Behold as it is written "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" (Psa.19:7), I will speak of the testimony of the Lord also before Kings, and will not be ashamed (Psa.119:46.)
I happened to go upon a small rocky hill within my College campus to fast and pray in 1974, and it was upon that same mountain that certain students in a secret cult called "Dragon club" in the college always had their all-night revelling and doing drug each time they meet. When I was leaving the mountain, I made a decree in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that "to mark perhaps, the first time ever that someone would come to that mountain to fast and pray to Jesus, I decreed that those dragon-boys should not gather upon that mountain anymore" and that the club is cursed to continue in that university. Yea, Jesus Christ said "whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Mat.21:22 and lo brethren, God watches over his word to perform it. When God was going to answer back, it was perhaps before the end of the same year that the dragon boys went beyond their bounds and the club was bound in the College and surely would not meet within the Campus premises again. Jesus saith, "Have faith in God ... Ye shall not only do this which is done .... but also, ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed ..." Each time I read the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, He rouses a zeal in me to aspire to the goal of overcomers but lo, He saith to you that can receive it:"This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
Some lazy people said: by postponing meal when they have a preaching to do or such cancellation of a meal or two is enough fasting for them. But is that the fasting Jesus did when He was without food for forty days and forty nights? Do you want this greater faith? You can build it up by fasting the lengthy ones. The Lord moved upon me in 1975 June and I went through 3 weeks (21 days and nights) without food except ordinary water and also in December '75 (23 days ) not to talk of the regular 3-day fasts every fortnight, plus also another 20 days in May '76 and January 1977. Each long fast has indeed acquired great spiritual gifts for me from the Lord and many of the gifts of the Holy Ghost and great faith, preparing me for my ministry, latter rain revival! There are indeed great testimonies of healing in my ministry and much more to come and yet more strange testimonies of the Lord is the act of our faith. Behold, I told the Lord, and decreed that mosquitoes should not bite me henceforth since it is given unto man to"have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth". One evening I was witnessing to a lady in Lagos Nigeria, standing on the street, while both of us expose our feet and hands. Mosquitoes were swamming around us like flies and none touched me but the lady was restless, killing them upon her body, and the Lord reminded me of my decree and it became a point of faith testimony right there, to the unbelieving lady. Behold saith the Lord, "NOW IS THE AGE ALL THE CREATURE HAD BEEN EXPECTING! NOW IS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD TO SUBDUE THE EARTH AND REPLENISH IT AND HAVE DOMINION OVER ALL THAT THE LORD THY GOD HAS CREATED UPON THE EARTH. YEA THROUGH MY NAME, SAITH THE LORD, ONLY THROUGH MY NAME SHALL YE PREVAIL; BUT BE THOU ZEALOUS AND ABIDE IN ME! LO BUY OF ME THIS GOLD AND PRECIOUS RICHES OF FAITH AND YOU SHALL PAY THE PRICE OF FASTING AND PRAYER, SAITH THE WORD OF THE LORD GOD!" (REV.3:16-19) Yea forever O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. The only thing we need is the understanding of the position God placed man in his work wherein He saith : "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth .... what is man that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man that thou visitest him ... Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsover passeth through the paths of the seas". (Psa. 8). Only believe and command them, but behold "this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting". A prophecy saith, this is the age of those sons of God who shall know and use the right that is apportioned unto man by God and they shall put the earth under their feet in subjection. Will you also seek to be in this category of the 'man-child'? Begin to buy the precious faith by prayer and fasting. Without notice one time, some bats came to live on a fruit tree besides my apartment and they became a menace, plugging down the unripe fruits, and the area was smelling. One of the neighbours pointed them to me that they were really disturbing since the few weeks they migrated to the top of the tree. I replied,"then they shall not remain there henceforth". The Lord told me to pickup some stones and I decreed into the heavens that those bats should go away from that tree and from the area and come not again in the name of Jesus, while I THREW THREE STONES UPON THE TREE. Lo, the Lord moved them away within few days and I did not even know when, till a time the Lord reminded me to look at the tree and the birds were no more there. BRETHREN PRAY AND DON"T LOOK BACK! Believe and ye shall receive what you asked. Say not within your heart that "but no one knows about all these testimonies". Have you not realized that all the hosts of heaven are watching your movement and faith activities? Behold, when Jesus walked upon the sea, very few that were in the boat saw him and lo, it was written now, the whole world seems to have witnessed it; also when He transfigured on the mount. Jesus saith, "Believing .. and nothing shall be impossible unto you". (Mat.21:22-23). In the kingdom of God, we are going to control the animals not by man-made taming method, but through the word of His name - Jesus. Even the animals shall be used for farming and such like because the Lord saith of this to Job: "Will the Unicorn be willing to serve thee or abide by thy Crib? Canst thou bind the Unicorn with his band in the furrows? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee? Will thou trust him because his strength is great? Or will thou leave thy labour to him? Wilt thou believe him that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn? Job 38:9-12. Man is to subdue all such beasts of the field, but the stubborness to disobey is a spirit to subdue and about such Christ saith "THIS KIND GOETH NOT OUT BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING" (Mat.17:21).
There was a neighbor's dog lazily sprawling on my door steps ever so often with all four legs stretched front and back. Then one evening I said unto the Lord that when I am coming, the dog must realize that God-in-me is coming, and that the dog should stand to its feet immediately, whatever is making the dog sleep tiredly, in the name of the Lord to honor the Lord. Has not the scripture said "man have dominion over beasts?" "all men should honour the son even as they honour the Father" (Jn.5:23).
