Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
As I was waiting on the Lord in prayer, He spoke to me very clearly: "Tell whoever listens to this sermon to expect an unplanned miracle." It's going to seem accidental. Let me emphasize this—when we talk about unplanned here, I'm not saying that God has not planned it. No, I'm saying that the believer will have nothing to do with it. It is not going to be in your program. It's not going to be in your arrangement. It's not going to be in the principles of your preparation.
Something is about to happen to whoever is listening to me. It's not going to be in your budget. It's not going to be in your prospects. Something unexpected. Something out of the confines of your predictions is going to happen to you this coming week, tomorrow morning, this month, this year before the end in Jesus' name.
Human beings find their greatest comfort in a world of planning and predictability because we are creatures of habit. We thrive most in the familiarities of routines and the assurances that come with foresight. Planned Parenthood, planned careers, planned vacations, planned events, planned relationships, planned finances, planned health. In its own way there is wisdom to plan.
I believe in the power of planning. I teach planning. I'm a stickler for planning. We have budgets as a ministry. I plan for my family. I plan my life. I plan my businesses because I don't want things to catch me unaware. But it takes a certain level of prudence for a man to know the full counsel of God. The prudence of the spirit will reveal to you amazing ways in God that will be unconventional.
For people who are stuck in their ways, who think that God works only one-dimensionally or who are quick to disqualify the workings of God that are not aligned to how they understand Him—it's easy to miss God in such instances. This God we serve is a God whose ways you must study. If you incline to only one dimension of interpretation, it is possible to miss God.
Take for instance, if you knew God to appear in a fire—and truly so, because you gave reference to Moses who by a burning bush had an encounter with God—you'd miss Him if you think that He only appears through fire. In the time of Elijah, the Bible says He sent an earthquake before Elijah, but He was not in the earthquake. The Bible says, "And then He sent a fire after the earthquake," but the Bible says the Lord was not in the fire. He appeared to Elijah through a still small voice.
What we have in this generation are the disciples of Elijah fighting with the disciples of Moses over the same God because one received a share different from the other. There are no exclusivities when it comes to revelation. There is no individual that has a full revelation of God on the earth. Remember, God has defined us as parts. The ear cannot say to the nose that I don't need you.
For some of the people who are very quick to disqualify God because He's not working their way, I pity them—that they miss God. This is something that God dealt with me very early and has broken my heart to the conveniences of where the winds want to blow. If He tells me this is how I want to move and I'm sure it is Him and I can affirm it through scripture, even if I've never seen a man go that way, I will go because He promised us that what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, what has not entered the hearts of men, He has prepared for them that love Him and are called according to His purposes.
Take for instance the story in John the 6th chapter where 5,000 men follow Him and they don't have food but they follow Him. Five thousand men are following Jesus. Why? Because the Bible tells us they saw miracles which He did on them that were diseased. They just followed Him.
Now, the stickler for planning and budgeting would come through and say it is not wise in my understanding to move with 5,000 people when you've not planned what they have to eat. There are people who understand only one file of the ways of God. I would think in that day there are people who must have thought Jesus to be not wise if He's a son of God. Why would it take a mother, a father, a child? These people are supposed to be home feeding with their families or perhaps they've left their jobs.
Some of these kids, if there was an education system then, they would say some of these kids should be in school now. And look at that foolish group—they're just going. I know some of you've been victims of people who think that way. You spend all your time at church instead of doing something constructive with your life. To some degrees, they can be right because I know individuals who don't come to church to serve. They come as an excuse of not wanting to work.
But there are people—it doesn't matter what you do, they'll still want you to be at a certain place to do something better than being at church or in the service of the Lord. So it is with this Jesus story in John 6. Thousands of people are walking with this man. They are seeing miracles, signs and wonders. Some perhaps didn't lock their doors back home. Maybe thieves broke through. Some would say foolish Alice left her door open. She left a young man unattended. Others who believe in budgeting and planning would say: "If we have not grown enough food for people to eat, why in the world would we even move with them when they have nothing to eat?" They don't know God.
I believe in the principle of seed and harvest. It's one of the most powerful laws of the earth. The Bible says, "For as long as the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest shall not cease. Be not deceived. God cannot be mocked for you reap what you sow."
I believe in that principle. Our God is a God of principle and pattern. But I have also learned in the very scriptures that not every harvest that you will have you will sow for. If you have not sown for it, it's not in the ambit of your plan.
