Recently I've had to face a need for a miracle, that is, some occurence out of the ordinary. When you find yourself on a high-speed train heading nowhere appealing and you're a Christian, the need for miracle becomes imperative and the question of their existence, particularly for your benefit, arises.

At such times, the popular range of teachings labelled "prosperity preaching" becomes rather appealing. But, if you're like me at all, then you'll find yourself rather reluctant to embrace them because of the stink of greed and , , inordinate materialism associated with it. But however hesitant you're about them, something in them will call to you, namely, the promise of supply for all your need. And said need is without doubt and unquestionably urgent.

Now, something called the "Word-of-Faith Movement" appears to encourage the belief that a Christian may have whatever he wants if he only confesses with his lips that he has it. And this belief appears to be supported by the Scriptures.

On this thread, I want to examine what the Scriptures really say about miracles and God's Answer to prayer and thus how the believer must deal with pressing need, overwhelming need and recurrent need.

I invite my brothers and sisters to break bread with me here and fellowship together on this matter for in the mouths of two or three witnesses, Scriptures say, every word shall be established.



TBC

Note
The following links are the other parts of the opening post in order. If you would like to cut to the chase, go to the last link which concluded my thoughts on the matter:

https://www.nairaland.com/1294786/word-faith#15791375

https://www.nairaland.com/1294786/word-faith#15839197

https://www.nairaland.com/1294786/word-faith/1#15950852

Very nice thread bro..Ihe.. I believe God has blessed us as His children both spiritually and materially..But i discover in my little walk with God that not all Christians actually come fully to manifest the materially blessings, despite the word of faith being preached that if you believe you will possess.

One of the reasons is that scriptures are given to establish doctrine and mature us,to bring us into wisdom and understanding of the spiritual dimension in which we move. The purpose of God written word is to reveal God; to reveal His purpose in our life, to reveal unto us exactly what's going on so that we should not be ignorant, deceived and deluded, but that we should walk in light and truth, one graphic example i could glean from scriptures that evry believer has to pass through a wilderness experience.This is the place that God sometimes brings us to as we mature from one level to another, and funny enough i am not guilty of this, i find myself bitter with men and with God. I even walk in strife and disregard fellowship without realizing that what God really want for me is to FOCUS away from man, from things and from anything in my life that has a tendency to take His place.

I haven’t always been a Christian. I didn’t go to religion to make me happy…I always knew a bottle of PORT would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly do not recommend CHRISTIANITY – C S Lewis

@Bidam

True, my brother. You may have captured in your post the principal elements of this discussion. Thank you for sharing.

@shdemidemi

Bro Lewis made a very good point. I'm certain we are going to see how it plays out in Life.

Ihedinobi: @Bidam

True, my brother. You may have captured in your post the principal elements of this discussion. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks bro.. i believe the aim of this thread is to trash out the word of faith and prosperity gospel we hear everyday. I am very much interested to hear the views of our christian brothers either for or against it.

This thread promises to be very enlightening.a lot of our big denominations practice word of faith one way or another.let us see and hear what God has to say about it through the bible.

Learning mode activated

@Ihedinobi, pls ride on brother

God bless us all

Yey! Subscribing....

One thing I know about our desires as spirit-led Christians is this:

JOHN 14:13
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

One certainty is that, anything we ask in the name of Jesus (emphasis on name because anything Jesus is named in has to be according to His will), it will be done and the end product is God's glory. Now that is where the faith comes in, since Jesus has said it, and the desire is aligned with his will and God's glory, we should believe it is done...even if the physical manifestation isn't present yet.

As @Bidam said, God uses situations to grow us. The waiting time between request and manifestation may be a trying time. What we do with it will determine how much more mature we will grow in Him. I am a perfect example. I have waited and got answers in amazing ways and I am still waiting patiently, joyfully and resting for other desires.

To start with, miracles are normal for two reasons: God is Love and God is Sovereign over all things.

About His Love, Jesus said that it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. In another place He said that the trait we evil humans have to give good gifts to our children is no stronger in us than it is in its Origin, the Lord God Himself Who is utterly good and has no evil in Him. The whole Scriptures testify to the Lord's propensity to give and give and give good things.

