God, they were strong. All the priests, all the Levites, when they set up the image, what did they do? They bowed! Because they didn't know their God. It is not an issue about willpower. It is an issue that has to do with divine encounter. Nobody can stand for God who has not met with God. There must be a meeting point, a place where God will reconfigure you, where God changes your mentality, where God allows a metamorphosis to take place in the way you think, in the way you see life, in the way you perceive things, in the way you see men, in the way you understand things in the context of life. He brings you to a point where you know that a man's life does not consist in any material thing. He brings you to that point where you know that if you die, it's gain. That was Apostle Paul. Say, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." These are things that not just come by mere human thinking and wishful thinking. It's not wishful thinking. It's a gradual stage of encounter. And so if you ask me, how do I become a man that can stand for God? I believe that in just these very brief things I have spoken with you, you have gotten the secret. That's the secret of it. That's the secret of it. That's the secret of it. Peter became unusually bold and when they took knowledge of him, they said he had been with Jesus. There is something about an encounter with God. When you encounter God and God begins to deal with your heart, God begins to change you from one level to another, God becomes your refuge, he becomes your strength, he becomes your light and your salvation. That is when you can declare like David, "The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" That's the secret. That's the secret. That's the secret. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! I believe I have been able to round up the matter of Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God and we have been exploring that matter for the past two, three weeks. And I thank God that we are able to round up that today. And I said this last Monday is a Monday that we are supposed to pray and I want to speak on something that the subject matter for our prayer this evening apart from other things we'll be praying about for our life. I want us to go to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Okay, I take it from verse 4. "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" Rejoice in the Lord always. Is this a possibility? Is this a possibility? "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" So there is the possibility to rejoice in the Lord always no matter the circumstance, no matter the situation, no matter what is happening around you. It is possible to rejoice in the Lord always. Because the Bible says, "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." And then says, "Be anxious for nothing. Be anxious for nothing. Be anxious for nothing." You don't need to be anxious about anything. Because I don't know how best to define nothing. Is there any way to define nothing again apart from saying that nothing means nothing? Is there any way to define it? I don't think there's another way to define. Nothing is nothing. Or any other English? I don't know any other one immediately or none is coming to my head immediately. But I think nothing means nothing. So when the Bible says be anxious about nothing, what does that mean? What does that mean? Should we be anxious about nothing? What does that simply mean? Does that nothing mean nothing or it's just an exaggeration? Many times we tend to be worried about sometimes we are anxious about some things and we become maybe for example you are anxious about your spiritual life. You say that one is a good anxiety. But nothing is nothing. That's the truth about it. The way to know that you are actually anxious about nothing is that you can rejoice always. That's the way to know it. That's the way to know it. "Rejoice always and again I say rejoice." Then be anxious about nothing. How do I know that I am anxious about nothing? Is that in all things I can rejoice. That looks very hard. That looks but because also you don't know the secret of who really you are when the Bible says, "We know that all things work together for good." Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You say all things. Bible did not say all good things. We have always tried to use our human reasoning to change it to all good things work together for good. That's not the Scripture. The Scripture says all things. All things work together for good. Work together for good. Somebody was talking about what of the fall of man? Can we say the fall of man work together for good? I said yes. I said light is best appreciated when there is darkness. Is that not true? When do you appreciate light? Do you know that we will not have known what it means to love except that we offended God and God still came back to look for us? You see many times we try to reduce God. we try to reduce God to the level of human reasoning. We try to reduce God. You see the ways of God they are what? They are unsearchable. His judgment they are what? They are past finding out. The hymn writer said, "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the sea and rides upon the storm." Stanza 2, it says, "Deep in unfathomable mines," deep in unfathomable you cannot fathom His mind, "deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill," His skills never fail. He treasures up His bright design but works His sovereign will. "He treasures