2024-09-04_Wednesday Service. Embracing Divine Opportunities: Accelerating Kingdom Advancement and Spiritual Warfare; By PBC Family Pastor, Pst. Phelista Kamau.

Open Door Advancement.

Uplifted Kingdom Warfare.

The reason I want to speak concerning this theme is because I've been telling myself that you could be there and you are wondering what is these people are talking about concerning Open Door, and so what I did today was to put a message together, which was inspired by the Lord.

By the way, I think it's the other Sunday, not this Sunday.

The other Sunday, as I sat there, the Lord just began to drop this message, and I wrote a few thoughts on what I want to share, and so all I needed to do when I was home was to just build up the thoughts that he had already put in my heart.

One of the things I realized is that we need to be open to the Lord speaking to us.

So when we look at this theme and I'll be sharing different scriptures, but I want to stick to the theme Today I told myself I want to stick, I want to be a good teacher.

Amen, amen.

So open door advancement, open door advancement that is the first word you see there.

Open door advancement.

What does it mean?

Open door represents opportunity, specifically in the Bible, especially in the New Testament.

It represents opportunity for evangelism, opportunity for advancing the gospel, taking the word of God forward, open door advancement.

So this represents opportunity.

It also represents things that God may want to do in our lives, things that God has been wanting to do in our lives, and what he's been waiting for is the opportune time.

Now I need to say that this year 2024, is the opportune time for God to advance you to your next level.

We started this theme in January, when the theme vision was released.

We are in the ninth month.

What this means is that the next three months October, november, december should be months of celebration, where we are beginning to come and say thank you, lord.

And this particular month, this ninth month, because it's a month of birthing.

You have noticed that it's not been your usual month.

It's been a month which has had a little bit not even a little bit, I think a lot of pushing.

There is a travailing in the spirit, there is an urgency to pray, to push, and I believe that, being the ninth month, it can be compared to a woman who has been carrying a child from January.

Please, I want to urge you, I want to compel you, that you need to pray for your own destiny.

Don't be the kind of believer who wants people to pray for him all the time.

There are times we need people to pray for us, especially when we are under attacks or when we are feeling that we are not understanding the direction the Lord is taking us.

Then we need people to pray for us.

But we should take responsibility of our own lives, our own destiny, our own families, and we should be in the place of prayer.

So this month, if you have not been praying, if you have not been waking up in the night to pray, if you have not been rising up early to pray, notice that these were normal habits of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will be early in the morning.

He will be up in the night praying.

This is the habit of any successful man of God.

Even in scriptures, the disciples themselves would pray until the Bible would say it was the hour of prayer.

So that means it wasn't something that special people do.

By the way, I believe that prayer is for every believer.

I don't even like people calling some people intercessors, because if we do that, we begin to leave that work to them.

So let me go back to my notes.

So advancement, advancement is movement.

It reflects movement, moving from one place to another.

It has the picture of escalation, escalating things forward.

The best word for this is acceleration.

What is acceleration?

Allow me to speak about divine acceleration.

Divine acceleration is when God himself enters the picture and what would have taken you 10 years, what would have taken you five years, what would have taken you two years, the Lord packages it all together in one year or in six months, and the Lord advances you.

I always like this is the picture I have the Lord gives you speed, he gives you speed, he like, pushes you back and just gives you speed and you find yourself that you have hit your target.

Those of you who are in the marketplace understand this the boss has given you a target and maybe the target is seven million.

You're supposed to do sales and your sales, or the loans you're giving or whatever you're doing, should be seven million.

And you have to start the first day of the month to the end of the month and the month is closing and you have not met your target month.

And the month is closing and you have not met your target.

And you've been talking, you've already supplied goods, but they have not paid.

And you're following and just when they're about to close, just when they are talking to you, they are starting to display your name as if you have failed.

The Lord just grants you speed, the Lord just accelerates your matter.

And that day, when you are entering the meeting, a check comes in and somebody brings the amount, the specific amount that tops up and you hit not your seven million target, but you even go beyond that target.

And now you are celebrated and people are saying we don't know how she does it.

But you know how you do it because it is the Lord who has pushed you.

The Lord has given you speed.

So the word advancement means moving forward.

It also represents promotions, it represents your next level, it represents progress.

These are kingdom words, by the way, because the kingdom of God how this kingdom of God is displayed in scripture it is a kingdom that is advancing.

It is a kingdom that is moving forward.

In a matter of days after the day of Pentecost, in a matter of, in fact, that same day, 3,000 are added to the church.

A few more days later, 3,000, 5,000 are added into the church.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of speed.

Within a very short time, from the time the day of Pentecost happened to the time Paul finishes the third missionary journey and Paul finds himself in Rome.

If you look at the book of Acts, by the way, they don't even finish writing that book because by the time they are finishing the book of Acts, they have reached the known world.

So I don't know what you are waiting for.

So this is advancement and this is our month of advancement.

If you've been here here and you're watching online and you've been trusting God for your promotion, please, this is your time.

If you pray, god is going to advance you, god is going to push you to your next level, the word kingdom.

What does the word kingdom mean?

The word kingdom means gaining grounds, taking territory.

It actually means establishment of God's rule.

Kingdom of God is God's rule, the establishment of God's rule on earth.

So the word kingdom basically is when we look at kingdom from the teachings of the Lord Jesus.

He said the kingdom of God has come, it's already come, it's here, it's amongst you.

He also said that the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking.

The kingdom of God is God's rule being established in the hearts of mankind, of mankind.

If one person comes to the Lord today, the kingdom of God, the rule of God, the reign of God, has been established in that man's life, in that one person's life.

