8 DAYS OF OIL || GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL CHURCH PORTHARCOURT

This week, nothing, nothing is withheld from you. Can I hear your amen? Is there anybody here that believes that God changes lives? I'm asking, is there anybody here that believes that God changes life? Anybody aware that one hour can shift everything? That one word can turn everything around. Well, Apostle Femi Lazarus is in the house today. He is the overseer, lead pastor of the Light Nation. Based in Abuja and roaring around the nations of the world. I, I had to virtually, uh, I, I had to apologize for him for the pressure of having to be here because I knew his program but he had to be here from the first night. And, uh, I believe that when we are done today, the journey has started. When Dusi comes in in a few hours, and then after that, uh, Apostle Selman, you will feel like you had a breakthrough. Are you set for this week? If you are set for the week, let me see you jump and scream! For time's sake, we— if we— if we— you know, we took a lot of time getting today on, so that's the first day. Tomorrow we'll be ministering quite early, not at this time. It's quite late now. So we're going to do our best. Amen.

Amen.

If Femi Lazarus, we should be sending you home, if you agree. Will you agree? Please, Gateway people, we are not doing any pictures, anything. Just let's go ahead and welcome God's servant to the microphone today. Please, can you give the Lord a Dream. Celebrate Jesus as we make welcome Apostle Femi Lazarus.

Amen.

Amen.

Hallelujah. Who is excited tonight? Thank you, Lord. Amen. The Lord is here. The Lord is here. I know it's not news. I know it's not news. As we drove in, I felt it.

I felt it.

And I, I, I understand that it's a lot of prayer investment to have an atmosphere like this, and I want you to please help me honor the angel over this house. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. I've watched him from afar and I know that he's a man of extraordinary wisdom. And wait, I just hope that Port Harcourt, you know what you have, because the way Abuja is magnetizing graces. Please help me honor the father over this house again. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Amen. Thank you, Lord. Lift your hands where you stand. Let's give Jesus praise tonight from the depth of your heart. You need no one to tell you how to do it. Let everything within you bless the name of the Lord tonight. Bless him. Thank him, exalt him, give honor to him, and bless his holy name. Give him praise, give him praise, give him praise. Bless the name of the Lord and thank him. He deserves the lifting up of our hands. He deserves it. He deserves it. He deserves it. He deserves the lifting up of our hands. He deserves it. Bless his holy name. Bless the name of the Lord. Bless the name of the Lord. Bless the name of the Lord. Just thank him. Give him praise. Give him praise, give him praise, give him praise, give him praise. Oh, thank you, Lord. In Jesus' mighty name we're praying. I speak against— please pay attention— every case of repeated miscarriage. That woman, hear the voice of the Lord. Your days of crying are over. Just so you can know that this is the Lord, by this time next year you are coming with a male child. This word will not fall to the ground. This word will not fall to the ground. It is done in Jesus' mighty name. Let's give Jesus a big hand and please sit. Once again, I count it a great privilege to be here. I just hope that you know what God has given you, Potter's Court.

I hope.

Ah, aha, I hope. I want us to turn our Bibles quickly to the book of 2 Kings chapter number 4. We start the reading from verse 1. 2 Kings chapter number 4 from verse 1. There's a very interesting story. 2 Kings 4:1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant did fear the Lord, and the creditor is come to take him to take unto him my two sons to be born men. Now keep it there. Now there are things described in this text of the Bible that makes no biblical sense. Please pay attention. The things described makes no what? Biblical sense. That in one text you combine a prophet who also fears the Lord, then died untimely. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, wisdom should preserve. Then there's another funny combination And that's the fact that he did not just die untimely, he left problems behind. Not only did he leave problem behind, his two sons were going for it. What kind of life is that? How do you combine heavy anointed, heavy anointing plus untimely death. I, I decree you, if there's anyone who is marked to die, that siege breaks. I think your amen is still warming up bit by bit, but that siege breaks in the name of Jesus.

So who is this guy?