up His bright design and works His sovereign will." You cannot... says "Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face." Those things that is making you afraid and you are doing like this, Baba is smiling. When Israelites were beginning to say, "Moses, Moses, you have brought us here to kill us. Look at the Egyptians, look at the Red Sea, where will we go?" What was God busy doing? What do you think God was doing? Was He not smiling? Was He not smiling? He was just smiling because He was the one who instructed Moses, "Turn and encamp by the sea. I will harden Pharaoh and he will pursue them so that I can be glorified over Pharaoh's life." So all the encamping, all the pursuing, all the coming, all the no road to go, who is behind all of them? Who was behind all of them? It was God. You see many times we just read Bible stories and just read them as if they are stories. No, they are not stories. Romans 15:4, it says, "Whatsoever things were written of former time, they were written for our learning, for our comfort, so that through the encouragement of the Scriptures we can have hope." God wrote those things down so that we can have hope by looking at Scripture. When you see a hopeless Christian, it's a Scripture, it's a Christian who have not read Scriptures. Mark my word. That's what Jesus told the Pharisees when they came to Him. "Can a man put away his wife and this?" He said, "Have you not read Scriptures that He who made them at the beginning?" Many of us we don't pay attention to Scriptures. We just think it's just Bible stories, we just think it's just stories. It's not just stories. They are not just stories. They are things for us. They are for our comfort and for our learning. The Scripture is not a book of information. It's a book telling us how we should live our life. The way we should think. The kind of thinking we should be having. The way we should configure our mind. The way we should look at life. The way we should perceive things. The way we should see men. The way we should understand things in the context of life. It gives you how you should look at life, the way you should see life. That is the Scripture. Honestly. And I am just saying something. It says be anxious about nothing. Be anxious about nothing. The way to know that you are anxious about nothing is that you can rejoice in all things. You notice that nothing affects your joy. Nothing affects your joy. You are ever joyful no matter the situation. There's just this joy. And what brings that joy is knowing that all things work together for my good. God is working for my good. [speaks in Yoruba]. But so that it don't look as if you are just standing in faith doing nothing, it now says but in everything by what? Prayer. Say something. Say something. By prayer. What is prayer? You are making a request. Supplication, a humble request. Thanksgiving, thanking God in the situation. "Let your requests be made known to God." So you get the point. Some things are happening around you. You are confidently joyful. You are standing in faith. What do you think could have kept Zachariah standing with Elizabeth for all those years till they became so old and they were still faithful to God serving when there was no child? How many couples can be like that today? How many couples? That was Israel when children, Israel you know children matters. So it's just like African culture. Do you agree with it? Do you agree with me? Just like African culture. Yet they were moving on. There was this understanding, there was this confidence. There's this thing that can keep a Christian to rejoice always. Nothing affects the joy. Nothing affects the joy. "You shall hear of war and of rumors of war. Let not your heart be troubled for all these things need be." Have you seen Jesus again? [speaks in Yoruba]. But let not your heart be troubled. For all these things need be. What is He trying to tell you? That all those things they are within what? They are within the power of God. I want to give you something about the subject for a subject of prayer. I want us to pray some prayer this evening but I want to give you the basis of those prayer. When it's about 6:05 now we'll start praying. I just want you to know that if you look at how I will come back to this place. Look at how Hebrews put it. Hebrews. Look at the book of Hebrews. Look at the book of Hebrews. I want to look at Hebrews 1:3. Is anybody carrying amplified Bible? Amplified Bible? Please come and use the microphone to read. Use microphone to read. Amplified Bible. [Bible reader] "He is the sole expression of the glory of God, the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine, and He is the perfect imprint and very image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and radiance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:3 AMP) [Speaker 1] Thank you. Thank you so much. Do you get that? Do you get what I am trying to make you see? Look at what the Bible says about the universe. Not just the earth. I hope you understand universe. What is the universe? You know the earth is just a small fraction of the universe. I hope we are aware of that. The Bible did not say the earth. Bible says what? The universe! All the all the planets, all the galaxies, all the stars, the moon, everything put together. The Bible says He's doing what? He is upholding. He is maintaining and guiding. Guiding. And what? Propelling. So when you say, [speaks in Yoruba], who is propelling the earth? The Lord. Everything you