If a team from Parklands Baptist Church goes to a mission, suppose a team from Parklands Baptist Church decides to go to Machakos, decides to go to Cameroon, decides to go to a territory where nobody has held a meeting, a crusade, an evangelistic meeting in the last five years, and when they go there they preach the word of God and the community receives the word of God that day.

The kingdom of God has been established in that place and that's why, when we pray concerning kingdom and we pray the Lord's Prayer in the Greek because the tone of that is in the imperative it's not our Father who art in heaven.

Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom, come, your kingdom, come.

No, if it is in the imperative, it means that it is like a declaration, because what it means is that you can stand your ground in a place where Christ has not been heard or in a place where Christ has not been recognized.

You can stand your ground and you can make a strong declaration.

You can say come thy kingdom, and the kingdom of God will manifest in that area.

Praise the Lord, amen.

So these are kingdom terms we are looking at Kingdom advancement includes taking back what was stolen from you, many of us.

So much was stolen from us.

The Bible says that while men slept, the enemy came and planted tears when men slept.

Why does the Bible say why men slept?

Because scripture expects that men will take their position as custodians of gates, custodians of territories.

It means that they will stand on their watchtower.

Habakkuk talks about that, saying I will stand on my watchtower and I will see.

When you stand on your watchtower, you can see an enemy coming.

You can see an enemy advancing.

You can take your place and you will see.

When you stand on your watchtower, you can see an enemy coming.

You can see an enemy advancing.

You can take your place and you can fight, you can contend.

But while men slept, the enemy came and he took many things from us, Some of us.

He stole our futures.

What we are doing today is not what the Lord had envisioned for us.

Some of us, he stole our families, our marriages, stole our marriages.

Some of us, he stole our opportunities.

Sometimes, when I look at when I'm ministering, I see people and I can tell that this one had the call of God upon their lives early and that they should be here ministering.

But because the enemy came while men slept.

The enemy came and planted tears.

The enemy came and stole something from them.

Today they are not able to stand and serve the Lord because the enemy stole their opportunities.

They didn't go to school, they didn't get college, they didn't get training, they didn't install their opportunities.

They didn't go to school, they didn't get college, they didn't get training.

They were not able to, they were not able to hone their skills and the gifts that God Almighty had given to them.

And these kind of people, let me tell you you spend a few minutes with them the things and ideas they will give you.

If you go, do them, you advance.

But because the enemy came and stole before they knew themselves.

So this is kingdom.

The reason we insist on freedom in Christ, which is a program that we do in family ministries, the reason we insist on freedom in Christ, is because it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Christ has set us free Galatians 5.1.

Set us free so that we can begin to advance in our purpose, so that we can begin to advance in our callings, so that we can begin to advance where he wants us to advance.

And that's why, once Christ has set you free.

The Bible says stand, do not let yourselves be burdened again.

Once Christ has come and cut chains and yokes that were binding you now, stand and begin to pursue that which he wants you to pursue, that which he's already won for you.

So the first thing I want to talk about, as I talk about now, this uplifted kingdom warfare.

We know that the kingdom of God is a kingdom that experiences a lot of warfare.

In the kingdom of God, things don't just come easy.

It is the violent, the forceful, those who make demands.

They are the ones who move by force and they take back what the enemy had stolen from them.

The Bible gives an imagery of a strong man and it says that how do you take the goods from a strongman Unless you first, by the way, unless you first enter the strongman's house, tie his hands, tie him up the way the police in the United States handle criminals or suspects tie him up.

Make sure that you have immobilized him and you have put him on the ground.

Then you can enter and you can take that which the strong man had stolen from you, what the strong man had stolen from your family.

So the kingdom of God is about warfare, but we thank God because God is the one who teaches us to war.

We do not know even how to pray.

You see the disciples.

They ask Jesus, teach us to pray.

They saw Jesus praying.

They saw Jesus praying.

They saw the consistency, they saw the authority.

They saw the authority.

They saw him using different types of prayers.

Some days he groaned, some days, I'm sure, he just paced on the mountain, saying it is written, it is written, it is written.

And he quoted scriptures and the forces of darkness went back.

And the forces of darkness went back and these guys, who had been taught to pray by holding the tallit and maybe just reciting things and doing this, said this prayer has a lot of authority.

And they asked him Master, teach us to pray.

And that's how the powerful prayer, the Lord's Prayer, is not a recital.

That prayer is so powerful.

If you stand your ground without prayer, you will push darkness until you will be shocked.

Now let me say some things about the uplifted open door, the open door that brings advancement.

The first point I want to say is that it is a desired door.

Let me tell you no door will open for you unless you have a desire in your heart to advance and to enter a door.

The place of desire in the open door, the place of desire in scripture is very clear Psalms 37, verse 4.

Psalms 37:4

Psalms 37, verse 4, says delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:4

Many times we want the Lord to give us the desire of our heart.

We want the Lord.

Oh God, give me this, give me a house, give me a husband, give me a job.

Oh God, give me, give me, give me.

Have you delighted yourself in the Lord?

Because what begins to happen is that.

Have you delighted yourself in the Lord?

Because what begins to happen is that, as you delight yourself in the Lord, when you learn to go to God without requests, without needing anything, it doesn't mean that you don't need something.

You need so much, in fact.

Hey, you need, you are in such a great need.

But when you learn to go to the Lord and delight in him, begin to go and love on God, begin to go and tell him you are my father.

Begin to go and tell him Lord, even if you don't do this one, I love you.

Begin to go to him and tell him you are my God.

You are my God from my youth.

Early in the morning, I will seek you.

Early in the morning, I will seek you Late at night.