The Bible says in John chapter 4:37, "Therein is that saying true: One soweth and another reapeth." I believe in the principle. Whoever sowed it shall reap. But in this instance, we see one sowing, one planning, and another one reaping who did not plan.
So it's possible to actually enter something that you didn't plan for. The Bible says in verses 30:38, "I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor. Other men labored, and you have entered into their labors." Tell your neighbor: Not every miracle will be in your plan. Not every miracle will be in your order. You must expect from God some things that are unplanned.
Because that's the essence of what we call prevenient grace. What is prevenient grace? In my simple language, I would say it is the grace that God avails us for because He weighs your potential, your abilities, your credibility and judges that nothing on you can plan opposition itself. Yet in His mercy and sovereignty and desire to give you a thing, He says, "Let me just do it for them because I love them." It's prevenient grace.
When you planned to go to school, your parents paid school fees, and then you went through your high school, your university, graduated, got a job—well, that was a success. God gave the blessing but there was a contribution of your planning that put you under strict order and discipline. You had to wake up in the morning at the right time, prepare yourself, go through a routine, sit in the classroom, write all your notes, attend all your lectures, take all your exams. If you fail, you repeat it. You pass that and then you said, "Ah, receive your collect." Yes, there's a blessing of God in that, but there's also a necessity of your planning.
Some things cannot be handed over to you without the contribution of your planning. But I also want you to know that there are things that will come to you without your planning. And if such miracles exist as the scriptures have showed us, then they have to come to you. You also have to connect to that realm.
The man at the pool of Bethesda had a plan. What was the plan? When they brought the sick, the lame, the blind—the Bible says there was an angel that came down at a certain time in the pool and stirred up the water. And while the waters were stirring, once a man fell in, the Bible says they were made whole. So coming to that well, he had a very clear plan: the moment the waters start, jump in.
Perhaps—just hypothetical, I love imagining things—he says, "I'm hungry. Let me go buy some bread." He excuses himself. And while he's buying bread, the waters start. His friend Jackson was waiting. Jackson and Theophilus and Anita fall in and they get healed. And then he comes crawling. By the time he comes to the well, the waters are still. Jackson is celebrating. Theophilus is celebrating. Anita is celebrating. Oh, what a sad day. Till next year.
And then another year comes. He waits. This time it should be coming. He waits over. In fact, he does overnight at the pool. Nothing happens. And he says, "You know, let me go to the restroom." He goes to the restroom. As he's going to the restroom, the waters come. For 38 years, the plans are failing. Have you ever planned and failed? Every time either you're behind schedule or you're ahead of schedule or you're accurate by one degree and inaccurate by another, or just something ruined everything.
Jesus walks to this man and He asks him, "Do you want to be made whole? Do you want to be made whole?" The man goes back to his plan. "I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred." Are you seeing the problem? This thing coming is not according to his plan. The method God is going to use doesn't even require this man's preparation.
Do you want to be made whole? And somebody says, "You know, I have nobody to throw me in the water." Maybe let me put it in present day. Do you want to get a visa? Then somebody says, "You know, I don't have a bank account and it's one of the core requirements of applying for an American visa." Do you want a visa? And somebody says, "No, you know, I want to but I don't have a passport."
Do you want to get married? "You know, I'm 54. I have five children. I'm past that because I'd planned to get married at 25. Richard came and broke my heart and I moved on. My plan failed."
Do you want to get married? "And the problem is..." No. Some of us plan first, go for an operation, make sure they operate everything that is for part, then once they put these things back together then I will get married. Everything must work under your plan, your stickler of planning. If it doesn't agree with your budget.
Do you want to buy a brand new Mercedes-Benz? Then somebody tells you, "I would love to, but you see, I have a debt with this bank and then I have a mortgage on a house. The other debt was for my school fees. So there's also a mortgage on the bank. They just topped it up just a couple of weeks ago. So nothing can really provide for that car."
Do you want a Mercedes-Benz? "You see, I'm planning to first build a house, then after building a house, I also build a house for my auntie and my grandmother. Do you want...?" God can give you that house and that car and the house you want to build for your auntie, but you have a plan. You have a plan and it's a good thing to have a plan. But the God I'm talking about has a deliberate heart to create out of your effort and plan.
This is the prophetic message I'm bringing you this evening because in prayer I saw people literally having things happen to them unplanned. Again, I repeat—the word was like it was an accident because it didn't suit their plan. It didn't suit their projections. But there they are.