Of course, there are warnings that suggest that it isn't only good things that He gives but that He gives their opposite as well. But any schooled believer knows that a curse is no more than the absence of a blessing, it is a negative, a removal, rather than a positive, that is, an addition of any sort. So when God says that He will do evil to disobedient subjects and children of His or that He will curse or the like, He only means that He will remove Himself from the picture and abandon the person or persons in question to their own devices. And if you know anything about God, you kbow that there is absolutely NOTHING worse than a condition where God has abandoned a person to their own devices.

But all that is somewhat tangential to the issue. The thing about the fact that God is Love is that it is completely natural to Him to pour out over-abundant blessings. He is always looking for a way to add some great value to, to improve, to bless a person. He glories in a Creation overflowing with benefits. And since He Himself is an infinite fountain that never runs dry, it makes perfect sense that He should so rejoice in giving.

About His Sovereignty, there is a part of that which is covered by His Love (actually all of it is but there is a crucial point that I need to magnify) which is that He is the Good King, the King that glories in happy subjects - subjects that are well cared for and well provided for. But my interest here is that He is Absolute Ruler of all things. There is absolutely nothing outside His Power and Influence. Everything is subject to His Will, willingly or not. He is the One truly Absolute Monarch unchallenged by any power. And I mean every word of that.

Of course I'm aware of Satan's claims and all, but Satan has never aspired to unseating God, what he tried for and failed at attaining is equality with Him (see Isaiah 14:12-15, note particularly v. 14). The only Person that Creation has dealt with as though He shared form with it and yet has equality with God is Jesus the Christ. He is the One Whose place in God Satan has coveted from the beginning. God is completely unrivalled in power.

That God is Absolute Ruler means that His Will cannot be foiled. Everything thaf He purposes is sure and will come to pass regardless of anything that would withstand it. Of course, being Love Himself, He does not violate anybody's will but He is so wise that He can afford to have everyone choosing what they will and yet harness the products of each choice to serve His Will. In other words, even the fact that we all have free will and Satan may make opposing plans, God's Will is still brought to pass in the midst of it all.

TBC

very funny thread, all the ogas dey learning/subscribing mode, na who go com deliver na, atheist?
Me too dey follow mode sha. But one thing is that the individual Christian's life is 'complicated' and not exactly a one answer fits all in this case. One fact is that words are VERY powerful, so is every human.

Alwaystrue: Yey! Subscribing....

One thing I know about our desires as spirit-led Christians is this:

JOHN 14:13
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

One certainty is that, anything we ask in the name of Jesus (emphasis on name because anything Jesus is named in has to be according to His will), it will be done and the end product is God's glory. Now that is where the faith comes in, since Jesus has said it, and the desire is aligned with his will and God's glory, we should believe it is done...even if the physical manifestation isn't present yet.

As @Bidam said, God uses situations to grow us. The waiting time between request and manifestation may be a trying time. What we do with it will determine how much more mature we will grow in Him. I am a perfect example. I have waited and got answers in amazing ways and I am still waiting patiently, joyfully and resting for other desires.

Lovely, sister. Thank you for joining us. I'm so grateful for you guys.

is is time to come in with jesus,he is all that u need to live on ples brother come in now he love u all the time,jesus is colse to u,see brother and sister ask him anything u say u need ur life and he we do it for u ok,i love u all,ples i we also like u to think well cuse he is ur father i say the owner of ur life okask him anything u fee he is there,thanks bye see u again,(+2348066186021) that is my personal phone number ok Email Address,(ifetlex@yahoo.com ) or (take_i@ymail.com)

Image123: very funny thread, all the ogas dey learning/subscribing mode, na who go com deliver na, atheist?
Me too dey follow mode sha. But one thing is that the individual Christian's life is 'complicated' and not exactly a one answer fits all in this case. One fact is that words are VERY powerful, so is every human.

Lol.

You're right that things work out differently from one Christian to another. However, it is the same principle of Christ working out in each case. That principle is what I'm trusting the Holy Spirit to open up to us.

Thank you so much for joining us here, bro. It's really good to have you.

Alwaystrue: Yey! Subscribing....