I will be here, lord, even if you do nothing, I love you and I love you for who you are.

I acknowledge that you are a great God.

You are a mighty God and Lord.

I know that my season has not come, but one of these days you will remember me.

You don't go to God and begin crying, begin to cry.

Oh God, look what you did for the others.

Why you don't go to cry?

You go to him because he's a king, he is Lord, he's the maker of heaven and earth.

Is there anything impossible with him?

You go to him with his word and you tell him Lord, look at this scripture.

You gave Sarah a baby in her old age.

I am only 34.

34 is very young.

This lady got a child, I think in her 90s.

So why the tears?

Why are you crying?

I think there's a scripture in Jeremiah which says refrain your eyes from crying, refrain yourself from tears, refrain.

Imagine God just telling you refrain, refrain.

And he says I am the Lord, your God.

What you're asking is too small.

I can do that for you.

So delight yourself in the Lord, make him your desire.

Make the Lord your desire.

Make the Lord the first love of your life.

People here say that he is the first love of my life.

I say how can he be the first love of your life and your marriage?

How can he be the first love of your life and you have children?

We make him the first love of our life because we know any other thing we can love before the Lord becomes an object of attack, becomes the thing that will break our hearts.

So we are wise, we delight in the Lord.

The beauty of delighting yourself in the Lord is that as you delight yourself in the Lord, you will know him.

He begins to open his heart to you and his desire will become your desire.

And when his desire becomes your desire, let me tell you, the Lord will give you the desire of your heart Before you even ask it, because the Lord knows our desire.

The kingdom of God advances by proclamation.

The reason we proclaim the word, the reason we speak scripture, is because the kingdom of God advances by proclamation.

When the words are released, when the word of God is released, it is important for you to listen and to hear.

Well, you need to hear the word of God with your spiritual ears.

When you come to church, when you enter a meeting, when you go online for a service, you need to listen with your heart.

You don't listen just with your ears, you listen with your heart, because the kingdom of God advances by proclamation.

Whatever you catch, if you desire, you can get it.

It's not whatever you hear, because many times we hear and it passes by the time we are greeting people, drinking tea and going running to beat traffic, leave the church.

A lot of it sometimes can be stolen, but what you catch in your heart.

Ecclesiastes 8, verse 4, says when the word of a king is, there is power.

Ecclesiastes 8:4

Where the word of the king is, there is power.

Where the word of the king is, there is power.

The Lord is supreme.

He gives orders and authorities.

Orders, permissions, gives you authority to perform, authority to do what he wants to do.

As you listen to the word of God, and let me tell you that I may be preaching this sermon, but the Lord is downloading to you different things.

That day I was here just listening to the sermon, enjoying the sermon, and suddenly the Lord downloads a word and says I want you to handle this word.

I want you to handle this word.

I want you to take this word.

This is what you're going to speak on.

So the Lord is downloading different things to different people, even as I speak.

Psalms 29 describes the voice of the Lord.

The voice of the Lord is mighty.

The voice of the Lord scatters.

The voice of the Lord scatters.

The Bible says in this psalm that it scatters.

It breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

That means if the Lord speaks and that the trees can hear his voice and shatter and break.

What about you, who is a human being?

You can pick the voice of the Lord and you can move in the authority of that word and the Lord will bless you and the Lord will keep you.

Psalm 68, 11.

What I'm talking about here is that when you make declarations in the word of God, they are commands.

When the Lord speaks to you, his word, it is a command, it is an instruction.

Psalm 68, 11 says the Lord gives the command.

This is a scripture that has been said to us here I think it was repeated even in she conference and many other meetings associated with women which says that the Lord gives the command, and a great company or a host of women proclaimed it.

What that means is that the women had the command of the king.

They took it literally, took it to heart and they went out and began to declare it, and everywhere they declared it, they had results.

So when the word says company, the word company, what great is the host of women who proclaimed it?

The word company and host is a military term.

In Hebrew it means a vast host organized for war or worship.

One of the things I've learned is that there are some battles, there are some territories, there are some strongholds we can break as women that men cannot break.

There are some things you can do.

There are some prayers you can pray and the Lord will answer you quickly.

There are some prayers you can pray.

There's a crying you can do.

There's a cry you can raise that a man cannot raise and when you raise that cry, because that cry is not a cry of the eye, it's not a cry of the mouth, it's not even a cry of the heart, it is a cry that comes from the bosom.

I don't know if you have had this experience, mothers, that your child fell.

You were far and your child fell and you had pain and the only thing you could say is that that pain came from the place that child came from.

That kind of pain you can release that kind of pain when you're praying for the nation, when you're praying for your own children that the enemy has sabotaged their destiny, when you're praying for the city, when you're praying for the church.

Friends, allow me to say that the church of Jesus Christ is his bride.

Those of you who did a wedding, you know the joy of a wedding day is the bride, how special the bride is and how the bride is the center of attention and how the groom is supposed to protect his bride.

The Lord Jesus Christ stands to protect his bride.

He does not allow anyone to touch his bride.

He does not allow, so he stands.

So when you're praying prayers for the bride of Jesus Christ, you know that the Lord will distinguish you among your peers, even among other women, in the name of Jesus.

So desire.

I was talking about desire.

What is it that you desire today?

Do you desire a house?

Do you desire a blessing?

Do you desire a spouse?

Do you desire a business?

Do you desire a job?

Is it business ideas you're looking for?

Have you desired?

Have you made the Lord your desire.

Mark 11, 24 says that whatsoever thing, once you've made the Lord your desire, once you've made him the priority in your life because for some of us sometimes the Lord is not our priority Once you've made him the priority in your life, the Bible says that whatever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.