are seeing, Baba is in charge. He's in charge. Seated on His throne. Marshaling everything. Listen! Not by running around, but by the word of His power. "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. Through Him were all things made. Without Him was nothing made that was made." So everything is responding to its creator. Move. Wait. Go. For. Ride up. Are you understanding me? Responding to its creator. Everything. I'm talking about the galaxy. That's why Jesus spoke in Matthew 24. He says the sun, the moon they will go dark. The stars they will fall down. Who is bringing them down? You see, I want you to appreciate the greatness of God. God is so great. You see we we cannot even describe Him. But I want I'm just trying to give you an understanding. That is why Apostle Paul again in if you look at Hebrews chapter 11 verse 3. He says, "By faith we understand..." I want you to look at that Scripture. I want you to look at in KJV. I don't know what other translation used. But in KJV, it says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds..." not just world. What is your translation carrying? Is there "s", Hebrews 11:3? King James says through faith we understand that the worlds, W-O-R-L-D-S. What is in your own? There's "s" too in your own. What of your own translation there? You see, you know the word universe, it still used the "s". Are you seeing it? The worlds. Talk about the worlds! Any type of world you want to talk about. Somebody was talking about what of the the host of darkness? What of the powers of darkness? And I just look at the person and I laugh. I say you don't even know what you are talking about. I said do you realize that the power with Satan, [speaks in Yoruba]? Is it not the head of the court? Am I correct? Is it not the head of the chorus? The powers of Satan originated from who? It was God. God created Satan. And when he was when he was rebelling, He chose not to take the power from him. It's like a joke for God that God created Satan. And when he was rebelling, he chose not to take the power from him. So whatever you call Satan, and that is why you notice that he can come in form of an angel of light. He can take the form of God. Because what is with Satan originated from who? From God. And you see similarities in operation. God operate by the power of His word. Go and check powers of darkness how they operate. There must be incantation. [speaks in Yoruba]. Why are they speaking? The power of the word. May the enemy not shut your mouth. There is something about word. Power of the word. [speaks in Yoruba]. But I'm talking about not just [speaks in Yoruba]. Like it has occupied the heart and the mind of our young people today. Although some elders too are like that. The Bible says, "The power of life and death is on the tongue." Life and death is on the tongue. There is something about word. Because the entire universe was created by the power of word. "Let there be light," and there was light. And if they too in darkness want to attack, they want to kill somebody, [speaks in Yoruba]. Why must they speak? Go and check all these powers of darkness. There must be some level of speaking. There is nothing in darkness. If if Satan is so wise, even though sometimes we don't think very in between the line, if Satan is so powerful and wise, how how was he outsmarted by God that he killed Jesus? Bible say if they had known, they would not have killed the King of glory. As smart as he is, God is smarter than him. He thought by death he would have finished Jesus. But the Bible says He who through death did what? Conquered him that had power over them and collected the key of death from him. [speaks in Yoruba]. I want you to get some of these things so that you understand. I'm talking about ability. What I am talking about is rejoice what? Always! You see what tampers with your joy, what makes your joy to be tampered with is unbelief. You cannot understand that look, my life is secured in God. And every what makes giving me this strong and serious mentality about this thing is that the Bible, the Bible made the pronouncement. It says our life is hidden in Christ in God. For the Israelites, where was their life? He said, "I have engraved you where? In the palm of My hand. Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the child of of her womb? He said, "Even though they may I cannot forget you. Why? Because I have engraved you in the palm of My hand." For those ones God could not forget them because they were engraved here. For me, Jesus took me further. I am hidden in Christ inside God. Be anxious about nothing. That's what I am trying to establish. So that you see, prayer we are not praying because we are afraid. That's what I am trying to just what I am trying to establish. He first said, "Rejoice in the Lord always." Philippians that we are reading, chapter 4. "Rejoice and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men, the Lord is at hand." That instruction much more to us today. Of course the Lord is at hand, we know that too well. Except if you are spiritually dead, you know the coming of the Lord is so much at hand. Everything is pointing towards it. The signs are all over all around us. And I believe that the next great event we will be facing is the event of the taking away of the saints. As we are going through all of these things, a lot of things are happening. But the greatest thing I am waiting for is this, the Lord appearing in the sky and the saints being gathered to Him. But the