Midweek Communion Service Faith Tabernacle Ota 28 January 2026 by Bishop David Oyedepo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Last Days Are Days of Opportunity for the Church

Our teaching this month has been engaged in the power of prayer and fasting for dominion.

The last days in God's program began when the church was born. Acts 2:17 — Peter, speaking, said: "It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. He said, 'This is that which was spoken.'" So the last days commenced at the birth of the church.

In God's program, the last days are a season of acceleration. Romans 9:28 — he will cut it short in righteousness. While it is a time of calamity for the world, it is a time of opportunity for the church. Malachi 4:1-2 — the earth will burn like an oven and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble, but for those that fear his name, the Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings, and instead of burning up and going down like others, they will be growing up and going forth.

So the last days are days of great opportunity for the people of God. If you believe it, say amen.

Exploit Must Be Preceded by Empowerment

The last days are the days of exploits in the body of Christ. Daniel 11:32 — those that know their God shall be strong and they shall do exploits. This is God's expectation for the last day saints.

Hebrews 11:39-40 — all of those that had great accomplishments in Hebrews 11, through faith received not the promise, God having reserved some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. In other words, God packaged better results for those of us in these last days. There are greater heights to be attained.

So in God's program, the people he is raising in the last days are ordained to command extraordinary results — exploits. 1 Corinthians 2:9 — eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered the heart of man the things God has prepared for those that love him.

We recognize from scriptures that exploit must be preceded by empowerment. It takes empowerment for anyone to command exploits. Isaiah 45:1-3 — to his anointed, whose right hand he holds: "I will go before you and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass. I will cut in sunder the bands of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places."

Zechariah 4:6 — not by power, not by might, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. It takes the empowerment of the Spirit to command exploits.

In the ministry of Jesus Christ, until the Spirit came on him, there was no expression of the exploits God had packaged in him. It was his destiny to command exploits, but it took empowerment. And that empowerment came not by expectation — it came by engaging the platform of prayer and fasting. Luke 4:1 — Jesus went to pray and fast, and by verse 14, he returned in the power of the Spirit. The exploits began when he engaged prayer and fasting to secure empowerment.

The Factory of Exploit Is Revelation

One of the major tactics of the enemy against the exploits of the saints is to block spiritual understanding. 2 Corinthians 4:4 — the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.

When light breaks forth, exploit begins to show up. Fasting tears apart the veil so our eyes can see what God is saying.

Job 42:5 — Job said, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes seeth thee." By verse 10, his captivity was turned. When he saw what he needed to see — when light struck — the exploits began to manifest.

Fasting produces this: Isaiah 58:6-8 — "Is this not the fast I have chosen?" And by verse 8: "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thine health shall spring forth speedily." When light breaks forth, health breaks forth. The hold of sickness is shattered.

Proverbs 4:20-22 — "My son, attend to my words. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart, for they are alive unto them that find them, and they are health to all their flesh." The word health there means medication. Natural medication brings healing. Spiritual medication brings health — not merely stopping sickness, but completely restoring the state where sickness cannot exist.

It is as far as you see that will be given unto you. Genesis 13:14-15 — look north, south, east, west. As far as your eyes can see, it shall be given unto you.

How to Engage Profitably in Prayer and Fasting

1. Approach God with Humility

   2 Chronicles 7:14 — "My people that are called by my name will humble themselves and pray." The Pharisee who fasted twice a week and tithed all he possessed prayed thus with himself — Jesus said his prayer went nowhere. The publican who would not even lift his eyes but said, "God be merciful to me a sinner," went down to his house justified. The worst place to pose is before God, because he knows the inner recesses of the heart. Don't pretend before him.

   Humility is not timidity — it is teachability. It is being correctable, being amendable, being one who accepts when they have gone off course. Ecclesiastes 4:13 — better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished. James 4:10 — humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.

2. Come to the Father in the Name of Jesus

   John 14:12-13 — "He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do. And whatsoever you ask in my name, that will I do." John 16:23-24 — "Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name. Now ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." John 14:14 — "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."

   Our prayers are a partnership: we pray the prayers and hand them off to Jesus. He lives to make intercession (Hebrews 7:25). It comes under the authority of his name, and wherever that prayer requires God's input, God is bound to respond.

3. Pray for Your Pastors

   Ephesians 6:18-20 — Paul said pray for him that utterance may be given, that he may open his mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. 2 Thessalonians 3:1 — pray that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified. The word of God is not lecture material — it is spirited material and must be fired from the altar of prayer. We don't want to hear the letter of the word; we want to encounter the spirit of the word. John 6:63 — the words I speak are spirit and they are life. Utterance is simply the word with entrance — the ability to penetrate where it should get.

4. Pray in the Spirit

   Romans 8:26-27 — the Spirit helps our infirmities. We know not what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. He that searches the heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit and makes intercession according to the will of God.

   Isaiah 28:11-12 — with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to his people. "This is the rest, this is the refreshing." That is speaking in tongues — engaging the language of the Spirit.

   Jude 20 — "Building up yourself" in the Holy Ghost. When you pray in the spirit you are not only deploying power, you are simultaneously increasing it. Like charging a phone while using it — the battery goes up even though power is being deployed. You are using it, but it is not depleting — it is increasing.

   When you pray in the spirit, you pray comprehensively. The area your understanding cannot touch, your prayer touches. It hits every target because it is all-encompassing. That's why Paul said: I will pray in the spirit. I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing in the spirit. I will also sing with my understanding.