That means you can receive something here before it has even manifested.

You can receive something in this service and you go home and you find that it has manifested.

The second thing I want to talk about the door is that it's an effectual door.

Effectual door simply means it's an effective door.

It's not just a door, but it's a door that is effective.

And I'm going to read 1 Corinthians 16.9.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16.9, he says that for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

This scripture in 1 Corinthians 16.8, paul lets us know in verse 8 that when he was at this point sorry, in 1 Corinthians 16.8 Paul lets us know that he was in Ephesus when he wrote the letter to the Corinthians.

So Paul helps us to know where he was.

And in that scripture he says that I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.

So Paul tarries in Ephesus so that he can open up the city of Ephesus for the gospel.

Paul realizes that the reason he is in Ephesus is because it is an effectual door.

It's an effective door, it is a door that will make a difference Many of us.

Sometimes we enter doors which we cannot make a difference.

We push ourselves into doors that we cannot even fit.

But Paul stands and I want to say this there's a scripture in 1 Corinthians 15.32.

And I want to say this there's a scripture in 1 Corinthians 15, 32, where Paul gives us a glimpse of how the door of Ephesus was that effective door.

He uses Ephesus and his experience in Ephesus to challenge believers concerning the doctrine of resurrection.

So I'm going to read this verse.

It says If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained?

What he's saying here is that if the dead are not raised today, there is a lot of contention concerning the resurrection.

There is a lot of contention concerning the last days.

There's a lot of contention concerning the rapture of the saints.

There's a lot of contention.

And Paul here says if the dead will not be raised, if we shall not be raised if there is no eternal hope, if we will not be with Jesus.

Why did I fight beasts in Ephesus?

But in this scripture he gives us a glimpse of the battles that accompanied that particular open door.

No wonder he says that it has many adversaries.

Let me tell you, saints, that most open doors they look like work.

Most open doors do not look flowery.

You look at them, they look challenging.

Most open doors look intimidating.

You look at an open door and you will wonder am I going to make in this position?

Am I going to deliver this thing?

They have called me to do, this assignment they have given me, am I going to deliver?

Most open doors will require your time.

Most open doors will require your investment.

Doors will require your investment.

Most open doors will require that you will work and not accept to be discouraged.

Paul was in Ephesus two years and three months.

He literally wrote and said I will be in Ephesus and I'm going to stay there.

Pentecost might find me there, but he ended up staying in Ephesus.

And I'm going to stay there.

Pentecost might find me there, but he ended up staying in Ephesus for two and a half years and two and three months in Ephesus.

The reason Paul stayed there is because of consistency.

Paul was consistent.

God is not interested in heat and run assignments.

God is not interested in trial and error.

Today, many people you will find them a job.

Many of the young people you'll find them a job.

You will send them to the office of your friends.

They only need to show up and they will get the job.

And you will be calling a week later.

They didn't show up.

You will call a week later.

You will be told they showed up, they worked for one week and then they looked.

They said that job has no prospects.

What are the prospects?

When am I going to be promoted?

How much do you people earn here?

What are the vacancies?

In fact, during the interview, they will ask are there chances of promotion?

What are the vacancies?

In fact, during the interview, they will ask are there chances of promotion?

You have not even worked one day and what that means is that within three months, if there are no prospects, if there is no promotion, you're going to jump and go to the other company.

And the problem with that is that maybe the difference in your salary between this starter job you're doing and the next one you're going will only be $3,000 or $5,000.

But if you had stayed and developed yourself, you could end up being the CEO of that company.

So most open doors, they look like work.

So you must ask yourself am I willing to work?

Most open doors, they look like work.

So you must ask yourself am I willing to work?

When Paul is talking about this work in Ephesus, he did this work faithfully.

He did this work so well that he literally worked himself out of the job.

In Acts 20, paul has a meeting.

Paul is on his way and he asks to meet the Ephesus elders.

You can read Psalms 20, not Psalm 20, but Exodus, sorry, acts 20, where he gives them words from his heart and he tells them you know how I worked hard when I was amongst you, you know how I served when I was amongst you.

And he tells them please guard the church, protect the church.

The words in Acts 20, they scare me as a pastor and I pray to God that I will be faithful to the calling and the commission that is given unto my life.

So, paul, after the, what is the summary of Paul's story?

What is the summary of his experience in Ephesus?

The Bible is clear that Paul performed many miracles in that city.

In fact, paul moved in power demonstration in that city.

It is in Ephesus that we are told that even handkerchiefs people brought handkerchiefs.

People brought handkerchiefs.

People brought clothes.

People took their handkerchiefs and clothes that Paul had used and touched sick people with them.

The power of God was so strong that just the touch of these clothes made them well.

Can you believe it that even evil spirits would leave the people when the clothes touched them?

So Paul understood that this door is a God door and if I stay here and I serve faithfully and I deliver that which God has put in me, I will impact this city.

Allow me to go to the third point, which says it is a unique door.

The open door is a unique door.

It's a door Paul writes and says in this same scripture that we looked at.

He says that for a great door and effectual is opened unto me.

The Greek words used there means opened uniquely to me.

Paul understood that this door was not a door any other person could enter.

This was not a door, a general door for everybody.

It was a specific door that God was giving him.

It was a specific opportunity that God was giving him.

My prayer for you is that, as I continue to do this conversation, that you are going to ask yourself what is the unique door that God is opening for me?

What is that one thing, that one assignment that will distinguish me in the place that God has positioned me?

And my prayer for you is that today, as we have this conversation, that if you realize that you are wrongly positioned, that you will have the courage and the confidence to ask God.