So I went through the annals of history. In 1928, there was a wonderful Scottish scientist called Alexander Fleming, known to have discovered this powerful drug called penicillin. But when you read the story, this man discovered this drug not after a deliberate effort to go in his laboratory to mix chemicals together and draw some hypothetical theorem and then try to build and prove them through some experiments.
No, he was back from his vacation and after his vacation, he had left a petri dish open. Like when you leave food on a plate, you go for a vacation and you've perhaps forgot to put it away or put it in a dustbin. And he forgot a meal. He comes back from his vacation and notices a mold—they say it was called penicillium notatum. This mold had grown on that dish on the food he had left—but he noticed that this mold was killing or could kill bacteria. After studying that through, it's where this wise finding now gives us these strong antibiotics that have saved lives. It wasn't planned. It was accidental.
Charles Goodyear in the mid-19th century—an American inventor—accidentally dropped a mixture of rubber and sulfur in a hot stove. And this incident led to the discovery of the process of vulcanization which strengthened rubber and made it suitable for a wide range of industrial and commercial uses. Because of that you have tires on your car. It wasn't a planned discovery. It was typically an accident that landed this man into the destiny of history that now I'm reading for you.
Percy Spencer, 1945—an engineer was conducting research on radar equipment when he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted due to the heat generated by a magnetron, a component of the radar system. This accidental observation led Spencer to develop what you call microwave heating technology, which now makes your microwaves at home. That famous appliance that is almost in almost every house that can afford it. The birth of a microwave was not out of a planned event. No, it was an accident.
So I say: God, if people who are not tongue-speaking, not Christianity spirit-filled, demon-chasing can by accident invent something that can become millions and billions of dollars—what about people who have a covenant with You? How about people who have a relationship with You? The Holy Spirit told me exactly: "Tell them I want to do the unplanned."
You remember the story of David in 1st Samuel chapter 17. David was not a success through much planning and meditation. There's no evidence that an angel appeared to him and told him, "David, the spirit of promotion is over you." A prophet didn't come and say, "I see that you're gaining favor by the king in a few days. I see that there's this monstrous giant that's going to rise in the Philistine house and you're going to slay that giant and you're going to take over."
The scriptures tell us when Goliath, that Philistine of Gath, rose and became a threat to the children of Israel, Saul built an army. And Jesse looked through his boys and said, "Uh-uh, David is very weak." The Bible tells us he got three of his elder sons, looked at their muscles and sinews and said, "These are guys who are ready to fight. Go and fight for Israel."
There's a little boy somewhere looking after sheep. Unplanned. One of those fateful days, the father calls him and says, "Hey, David, come take an effort of corn. Take some bread and some cheeses to those people. Take them food." David was taking food. No plan.
As he gets there delivering, are you hungry? Have as a serving. Then somebody says, "Man, we have this. Who? What's his name? Goliath. What has the king said? Whoever defeats this man, what will be given to him?" He says, "Take me to the king." Unplanned. I'm going to repeat it again until it sinks: Not every victory coming your way will come with a planned morning, planned afternoon, distinct preparation, calculated order.
No, when a man is under a covenant, sometimes they won't need to plan their promotion or prosperity. That stone in the slingshot is not there because this boy is accurate. But he has a covenant. And that covenant came with some words.
In the morning he's a shepherd boy serving food. By 6 p.m. he's the champion of Israel. Come on. I say it: something is going to happen to you in hours, in minutes, in days, and it shall be said as it was said of David, that in the morning he was simply a son of a peasant. In the evening, he was the redemption of a nation.
In the morning she was a simple lady coming from one of the poorest villages in Uganda. In the evening she was the deliverer over there. Am I preaching to somebody? This is a prophetic message. Things are going to hit you that are not your age. Things are going to hit you that are not your education level. Things are going to knock you. Something is going to override your race.
You didn't come to be entertained. You didn't come because you had nothing to do. There must have been a power, a force, an intent by heaven that aligned you before you were born in your mother's womb to 2024 at this date, this time, this minute, this hour for this message. Not everything has to be planned. Not everything has to be planned. Not everything has to be planned.