It doesn't make sense. How can someone be so promising and then cut off all of a sudden? Have you seen people that look so promising, all of a sudden gone too soon? RIP after a brief illness. It won't be your portion. Ah, it won't be your portion. So the woman said— now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets. I would have maybe talked a bit and said something about those guys. I wish I could say concerning this guy that he had the covering. Although he was called sons of prophet, but he didn't. One of the most tragic way to live life is to live a life full of battles without spiritual covering. And I, as I read this scripture, I remember, I remember this guy because I, I know the WhatsApp group he belongs to. Ah, and that's, that's the group I want to show you so that in case you are in that WhatsApp group, you will delete it. 2 Kings chapter number 2, we also start the reading from verse 1. 2 Kings 2 from verse 1. And it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind. That Elijah went with Elisha from where?

Gilgal.

Verse 2 now. And Elijah said unto Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him—

what did he say?

As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they both went down to where? Better. Verse 3. Now look at the group he belongs to.

And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said to him, 'Knowest thou that the Lord will take away your master from your head?' Not our master. How are they sons of prophet that were not connected to the prophet? There are people— listen to what I'm about to show you—

there are people who are living a life that the mistakes they are making can't be repaired until they die. There is a way you live your life that your death becomes the only way your family can be freed. There is a way a man will live his life that the plans and the purpose of God for his children can't come to pass till he dies. There are people who are playing with death. Um, Nabal was married to a good woman, but according to his name, he was a foolish man. And the only way for the wise woman who was married— sometimes, have you seen very wise ladies marry very stupid men? And that's what you get when you want a Joseph Arimathea with the touch of Tupac. That's what you get. I want them young, free, and wild. And now you have a tiger. There are ladies who don't believe in pastoral counsel. Once they find the man they like, there's nothing the pastor can say, they won't listen. Unfortunately, this woman had married a foolish man. While he was alive, he was telling Elijah among their group that, do you know that the Lord is about to take away your master?

Meaning that they were contemporaries with Elijah. And throughout the time, even when Elijah returned with the mantle, they still did not follow him. But when he died The wife called the man that the husband, when he was alive, could not call master.

The wife called him master. Pride goes before all falls. Don't hear, listen. That you shout in a meeting doesn't mean you are not guilty of it. Pay attention. One of the worst things that can happen to a man in his life is to miss the season that his generation is being visited. That's the worst thing. To miss the timing, the timing, the timing, the timing.

I have come to beg you in the name of Jesus. Things are best done in their time. When a man misses his time, when it becomes frivolous at the time of active transfer and the man plays away the season— you won't always have it.

You won't always have it. I'm teaching this with— I don't just hold the mic to preach. Sometimes I cry my eyes out because everything I teach is real to me. I remember while we were on campus, when we were fasting, praying, seeking the face of the Lord, perceiving a calling, were not the most anointed. There were people who thought they would just date a girl for 6 months, but they never returned. When you are in a Kairos moment, there is a devil who wants to make sure you miss it. Misha, estoy con usted. I was in Part 1 on campus. I volunteered to teach in a mathematics tutorial. I wasn't doing anything relating to math, but I just love it. And a girl became my friend from the tutorial. Amazing young lady. We'll gist together, she will escort me home sometimes. And one time I was sick, my mother traveled down, made some food. The girl was around washing plate. My mother looked at me and said, Pastor, who is she? I said, just a friend. You know mothers, be careful. I said, no, no, no, just a friend. But she saw something. She left. She had made stew with rice and beans. My friends in the hostel, once they saw that she had left, came with their plates. Everyone fetched their own, fetched. Then they left one meat— at least they were kind— they left one meat in the pot, which we, myself and my friend, the girl, dished Inside the same plate we ate. When it was time to eat meat, she said, "You eat the meat." I said, "No, no, I can buy anytime I want to buy. You eat the meat. I'm the man here." Then she said, "No, you eat the meat." I said, "No, no, no, I can buy. You eat the meat." And she looked at me and smiled and said, If you actually know what's going on in town, by now you should know you should put the meat in your mouth and pass it to my mouth. I looked around the house I came from, everybody eat their meat with their mouth. So I ate my meat and I noticed that the girl sat down and opened her laps, and I was there saying, 'Blood of Jesus, blood of Jesus.' I was so stupid.

