Learning The Pneuma

He started attending our church at 
that time because the church pastor 
announced during her sermon that 
she had a caucasian friend in Finland 
who was desperately searching for 
a husband
It was one of those real-life experiences 
pastors relate during their Sunday 
sermons, he was in the church as a 
first-timer and as a personal friend to 
my younger brother.
I had met him briefly in Bowen University 
when he came to visit his younger sister
His younger sister and my younger 
brother were good friends. 
It was through his sister that my 
brother met him
I can’t remember if I spoke to him at 
that time but that weekend he suddenly 
surfaced at the flat I share with my 
brother as my brother’s guest and we 
all got talking
We talked until late into the night
He informed us he would be sleeping 
over
It was not a problem
The following day was a Sunday
We all got to church as early as possible
After that sermon, he told me he wanted 
to see the pastor
We waited for him as our guest
When he was through, he said the pastor 
had invited him to her house later 
that evening
He didn’t say much about his reasons 
and I minded my business
Later in the evening we set out for the 
pastor’s house 
I was the house fellowship 
teacher for that venue
He tagged along based on the pastor’s 
invitation
We got there and began to talk scripture
My God!I recall that conversation as I write
He was deep and so was I! 
Eventhe pastor had to sit down and watch 
us with shinning eyes as we spoke under 
the influence of the Holy Spirit
Of course a prayer meeting followed 
with praying in tongues and prophecy
The word has stirred the pneuma in us
When we were through, the pastor 
invited him for a private
Conversation upstairs
They were gone for about an hour
When they were done, he still kept 
mum about what was going on
We got home at almost 10pm
The next morning he sat me and my 
brother down and told us about a 
prophecy he had been pursuing 
for 10 years
A prophecy given to him when he 
was a 300 level student in the 
University
A prophecy confirmed also by his 
father in Ibadan when he traveled 
home to make consultations about it
He said a prophet told him he wouldn’t 
make it in Nigeria
His glory lies abroad
Unless he traveled abroad, he would 
never fulfill his destiny
He said his father told him another 
prophet said the same thing when 
he was born
He was already 26 years old at the time
His father ran to the bank and cleaned 
out his bank accounts
His father gave him 800,000 Naira to 
find his way abroad
Why waste more time here?
He got in touch with a travel agent
He got an international passport
He was dead set on traveling to America
The travel agent stringed him along 
and swindled him of the 800,000 Naira
The whole thing cost him one and a 
half years and his academics
He was already 28, he got a job with 
a pastor’s wife as part of her protocol 
team
He started saving in order to travel
At every point, something will come 
up to rob him of his dream
By the time he was telling us the story 
he was 35
He didn’t have a job
He didn’t have any savings
He had tried internet dating without 
any success
He was determined to leave Nigeria 
for abroad by any means possible
It didn't matter which country
He was told abroad and he was willing
to go to any abroad nation of white 
people
He had been to many prophets and 
apostles
He knew village people had a hand in it
He knew demons and the devil were 
responsible for the stagnancy and 
the delay
That was why he came to see my 
brother
He wanted to pray with a fellow believer 
who was not used to his prayer point
People were no longer taking his prayer 
point serious in his church and it was 
vexing that most people expect him 
to buckle up and make the best of 
his life here while his glory was 
somewhere else
He regarded the pastor’s friend as 
his point of breakthrough
He felt if the pastor could link him to 
the white woman and a relationship ensued, 
he would get the opportunity to travel 
abroad and fulfil destiny
He just wanted to travel
His destiny was abroad and he must get it
He said the pastor listened to all he had 
to say but then the pastor said 
“I watched as you and Gbenga dissected t
he word of God and I can see that you 
are a genuine child of God. 
I have three daughters in America who 
are old enough to be married but 
remain single till today! 
I have prayed and fasted and God 
told me he would bring the right man 
for them at the right time. 
As you guys were going through 
that exegesis I suddenly remembered 
God’s word and I will like you to 
consider marrying one of my 
daughters instead"
He considered it a divine arrangement
I disagreed
I know prophecies and how they work
Jesus was a child of prophecy yet 
he learnt carpentry until the time of 
manifestation came
Elisha was God’s choice but Elisha 
went to cal him in his father’s farm 
while he was working
David was a shepherd, he was in 
the field when Prophet Samuel got 
to his father’s house
Amos of Tekoa was a shepherd, he 
was called while on duty
Mary was spoken of by Isaiah but 
she was fetching water when Angel 
Gabriel arrived
Cornelius was a centurion worshipping 
God in his own house when the angel 
of the Lord appeared to him
Prophecy is not to be pursued by human 
wisdom
It is fulfilled by divine might
I told him what God told my mother about 
me before I was conceived
I told him what God told me when I had 
my first encounter with the Holy Spirit 
in 2007 as an undergraduate
I told him I know God has a plan for 
my life but I got a job, I plan to get 
married and live my life in Him
If a prophecy is true, the time of its 
manifestation will come and it will be 
speedy
If a prophecy is not from God, it will 
never come true no matter how much 
energy you put in pursuing it!
He laughed
He said I was talking ideologically
He went to see the pastor
The pastor said she must be able to 
vouch for his character
She didn't want her daughter getting
married to a leech or a gold digger
She put him in her boys quarters and 
gave him a job as her Personal-Assistant
That way she can give her daughter 
real time report about his character and all
I watched the drama
I got married and started raising my family
In 2014, the pastor’s daughter came home 
and said she doesn’t like him
That was the end of "God’s answered 
prayer" for him
The pastor had to throw him out
He had nowhere to go so he came to my 
house
I was already married with two children
Five years of pursuing chaff came to naught
I wanted to take him into my guest room
He arrived at 7pm
The Holy Spirit said “No, pray for him and 
release him”
I told him he had to leave
He screamed as if I was killing him
He said "You are throwing me out too?"
I told him the Holy Spirit said 
“Pray for him and release him”
He cried and left my house
He called an old friend around Akowonjo
The friend said he can come over
He got to the friend’s house around 9:30pm
The friend was renting a flat out of a block
of four flats
A lady saw him arrive from her parent’s flat
The lady was 38 years old and unmarried
She was a chartered accountant and works
with an international firm
Earlier that day in church, the guest minister 
told the lady her husband will be walking 
into their compound that day
(Her parent's house)
She had rented a flat on the Island for 
because of her job
She believed and had waited all day 
to see who would come into her parent's
compound
He was the only stranger who came into 
their compound
They got talking
She helped him secure a job
One year later, they got married
Their marriage is 5 years old today 
and they are blessed with three children!
Every time I think of their story, I marvel
Prophecy played a huge part in the 
couple’s lives
For him, the prophecy was a dud
For her, the prophecy was spot on
And yet it was the dud prophecy’s failure 
that led him to her
There is a lot to learn!