JOHN 14:13
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

This quote does not apply to you as a gentile believer but to whom this letter is addressed. In the letters that was written to you it says problems and tribulations you go through shape up your character, thus problems bring character development. Turn to Romans 5 to affirm this-

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

As a christian if you can ask and God does, why would you hope for a time to leave this devil's world. We are partakers of God's spiritual glory, we must also partake in his physical sufferings as believers.

Ihedinobi: To start with, miracles are normal for two reasons: God is Love and God is Sovereign over all things.

About His Love, Jesus said that it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. In another place He said that the trait we evil humans have to give good gifts to our children is no stronger in us than it is in its Origin, the Lord God Himself Who is utterly good and has no evil in Him. The whole Scriptures testify to the Lord's propensity to give and give and give good things.

Of course, there are warnings that suggest that it isn't only good things that He gives but that He gives their opposite as well. But any schooled believer knows that a curse is no more than the absence of a blessing, it is a negative, a removal, rather than a positive, that is, an addition of any sort. So when God says that He will do evil to disobedient subjects and children of His or that He will curse or the like, He only means that He will remove Himself from the picture and abandon the person or persons in question to their own devices. And if you know anything about God, you kbow that there is absolutely NOTHING worse than a condition where God has abandoned a person to their own devices.

perfectly said bro

Ihedinobi:
That God is Absolute Ruler means that His Will cannot be foiled. Everything thaf He purposes is sure and will come to pass regardless of anything that would withstand it. Of course, being Love Himself, He does not violate anybody's will but He is so wise that He can afford to have everyone choosing what they will and yet harness the products of each choice to serve His Will. In other words, even the fact that we all have free will and Satan may make opposing plans, God's Will is still brought to pass in the midst of it all.

Ihedinobi, I need to analyze the bolded cos the problem in our country today is not God but our lust.
God will not answer many people's prayers because we pray outside of his will. People pray from a selfish perspective, yet they expect God to answer. If you look at the lives of the pioneers(apostles) of this faith,you would hardly see them pray the way we pray today. Man does not like things that hurt their body, we care so much about our body that our spirit suffers. Christians need to look at this faith with a whole different perspective, if you are coming to the faith suffering is part of the deal.

When I say suffering, it does not mean sit in abject poverty while you hope for the coming of Christ,NO. Go and work, eat, look good and hope for his coming even if you die waiting (faith). Atleast, you have an assurance that you are only sleeping until Christ will come get you.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

King James Version (KJV)

10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.



13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him

Proverbs 18:20 A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Following Mode Activated.

My position is stated below and I hope to shed light on them as we progress:

1. The Word of Faith movement as founded by E W Kenyon has no sound/scriptural root. The proponents of it, the likes of Hagin, Oral Roberts, etc, are prosperity gospellers, proponents of a false gospel; and the progenitors of the error that pervade our local churches in Nigeria today.

2. This gospel has been propagated via false means; chief among them the TITHE.

3. Miracles are the children's bread and there is no scriptural evidence they ceased.

4. God delights in the prosperity of the saint but our prosperity is NOT his chief concern. Rather the prosperity of our souls.

5. There is a need for the church to return to the ORTHODOX gospel of God's grace. The gospel Paul preached, in Jesus name; the gospel rediscovered @ the Reformation. The gospel many sound orthodox churches were founded on, prior to the coming of these modern day money gobblers, popularly known as New Generation Churches.

My story...

I became a Xtian in 1998 and attended a new Gen Church. Same time I came across books that explained the gospel of grace. I found there was a wide difference btw what I was hearing in church and what some of these literature taught. Eg

1. No one in church taught how to handle betting sins but these books spoke of growth in grace and bible confirmed it

2. My pastors were overly concerned with revivals, miracles, prosperity; these didn't minister to my need. I was attracted more to teachings that exalted the glory of God's kingdom

3. I could not see sincere love among the brethren. The church seem to be an avenue for out doing each other.

4. I came to dislike the legion of ministers that graced our pulpits; they sounded more like noise makers

5. All these drew me to the NT, the letters of Paul, were I discover for myself the glorious gospel of God's grace to sinful man.

6. I would later discover that much of the teachings I heard in church was the prosperity gospel

When I was in JSS3, i came across a book titled THE COSMIC POWER WITHIN YOU. The theme of that book was that every human has a power within him, which if harnessed can bring health and wealth. The author did not refer to Jesus, his death or resurrection. But the book was replete with testimonies of healing and financial breakthroughs.