I should run. Should that not be the right thing?

I should have left her, and I was there saying, 'What's she doing?

Come on, what are you trying to do?

Close your legs.' Listen, but because I had people praying for me, suddenly by herself she started saying, I can't look at you again, I can't look at you, your eyes is burning, your eyes fire, ah fire. Me, I knew I didn't have fire. And guess what happened? She began to confess how she had slept with her pastor at home and blocked the womb of the wife, how she had killed 3 guys, how that anyone who sleeps with her will never rise again. She was confessing and screaming, created a scene. And then ran out. My friends in the hostel up until then had been telling me, that girl is fine now, chop, clean mouth, chop, clean mouth. Ah, there's a day you swallow the one that won't digest. Listen, oh. Because I'm about to make a very important declaration tonight. All right, you'll find out. I traveled shortly after then. When I came back, I saw that one of my hostel mates, the girl had moved into his room and they had been sleeping with each other. Till today, he's still sick till now. Shortly after that, um, I became the fellowship president on campus. We went for evangelism. The way we do it, boys evangelize boys, girls evangelize girls. So we shared ourselves, but there was an hostel that was mixed.

The pastor we sent to that hostel, we gathered names of converts, and I was—

as I was going through the names of solely one in that hostel, I saw the name of the girl, and I knew that He didn't— you can't win this soul. Not because Jesus is not powerful, I knew the girl. So I collected those lists and I said, I want Sister So-and-so. Let them follow up the sisters, then we brothers, we follow up who? Brothers. Everybody seemed like they agreed. After about a month, The brother who won the soul of that girl, we noticed that we stopped seeing him in fellowship. So I went to his house. I went to his house around 10 at night to check up on him and encourage him if something was wrong. When I knocked the door of his room, um, he said, who's there? And brother to brother, I didn't talk so I can surprise him. Surprise! I didn't know I was about to surprise myself. So he opened the door and he was in boxers, and I looked over his shoulders and that was the girl, the same girl, same girl. Sitting on the bed, halfly dressed. So I said to him, what was he doing here? He said, she has accommodation issue. Ah, let Sister So-and-so—

I will call her now, she will pick this girl from here. Let her take this girl tonight.

He said, ah, you can't talk to me like that. Don't you— because you are the president, this, this, this— you are no older than me. We argued and argued, and I made a big mistake that night. What was my mistake? I told him— I didn't know God was listening— pick between this girl and this ministry.

He said, if you feel you can harass me because of the girl, I go with the girl.

That was it. Till date, knocked out. We moved on. We had a major revival breakout on campus. A lecturer, fireful lecturer, ministered everywhere scattered.

And that's why you must be careful.

That you are anointed doesn't mean you will last. Anointing is one thing, to last is another. You need two different protocols to manage the boat.

The man ministered with— what is this?

Elektra Firefield followed up the man. Thank you, sir. The man promised us drum set, promised us musical equipment. We also didn't see the man for a while on campus, so we sent two of our escorts to his house with beverages, milk, bon vita. Tell them I send my regards, we came to check up on him, that God will bless him. They came back with the news. When they got to his house It was on Towel. Guess who they met? The same girl. Listen to me. The next time I set my eyes on that lecturer after that time was on Crimewatch on TV with handcuffs. In his hands. And I was asking myself, what happened to the anointed? Mighty Samson may kill 1,000 with bones till Delilah puts that head on her laps and he becomes an ordinary man. Be careful, your anointing is not a guarantee you will last. You would think that ends there. Ah, no. We moved on. We had a major outbreak of revival again. There was a notorious guy who gave his life to Christ, started trying to burn on fire for God. After a while, he also separated himself from the brethren. Went to his house to check him. Bro, what's going on? Guess what I saw again? The same girl. Listen to what I'm saying. There are people who have taste for the anointed, and once they lock their eyes on them, they bring them down. You know, in Genesis 49, turn your Bibles there. Let's start from verse 1. Genesis 49, from verse 1. I want to make declaration and reverse certain things. You see, I talk calmly, but this meeting is about to go from 0 to 100. Pay, pay attention because there's going to be a shift. Jacob called his sons and said, gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Verse 2: Gather yourselves together and hear, you sons of Jacob and akin to Israel your father. Yes, Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

Yes, unstable as water, you will not excel.