point I am making is that the Bible says rejoice in the Lord always. Why are you able to rejoice in the Lord always? Because as a believer you know that all things work together for good. You know and because you know that, you are anxious about nothing. But you are not taking that for granted. You have requests. Am I not correct? Even though you are not anxious about your marriage, you are not anxious about your future, you are not anxious about your spiritual life, you have requests. Is that not true? There are requests. So God is not saying don't make your request. He said make your request. What a wonderful God! What a wonderful God! He says make your request. Let's go back to that place that we are reading. Philippians. He says make your request. Philippians 4 verse 6. He says, "But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Let God know your request. What is your request? [speaks in Yoruba]. I have told you not to be afraid. I have told you not to be anxious for anything. So what do you want? Ask for what you want. Oh honestly is God not wonderful? Is God not wonderful? I'm telling you God is wonderful. Rejoice always. Be anxious about nothing. Tell Me your request. Oh what a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear. All because we would not carry everything to God in prayer. Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear. All because we would not carry everything to God in prayer. So you can I am trying to make you see what brought the the hymn writers to that point. That we forfeit our peace. We carry needless pain. [speaks in Yoruba]. I was looking at the profile of of one of a sister. And she shows maybe I will try and copy that thing and see how I will send it out too for some people. He says look, he showed a man dragging something like a wagon. You know a wagon? Something that looks like the traditional [Yoruba: hand truck] not like the wheelbarrow that is in front. You know the wagon is behind. The man is dragging it. But the man that is dragging the wagon, the thing now showed the neck bent backward. Then the head of the man is what is the load on the wagon. You understand? The head is bent like this. So the load on the wagon is now the head. They now made the neck so long. They now placed the head of the man on the wagon. The head is now so big. The thing now said, "Most of the load we carry in life are the thoughts in our head." [speaks in Yoruba]. What I am trying to make you see is that if you don't learn to rejoice always, if you don't learn the secret, the secret place of God... and that is why I keep feeling that not having a personal relationship with Jesus, man is only sustaining himself. [speaks in Yoruba: we are doing it on our own]. Do you understand? God did not let me live with you. He said oh I can live on my own. Where do you want to carry it to? Where can you carry it to? Somebody who made the universe is offering Himself. "Put it on Me, let Me carry it for you." You are there, you don't have a life with God, you don't have a walk with God, you don't have a personal relationship with Him, you are not born again or you are born again you are not taking your relationship with God serious, you are not building a life where you can understand that look, oh, all things work together for my good, I can be anxious about nothing, I can put everything on God. So you are not carrying anything. Is it not for our good that God is inviting us onto Himself? Is it not for our good? He said be anxious about nothing. But in everything, look at what please what is everything? Is there any definition for everything apart from all things? Please is there another definition for everything apart from all things? Is there any way to define everything again apart from all things? Does everything remove anything? So be anxious for nothing but in everything. Is there anything removed from that nothing? In everything by prayer, by everything, by prayer, by supplication, by thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And see! See! If you rejoice always and you make your requests known to God, please what happens in verse 7? What happens in verse 7? "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Do you see that? And the peace of God which what? What does that mean? What does that mean? There is a peace that is within understanding. There is a peace that is above understanding. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You know sometimes you have peace because you understand your situation. Is that not true? You know when you understand your situation, you have peace. But there can be peace even when you don't understand why you have peace. There is a peace of God that passes what? But how do we come to that level of that peace? Rejoice in the Lord always. Be anxious about nothing. In all things, through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving, let your request, that is what you want about the situation, just tell God. Just tell God about it. "God, this is what I want, this is how I want, this is what I want, this is what I want, this is what I want." And then you leave it with Him. He said what will now happen? "The peace of God that passes understanding." [speaks in Yoruba]. The secret I'm telling you is about the place of prayer. Something about this place of prayer. Something about being able to come to God in prayer in faith. The peace of God that passes understanding will now do what? Will now guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus. To