Power Of Midnight Prayer
BY GABRIEL AGBO
ONE of the most powerful but grossly neglected spiritual tools God has given Christians is midnight prayer. Midnight prayer (or vigil) is prayer done about 12.00am.
From the bible, and through ages, prayers done around this particular time have always brought tremendous and unprecedented results. As a Christian, it is imperative that you live a life of vigils. There are levels you can never attain in the spirit without mastering the art of praying in the midnight. There are levels of revelations you cannot get without prolonged midnight prayers. And there are also satanic entities, thrones and chains you can never dismantle unless through prolonged midnight battles.
The aim of this write-up is to awaken the Christians to this great spiritual weapon given us by God. I believe (and by experience too) that any Christian that masters midnight praying will ultimately control what happens in the day.
Why pray at midnight? Midnight (or hours between 11.00pm and 3.00am) is known to be the most spiritually active period of the day. You will notice that dreams, revelations, attacks, visitations from the spirit world (both by angels and demonic powers) often come at this time, especially when you are sleeping. And the reason is simple— human beings are easily overwhelmed while asleep.
Naturally, the body is weak at this time. And this makes it susceptible to spiritual manipulation. For one to be powerful in the spirit world, the person’s human spirit must be guided by a higher Spirit, which in the case of a Christian, is the Holy Spirit.
Let’s not go farther with this explanation. All I want to say is that midnight is always a period of intense spiritual activities both by the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan.
If you must control activities around you and dismantle Satanic ordinances in your life, then you must learn to wake up at midnight to fight against the powers of darkness.
For example, look at the activities of witches and wizards; these are agents of darkness possessed by the spirit of witchcraft. This spirit is known to be one of the most wicked spirits in the kingdom of darkness. It revels in causing harm and sometimes totally destroying human beings. Witches don’t have the word ‘mercy’ in their dictionary. That is why a person, even a relation that is possessed with this wicked spirit, can go ahead and destroy the closest person to him/her. And these agents of darkness mostly operate at midnight.
Their mode of operation is usually to shoot evil arrows (attacks) while their victim is asleep. And by the time the person wakes up, he/she will see everything going wrong. They can attack businesses, ministries, marriages and relationships, health, etc. Sometimes, destinies of the victims are taken to covens (where they meet) and tied. Or the victim is killed outright. God knew how terrible these wicked agents of Satan are, consequently He commanded Israel not to allow them (witches) to stay alive.
Now, our interest here is that for you to battle and win these agents of darkness that mostly operate in the midnight, you must also be awake at the time of their operation. You must wake up to render their evil arrows, enchantments, curses and incantations against you ineffective. And not just that, you can at the same cause serious and perpetual havoc on them. All these can only be possible through powerful and sustained midnight prayers.
Power Of Midnight Prayer (II)
BY GABRIEL AGBO
I AM encouraged to write the second part of this message by the responses I received after the first part was published last week. I got feedbacks from as far as Canada, US, etc. A renowned Canadian Christian writer (who read the article on the Internet) was so thrilled that she sent a feedback commending the message, and also confessing that it is at this particular time of the night that she receives attacks from satanic agents. She said she agrees with all I said in the write-up.
Yes, spiritual principles are universal. The mode and methods of operation could vary from place to place, but the principles are basically the same. We know that the battle is between the kingdom of God and of Satan. The battlefield is man. The struggle is about who will control the activities and destiny of man.
Whereas God wants to control man for good, the devil and his agents detest man. They hate and envy him; because they know what God has in stock for him. They know the place of man in God’s programme. They are aware of the wonderful and blissful destiny that God is preparing for man, so they battle day and night to see how that plan could be derailed.
Remember they (Satan and rulers of darkness) are fallen angels. They have been with God before they were thrown down to the earth, because of their disobedience. So, what we are highlighting here is that midnight is the main arena for this great battle of the kingdoms. Jesus puts it this way, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10) And you know that the thief will always want to come in the night, when he will not be seen or challenged. So also is our enemy - Satan.
The battle to save man was fought and won by Jesus in the midnight at the olive grove called Gethsemane. At that point, the reality and weight of what Jesus came to achieve dawned heavily upon Him. And He had a choice to make - whether to continue with the project of salvation or back out. But He chose to stay awake and slug it out with Satan, sin and self. It was a night that ushered Him into the last 12 hours of His life. It was indeed very crucial to the whole salvation idea. I believe the main battle to save man was actually fought and won at the ‘Gethsemane front’.
All these reality came upon Him and He decided to stay awake and battle through the night. He knew it was a midnight show, and immediately He was through, He quickly told His disciples, “Up, let’s be going.” He knew he had won the battle in the spirit, and as a result was fully prepared to face physical challenges.
This is exactly what happens to a midnight prayer warrior. He/she is always fearless and ready to face any situation in the daytime. You will always be bold and confident that every circumstance will ultimately work in your favour.
Power Of Midnight Prayer (III)
BY GABRIEL AGBO
WE saw how Jesus went through a midnight battle and came out victorious. Now, let’s see the role midnight played in the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt.