He cursed him.

Why? He said, because you went into your father's bed and defiled it. You went to my couch. In case you do not know, it would not have been Jesus thou son, um, Lion of the tribe of Judah. It could have been Jesus, Lion of the tribe of Reuben. There was a big plan on ground. It was a firstborn portion. It was set. The day Jacob was making this pronouncement, Joseph was there. And Joseph will remember, Potiphar's wife came too. But God helped me to escape. What was causing Reuben here could have killed Joseph. That prophecies have gone ahead of you doesn't mean you must fulfill it. You can end it yourself. The devil comes with full force as a man approach major seasons, and his duty is to abort the season. He is strong around Kairos moment to make sure that a man will sleep and the desire to sleep will be intensified as long as that season is around the corner. And when the season passes, the man will wake up. Was it not true that suddenly after Esau sold his birthright, he sought for it with tears? It occurred to him that he had missed it.

He just woke up and said, that's it. We saw Esau crying in Genesis 27 and begging the father that, do you have just one blessing?

Bless me too, bless me too, bless me too.

He had come to value it when he had lost it. The son of the prophet, he had the opportunity.

We When Elijah was on ground, they had very important opportunity to kill him. One of the most painful thing is to fail to rise with your generation, to now have to queue with another. That those you ought to call the same man father together, you'll have to queue with those who call them father.

And that is even still mercy. If there's anyone here whose time has been stolen and wasted, I'm not joking though. The Lord said, I will restore the years that the locusts—

somebody get on the keyboard for me. If there's anyone here, any family, any man, any woman, that your Kairos moments were snatched off you, you lost important seasons, and you have been checking, how do I get it back? I decree tonight that the God of restoration will visit you. He will restore what you have lost.

He will restore what is stolen.

He will restore what is missing.

Can I give you a minute?

If you are going to lay on the floor, lay on the floor. If you are going to kneel, kneel. If you are going to cry, cry. If you know that you have lost important seasons You have lost Kairos moment. Ask God tonight for restoration.

Play on strings.

Ask God tonight. I ask for restoration of lost seasons.

Don't pray quietly, o. Ask like your life depends on it. Ask, ask, ask, ask, ask. Peh!

Peh!

He is the one who restores lost seasons. He is the one who restores lost timings. He restored the years that the locusts have eaten.

He restores years.

He restores years.

He restores years.

He restores years.

He restores.

Ask the Lord that you will visit me again tonight.

You will restore. You will restore. You will restore.

You will Resto. Pray.

You have 30 more seconds.

Shake off the dust that has gathered on you for so long. Step out of the darkness of shame you have wrapped yourself in.

There is hope for a tree that is cut down, because at the scent of water, it shall spring back to life again. Igu, you are a soldier in the army of God. And the host awaits your response to the clarion call. Can you feel the shaking, the shaking in your belly as your Father calls out to you now? Can you feel the breaking of the dam as the river from your belly flows? The Spirit and the Bride says, come. In Jesus' mighty name we are praying. Let that amen roar like thunder. Sit down for a while. There is a grace I need you to receive tonight. It is the grace called on time. What did I say? What did I call that grace? The grace to be on There's nothing pleasant about being late in destiny. You can be on time. Look at what the Bible says about Esau.

The moment Jacob— I'm Isaac— had finished blessing Esau, the moment he finished, Esau came.

He wasn't on time.

You will be on time. You will be on time. You will be on time.