Christ Jesus. So that as we begin to pray this evening, this is our last Monday, as we begin to pray, I want you to pray with understanding. I want you to pray with understanding. To pray with understanding. And I want us to come before God, you know, with prayers, with supplications, with thanksgiving. I want you to begin this evening if you are you are already a child of God, you know you are born again, I want you to to begin with thanking God for who you are. Thank God for salvation. Honestly salvation is a mystery. Salvation is something that is not explainable. Salvation is something that is beyond us. It's something that is amazing. And our you know, my listeners everywhere listening to me wherever you are, you know, wherever you are, or whichever part of the globe listening to me right now, if you are not born again, I want you to make to make a bold step this evening. Commit your life, be deliberate about it. You cannot keep your life. Why not give your life to the one who can keep it? You cannot keep it. But the Bible says, "The Lord is my keeper." The Bible says He is the one who is able to keep us from falling. Why not give the life to the one who can keep it? Why are you trying to hold a life that you cannot keep? You cannot keep your life. You cannot! Hand it over to the person who can keep it. Be deliberate about it. Be conscious about it. Hand it over. Come to Him in repentance. Tell Him how you have been independent with your life, how you have been spending your life independently. And now you are repentant, say, "God, I'm coming back to You. I'm yielding my life to You in faith. I'm surrendering the life to You." And if you are listening to me you know that you have surrendered your life to Christ, I want you to thank God for the gift of salvation. Thank God. Can you thank God for the gift of salvation? Can you say, "Lord, thank You. Thank You that I am not just anybody. I am not just anybody. I am not just anybody. I am the child of the Most High God. [speaks in Yoruba: I am the child of the King of kings.] I am the child of the King of kings, of the Lord of lords. Lord, I am the child of the Creator of the universe. I'm a child. Look, I want you to understand who you are. I'm a child of the Creator of the universe. Oh Lord, thank You for the salvation that is in Jesus. Thank You for the salvation that is in Jesus. Thank You for the salvation that is in Jesus. Thank You for the salvation that is in Jesus. Thank You for the salvation that is in Jesus." And as you are thanking God for that salvation, I want us to also step further in our prayers. I want us to step further in our prayers. I want us to begin to tell the Lord that Lord, I know, I know that everything around my life today will work out for my good. You must come... I don't know what is around your life now. I don't know what it is. But can you can you come in that faith this evening? It says, "We know that all things work together for good." Can you come with that faith this evening and say, "God, I know everything around my life today, they will work out for my good." And as you pray that way can you begin to make it a confession over your life? Can you begin to make it a confession over your life? That look, you, you will work... I don't know what it is. There may be some things you want to mention. Maybe you have some fears. Maybe you have some worries. Maybe you have some anxieties. Maybe there is something. I don't know. Can you begin to speak to that thing very definitely? That see, I speak concerning you. You will work out for my good. Look, don't let something shut your mouth. Life and death is in the power of the tongue. That is why that is why Satan has filled the mouth of this generation with vain vain words, vain languages, powerless and useless words. But because he knows that the tongue is the place of power. I want you to understand what you are doing. We are doing something very spiritual. The universe was framed by the word of God. And you want to speak the word of God. You want to speak the word of God. Speak the word of life. Speak the word of life! That look, I speak unto this situation, this circumstance in my life. You will work out for my good. You will work out for my good. You will turn out for my good. You will turn out for my good. You will turn out for my good. You will turn out for my good. I speak concerning you. I speak concerning you. I speak. I don't know what it is. You know what it is. But just look at those things around your life. Your physical life, your spiritual life, your married life, your academic life, your I don't know what it is, your financial life, whatever. Look around your life and say, "Oh, you will work out for my good. Because the word of God says all things work together to them who love God, those who are called according to His purpose." Oh, the word of God! I stand on the Scriptures today. I stand on the word of God and I say everything around me will work out for my good. They will work out for my good. You will work out for my good. You will work out for my good. The present economic situation in Nigeria, I speak concerning the situation in Nigeria. It will work out for my good. I speak concerning the situation of Nigerian government, the faith in the institution, everything collapsing. I speak concerning you. You will work out for my good. It will be for my good! It will be for my good! I am blessed in the city. I am blessed in the field. I am blessed when I go out. I am blessed when I