Oh God, show me my door, show me my place, show me my gift, show me my place, show me my gift, show me my assignment.

As Paul is standing before this door, he realizes.

He realizes that he is standing at a gate.

He's standing at the gate which is the dream of every apostle.

The mark of apostles is that they go to new territory, they go to difficult areas.

They are the ones who give the most difficult tasks in the church.

Apostles are able to help the church to navigate, to navigate the work of God, the movement of God across nations.

Apostles are equally good at going out and starting new work.

They can go to new territories that have been demonic strongholds, the kind of demonic strongholds that if you touch them as an ordinary believer.

They will kill you, but an apostle will stay there and they will thrive.

And Paul understands that this is the unique opportunity that God is giving him, that God is giving him a new territory, that there is a city that is now falling into the hands of God, there is a city that is now coming into Christ.

And Paul realizes that for me to be able to be effective in this city, I must drive out darkness.

And we know for sure that Paul spent a lot of time in spiritual warfare, prayers.

That's why he says I fought beasts.

What kind of beasts were these?

These must have been demons.

They must have been principalities, they must have been rulers, they must have been strong men, they must have been even demonic personalities.

And Paul engages in spiritual warfare until Christ is formed in the people of Ephesus.

Paul understands that this gate he has been given is his to break.

Paul understands that the battles of this door are his battles to win.

You need to know what are your battles to win.

This particular city had strong gatekeepers and unless Paul overcame these gatekeepers, he would not have had access to the city of Ephesus.

Many times we keep on praying for people, people, believers wanting to live believers wanting to give up in their assignments because the believer.

You see, what Paul does is that as he stood in Ephesus, he did his spiritual mapping and he understood that this is the center of idol worship.

He did his homework and he knew that.

If I'm going to pursue this door, if I am going to penetrate this door, there are certain things I must leave.

The first one is that he must stay in one place.

Paul had the opportunity to keep crisscrossing.

He had an opportunity even to go to Corinthians.

By the way, there was fire in Corinthians.

Remember when he writes the letter of Corinthians, when he writes the letter to the Corinthians, we know that that church was burning.

That church was having huge problems.

If you look at different chapters, some people had come to see him and they had given him a bad report for the church.

He told him Paul, you will not believe it what the people are doing.

You will not believe it, paul, what the leaders are doing.

You will not believe it what the church is doing.

In fact, it was so bad.

The level of sin in that church had reached such great heights that Paul would have packed his bags very quickly and run to Corinthian's church to correct them.

But Paul understood that if I leave Ephesus now, the territories, the gains I have had for the kingdom, I will lose them, all of them.

And so Paul decides to stay and trust the Lord with the Corinthian church.

Many of us, when we start spiritual warfare, you start entering spiritual warfare.

You start praying, you start waking up early for Wednesday morning prayer.

You start coming even for such a meeting like this.

You start going to the Tuesday youth meeting or you decide that you are going to connect to the family prayers.

The enemy begins to touch you, the enemy begins to block you.

You begin to realize that things are becoming to block you.

You begin to realize that things are becoming hard for you.

And what do you do?

You run away.

You join the prayer and fasting.

Then you realize that battles have increased in the office.

You decide, hey, I'm not going to be praying that much because the way these battles are, watch and see and you don't know.

You don't understand that the gains you got in the prayers for January, fasting and prayer, the prayers you got in the July because of abandoning your place, because of beginning to think me, I don't want to be a threat to the devil, I want to be a good person.

You lose all the gains that you have gotten.

The rule of spiritual warfare is advancing.

Remember, the Bible tells us to put on the armor of God.

Put on the full armor of God, piece by piece, and you see the different parts of the armor.

The helmet of salvation, so that you can protect your mind from different arrows that could be fired at you While you are contending for destinies, contending for your family, contending for your children, contending for your marriage.

The breastplate of righteousness, where you begin to stand in the righteousness of Christ, not in your own righteousness, where you don't go around saying you know, I've been praying.

I am the one who is in every keshah.

That's why, you see, my voice is like this.

No, mine is because I have a cold.

I am the one who prays for this church.

I am the one who prays for these pastors.

If it was not my prayers, these pastors could not church.

I am the one who prays for these pastors.

If it was not my prayers, these pastors could not stand.

I am the one who does this.

You are standing in your own righteousness and the enemy shall get you, but when you stand in the righteousness of Christ and you are hid, then you can be able to advance.

What about the sword?

The sword of the spirit, where you use the word of God Not as you want, because the word of God is a double edged sword.

It cuts in two ways, in both ways, but you use the word of God as inspired by the spirit.

The spirit of God gives you a remnant and you unleash it at that time, and that word comes and brings healing.

What about the belt of truth?

Where you stop exaggerating, telling lies, creating stories and different, different funny things, where you tighten your loins, you hold your loins properly and you say that this is a no-go zone.

This is a no-go area and the reason we do that is because if the enemy can access your loins, let me tell you he will destroy you, he will definitely destroy you.

And what about the feet shod with the gospel of peace?

Wherever you go, you speak Christ.

And what about the shield?

This shield, because as you do spiritual warfare and as you begin to intensify your prayers, as you begin to push so that this door whose access, remember, has already been granted, that you can enter that door powerfully, victoriously, strategically, and that door can bring a testimony, then you need to shield yourself, because arrows are thrown every day In the marketplace.

Arrows are thrown every day.

Sometimes there are people with a contrary spirit.

When you meet them, you can tell that your spirits are not.

Every day Sometimes there are people with a contrary spirit.

When you meet them, you can tell that your spirits are not the same and this kind of people can throw arrows to you.

So this shield helps you, but I want you to notice that there is nothing for the back.