It is possible to be living a life that somewhere in the corner of your mind, you know, I missed it. And that's the kind of pain that people can't tell anybody. They carry that agony for a long time.

They carry that pain.

They carry that injury that there was a season that God was moving.

I thought it will happen again.

How I wish I fastened myself to the chariot.

The good news is he's moving again now.

If you missed it then, you can catch up now. Let me tell you something, God can shrink up do. Other people's 10 years for you in a day. Listen to what I'm saying. Listen, it is not about the years that others have gone ahead. It is about the hand coming on your head.

That's what makes the difference.

If you will realign yourself back to God, the same hand that moved them is moving again. In chemistry, there's something we call physical and chemical change. We say physical change are changes that can be reversed. Let me give you an instance. If I take a bottle of water and I put it in the freezer, it becomes hard.

Why?

Because of the freezing, the temperature gradient, it change, becomes ice block.

If I put that same water in another environment where it is hot, it changes back to water.

That can change. But if I burn a piece of paper, it becomes ash.

I can't bring it back to paper.

There's no scientific discovery now that can bring it back.

We call it permanent change.

Let me give you another instance. When you eat food, your body digests it and you pass it out as dung.

Whatever you ate can't become that thing again. It can only fertilize. But God said, I will restore the years that the locust You know what is dangerous about locusts? As they are eating, they are passing. So it means when a locust eats a man's ear, in a moment it can make it almost irreparable. But God said, I will restore the years that locusts ate. So if there's anyone here who actually missed it, you have entered the phase of restoration. The opportunity that went lost then You will get it back. The season you miss, then you will get it back.

Nothing missing, nothing broken. Nothing missing, nothing broken. Nothing missing, nothing broken. But let me beg you, because I'm showing you something very important.

The woman cried, Elisha, your servant, my husband is dead, and there are creditors owing. They want to take the children.

Help us.

You know what Elisha said to the woman could have been said in the man's lifetime, and he will not have need to die.

Why wait till it is too late before you get wisdom? God has planted you in a house like this. He's given you a man after his heart. You are the mother that will tell your children, you go to church, we see you some other time.

Or you are the man who believe that church is for women.

Ah, let them go and pray, then you will sit back at home drinking.

And there are prophetic locks, there are prophetic codes about your family that you are not able to interpret because you are not a priest. There are prophetic— are you with me? There are prophetic codes that requires a priest in the house to get the heartbeat of God and lead the home well. And God is looking—

this man is so loud. If there's anyone here whose lifestyle has put a mark of death on— concerning your life now, I decree mercy. You didn't say that amen the way I would want you to. Concerning your life now, I decree mercy.

Concerning your life, again I decree mercy.

What did Elisha say? He said, go borrow vessels abroad of all your neighbors. Do you notice that Elisha wasn't surprised that the man died? You know what, one of the most painful things as a pastor is that you can know from the way people are positioned that something bad will happen. You can know. There are people who value— they don't value prayers, they don't value declarations. Look, they say Pastor, I know senior. Elisha said to her, what shall I do for thee? What do you have in your house? So I don't have anything save the pot of oil.

Okay.

And in verse 3, he said, go borrow vessels abroad of all your neighbors. Empty vessels borrow not a few. If you're with me, say amen. Look at what he said in verse 4. Let's read verse 4 together. 1, 2, 3, go. Shut the door. Ah, what was, what was in this statement that the man could not have heard in his lifetime? Let me tell you something, words are powerful. If a man's life will be changed, it will be carried in words. If a man's life will be destroyed now, it will be carried in what?

When Jacob told Reuben that you will not excel, did he flog him? He spoke a— and the word stayed. What did Isaac tell Jacob? What?

What the Lord your God give you, the dew from heaven and the fatness of—

words, simple words. Some people wonder, why do we gather like this? Why do we gather in church? Why must you go? Why can't you do this? Why, why do you serve God? Hey, where the word of a king is, there's power. If the whole universe were framed by the words of his power, I speak that same word to you tonight. Go and excel. I was sharing something in the meeting I ministered yesterday night.