Behold the following evening, as I was coming closer to the dog, suddenly she jumped up to her feet like as if someone smote her to remember my instruction which I commanded the dog in the name of the Lord. So I laughed and said "indeed thou art faithful, O Lord, to your words and thou art showing me those signs of answered-requests to tell thy servant that thou O Lord art seeing the faith which thou hast put in me by yourself". Brethren all these faith anointing are not only for the time we are in now. Behold the ministry of the Sons of God is just starting even on the day they are raptured and translated to heaven, for they shall be angels of God replacing satanic angels that fell. And we are grateful that the Lord has waited to the end of the world to pull up the greater lot of the faithful ones into this rank: "The Manchild that shall rule all nations with a rod of iron"(Rev.12:5). These shall rule and work with the Father in His gigantic universe program. AMEN. Do you also have hope of this? Do you crave to be counted among these Elijha company of saints? Therefore saith the Lord:
"BE ZEALOUS THEREFORE AND REPENT", AND "I COUNSEL THEE TO BUY OF ME GOLD TRIED IN THE FIRE THAT THOU MAYEST BE RICH; AND WHITE RAIMENT THAT THOU MAYEST BE CLOTHED, AND THAT THE SHAME OF THY NAKEDNESS DO NOT APPEAR; AND ANOINT THINE EYES WITH EYESALVE, THAT THOU MAYEST SEE" (Rev. 3:18).
The only method of buying from the Lord, by a born again Christian, is by paying the price of fasting and prayer. Someone said, "how did you feel when you fasted 21 days for the first time?" I felt very strong even the first day I broke the fast; and I was healthy .. except for leaness.
I started long fasts by trying a-day fast (without the 3 meals of the day). After feeling undisturbed the following morning, I purposed to make 2 or 3 days round the clock, etc. After I had successfully made 10 days, drinking ordinary water (days and nights), I purposed to attempt 21 days and I made it. Going regularly every morning to a quiet area with a jug of water and returning home to sleep every evening. It was during a vacation. I made it praying and studying the scriptures daily. The first 3 days, I was feeling weakly and tempting to stop but with determination I pierced through those tempting period into the 2nd week and the third week during which no more hunger nor lust occur even though I see another person eating. I was only fixing my eyes on the day I will break the fast like looking unto a glory that was set before me. Though prayers were always said on my back or belly, the Lord cared for every one of such gentle requests and songs of praise I offered regularly at 3 hour intervals of prayer time. Visions and singing in tongues and diverse kinds of tongues began to open up in me permanently at particular levels of 10th day, 14th day and 21st day, when I broke the fast. I was much more open to the spirit after the fast and could hear the still-small voice of the Lord much more pronounced while my own thoughts and mind are silent. My skin was very smooth and attractive when I started eating because the former layer of skin moulted gently off from the 10th day to the 15th day and a fresh layer of skin appeared. All pimples- spots moulted away from my afflicted face. Gifts of discernment of spirit was given me so much that, one day, I even saw one spirit of divination jumped from the ceiling of our room upon a roommate in his sleep and immediately the man, being a member of a religious sect, jumped up from bed, out of his sleep, shaking and trembling and prophecying, as they usually do in his denomination. So I rebuked the devil. When one is fasting, one shall still be able to sleep; and the Lord daily wakes me up to sing and pray in the night. Brethren, begin to attempt such challenging fasts as much as possible, for the Lord delights in it. Lo He saith,"BE ZEALOUS!" From that time, I have seen in my spirit, a high faith from the Lord; and each time I stand to pray and to rebuke the devil I always picture the devil fleeing away at the hearing of my voice. Yea indeed, saith the Lord, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting". I was at a motor-park at Molete, Ibadan in Nigeria one afternoon when a young man, being eaten away in his chest by cancer, came straight to me as if led by the Lord, to ask for alms. He showed to me his chest, half deep by cancer wound. I had never seen such cutting of human flesh by a disease, as if with a slicing machine. I asked him "what is this? How does this happen to you? Is this a sickness or accident?" He said "it is cancer" and that he had been in the hospital for months but now has no money to eat nor continue. When I heard that, that is the cancer disease I had been hearing and reading about, I wondered at the wickedness of such evil spirits. Then I asked him: "Do you believe God can heal you, and I will pray for you now?" The man said,"God? Only God am I waiting for now; all other hopes are gone; I have been in the hospital for months and nothing healed. Half of my chest is gone. God alone I wait for! Once the second half is eaten, I shall be gone. That is why I am just collecting alms to feed myself till then". I felt pity for the man and laid my hand on his left shoulder and pointed my finger to the center of the wound and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I commanded the cancer spirit to come out of him and enter him no-more. At the second utterance I saw the devil jumped off him upon my chest and the man felt it too, because he looked at my face. I told him: "You are healed! Believe!" And he was healed. Yea, then did I understood the saying that Jesus put on himself our infirmities. The devils can do Him and us NO harm. When they are casted out, they first jump upon the minister and the minister then tell the devil where they are allowed to go. Amen! Lo, saith the Lord, "THIS KIND GOETH NOT OUT BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING" Praise ye the Lord! YEA GOD IS MOVING WORLDWIDE, HERE AND THERE, USING EARTHEN VESSELS LIKE US--BABES AND SUCKLINGS. WILL YOU ALSO YIELD TO THE LORD IN THE PROPHET'S WAY--long fasts? Then shall ye be a vessel meet for the master's use! NOT UNTO US O LORD, BUT UNTO THY NAME GIVE GLORY! Unto His name He giveth glory. (Psa.115:1) AMEN.