There is no armor to cover our back, because, as God's army, we advance forward.

We don't turn back the minute you decide I'm now turning back, I'm now running home, I'm now running away.

It is the day you're going to die in battle.

So we fortify ourselves so that we can do God's work in Jesus' mighty name.

So why is the door unique?

Paul understands that this door is the door God.

Paul understands that this door is the door God knows I can handle.

This is not Peter's door, it's not Philip's door.

So I want you to ask the Lord what is my door?

What is my assignment?

What is that one thing that you have given me a cutting edge.

What is that?

What is my niche in this bank.

What is the thing I can do differently?

And I believe that God is going to bless you.

The other point I want to talk about is it's a contested door.

It's a contested door.

I've already talked about how Paul says that the door has many adversaries.

When believers do not understand that anything the Lord gives a believer can be contested, even marriage.

There are people who, during their days of waiting on God for marriage, they went to Katoloni, they went to Heaven's Gate, they even went to Karura when people were going to Karura forest, and they spent days, months in prayer.

But the day God gives them this spouse is the day they drop prayer and now they begin doing marriage alone and many of them have become casualties.

So the believer must know that these effectual doors have a battle and I want to just mention some of the things Paul says.

I've already mentioned 1 Corinthians 15.32, that he fought, based in Ephesus.

2 Timothy 4.14,.

He talks about Alexander the coppersmith and Paul says he did me harm, harm.

He never even explained beyond that.

So we really don't know what this man really did to Paul, but Paul says that one, he did me harm.

I want you to notice that this is an apostle of grace, the apostle of salvation, the apostle who holds content, who would cry for God's people.

But Paul says the Lord will repay him.

So whatever that man did must have been so bad.

Again we learn about Acts 19, where Luke now writes a riot that happened against Paul.

You know, paul was so effective in that door and I want to tell you that if you're having battles in your office, if you're having battles in your assignment, if you're having battles in your assignment, it's not because you're failing in your assignment, it is because you are so effective.

You have become a threat.

And Paul here becomes a threat.

And one fellow, his name is Demetrius, a silversmith, so that if Paul continues sitting in this office, the office of apostle in Ephesus to Maisha, because this man, this silver smith, was making idols and they would place the idols in the marketplace and the people of Ephesus were deceived, they would be buying these things and putting them in their houses For good luck, for fertility, for breakthroughs.

It was a big deception and you know very well that there are people around your life that are so deceived that they are having things.

They are having holy water, they are having I don't know what.

They are having this thing they carry.

They are having I don't know what they are having this thing they carry.

They think those are giving them good luck.

But the effect of Paul's work and commitment and diligence in sharing the word, people's eyes were becoming open.

And as people's eyes were becoming open, they were beginning to throw those idols, they were beginning to not buy and business became bad In your office.

Has business become bad because of your presence there?

Have you worked so well that people have stopped stealing from the company, that the gains of the company have now started to increase?

What shift and what change have you brought?

Where you are, because you have been taken there by the Lord.

It is a divine advantage that you are there.

God is giving you a divine advantage.

And so Paul talks about these things.

But I want to tell you that, as I go to the next point, that it is a victorious door.

It is a victorious door.

It is a victorious door For the Lord.

Our God stands with his people.

Matthew 16, 17, 19 says Matthew 16, 17,.

Verse 17 up to 19 says Jesus is responding to a comment by Peter when he asked Peter who do men say that I am?

And he said some say you are this, some say you are Elijah, some say you are a prophet, some say you are this.

And then Jesus narrows home, because it's very important the view you have of him, because your view of Jesus Christ will determine how you will be distinguished and how you will serve him.

And Peter says that you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus, you remember his desire, so excited that Peter has caught it and he says I tell you Peter.

He says, by the way, flesh and blood did not reveal that to you.

That was inspiration, and I know Peter was like man.

Today I'm inspired.

And Jesus says I tell you, you're Peter On this rock.

That is the revelation, the revelation of who Christ is, the revelation of who Christ is, that he is the Christ, the son of the living God.

He says I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I believe that God's work, done God's way, will always prevail, for our God is a winner.

Exodus 15, verse 3, says the Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name.

Exodus 15:3

Isaiah 42, verse 13, says the Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior.

Isaiah 42:13

He will stir up his zeal With a shout.

He will raise the battle, the battle cry, and will triumph over his enemies John 2, verse 16 to 17.

John 2:16–17

One day I want to show you he's a warrior, because if you don't understand that the Lord, your God, is a warrior mighty in battle, you will be intimidated in the marketplace, you will keep on quitting your job, you'll keep on being kicked left and right.

One day he entered his temple and he was so upset because the core business of his house was not the core business.

The core priority was not the core priority, and I think he just I almost said he lost it.

But you know that Jesus can never lose it Amen, he never loses a battle.

But on that day he just said enough is enough and he kicked.

Hey, he kicked tables.

The money changers were shocked.

He turned tables because he understood, by the way, because he understood by the way.

He understood that if the core business is not the core business, the destiny of nations is at stake.

I believe he did this for me and you.

This one who could do that accompanies you.

He stands with you.

He's the one who is with that accompanies you.

He stands with you.

He's the one who is with you.

When he did that.

He says zeal for your house consumes me, the zeal for the house of God.

Do you have zeal for God?

Do you have zeal to make a difference for God where he has positioned you?

What is your zeal?

Do you have zeal for the nation?

Do you have zeal for his church?

Do you have zeal for your family?

Do you have zeal for families?

Do you have zeal for your neighbors?

Do you have zeal for the young people?

I think it's.

Is it yesterday or the other day they did a match.

You remember the march, a peaceful march, highlighting suicide in the nation.

