Warfare For Welfare Part 2 by Apostle Johnson Suleman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Warfare Surrounds Every Great Destiny

The sum total of the believer's work in God is to be properly equipped. Warfare surrounds every great destiny. Everything that God has for you as a believer is available, but it doesn't mean it's takeable. Everything God has promised is available, but it is not takeable until you engage the act of warfare.

We are not of the flesh. We are of the spirit. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 — the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

What Open Eyes Produce

One of the ways God blesses men is through open eyes. Psalm 119:18 — open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Jeremiah 1:11-12, God asked, "What do you see?" When the prophet saw well, God said, "I have seen well, for I will hasten my word to perform it." Zechariah 4:2, Zechariah 5:2, Amos 7:8, Amos 8:2 — each time God spoke through what the prophet saw.

A preacher was sitting in Lagos when the word "Igamu" came to him strongly. He looked at a man nearby and said, "God says you should be in Igamu." The man did not know anyone there and nearly refused. But he obeyed, moved, and within eight months his eyes were opened to a business opportunity that transformed his life.

A brother studying physics was led step by step by the Holy Spirit to carry certain components, combine specific materials in specific proportions. He did not understand what he was assembling. Obeying the Holy Ghost, he discovered uranium deposits in Kaduna. That is what open eyes produce. Light illumination in your spirit, a sudden awareness on the kind of business to do, the person to connect with — these are the fruits of open eyes.

When your eyes are shut, you can be surrounded by helpers and not see a helper.

Every man's height in life is a function of his sight. No man can go further than he sees. The lamp of the body is the eye. Matthew 6:22, Luke 11:34 — if thy eye is single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Number Two: You Cannot See Well in the Wrong Company

God spoke to Abraham after Lot departed from him. "See, lift up your eyes and see." Genesis 13:14. When you keep hanging around the wrong atmosphere, your spiritual perception is hampered. You become shortsighted. Open eyes require the right environment. Every man's blindness is his devil. Every man's shortsightedness is his limitation.

How God Opens Eyes

1. Light and Illumination

   When open eyes are mentioned, it is not necessarily vision in the dramatic sense. It can be a light that hits your spirit — an awareness, a sudden knowing. God opens our eyes through light. Psalm 119:18. What you call what you see becomes what you get. God brought all the animals before Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called them, that was its name. Anytime God opens a man's eyes, he sees ahead.

2. Prompting

   Satan had orchestrated an accident. The minister was heading to the airport after a program when he felt an irresistible urge to pray. His team knocked repeatedly. The time came and went. The airline's departure window closed. Yet he kept praying until there was peace. When he finally went to the airport, they were told the flight was still on the ground. Investigators had found a passenger with explosives onboard. That plane would have exploded on takeoff. What kept him from it? A prompting.

   You don't just feel like going out. Your interest dies. You don't feel like taking a step. When you get such a hunch, obey it. God is preserving you from disaster. You don't stop praying because it is time. You stop praying when you have peace.

   Children live by witness — a witness in the spirit. Sons live by leading — as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14.

3. Dreams

   1 Samuel 28:6 — God spoke no more to Saul either through the prophet or through dreams. So God can speak through dreams. Most of the kings in the Bible were dealt with through dreams. But there are signs that your dream life is under attack:

   • You forget your dreams completely
   • You wake up and cannot piece your dream together
   • Anytime you dream, the opposite happens in real life

   All of these are signs that your dream life is under attack. There are people who had the gift of dreams and lost it. Those gifts shall be restored.

The Mantle of Prayer

Every act of the supernatural is premised on prayer. You cannot escape it. Elijah said, "The Lord God before whom I stand" — not whom I visit, but whom I stand. He maintained a prayer posture. When fire fell, fire knew that voice. It was relevant and regular.

You know you love prayer when you enjoy to pray with no need attached, no expectation attached. You go in there and engage because of your deep-seated love for God.

Hannah prayed until Eli said she was drunk. She lost her composure and her decorum in the process. A prayer that cannot affect you physically has not reached the depth it needs to. This generation only prays when there is a need. But there were days when believers went to God's presence without a prayer point — fifteen hours, eighteen hours — not because they wanted something, but because they loved His presence.

Father, open my eyes. Open my eyes to see what is wrong. Open my eyes to see what will usher me to the next level. Open my eyes to see what will usher me to the place of rest. Mantle of prayer, fall upon me. The more I pray, the more I want to pray. Lord, restore my dream life. Restore my gift of dreams. Let my eyes be open. In the name of Jesus, amen.