Attuned
The spirit of Death has a foul smell
It is usually not perceived through
natural senses
It is unmistakable to anyone walking
with the Holy Spirit
If you are ministering in a church or
to a crowd
Even if you are ministering in the office
or at the hospital
You can easily tell or identify a breathing
corpse from someone who is sick and would
most likely recover
The gift is not active in every believer
He didn’t even know he had it
Until one Sunday morning
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt was asked
to take the offering collection
There was no fanfare in collecting the offering
(Announce the offering, the choir sings, the
ushers move the collection plate around the
church.
Once they were done, they bring the offering
basked to the altar and you bless the offering)
The church sits about 200 people
Offering takes about seven minutes to collect
Just as the choir finished singing and the usher
brought the basket to the altar
He perceived the smell
It could best be described as the smell of a pigsty
It was so strong that he had to take a step
back from the altar as soon as he perceived it
He didn’t want to take longer than necessary
on the altar
But revelation must lead to redemption
He wouldn’t dare ignore the signs
Otherwise the guilt he would feel when the
news of the death reaches him would be
nothing compared with the pastor’s displeasure
at his waste of time
He started to bless the offering
Then he stopped
He told everybody to lift up their hands
He prayed in the spirit
As he prayed, his spiritual senses became stronger
He was able to identify the lady
A woman in her late 40s
He pointed at her
An usher led her forward
He handed the microphone to the usher
He laid hands on her
He didn’t say much
He laid his two hands on her head
The stench was heavy, he almost retched!
But he countered it with the fragrance of Christ
She stood still at first
Helplessly hopeless!
He didn’t need to ask her any question
He knew she knew
She knew death was hanging around her neck
He started calling the Pneuma
He prayed earnestly in the Holy Ghost
The smell started ebbing, slowly at first
He blew some air into her left ear
She reacted
The spirit of death shook her, then carried her
and slammed her against the people
He watched her
He prayed earnestly
When she settled down, she was still on her
feet but her legs were wobbly, she could
barely stand!
He beckoned to her to come to him
As she did so, she looked into his eyes and
screamed
The noise jarred her body
She collapsed on her knees and started weeping
He waited for a minute
He told the ushers to lift her to her feet
He laid his left hand on her neck and rebuked
the spirit of death in Jesus name
She became violent
Shivering all over and fell on her back
He looked around for the first time and saw the
look on the senior pastor’s face
He could sense that a lecture was being prepared
He had taken the time of the church doing
something irrelevant
He needed to be disciplined
He needed to keep to time
God does not honor those who walk in
disobedience to constituted authority
He had been through the drill before
And truly he could have ignored the signs and
silenced the Holy Spirit
Isn’t the spirit of a prophet subject to a prophet?
The lady recovered after a few minutes
She was lifted to her feet and ushered to a seat
As soon as she sat down, she slept off
He blessed the offering and left the altar
When he got to his seat
He suddenly became self-conscious
“What have you done?
Why didn’t you wait to pray for the lady after
the service?
After all the clashes you have had with this
body of ministers
You ought to have exercised some restraint!”
The rest of the service passed by in a blur
As soon as the service was over, he picked
his Bible
He wanted to run away before the senior
pastor would drop the gavel
Whatever the senior pastor did would be
justified
He had a tendency to do the right things at
the wrong time
The assistant pastor once told him he had
zeal without knowledge
He always listened to them
It’s just that they tend not to see anything
wrong during service
All they do was make a programme and
follow it to the letter
The service was so predictable and rarely met
the need of the people of God
Often time after service, the pastor and his
assistants would hurry home
Leaving him to tend to a crowd of people
who needs Counselling
The pastor would say “We have preached,
they must build their own faith and not have
to depend on any man of God! That’s how they
fall into the wrong hands and people deceive
them! The word is enough! If they pay attention
to the sermon and the prayer session, they
will not need any special prayer or Counselling”
The pastor has a point!
The average Christian is clueless about the
things of the spirit
The average Christian sincerely needs to grow
But in some cases, laying of hands,
the prayer of agreement, intercession, counseling
and impartation is a must!
Just as he was about to exit through the side
door of the church
One of the ushers called his name
“Pastor wants to see you, sir”
Wow!
Just as he was about to vamoose!
He braces himself and walked to the pastor’s office
He found the woman he prayed for there, seated
right opposite the pastor
The lady greeted him with delight
The pastor said “Brother So and So, this is my
younger sister! The one that lives in Detroit!”
They exchanged pleasantries again!
The pastor said “Why did you bring her out
for prayers?”
He said “Sir, I perceived something like death
around her and I was led to minister to her”
The pastor nodded
He pointed to the lady
The lady said “I was diagnosed of stage four
cancer three months ago!
I was given three months to live!
I had done all the fighting I could but test
result showed the cancer had spread everywhere
and I have about thirty days left!
I decided to come home and make peace with
everyone I have had issues with
Also, make peace with my God as I depart
this realm
I arrived in Nigeria a week ago
I went to the village to settle my affairs with
our relatives
From there I came to Lagos to see my brother
We have been keeping malice for over ten years
He didn’t support my marriage to the husband
of my choice and I swore never to have anything
to do with him ever again
We buried the hatchet yesterday!
He insisted I come to this service today and
worship in the church he pastors
That was why I came
When you brought me out to pray for me, I thought
you were going to start giving prophecies
I was laughing in my spirit thinking
"This one fake Nigerian prophet wants to dupe
the dead with promises of money and prosperity"
You would have been wrong if you were not of God
But as soon as you laid your hands on me
I felt a release of the chocking sensation around
my throat
The shortness of breath I've struggled with for years
stopped immediately
I started breathing fine
Then you laid hands on me again and my heart
felt warm like someone poured warm oil on it
When you breathed into my ear, I was knocked out
My legs couldn’t stand anymore and it felt as if my
nerves and joints were springing and destabilized
I don’t want to have false hope
I asked the pastor if it is necessary for you to declare
that I am healed because you didn’t say so
Do you need to declare it or am I fine as I am?”
He didn’t know what to say
His mouth just hung open
The pastor came to his rescue
The pastor said “I know what he is thinking...
He thought I called him to the office to berate him
for praying for you!
I planned to do so but I didn’t want to do so in
your presence
But as I listened to your testimony just now,
I have to admit that this is God at work!
The pastor asked him to lay hands on his sister
and declare her healing
He did
The pastor also prayed for his sister and then
the pastor blessed him and his ministry
Wow!
The sister continued to attend the church
until she returned to Detroit!
Ps: It’s been five years
Today she clocked 52
Her children and husband (a sailor) threw a
surprise birthday party for her
She called to say thank you!
Never ever neglect the place of laying on of hands
Or being sensitive to the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit does not just heal whoever
He wants to heal
He heals whoever we lay our hands on and
to be healed according to the instruction of Jesus
The dimensions of the Holy Spirit are many
Don’t ignore the signs he gives us whenever
we are in his presence
Be sensitive to Him and his move
Do not quench the spirit
Wherever you are right now, I pray that the
Holy Spirit will meet with you all in Jesus name! Amen
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