2013: Prophetic Word to the Church in Nigeria (Part 1 of 4)

I have never been one to give prophetic words for a New Year. Apart from a message the Lord gave me at the end of 2005, which I titled “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Power,” and delivered to the saints around me in London at the time, this will be the first of this sort.  I, therefore, submit this Word to God’s people for it to be weighed and judged in the light of Scripture and the Spirit of prophecy.  If there is a witness in the heart of the saints that the Lord is indeed speaking to us, confirmed by words He has already spoken to others, then I pray that there will be a stirring in the hearts of readers towards decisive action in God’s presence, in the congregation of the righteous and in the nation as a whole.

THE MANNER BY WHICH THE WORD WAS RECEIVED

The Lord communicates His word to His servants in different ways. Each one to whom the Lord speaks can, over time, describe an established pattern of communication in their lives – whether by dream, vision, the Scriptures, direct speech or other inspired means (even though the Lord is never bound to a pattern). I will hereunto describe briefly how this word came to me, which, in my experience, is consistent with how He has spoken to me in the past.

The moment I woke up early on the first day of 2013, the ears of my spirit were opened, and I began to hear these words: “Until the Spirit is poured upon us.” As this phrase went on repeatedly within me, I recalled reading a passage that contained these very words just a few weeks before. I then opened to Isaiah 32:15, but felt compelled to read from the start of the chapter. It was in the course of reading the chapter that the Lord began to relate the words to the Church in Nigeria. The applications were striking to say the least.

THE MANNER BY WHICH THE WORD IS BEING RELEASED

A few days afterwards, the word being incubated within my heart, I read portions of the chapter to a few friends and we had a refreshing time sharpening each other. I never had the mind to commit these words to paper until this afternoon (9^th January); and since then, the Spirit kept on impressing on me to write. And being one called of God to write His message, I knew what I had to do. Not unlike the very first time, a day after my conversion 26 years ago, when the Lord endowed me with the grace to write the revelations He unveiled in my heart, an experience that lasted 19 hours, I fully expect the Spirit to expound on the word as I begin to write. Notwithstanding, I reiterate that God’s people take time to judge the word and hold unto that which is true. (Whilst these words are primarily released to the Church in Nigeria, aspects of it and the principles therein will be relevant to believers in other nations.)

2013: A NEW SEASON

We have entered a new season in God, one that did not necessary begin on the first day of the year. The date on our calendar at this time, however, does communicate wisdom about the times in God’s agenda. Many of God’s people have just left behind and are coming out of a prolonged season of dealings, building, restraining and training. The end of this preceding time has been a significant level of establishment in the things of God and in God Himself – establishment in an office, a calling, an anointing and a grace; establishment in God’s ways, word, nature and life. It has been a time to endure hardship in the place called ‘Wilderness’; a season of pruning as well as the sharpening of the sword. Everyone’s experience has been different; indeed, the experience of those who submitted themselves to the heavy hand of God, but the goal has been the same: to bring us all into this new season of God that is breaking upon the earth, each one in their place ready to do battle in the day of the Lord’s power.  With the nature and purposes of the Lord now rooted in the heart, many will feel like it is not just a New Year, but a “New You”. The transformation has not come overnight; it has been a process in time. Upon these will begin to manifest a new level of strong governmental grace and authority. We are moving on from the apostolic foundations, patterns, structures and understandings that are now in place (represented by the number 12), to the beginnings of the demonstration of their fruit and wisdom in a fresh way; the manifestation of God’s glory through His army that are now rightly positioned.