#WednesdayMannaWaterService
August 30th, 2023
Topic: FIGHT OR PERISH
Text: 1 Timothy 1:18, 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7, Ephesians 6:12.
Minister: Dr. Daniel Olukoya (G.O. MFM Worldwide).
This last Manna Water Service is an opportunity to pray concerning the ‘EMBER’ months, and beginning from next Wednesday, we have another 3-fold Manna Water Service, and this one will be very dangerous to miss because the theme is ‘MY LIFE IS NOT FOR SALE’. So this Manna Water Service of today is to prepare us for it.
1 Timothy 1:18 (KJV): “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;”
Timothy was told, point blank, that he had to fight.
1 Timothy 6:12 makes us understand that even faith is a fight.
1 Timothy 6:12 (KJV): “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
Again it says “fight”.
2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV): “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”
It also talks about fighting.
Ephesians 6:12 (KJV): “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
It says “we wrestle”. This is a very powerful passage. That songwriter has put the words we should war with in the song, which says “you must keep on the firing line”, meaning that you must fight, and if you do not fight, you cannot be a winner. You can be singing ‘I am a winner’ all the time, but you must fight.
The song goes thus:
If you’re in the battle for the Lord and right,
Keep on the firing line.
If you win the vict’ry, brother, you must fight.
Keep on the firing line;
There are many dangers which we all must face,
If we die still fighting it is no disgrace.
Cowards in the service should not have a place,
Keep on the firing line.
CHORUS
You must fight and be brave against all evil.
Never run, tho foes combine;
If you would fight for God and right,
Keep on the firing line.
If you must win, you must keep on the firing line. One tablespoon of sweating in prayer will save ten gallons of blood, and the harder you fight, the more enemies you destroy, and the more enemies you destroy, the more peace that you have. So the principle is loud and clear, without any apology: kill or be killed. Stop them before they stop you.
Can you rise on your feet, go to seven persons around you, and shout this to them:
===> Stop them before they stop you!
Right there, raise up your right hand and shout:
===> Powers that stopped my parents, you cannot stop me; die! in the name of Jesus.
Some people have said that experience is the best teacher. But that is not the original saying. The original saying is that experience is the best teacher for a fool. Do not wait to learn the hard way before you begin to stop them before they stop you. There is a man who lives on Banana Island here in Lagos. He did not like MFM, and he was not hiding it. Anytime somebody said, “I attend MFM”, he would look at you and ask, “What is your problem?” He sounded as if it were only those who attend MFM who have problems.
He would say, “Just speak the word; what is your problem?” He knows me well, and I also know him. So any chance he had to attack MFM, he would always take it. He said that in MFM, we are just attacking our enemies. He did not understand that sometimes the best defence is attack. Then his wife had a baby somewhere in Europe. The mother-in-law went to look after the baby. He, too, went to join them. One morning, a white man was pressing their bell. So he went out to see the white man. This white man said to him “There is a witch that just started living here”.
“Please tell her that this is Europe and that when people attend witchcraft meetings here, they do not come late. They arrive on schedule. So tell her not to come late again. She is from Nigeria.” Then the white man said bye and left. The man was so confused and did not know what to do. He was too scared to go and confront his mother-in-law. Then he was so worried that this same mother-in-law that was looking after the baby is a witch, and she is even recognised as one in a foreign country. He started looking for my number. Somebody gave it to him, and he called me and told me the story.
I said “I see”. So I pulled his legs and said, “So your mother-in-law is a witch too? Pity. What are we going to do now?” He said, Ah, G.O., you are pulling my legs. I then said, “Now go to one MFM bookshop in that city where you are, and buy a book called “Prayer Rain’ and start praying. He ran there quickly. All the days he spent there, he kept praying. When he came back to Nigeria, he joined MFM straightaway and started praying the same prayers he said were for only people who had problems. He did not realise that nobody asks for problems, but when they bring themselves up, you fight them.
===> I am praying for somebody here that your problems shall surrender; you will not surrender! in the name of Jesus.
There is another woman like that, an executive. She had a dream. In the dream, a woman walked into her flat and said “Madam, give me your wedding gown”. So she went to the box where it was, took it out, and gave it to the woman. The woman asked for her wedding rings too. So she packed her wedding and engagement rings and gave them to the woman in that dream. Then the strange visitor said goodbye and left. This executive woman goes to church but does not understand spiritual warfare. So she told her husband the dream during breakfast, but he said that she should not worry and that it was probably just her mind.