I now know that the man was a New Ager but truth is his message differ nothing from Hagin, etc, except that the latter based their teaching on Mark 11:24.

The teaching of Word of Faith is that a human being can exert HIS faith in God so much that he will see results (many times with or without recourse to God's will). The man is the centre and his pleasure, not God or Jesus, is the centre of this teaching. His happiness, success and well being is the focus and not God's will.

Most of the literature of these faith teachers rely more on testimonies and result and not simple faith - as scripture commands: the just shall live by faith.

To conclude my submission for the moment:

The chief error of the Word of Faith moment is their penchant to confuse Law with grace. What however one discovers is that the proponents of these teaching subscribe only to those aspect of the law that benefit them and their ministries. Eg, the fact that Abraham was wealthy and so every man of faith must be wealthy; subscription to tithe and firstfruit paying; re-enacting the levithical priesthood and undermining the priesthood of all believers; and lately even re-course to wearing priestly garments. Parts of the law like keeping the Sabbath, taking care of widows, orphans and poor, that do not profit them, they discard.

And with all due respect, Disciples of these false teachers on NL are the like of the OP - ihedinobi, Bidam, Alwaystrue, danfo, MostHigh and a legion of others I call neo-Judaizers. One of their major Xtics is their pride and unteachableness; not to talk of their penchant to twist scriptures and argue without end...

DrummaBoy:
And with all due respect, Disciples of these false teachers on NL are the like of the OP - ihedinobi, Bidam, Alwaystrue, danfo, MostHigh and a legion of others I call neo-Judaizers. One of their major Xtics is their pride and unteachableness; not to talk of their penchant to twist scriptures and argue without end...

mosthigh is in darkness, you insult the other lot by putting his name on that list..

DrummaBoy: My story...

I became a Xtian in 1998 and attended a new Gen Church. Same time I came across books that explained the gospel of grace. I found there was a wide difference btw what I was hearing in church and what some of these literature taught. Eg

1. No one in church taught how to handle betting sins but these books spoke of growth in grace and bible confirmed it

2. My pastors were overly concerned with revivals, miracles, prosperity; these didn't minister to my need. I was attracted more to teachings that exalted the glory of God's kingdom

3. I could not see sincere love among the brethren. The church seem to be an avenue for out doing each other.

4. I came to dislike the legion of ministers that graced our pulpits; they sounded more like noise makers

5. All these drew me to the NT, the letters of Paul, were I discover for myself the glorious gospel of God's grace to sinful man.

6. I would later discover that much of the teachings I heard in church was the prosperity gospel

less drumming please, i am following this thread.

DrummaBoy: To conclude my submission for the moment:

The chief error of the Word of Faith moment is their penchant to confuse Law with grace. What however one discovers is that the proponents of these teaching subscribe only to those aspect of the law that benefit them and their ministries. Eg, the fact that Abraham was wealthy and so every man of faith must be wealthy; subscription to tithe and firstfruit paying; re-enacting the levithical priesthood and undermining the priesthood of all believers; and lately even re-course to wearing priestly garments. Parts of the law like keeping the Sabbath, taking care of widows, orphans and poor, that do not profit them, they discard.

And with all due respect, Disciples of these false teachers on NL are the like of the OP - ihedinobi, Bidam, Alwaystrue, danfo, MostHigh and a legion of others I call neo-Judaizers. One of their major Xtics is their pride and unteachableness; not to talk of their penchant to twist scriptures and argue without end...

Grace changes everything. If the neo-judaizaers understand what this means, they would not have mixed with the law of moses neither would they have crucified the lord of glory again. Gal. 2:21

DrummaBoy:
3. Miracles are the children's bread and there is no scriptural evidence they ceased.

4. God delights in the prosperity of the saint but our prosperity is NOT his chief concern. Rather the prosperity of our souls..

I agree with almost all if not all, but humbly disagree with these 2 points.....I would not mind f you can show me anywhere in the scripture where prosperity was been talked about as regards to the church( not Jews ) and where miracles was preached or encouraged to the church.

...Continuing...

I'm sorry I'm taking so much time, but this issue is an unfolding lesson for me as well so my pace is determined by my rate of absorption of my Teacher's lessons.

