I would like to tell you two stories.  Story 1 My father once told the story of how he and some friends (a number of them actually) used to live in this small one-room apartment in the late 1980s/early 1990s in Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria. Life was so bleak at the time and Christianity wasn’t like…

KNO

Story one

My father once told the story of how he and some friends (a number of them actually) used to live in this small one-room apartment in the late 1980s/early 1990s in Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria.

Life was so bleak at the time and Christianity wasn’t like what we have now, they used to hop from church to church looking for miracle, fame and fortune. My dad ended up in the Synagogue Church of All Nations, which he attended on and off. While his friends attended the Catholic Church and any other famous church, at the time, rumoured to offer tickets out of poverty. 

However they had one particular roommate, who was so desperate to get out of poverty. He did everything and went everywhere and was occasionally the victim of all kinds of scams. Until this particular day. This roommate came home with some resources, which he had bought from one of the famous “temples” of their time.

Those resources were famous for giving power, financial boom, and just about anything a person wanted. According to the manuals, he was asked to fill a very big bowl with water, put it directly under a light bulb, then light some coloured candles around the bowl. He was expected to wash his face inside the water, and then recite the prayers written in the manual. If everything was done correctly, the candles were expected to go off, with the bulb shattering. Then his eyes will “open” to see into the realm of the spirit and he will have the power of God to do and undo.

Everyone laughed at him when he recounted these weird instructions. They mocked him and teased him for falling into the hands of yet another scam. However, they all gathered, out of curiosity, when the roommate was about to carry out these instructions, to see if indeed the manual would work.

It worked. 

According to my father, by the time the last words were muttered, the lights of the candles went off and the bulb shattered, he was out of the house. He “ran” (in his words) from Ajegunle to Badagary, Then begged for money from strangers, and took the next bus back to the east, back to the village!

He never went back to that house again.

According to him, he didn’t know much about God and Jesus, or how to get to him, but he knew with certainty that his friend’s way wasn’t it at all. He was also convinced that if he ever returned to that house, he was going to die.

He never really told us what eventually became of the roommate or the other friends … Their story wasn’t worth telling after that incidence. But one thing he always said that stuck:

“Words are powerful. That day taught me that words are powerful. It’s not a lie.” 

Story Two

Ada wasn’t recovering.

They – Ada and her parents – did everything the doctors asked them to do, took all the tests, and the medications … even got admitted into the hospital … but there was little improvement. Ada was still vomiting, her head always felt like an overheating laptop, she could barely stomach any food and it was becoming increasingly evident that she was losing weight; emaciating before the eyes of all who knew her.

Ada was tired and so were her parents. They had lost so much money and they weren’t even close to solving the problem. They had prayed and were still praying, but it seemed like the doors of heaven had been shut to them. Their doctor had already written a referral letter to the nearest Federal Hospital for further investigations, but they had run out of funds to get them done.

So on this particular Sunday morning, Ada’s mom dressed early and went to church, leaving Ada at home with her father. She was determined not to return until the pastors in their church came home with her, once again, to pray for Ada.

Ada, on the other hand, had lost all faith in God or in prayers. She just wanted to either get better or die. Her discomforts were becoming too great to endure. However, as she lay on the mat by the open door of their living room, she fell asleep and dreamt of a beautiful woman wearing a pearl necklace.

The woman engaged her, discussing the value of the pearl, wanting to sell the pearls to her. Ada really loved them, and so asked if she could try them on.

The beautiful woman gladly took off her necklace and tried to wear it for Ada. But Ada soon noticed that her hands had transformed from the hands of a human being into that of a beast, her fingers now talons, digging into her skin, trying to strangle her with the pearls. Ada began to struggle with the woman who had now transformed into a full beast. They struggled and struggled and just when Ada was about to pass out, she heard herself shout the name of Jesus! Then she started to pray in tongues.

The beast-like woman almost immediately lost her grip, giving Ada time enough to recover, reverse their positions, and strangle the beast to death, with her pearls. All the while, she was praying in tongues and screaming the name of Jesus.

Ada woke up screaming in tongues, sweating profusely. After she had calmed down and her father had reassured her that there was no beast in the house or anyone trying to strangle her, she noticed, her head was no longer hot, she didn’t feel sick and she felt no form of nausea at all. To test things, she requested a plate of rice, which her father, scared out of his wits, gave her. She ate the first plate and the second without throwing up the food.

Her mother returned with their pastors to find Ada strong, and eating her third plate of rice. That was the end of her sickness.

Both stories remind me that we will live in a world that is just as physical as it is spiritual. There are many things we can explain and many more we can’t. And one of the powerful tool that control and govern both worlds is our words.

OUR WORDS ARE POWERFUL.

Some have made a pact with suffering, pain and death by the words they constantly speak. While for others, their words are healing balms, life givers for them and the people around them.

This 2024, examine your vocabulary with scrutiny. Whose sides are you on account of your words – Death or life? Who is speaking over you and what are you listening to?

This 2024, be intentional about the words you speak. Speak life always. Also, pray in tongues a lot – e get why them dey call am, heavenly language.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!