Apostle Joel Obuobisa

Bishop Joel shares the principles that Daniel applied which made for a successful prayer strategy. Learn why prayer is important and why it must be a vital part of any Christian's life.

1 John 5:4 tells us that whatever is born of God overcomes. We need endurance to push through all situations that come our way as Christians. As Christians we need to include expectations of challenges in our life. We need to develop robust Christian lives. We must learn to overcome hurts and offenses. We must learn to forgive. We should sow the right seed in order to reap good fruits.

This message is about how to stay faithful in one's service to the Lord. Faithful means that in spite of what happens, you still continue. Sometimes you think you are faithful until something happens to prove you wrong. As Christians, we need to develop stamina to endure the fight. When something is difficult, it does not mean it should not be done, but it requires relentless pursuit, it requires strength. That's how the Christian life is, it requires a relentless pursuit. There is a struggle behind the beauty of the Christian life. That's why the crown of glory is given to those who endure to the end (Matthew 24:13). "Well done, thou GOOD and FAITHFUL servant." Matthew 25:23 Good refers to your skills and Faithful refers to your endurance. Let us all hope to hear those words from the Lord.

Principles 7-10
 -  Principle 7: Every Nation Needs lots of prayer and prayerful leaders 
            The devil controls the leader(s); he is interested in decision makers.
-  Principalities and darkness (from the Bible) are evil and wicked spirits 
            1 Timothy 2:1-3

-  Principle 8: It is Important to Pray for Long Hours 
           Matthew 26:40-44; 51
          Anything that will affect your life for a long period of time calls for long prayers on that topic, e.g. marriage, where you live.
          When you sleep instead of watching and praying, you will make wrong decisions.
-  Principle 9: It is Important to Enter Your Closet for Effective Prayer 
          Daniel 6:9
          Daniel is showing us where to pray for long periods of time 

-  Principle 10: Everyone must develop the formula for praying four times a day 

Prayer is communicating with God and in common in most religions 
 -If you are too busy to prayer then you have crossed the line. 
 -Daniel 6:9-10
Develop and excellent spirit like Daniel
The reason why prayer has been skipped is because it has not become an everyday necessity 
Prayer is the art of returning back to its maker. 

Types of Faith:

4) Strong faith 

5) Exceeding growing faith 

6) Increasing faith (Luke 17:5)

1. Little Faith: Matt 14:31
         - Peter fumbled trying to walk on water. Jesus said his faith was little (Rom 12:3”)- What you have now is not necessarily all the faith you'll ever have.
2. Great Faith: Matt 8:5-10
        - The centurion whose servant was sick and believed Jesus did not need to come to his house but understoodthat by authority, could speak at a distance and the servant be healed.
3. Weak faith: Romans 4:17-18 

5  Areas of Our Lives Where We Need Faith
   4)We need faith to create our worlds Heb 11:1-3
        -  the worlds were created through the word of God. We also build our worlds through the things we say. 
       But what manner of confessions are we making?
       Prov 18:20- Death and life are in the power of the tongue
        - Gen 1:1
        - We need faith to make an excellent sacrifice Heb 11:4 Abel's sacrifice
      We fear to give thinking it will lead to our own lack
      Luke 6:38 - Jesus said, Give and it shall be given unto you
      John 3:16 God gave

Luke 13:34-35
God answers our prayers by the men/women of God he sends us 
     - You don't get to choose who brings you the good news, but God chooses and strategically positions them             in our lives 
        Hebrews 5:1-3
  - Pastors have infirmities and need a heavy dosage of what they are preaching. 
     Jeremiah 3:15 
    - When God uses someone to show more love/compassion there is God's residue on that person

Romans 8:32
How shall God not freely give to us when He gave His only begotten Son to save us? There is nothing more valuable than the Son of God  
5 Areas of Our Lives Where We Need Faith
     3) To achieve our goals and overcome those challenges that comes with them 
           - When you don't have a goal, then you lose the ability for a skill or blessing to be brought out if you.  
           - Just like nuts are hidden within a shell, so is the goodness of a church
           - Our own estimation of ourselves only derives from how much we say our worth is