Because of Pharaoh’s obstinacy in releasing the children of God to proceed to the Promised Land, as demanded by Moses, God decided to visit that land with different plagues. Moses and Aaron performed signs and wonders, released plagues upon the land of Egypt, but still, Pharaoh refused to let them go.
There were plagues of frogs, turning Nile into blood, flies, lice, cattle murrain, boils, hail, locust, and darkness. All these could not change Pharaoh’s heart. Rather he arrogantly asked Aaron, “Who is that your God that I will obey him. I will not listen to that your God-story, and I also will not let Israel go. And mind you, I don’t want to see you people (Moses and Aaron) in my palace again. The day you come here again, I will kill you. Is that understood Moses?” And Moses said, “Very well. I will never see you again.” And left.
Now, God told Moses that He was going to send just one more disaster on Pharaoh and the land of Egypt and after that, Pharaoh will be begging the children of Israel to leave Egypt. God told Moses that He was going to institute an ordinance called Passover for their sake. And it will be done in the night. He said that after they would have performed the ordinance that night, He (God) would pass through the land of Egypt killing every firstborn son of man and beast, while executing judgment against all their gods. And that is exactly what God will do for you at midnight. He will judge your enemies and their gods.
Now my interest here is that God brought out his last joker for Pharaoh, to make him allow Israel go out of Egypt, and that He chose to do it in the midnight. He told them specifically to perform the sacrifice in the night and also to be ready to leave that country. And truly, He eventually came at midnight.
Yes, God struck the pride and strength of Egypt - their first sons.
God told the Israelites that what they were doing that night was going to be an ordinance for the rest of their life. They should observe it every year, and also pass same to their children. That is exactly the way I see midnight prayers. Decrees made while praying in the midnight are always very strong and bring great results. Most times, they bring about generational breakthrough and blessings; which will outlive you. And we must also ensure that we pass this same practice to our subsequent generations. It is also in the midnight that most of the satanic ordinances are set against us, against our families, towns, churches, etc. So, when we pray in the midnight, we destroy such ordinances and set up fresh and favourable ones that will begin to speak for us all the rest of our life.
Pastor Agbo is of the Assemblies of God Nigeria.
gabrielagbo@yahoo.com
Power Of Midnight Prayer (IV)
BY GABRIEL AGBO
WE are still discussing the powers of midnight prayer. And I know, by now, you would have made up your mind to be a General in the game. Through midnight prayers, destinies are made. Through midnight prayers, the strongest yokes are broken. Ancient gates are destroyed. Captives are set free. You pull down satanic thrones, and set up everlasting godly ordinances.
Now, we want to see how Jacob utilised midnight to change his unfavourable situation. You already know that very few people in the bible could be said to have the same level of divine grace as Jacob. God blessed him to the extent that his children, wives and other possessions moved in groups and camps.
When they came to a place he named Mahaniam (God’s Camp), he sent messengers to his brother, Esau, to inform him of his homecoming. But the response Jacob got was terrifying. The messengers told him that Esau was coming to meet him with a 400-member elite squad. Instantly, Jacob was thrown into confusion. In panic, he thought of what to do. Then he prayed and sent gifts to appease his enraged brother.
You remember that Jacob dubiously took Esau’s birthright and blessings. It was now Esau’s opportunity to pay him back. Also, after the flight of Jacob, Esau had regarded himself as the sole heir of their father’s possessions. The news of Jacob’s return would excite the fear that he was coming to claim the inheritance. Esau was now able to do his brother great injury, if so disposed, and he might be moved to violence against him, not only by the desire for revenge, but in order to secure undisturbed possession of the wealth which he had so longed looked upon as his own.
Jacob knew the above possibility. That was why he impressed it on the messengers to tell Esau that he was not coming home to struggle for the inheritance, because God had already blessed him (Jacob) with oxen, flocks, men-servants and women-servants.
Jacob and his family had now reached the River Jabbok, and as night came on, he sent his family across the ford of the river, while he alone remained behind. He had decided to spend the night in prayer, and he desired to be alone with God. God could soften the heart of Esau. It was in a lonely, solitary and unprotected place. Jacob bowed in deep distress upon the earth. It was midnight.
The reality of Esau’s threat stared him in the face. He wept, cried and reminded God of all His promises for him. All of a sudden, a strong hand was laid upon him. He thought that an enemy was seeking his life, and he endeavoured to wrest himself from the grasp of his assailant. In the darkness, the two struggled. Not a word was spoken but Jacob put forth all his strength, and did not relax his efforts for a moment. He battled for his life.
This is exactly what midnight prayer is all about. It is about battle for your life and destiny. When you’re faced with life-threatening situations, when you’re faced with destiny-threatening circumstances, the best place to settle them is at the midnight arena.
At midnight, you wrestle with God, with man and with spirits. And you know, when one is fighting life’s battle, you don’t need to beg the person to be courageous. He faces the situation with his last strength. There are problems in your life that I believe can only be dismantled by midnight prayers. And you must fight it as if it is your last.
Agbo is of the Assemblies of God Nigeria. gabrielagbo@yahoo.com
Source: The Guardian, 16th October 2011.