come in. That is the word of God for me. I say it you shall work out for my good! [Praying in tongues/shouting] [background noise] [shouting] [overlapping voices] Lord God Almighty. Scriptures cannot be broken. Scriptures cannot be broken. Scriptures cannot be broken. Scriptures cannot be broken. Scriptures cannot be broken. [Praying in tongues] He that fall upon this rock shall be broken. But upon whosoever this rock shall fall shall be ground into powder. He that fall upon this rock shall be broken. For I lay in Zion a rock, a chief cornerstone, a rock of offense. He that fall upon the rock shall be broken but upon whosoever rock shall fall shall be ground into powder in the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! I stand all other ground is sinking sand. I stand on the word of God. All other ground sinking sand. All things, all things, all things, all things concerning my career, concerning my marriage, concerning my children, concerning my life, you will work out for my good. You will work out for my good. You will work out for my good. The present economic situation in Nigeria, the present global crisis, the present global crisis... I make pronouncement over my life, over my ministry, over my marriage, over my family. I say yea the present crisis, the present global confusion, the present national confusion, the present local confusion, everything, the crisis all around, I speak concerning you. You shall work together for my good! [Praying in tongues] In the name of Jesus! For all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord, of them who are called according to His purpose. I am called according to His purpose. I am called! Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Holy Spirit. Thank You Jehovah. Thank You mighty God. Blessed be your name. In Jesus' name we pray. I was speaking just now. I said it was because Moses encountered God, that is why he became another man. It was because Gideon encountered God, he became another man. It was because Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they knew their God. That is why they could do what they did. And I said something about that. I said many times God will try to get your attention. God caused the bush to be burning and when that bush was burning, Moses said, "I will now go and look." The Bible says when God saw that Moses turned to look, then God called him. After God got his attention. I want you to pray. I want you to pray for your life. I want you to ask the Lord that God, God, grant unto me my own burning bush. If You have granted it before and I did not see it to turn, Lord, please grant again another burning bush. Grant again... you see, it was God that caused the bush to be burning because He wanted to change Moses to another man. He wanted to turn him into a Messiah. He wanted to turn him into a deliverer. But it was God that started it. I want you to pray that God start something around my life. God, start something around my life! Oh Lord, start something around my life that will change my story. Lord, Lord, start something around my life that will change my story. Lord, start something around my life. You started it for Moses. You started it for Moses. You caused a bush to be burning. Lord, start something around my life. Start something around my life. Start something around my life. Start something about my life. Start something in my life. Start something with my life in the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! Lord, Lord, Lord, my own burning bush, my own burning bush, my own burning bush! Oh Lord God Almighty, start something around my life that will change my story. Start something around my life that will change my story. And as you are praying that, I want you to also pray, oh Lord God Almighty, help me to turn. Help me to turn as you start things around my life. Help me to discern them. Help me to key into them. That is what happened to Moses. He keyed into it. He said, "I will now go and look." When God saw that he did that, God now called him. I want you to pray, oh Lord God, oh God of my salvation, help me to key into that thing that you are starting. Help me to key into whatever you will be starting around my life. Lord help me to key into it. Help me to key into that thing in the name of Jesus! Into that key. Oh that thing for my greatness. That thing for my miracle. That thing for my turnaround. That thing, oh God, that will turn my life around. As you are starting it around my life, help me to key into it. Cause me to key into it. Make me to key into it in the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! Oh Lord, you are the God of the entire universe. You can conform all things after the counsel of your will. Oh Lord, conform me after the counsel of your will. Conform my life after the counsel of your will. Conform my life after the counsel of your will in the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! Thank You Father. And I want you to pray, there's a third prayer in that place. Oh Lord God Almighty, grant me an encounter! Baba, grant me an encounter. Lord, begin to encounter my life. Baba, according to your plans for my life. God had a plan for Moses. God began to encounter his life. Begin to pray to God now. You see, He's the God of the universe. He can do and undo with your life. Begin to pray to Him. God Almighty, Baba begin to encounter my life. Begin to encounter my life. Begin to grant me encounter. Encounter! Encounter! According to your plan and purposes for my life. Oh God, according to your plan and purposes for my life, begin to grant me encounter. Begin to grant me encounter. Unusual encounter! Unusual encounter! Uncommon encounter! Uncommon encounter! In the name of Jesus! Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Holy Spirit. Thank You Jehovah. Thank You mighty God. Blessed be your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. It is almost 6:30 now. We should be closing. I want us to just take these two prayers as we close. This other side of the prayer. There's this word the Lord gave us when we were starting the year. He said you will not be denied. Everywhere you turn, there will be favorable answer. It was a word that God gave us and we have been running with that word. I want you to pray that word for your own self since you are privileged to be under this meeting. That's the word the Lord gave us for the ministry, for this meeting, for our program for the year, as a confidence and a vision for our life. I want you to pray it for your own life too. Pray it and say God, everywhere I turn, I will not be denied. There shall be favorable answer. Everywhere I turn, I will not be denied. I will not be denied. There shall be favorable answer. Favorable answer. Everywhere I turn, I will not be denied. I will not be denied. There shall be favorable answers for me. Favorable answers for me. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You eternal Father. The second prayer we want to pray is also the word of God. This one concerning the nation and our you know, and as it concerns every man and Nigeria. The Lord said this year is a year of reward. It's a year of reward. And that reward is in two way. That the wicked will fall by their wickedness. The crafty will be taken by their craftiness. The violent man will die by their violence. It will be well with them that fear the Lord. And I want us to pray that prayer for Nigeria. That every every wicked wicked man the wicked, the crafty, the violent that has made up their minds that this there will be no rest for this nation. Every man who has said, "No, this nation will not have rest. We must kill, we must plunder, we must tear, we must cut down." I want us to pray that God Almighty, we lift up Nigeria unto you. Let the wicked fall by their wickedness. Let the violent man be taken by their violence. Let the crafty fall by their craftiness in the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! Lord we pray for our nation Nigeria. Have mercy on us, oh God, as a nation. In judgment, remember mercy. Let the wicked fall by their wickedness. Let the violent fall by their violence. Oh God Almighty, let the crafty be taken by their craftiness. Oh, let it be well with them that fear God. With them that fear the Lord! In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Let me call Wura to come and round up and close this meeting. [Speaker 2] Father in heaven, we appreciate You for this evening. Thank You, Lord, we say thank You for the blessings that You have blessed us with. We give all the glory. Be exalted in Jesus' name. Lord, we are going forth in this confidence that as we have asked, Lord, we believe that all that we have asked in the name of Jesus we have received and it shall be unto us according to your word in the name of Jesus. Any one that asks believing shall receive. We receive answers. Lord, even beyond what we can ask. You are the Lord that can do beyond it. We trust in You. Do beyond what we have asked, what we can think or imagine in the name of Jesus. Lord, for your word that you've spoken to us, oh Lord, here we are. Lord, beginning from this moment, we are expecting the encounter. We are expecting, oh Lord, a dealing, a kind, the kind You did for Moses that to to catch his our attention. Lord, let us see, open our eyes to see and draw us, oh Lord, to this encounter in the name of Jesus. So that Lord God Almighty, we'll begin to work, oh Lord, the working of the Lord Himself. Lord, so that we can do what You want us to do. So that we will not be ordinary. Oh Lord, but You take us, oh Lord, into the realm of the supernatural. Oh Lord, being a vessel needed at this time in the name of Jesus. As You are as You are enlisting men, as You are preparing men for the end of age, Lord, here we are in Jesus in the name of Jesus. You said if we bring fruit, You said You will prune us to bring forth much more. Lord, prune our lives, oh Lord, that You'll find in us, oh Lord, vessels to be used for this end-time move in the name of Jesus. Father we are grateful unto You. Lord, we have decreed so shall it be established. Lord, that we have binded they are bound. That we have loosed they are loosed in the name of Jesus. All that we have asked in the name of Jesus we receive. Father we thank You because You will surprise us. We go forth with testimony because we know You have done it. You have done it again and You will do it again and again. Blessed be your name in the mighty name of Jesus. In Jesus' unfailing name we pray. Amen. [Speaker 1] Let's share the Grace in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. And surely, God's goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen. [Announcer] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM. Adolescent and Singles' club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminars, regular school out-reaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Rejoice filling station, along Iji-Are road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.