Anyway, one thing is established that miracles are normal to a Christian's life. They are testimonies to the Love and Power of his Father.

But we know that even though God loves to do good things for us, there are times that we ask for things and we do not receive them. Those can be very perplexing times. At those times we may exhaust every formula we have for obtaining miracles to no avail

It is such times that require understanding of the principles that surround miracles or prayers. What are God's Gifts? What can we be sure that He has to give and wants to give to us? How do we position ourselves to receive His Gifts?

First of all, Scriptures say that God has given us Christ and together with Him all things. They also say that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. They say too that God's Promises in Christ are "Yea" and "Amen". That tells us that His Gifts are everything. God has with Christ given us all things.

What God has to give to us and wants to give to us is all things. This agrees with Jesus's "seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things (that I have told you not to take thought for but for which you have need) shall be added unto you".

In another place our Lord also said that whatever we give for the sake of the Gospel we'll get back a hundredfold in this world and in the world to come eternal life. So this "all things" comprises every benefit of every kind. It is not limited to material goods alone or psychological/intellectual benefit or spiritual benefits alone or even any combination of the three that doesn't include everything.

What the Lord is offering is everything with Christ. That is what is available to us from Him. And He is able and abundantly willing to give it. The question now is how He gives it and how we may take advantage of it, how we may receive it.

TBC

^^^^^^ stop making the scripture say what you want it to say bro...All we have on earth is our salvation and hope of sharing eternal life in God's glory. This assurance gives us joy even at the time of tribulation and difficulties. You will go through the valley of the shadow of death, He shall comfort you. You will go through fire, He shall be there with you. If God provides all our desires today, we will not need him anymore. God has placed a believer in a position where you would need him everyday to sustain you according to His will.

6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

You can never tell what God is doing even while you are going through difficulties and persecution . If the devil knew what God was doing when Christ suffered and died on the cross, he would have prevented it from happening. If the devil knew what God was doing when Joseph was going through his sufferings, he would have avoided it. That you are going through problems means You are heading some where and you can never tell what God's eventual plan is, even the devil does not know.

Seek the kingdom, seek the kingdom God says he will add every other thing, asking God for the other things is like telling him he can't see. Paul prayed to him three times for his pain to go away, God replied him saying my grace is sufficient. In whatever situation, we should believe His grace is sufficient for us. Christ said to the rich man, give all you have to the poor and follow me.

In the parable of the sower, Christ said some were sown among the thorns, they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful..

DrummaBoy: And with all due respect, Disciples of these false teachers on NL are the like of the OP - ihedinobi, Bidam, Alwaystrue, danfo, MostHigh and a legion of others I call neo-Judaizers. One of their major Xtics is their pride and unteachableness; not to talk of their penchant to twist scriptures and argue without end...

Mr..antitither we don hear you..What contributions have you made to the body of Christ since you became born again?

Apostle Paul was a mere man with like passions just like us and he proved his ministry.
E. W kenyon was also a mere mortal and he proved his ministry.
Kenneth hagin of blessed memory also proved his ministry.
Archbishop benson idahosa proved his ministry.
Bishop oyedepo proved his ministry.

what is the proof of your ministry? you just come online spewing thrash and lies about these men who have done no wrong as far as am concerned. Are You saying the word of faith is not biblical prove it with scriptural backing lets see instead of name-callings and blaming you always do whenever you post which is your style anyway.

ApostlePat:

Grace changes everything. If the neo-judaizaers understand what this means, they would not have mixed with the law of moses neither would they have crucified the lord of glory again. Gal. 2:21

Oh NOT AGAIN! IS that scripture not talking about Christ who fulfilled the law and gave himself for our sin. Did you ever hear any of us say we can gain righteousness by our own ability? Simply put Christ is our righteousness. Shikena!

Bidam: Mr..antitither we don hear you..What contributions have you made to the body of Christ since you became born again?

Apostle Paul was a mere man with like passions just like us and he proved his ministry.
E. W kenyon was also a mere mortal and he proved his ministry.
Kenneth hagin of blessed memory also proved his ministry.
Archbishop benson idahosa proved his ministry.
Bishop oyedepo proved his ministry.

what is the proof of your ministry? you just come online spewing thrash and lies about these men who have done no wrong as far as am concerned. Are You saying the word of faith is not biblical prove it with scriptural backing lets see instead of name-callings and blaming you always do whenever you post which is your style anyway.