Do you have zeal?

Do you have zeal?

Does it concern you?

Does it bother you?

Does it bother you that a generation might be lost without Jesus?

Does it bother you that a generation might be lost without Jesus?

Does it bother you that you can do something, that you have something that they need, that you have something that can make a difference in their lives?

As I close my message today, as I close my message today, I want to say that God has never lost a battle.

God has never lost a battle.

No-transcript.

God will work with that person.

I admire such people, such people like Paul, and what they did for God.

By the way, these type of ministers.

They didn't work with gifts and offerings and tithes, they literally worked with their own hands.

Paul was a tent maker.

They didn't work with gifts and offerings and tithes, they literally worked with their own hands.

Paul was a tent maker.

He was stitching tents, repairing tents.

If you had a tent, he would repair your tent for his upkeep while he was serving the Lord.

Many people think that they can only serve the Lord when they are in full-time ministry.

They say, maybe serving the Lord, I must quit my job.

The mission ground has changed.

The mission field has changed.

The mission field is right where we are.

It's in our neighborhoods, it's outside the church gates, it's in your office.

The Bible says that.

Do you see a man skilled in his work?

Do you see a man skilled in his work?

He will not serve before obscure people, he will serve before kings.

God is looking for men and women in this season that he can promote to places of influence, so that you can be making decisions for your company, for your organization, company for your organization, those jobs that you've been praying every week, every month, the prayer points that you have, the passports that we have.

God is asking what's in it for me?

What do you intend to do with this opportunity?

Once I give you and maybe tonight is the night that you will say, lord, here I am, send me, here I am, use me that you will give your life to God and you'll say, lord, I want to serve you.

Yes, I know, I asked you to send me.

Maybe there's a nation you want to go and I know there's a lady here who is my friend and she comes to this service and she texted me and said, pastor, pray for me, I really want a job abroad.

I want to tell you that if you can show God why he needs to send you abroad, you can get your visa.

You can show him what you intend to do for him abroad.

Some of you want to work in some organizations.

You want to go up the ladder.

What's in it for God?

The other day I was listening to Joshua Selma I think it was the Sunday after he had left Kenya, just listening to his sermon, and he said that the commission upon his life is a commission of increase, elevation and prosperity.

And he said that it is illegal for you to be in his ministry.

You are promoted.

God gives you increase and you leave God.

He lifts you, he gives you what you had desired because you have gone to his ministry and your prayers have been answered, and then you leave God.

Then you are unavailable to serve him and I said what a covenant, what a high level, agreement and understanding.

No wonder you will see that in this kind of churches, ushers are directors of companies, are CEOs.

Those who protocol people around have packed their cars.

They are really big cars and have worn uniform and they are walking around.

What will you do for God when he elevates you?

I want to give you a minute to pray for yourself.

What will you do for God when he gives you what you have asked for?

What will you do for him?

Because he's going to do it.

It's not an issue of what this meeting today is a meeting of your advancement.

It's a meeting of your acceleration, because God is going to prove himself true, going to prove himself sure to you.

This is a Kairos moment, and this Kairos moment today is going to intercept your Kronos.

Maybe you've been here.

You've been waiting same need, same thing, same life 10 years.

You've been here.

Today is a good moment, is a Kairos moment.

So I want to give you time you can stand and start praying for yourself, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Just stand and start to pray for yourself.

Start praying for yourself, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Just stand and start to pray for yourself, pray for yourself.

You know there are days you pray for yourself, oh God.

Oh God, I offer myself to you, I give myself to you, lord, this open door.

I have been saying that if you're in Parklands Baptist Church and this year things don't move in your life, hey, this year, once the way we have walked with the Lord this year concerning the theme of uplifted open door, if things don't change in your life this year, if you don't touch the hem of his garment this year, if you don't, if the Lord doesn't come through for you, I don't know what we can do for you.

I don't know what more we can do for you, because I believe that God has stirred the waters of Parklands Baptist Church.

God has stirred the waters of this church, and there are people who are lifting up their mats, mats that they have sat on for long, mats that they.

God has stirred the waters of this church, and there are people who are lifting up their mats, mats that they have sat on for long, mats that they were waiting for someone to come and lift them.

But their waters are being stirred, divine help and assistance have been granted and people are accessing their open doors.

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you for your words.

That has been released.

In the mighty name of Jesus.

I pray, lord, that tonight people will remember this night that it is the night you intercepted their lives, it is the night you remembered them, it is the night you gave them divine acceleration.

In the mighty name of Jesus, father, there are many things you have been praying for.

There is healing.

Some of our loved ones have been on medication for a long time.

Some of our friends, our families, lord, have had medical diagnosis that have troubled them.

But tonight, this is a divine moment, lord, where you are intervening, divine intervention in the name of Jesus.

You're the Lord who heals all our infirmities, and by his wounds, by his stripes, we are healed.

In the name of Jesus, I speak healing to sick family members.

In the name of Jesus, please receive healing for your family member.

In the name of Jesus, you say in your word that none of the sicknesses that you put on the Egyptians will be our portion.

In the name of Jesus.

Oh God, renew our bodies, renew our organs.

In the name of Jesus, I pray for someone who has a cancer diagnosis.

In the mighty name of Jesus, lord, you have said that you will remove tumors.

Let that tumor be removed tonight, in the name of Jesus.

In the mighty name of Jesus.

It does not matter the diagnosis, lord, we know we have our loved ones in hospital.

We speak healing in the name of Jesus.

It does not matter the diagnosis, lord, we know we have our loved ones in hospital.

We speak healing in the name of Jesus.

Angels are assigned healing.