Not every destiny is aligned to your understanding. Was Moses ready when God appeared to him? Moses was not ready. God tells him it is time. And I've realized this: When God examines the heart of a man, even when they are not planned or prepared, but He examines the heart of a man and it carries enough faith, grit and tenacity to go for something—I have learned by God that not all preparations come before the mandate or the assignment. I have met men who have been prepared after the assignment came. Moses is one example.
He was not ready. Listen to the questions he asks God: "Who should I tell them sent me?" Is that a man who has been trained with visions? No. "Who should I tell them?" No, Lord, I'm not eloquent. How will I articulate? How will I express myself before Pharaoh? For you know that I'm slow of speech and of a slow tongue. What sign should I show them?
God is telling Moses, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you've not planned it. I know I know you can't even speak. I know I know you don't even know me well to announce me, but I know you well to send you." Am I communicating with somebody? Then God shows him numerous signs, tells him, "Moses, go. We shall finish the process later because a nation is at stake and you're the chosen vessel."
"The nation is at stake and you're a chosen vessel. You might not have planned it, but I chose you." Let me tell you—I am living proof that when some of us were sent in this nation, we were not ready. Not everything on us was ready. Our speech was not ready. I mean, there are things I would mark myself over and say, "How could you even choose this?" But I believe in a God who can even send you before and perfect later.
Enter the marriage and we shall fix. Yes, I believe in making yourself ready as a wife because men don't find women, they find wives. But I also believe in a God who is not limited by your preparation, that He can take you in and still deal with those issues. At the end of the day, we all reach the finish line and say she lived a marriage life. Yes, she might have had some turbulences. He might have had some confusions, but there was a God who began that work. And the Bible says He shall see it to accomplishment to the door of Christ.
Isaiah 28:11 says, "With stammering lips and another tongue will I speak to my people." He looks for a man who can't even speak up. He says, "I know you're not ready. You don't even know how they speak, but let's go. I don't want a planned speech. Let's go," because you're the one I've chosen.
There are jobs that are not looking for men who have planned. Am I prophesying? They want you raw. The people who are interviewing, they're not looking for qualification. They're looking for how raw, how crude an individual is. Because there's an innocence that comes when a man is not planned. And I've seen the wisdom of God sometimes permeate through the hearts of men with such innocence. They look unready but to God they are the ready ones because He wants that kind of purity.
There's somebody here. The reason why you fail to move is every time you're preparing and you don't feel that you can ever prepare enough. And that's the truth. Because there are certain things you're never going to be 100% ready for. There are things you can say, "I've ticked all the boxes," but there are things you're never going to tick all the boxes because in some assignments, I've realized we don't even know the boxes to tick.
But there's an invitation in the spirit that tells you it is possible. That is why you must know the ways of faith. You must understand how faith works. I have a spiritual daughter here. I'll not point at her. I found her once in a hotel drinking soup. She says, "Pastor, I'm tired of poverty. Pray for me." And I laid hands on that dear woman. She came back to me a few weeks later and told me, "They gave me a job. Even people with degrees, master's degrees, PhD are praying to have yet I don't have papers to my name."
Do you know the God I'm talking about? I said, do you know the God I'm talking about? A man may plan his ways, but there's a God who says this is the direction. You might have planned that way, but I direct you this way. You might have dreamt that direction, but I'm saying no, this is where you should go because I am God. I'm sovereign. I can do it. I can fix it. I can align it. I can position it myself such that you get to that place and you can't say that it was my planning.
People who have entered such realms are usually humble people. There's a humility that hits you when you know that you were unplanned. Oh no, this was the person we are going to give the job. We've got a worthy employee. They even write the letter of employment. And then something happens and then the wind starts blowing on a certain woman. And that day they find the boss in a very stressed mood. If they had phoned him fresh in the morning he would have said, "No, let's do other interviews," but it came through somebody and they said, "Why don't you consider this young man or young woman?" And usually it's not the way the boss works, but God is in the detail. I said God is in the detail—unplanned by man but planned by God.
And before you know it, they give them the job. After giving them the job, the boss next day says, "I don't even know why I hired her. I usually don't hire people like you. You're not our kind of person, but anyway, you just enter and work."
Not all the destinies of the children of God shall come under some arrangement or plan. Can I say it? Some of us who were not planned—I'm talking about some individuals here. Some of you even, if we look at the history, if we look at your birth story, you were something your mother even wanted to avoid. I mean, to abort, sorry, because you were not planned. You came in a time when they didn't have money to raise you. You came in a bad time during war. It was a mistake. Your mother thought she had swallowed a pill but here your parents might have not had a plan, but you are a blessing.