Check all the names you listed alongside Paul...Are they preaching the gospel?
Is the word of faith ministry part of the gospel? Is prosperity teaching part of the gospel? Of course not, these doctrines are from the deepest part of hell.

Apostle Paul said to all believers through the Holy Spirit 'follow my teachings as I follow Christ'. His teachings were clear for all to see, the man also said in Gal 1
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Therefore any man that claims he has got a new revelation from God is a liar. We have 1 message from God, the gospel that has the power unto salvation for anyone who believe.

DrummaBoy: When I was in JSS3, i came across a book titled THE COSMIC POWER WITHIN YOU. The theme of that book was that every human has a power within him, which if harnessed can bring health and wealth. The author did not refer to Jesus, his death or resurrection. But the book was replete with testimonies of healing and financial breakthroughs.

I now know that the man was a New Ager but truth is his message differ nothing from Hagin, etc, except that the latter based their teaching on Mark 11:24.

The teaching of Word of Faith is that a human being can exert HIS faith in God so much that he will see results (many times with or without recourse to God's will). The man is the centre and his pleasure, not God or Jesus, is the centre of this teaching. His happiness, success and well being is the focus and not God's will.

Most of the literature of these faith teachers rely more on testimonies and result and not simple faith - as scripture commands: the just shall live by faith.

I hope you know your message of Grace and God's love is also preached by New Agers - the One Love Crowd - only that they do not mention Jesus or give Him preeminence? So, going by your logic, your message is also false and you can rightly be branded a false teacher or a false prophet. I read some of the other stuff you wrote. There's no doubt that because we are dealing with human vessels, the message of God is not always delivered as purely as trasmitted from Heaven. But you take it to an unhealthy extreme when you use that to condemn what you know very little about. Hagin understood grace and holiness and lived it far better than you.

shdemidemi: ^^^^^^ stop making the scripture say what you want it to say bro...All we have on earth is our salvation and hope of sharing eternal life in God's glory. This assurance gives us joy even at the time of tribulation and difficulties. You will go through the valley of the shadow of death, He shall comfort you. You will go through fire, He shall be there with you. If God provides all our desires today, we will not need him anymore. God has placed a believer in a position where you would need him everyday to sustain you according to His will.

6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

You can never tell what God is doing even while you are going through difficulties and persecution . If the devil knew what God was doing when Christ suffered and died on the cross, he would have prevented it from happening. If the devil knew what God was doing when Joseph was going through his sufferings, he would have avoided it. That you are going through problems means You are heading some where and you can never tell what God's eventual plan is, even the devil does not know.

Seek the kingdom, seek the kingdom God says he will add every other thing, asking God for the other things is like telling him he can't see. Paul prayed to him three times for his pain to go away, God replied him saying my grace is sufficient. In whatever situation, we should believe His grace is sufficient for us. Christ said to the rich man, give all you have to the poor and follow me.

In the parable of the sower, Christ said some were sown among the thorns, they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful..

No, you are the one trying to make the scriptures say what they are not saying. And your position is based on contadictions. You say God has not promised us anything, yet you also claim we can pray to Him to answer our prayers. Is the promise of answered prayers not a promise? Why are you praying to God when you don't think He'll answer? And you talk of the rich man and Jesus and also Paul's writing to Timothy on the rich but do not present it fully. Paul wrote to Timothy about the rich and what was the message to the rich? Not to trust in uncertain riches. The message was not to give up all their wealth or leave the Church.

Bidam: Mr..antitither we don hear you..What contributions have you made to the body of Christ since you became born again?

Apostle Paul was a mere man with like passions just like us and he proved his ministry.
E. W kenyon was also a mere mortal and he proved his ministry.
Kenneth hagin of blessed memory also proved his ministry.
Archbishop benson idahosa proved his ministry.
Bishop oyedepo proved his ministry.

what is the proof of your ministry? you just come online spewing thrash and lies about these men who have done no wrong as far as am concerned. Are You saying the word of faith is not biblical prove it with scriptural backing lets see instead of name-callings and blaming you always do whenever you post which is your style anyway.

I completely endorse the above message.