I was—

unfortunately, I found myself in a place. A man stood with his apprentice that offended him, and he told the apprentice, 'Stand in front of me, I want to talk to you.' And the boy stood, and he said to the boy, 'In my presence,' he said, 'I labored over you.' but you betrayed me. And he told the boy, he said, all the works you will do in this city will look like oil from a crab. He said to him, it won't be enough to make soup. The same way I am leaving this place empty-handed is the same way you will live. Ah, the boy stood there, was crying, went to gather the elders and say, come and beg him. They came, they prostrated.

But sometimes the man who cursed cannot reverse it.

It takes higher priesthood to reverse it.

That boy that was cursed, he left that place.

He had 4 children. He didn't live with anyone. He didn't live with a dime. He didn't live with his wife. Everything— if there's anyone here that a negative statement is programming the direction of your life. I show up tonight with the rod of a higher priesthood. I damage those words now. I break the siege of curses. I break the siege of curses. I break the siege of curses. I break the siege of curses. He cursed the boy and that was it. He packed him there. When Isaac— when Jacob told Reuben, he said, let— he said, you will not excel. Even Jacob could not reverse it. It took Moses.

To come several decades later and say, let Reuben live, let him not die, let his men not be few. And he reversed the words of Jacob. I speak that same word tonight. Let me tell you this, you know what I'm showing you in this scripture, what I found out as I studied the move of God across territories is that any environment that there is no honor, there is no transference.

Any environment that there is no honor, there is no longevity. Any environment that there is no honor, there is deprivation. If there's anyone here who through dishonor entered into curses, maybe from your parents, from priests, from whosoever, I abolish it now and I damage the nonsense. It ends now. A single pronouncement can usher a man from the day season of his life into the night. One. And in the same light, one pronouncement can usher a man from night to day. The man at the pool of Bethesda had been there 38 long years of night. Imagine that, 38 long years of night. It didn't matter his age when he got there, his nighttime was 38 years.

What did Jesus say to change it?

Pick your bed and go. It was not like he was not hearing that same statement, but it matters who says it. Anyone can say pick your bed jokingly, but this is the resurrection and the life.

Saying it himself.

Now, pick your bed. I have come to announce that tonight's phase ends. From the moment Elijah left without the sons of the prophet discerning him, they entered into night.

There's nothing glorious about being at night.

When it is night, everywhere is dark and there are no activities. A man can be in his 20s and be at night, and a man can be in 80 and be in the day.

It is not age. Sometimes you look at people and it looks like everyone who is ever born in this family, they are born into the night.

You, you can't trace a man who rose You can't trace a voice that was heard. It looks like there's, there's a cloud that as they are giving birth to them, they are meeting battles on ground.

But there comes a day that everything ends.

Though weeping endures for the night, there is the joy, there is the joy, there is the joy, there is the joy, there is the joy. It comes in the morning.

Never—

let me tell you this— never joke with the law of time and seasons. Never joke with it. When God opens the door, maximize it. Are you feeling what I'm saying here?

When you have the opportunity to be in a place that the anointing of God is strong, maximize that and deploy it into many issues. Don't wait till it is too late before you cry out. Could it be that this woman could have cried out in the man's lifetime, but the man would say, 'I dare you talk to any pastor about us. I dare you talk to any pastor.' And God was looking at the family until heaven sealed it, that it appears nothing can be done till this man is out of the way. A man can be praying for long life and yet killing himself.

Oh yes, a man can be praying for longevity and yet the principles that will kill him is what he's embracing.

It won't be you, it won't be you, it won't be you, it won't be you. There was something upon that family, there was something there. The calling of God was there, the grace of God was there, but it died.

Could it be? You are wondering when they prophesy to you, wonder, let's move on. But no, it's because you are at night. Let me show you a scripture. Genesis, please, chapter number 32. Genesis 32. There's a— who is this person on the keyboard? Stay on strings for for me. There's a lady here. The Lord just opened my eyes. I saw what I'm— what I'm about to describe now is going to move with this.