Before the end of the week, a woman came to the house and said to her, “I have come to see your husband,” and he came out. Then she said, “Pack your load and follow me.” The woman was looking at her husband, but to her shock, her husband started packing. She asked him, “Darling, you are packing?” He said “But she said I should follow her”. She replied, “And you want to follow her like that while I am here?” Her husband told her to shut her mouth. After he was done packing, the woman turned to her and said, “I am going to borrow your husband for two months. He will be back.”
That is how her husband left with a strange woman. This was what drove her to MFM. That problem ‘de-madamed’ her, removed her sophistication and the cat-walking, and she started praying. It was prayer that brought the man back. In fact, she was in the service when he got home and was waiting for her. The force of prayers dragged her husband out of the clutches of the strange woman, and he came home to look for his wife.
===> I decree upon your life that tonight, whether the devil likes it or not, you will pray and get results! In the name of Jesus.
Back to Ephesians 6:12, where we took off from. It did not say “for we dance”. Or “for we struggle”. Or “for we did praise worship.” Or “for we preach.” It said, “For we wrestle.” But the thing is this: like I have said before, the word ‘wrestle’ here is not the normal wrestling. It is a word called “Palé”. It is the word used to describe a kind of wrestling in the time of Paul. It refers to hand wrestling. It is a violent type of wrestling, a harzadous and deadly fight, a barbaric and brutal fight. It was in the time of Paul. In that wrestling, the two men enter the ring.
The fighting has no rules, unlike boxing. If you hit your opponent below the belt in boxing, it is an offence. If you bite your opponent, it is an offence. But this wrestling has no rules. No rounds. You just enter and fight to the death. The fighting goes on until one person surrenders or dies. It is a fight to perish, a thoroughly violent sport that existed in the time of Paul. You can smash your forehead on the nose of your opponent and break the bones of his nose; it is allowed. You can throw him up in the air and break his backbone; it is allowed. It is normal to strangle or choke the opponent. It is normal to break their bones and kick the opponent.
That is what is called “Palé”. It is different from the normal wrestling. It is this expression that Paul used to describe our conflict with unseen demonic forces marshalled against us. No wonder that ancient hymn writer wrote that song, and anytime I see that hymn, I wonder whether he was a white man or a black man.
The song says:
Christian, seek not yet repose.
Cast thy dreams of ease away.
Thou art in the midst of foes.
Watch and pray.
2. Principalities and powers,
Mustering their unseen array,
Wait for thy unguarded hours:
Watch and pray!’
3. Gird thy heavenly armour on.
Wear it ever, night and day;
Ambushed lies the evil one:
Watch and pray!’
That song captures what I am trying to let you know now. So all I have told you so far is: what are the implications?
1. The devil has no mercy. Witchcraft has no mercy at all. It was at a crusade ground that a 13-year-old girl was confessing right there at the front in the open field. When the pastor asked all the witches to run out, this girl was the first to run to the altar, and the man of God put the microphone in her mouth and said, “Yes, what have you done?” She said that her mother had 13 children: one doctor, one lawyer, and one hunchback. It was the doctor who was sending her to school. So the revivalist asked “Okay, where is the doctor now?” and she said “We have eaten him”.
He asked again. “Where is the lawyer?” She said “We ate him last week”. Then he asked, “Where is the one with the hunchback?” She replied, “That is the only one we have left alive.” So the two who were before her, except the hunchback, are gone. Due to witchcraft.
2. When fighting demonic powers, there are no rules of decency or civilization. So no matter what acidic prayer anyone is praying, if it will deliver him, then let him pray it. The victory goes to the hardest and the meanest. I could remember the church we were in many years ago. There was a time when we were praying dangerous prayers. We had noticed that people started bringing sacrifices to put around the church. So we prayed and said, “Father, the next person that brings sacrifices here, let your angel take that sacrifice and plant it in their bodies.” Do you know that after that day, nobody brought sacrifices again? I am sure that the angel of God must have planted something in the bodies of some people that chased them away.
===> If you can shout this tenfold volcanic amen, I decree upon you that you shall become a terror to your enemies! In the name of Jesus.
3. When fighting demonic and wicked powers, there is no negotiation. You cannot pacify them. You cannot tell them “Sorry, I am too young”, or “Sorry, I have just married”, or “Sorry I have just built a house”. No negotiation. You cannot say your blood is bitter. It does not matter; they will drink it if you allow them.
4. When fighting a spiritual war, anything goes. Somebody is fighting with thunder, acid, arrows, fire, and brimstone. That person is trying to tell you that anything goes and he can fight with anything.
===> Sister, brother, any power that says you will not have peace, with a sevenfold amen, let them expire! in the name of Jesus.