Angels are assigned to deliver answers.

In the mighty name of Jesus, let them access our loved ones and begin to heal them.

In the name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray for children, young people who've been diagnosed with mental disorders, who've been diagnosed with emotional problems, who've been diagnosed with ADHD, who've been diagnosed with any learning disorders.

In the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, I cancel those diagnoses.

In the name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, I cancel those diagnoses.

In the name of Jesus.

In the mighty name of Jesus, I speak a sound mind.

In the mighty name of Jesus, I speak healing and deliverance, total deliverance.

In the name of Jesus, father, by the blood of Jesus Christ, remove the side effects of medication that children have taken for years.

In the mighty name of Jesus, father, I pray for issues of blood.

Let issues of blood be healed tonight, in the name of Jesus.

Let the blood of Jesus Christ connect with those who have blood afflictions.

In Jesus' name, those who are struggling with leukemia.

In the name of Jesus, let the blood of Jesus Christ enter and begin to heal their blood right into their bone marrows.

The creation of new blood cells.

In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray for those who have issues of bleeding.

You are the one who healed the woman with the issue of blood.

We know, lord, that this woman has spent countless monies going to different physicians until the day he met the great physicians and at that day she had come to her end because she said if I can only touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed.

And against all odds, she pushed like we are pushing in this nine month of the year.

She pushed and pushed and pushed until she touched the hem of your garment and you healed her.

Won't you heal women today?

Won't you heal young ladies today?

In the mighty name of Jesus, everyone with a medical diagnosis, even those who are seeking admission and those who have been scheduled for admissions and operation, we commit their cases, their matters and their medical diagnosis to the chief physician, to the great physician, and we ask that you intervene.

Intervene in their situation, father.

Some of the people have low immunity and low blood levels.

In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask, o Lord, that the blood of Jesus Christ, which is able to heal, which is able to do more than we even think, we ask, lord, that there will be strengthened immunity.

In the name of Jesus, let their immunity become strong.

In the mighty name of Jesus, let the blood levels begin to increase miraculously.

In the mighty name of Jesus.

Thank you, lord, that healing deliverance is their children's bread and it is their portion.

In the name of Jesus.

Deliverance is the children's bread and it is their portion.

In the name of Jesus, I also pray for those who have asthma.

In the mighty name of Jesus, we break the yoke of asthma in the lives of God's people.

In the mighty name of Jesus, I also pray for those who have respiratory problems.

Maybe you're there and you have a medical diagnosis and you're struggling with your chest.

I know this season even we've been having colds.

But, in the name of Jesus, tonight we receive divine healing.

In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray that the fire of God, healing power of God, shall connect with every chest that is having difficulty to breathe, will connect with every lung that is having a problem and those lungs will begin to clear.

In the name of Jesus, every blockage is going to clear in the name of Jesus.

Further, if there has been medical reports that the lungs are not functioning correctly maybe they are at 30%, 50%, 60% or 70% In the mighty name of Jesus, let those lungs receive new life and let them begin to function at 100% for the glory of God.

In the mighty name of Jesus, I also want to pray for those with cancer diagnosis.

I know that we have a few requests for prayer.

In the name of Jesus, father, I pray for this.

Organs, lord, that have turned to have cancerous cells.

In the mighty name of Jesus, let the fire of God, let the power of God, connect with these that have submitted prayer requests and let the power of God enter those organs.

Those who are struggling with kidney problems, liver issues, growth in the liver or liver problems, stomach issue, ovarian cancer issues, uterine cancers or even infirmities, brain issues, tumors in the head, countless or numerous surgeries.

We ask for healing in the mighty name of Jesus.

You may be wondering why are we doing this prayer tonight?

Why are we mentioning these cases?

Remember, we said that the word of the king is a command.

What we are doing now is we are releasing healing.

We are releasing healing.

What we are doing here is we are transacting.

There is a business we are transacting and there is someone who is on their sickbed.

They will be raised from their sickbed.

In the mighty name of Jesus, father.

We pray for those, even with bone issues, struggling with arthritis.

In the name of Jesus, we pray for strength, healing to their bones.

In the mighty name of Jesus.

We ask, lord, that there will be alignment of bones in the mighty name of Jesus, and your people will be able to work well without struggles.

In the mighty name of Jesus, father.

There are many other infirmities that I may not even be aware of, but your people know.

Maybe diagnosis that are unusual are unexpected, father.

We cover them with the blood of Jesus.

We cover Parkland Baptist Church with the blood of Jesus.

We cover our members with the blood of Jesus.

We cover Parklands Baptist Church with the blood of Jesus.

We cover our members with the blood of Jesus and we speak healing.

The Bible says that you sent your word and you healed their diseases, so this evening is an evening of healing of diseases, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Thank you, lord, for uplifted open doors.

Thank you for strength.

I I know, lord, that tonight you've given someone strength, that tomorrow, as they go to their office, or tonight, those who are watching us online from the diaspora, they enter with authority to possess their gates.

I pray Lord.

There are some places that evil gatekeepers need to be removed so that the children of God can thrive and flourish.

I pray, lord, for replacement of God.

Sometimes the Lord replaces people by moving them to other branches, to other companies.

It is his will, it is his desire, it is what he will see best, that he will do.

But we pray that no child of God will feel victimized, no child of God will feel that they do not have an advantage, because this month is our month of pushing, it's our month of elevation, it is our month of breakthroughs.

It is our month of power.

It is our month of prayer.

It is our month of accessing what has been granted and walking in the authority of the positions that Christ Jesus has given us.

We thank you, lord, we bless you, for it's in Jesus' name that we do, pray and believe.

Amen.