5. When fighting demonic powers, all methods of attack are legal.
6. When fighting these powers, there is no referee, no umpire to shout ‘foul, it is wrong’ or to disqualify you from the fighting arena.
Listen, beloveth, the song “Pass me not, o gentle saviour” is not a gentle song because if you are singing it like a gentle man, the Saviour will pass you by.
===> I am praying that any power that wants you to become history while you are still living, any power that wants to be stealing from you, let those powers be disgraced! In the name of Jesus.
This is where you have to listen carefully now. In our warfare, we wrestle against 4 forces:
1. Sin. Sin is an enemy. But thank God, we have the promise of God for that one, which says, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins”. So Jesus delivers us from sin.
2. The world. This world is an enemy. But again, we have the promise of scripture, which says “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”.
3. The enemy. Which includes the devil. Again, we have the promise of Jesus, which says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
4. The flesh. That flesh is the greatest headache. No promise. You must deal with that flesh yourself. If you want to succeed in dealing with the devil, you must deal with the flesh. Paul said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
So flesh has the capacity to put a man in hell fire even if you are speaking in tongues and working miracles. Every demonic attack against us will not produce anything of serious consequence if our flesh is dead. Every demonic attack will not prosper in our lives if we are living crucified lives. Why? Dead people do not respond to curses, temptation, or seduction. Because the flesh is dead. But once that flesh is not dead and you cannot control it, it is the airport of darkness where evil spirits land. Do not let us deceive ourselves; life is a battle. In fact, if you are a good Bible reader and you study the book of Revelation, you will see something repeated constantly, which says, “He that overcometh…”
“…. And he that overcometh shall eat the fruit of life….” “…. And he that overcometh shall be given a new name….” Meaning that the only people that are expected in heaven are overcomers. It means that we have a battle to fight, and you must overcome the battle. And if you are dealing with the warfare to fulfil the purpose of God for your life, the enemy will give you a hard battle. All those who fulfilled their destinies fought for it. The earlier you know about this, the better for you as you go about in your pursuit of the divine purpose of God in your life.
I do not know from where you are listening to me. You may be listening to me from countries around the world where the enemy has fanned them to sleep by telling them there is no God. And once the enemy convinces you that there is no God, he has you exactly where he wants you. And then he will do serious havoc. The truth is that in many of those foreign countries, the enemy has taken over, and this is a very serious matter.
I followed my friend to a prison abroad to pray for the prisoners. My friend is an evangelist and also a pastor, and he has a prison ministry, so I followed him there. So when we got there, we were allowed to enter. My friend has been going there multiple times, so he was quite known. We were asked to sign and explain our mission. We said we were there to preach the gospel to the prisoners. We signed. We had hardly left the place when another white man appeared in a black shirt and trousers with a black hat, coat, spectacles, bag, and walking stick, and he said he wanted to minister to the prisoners.
When they asked him his religion, he said he was a witch. He too signed, and the prisoners were released to us both. It was sad that that those who were with my friend the gospeller were few. Those with that man were many. So my friend was ministering to his people, and he too was ministering to his people. Being a very curious person, I acted as though I was going to the toilet to hear what he was telling them. He was telling them that although they were in prison, he would teach them how their spirits could leave their bodies to go outside the prison and do whatever they wanted. I felt sad that we had to do something about this. But in a situation where they do not even believe that the devil exists, that is a big problem.
The Bible says that Michael and his angels fought. So if Michael and his angels fought to maintain the purpose of God in heaven, why do you think you would not fight? Angels had to fight. You too must fight. Tonight, get yourself ready as we go into these warfare prayers when the time comes.
PRAYER POINTS.
1. Star hijackers, Destiny kidnappers of my father’s house, die! in the name of Jesus.
2. The glory I lost when I was in my mother’s womb, appear now! in the name of Jesus.
3. (Shout Blood of Jesus 21 times) repair my foundation! in the name of Jesus.
4. Powers consulting oracles to punish me; your time is up; die! in the name of Jesus.
5. (Lay your hand on your stomach.) Poison in my stomach, catch fire! In the name of Jesus.
6. Ancestral covens, I am not your candidate; catch fire! In the name of Jesus.
7. Strange marks and incisions, blocking my destiny, catch fire! In the name of Jesus.
8. Powers that are saying I will be a spectator in life, your time is up, die! In the name of Jesus.
9. Every demonic clock, counting my life backwards, catch fire! In the name of Jesus.
10. Every demonic powerhouse, holding me captive, break! In the name of Jesus.
MFM H/Q Sermons