Some of us were born out of wedlock. The order should have been that our parents met first, went before a priest or a pastor, were joined together in holy matrimony—the perfect story. But we were labeled bastard. But as you started to grow, something started to happen to you that even legitimate children could not have. Certain doors started to open on you that even a child who was raised in a pastor's house could not have. Certain glory started to rest on your head that even people who had families of intercessors could not.
Unplanned in the order of men but planned and prepared in the purposes of God. Says, "Brethren, let us consider our calling. Not many of us were wise, and these offices were sitting in, look like they were offices of wise men. The plans of those offices were for wise men. Not many of us were honorable. The plans of those offices were for honorable men."
That is what I'm trying to tell you: that you're going to enter a place and you look at yourself and say, "Mm, I don't fit here, but I'm here." I said, you're going to say, "I don't fit." You look at yourself and say, "I don't fit here."
And may I warn you: unplanned miracles will come with such rejection and envy because there will always be a prying eye that judges you lower than that qualification. Some of you, you don't have evil spirits pursuing you. No, you just entered unplanned. I mean, if men can reject children because they were not planned, what about an employee? The way you look, you were not planned. So some people will have issues with you already.
The anomaly is that the kind of people who enter those kinds of graces must have grown up a certain way. Let me tell you: I went in a meeting once and some men of God had a problem with me—not because I was a bad minister but because I was not raised under a certain great pastor. They say, "You, where are you from? Who are you? Whose son are you? You must be coming from either Prophet so and so, Apostle so and so, or Bishop so and so or Pastor so and so. Where did you come from?" You tell them, "Apostle So and So." "Who? Where is that? Where is that from? How many members does it have? Did the pastors go to Bible college?"
But whether the devil wants it or not, the blessing of your life was appointed so that even in unplanned territories, heaven would plan for you by prevenient grace—that your spirit must be ready to take this miracle because in a few weeks, a few months, a few years, some let me tell you: years ago, we used to tell people and they never understood us because the things we were telling them were unplanned. And that's the way of faith.
Whenever you get to a place of applying yourself to faith, if we now go into the deeper demystification of that mystery of faith, you must understand that things are not always going to have to align themselves a certain way. You know, we have a generation of people who only agree to "stars aligning." "Oh, this person's stars are aligning." And I'm saying we have a God who can work even when the stars are misaligned. Am I preaching to somebody?
Even when the weather does not agree, even when the economy does not spell so, God can still tell your neighbor, "Prepare yourself. Tell him again, prepare yourself. Get to your feet."
I want to pray with you. You know when we get into the place of miracles, I'm so passionate whenever I prophesy such things that I give somebody time to yield to it. So I want us to take a few minutes and I want you to yield your spirit to the words that have been spoken this evening until you're one with a prophetic proclamation.
Open your mouth and let's pray like men walking in unplanned miracles. We're going to take some time praying. I want us to pray for 10 minutes uninterrupted.
Miracle worker. You are a miracle worker. You are doing a miracle. Miracle today. You are doing miracles. Miracles today. Destiny changer. Our destiny changer. You are changing destinies. Destinies today. You are changing destinies destinies today.
Open your mouth and pray. Something must happen out of the ordinary. Something must happen out of the planned.
Unplanned by man but planned by God. Not planned by events but planned by God. Not planned by qualification but planned by God.
Financial breakthrough unplanned. Progress unplanned, promotion unplanned, contract unplanned, business deal unplanned. Job unplanned, marriage unplanned.
Pray like a victor. Pray like you are on an assignment. Pray like you have an agenda with heaven. Pray like you have a program with God.
Like the man at the pool of Bethesda, you'll be expecting for the waters to start and a door is going to open. Unusual, unlikely—to get you that miracle from another source, in another method that won't wait for long, where you won't need to compete with anybody. You won't need to compete with anything.
Unexpected sources, unexplainable resources, unpredictable places.
This time it will work because it's unplanned. It's not your will, your purpose. It's God's will. It's his purpose. It's not your way. It's his way. It's not your intervention. It's his intervention. It's not even how much you've been obedient. It's his faithfulness.
It is your time. This is your turn. This is the time. It must break. It must break. It must end. That situation must end. That disease must leave. That situation of poverty, of struggle, of renting, that spirit of renting, it must end. Living from paycheck to paycheck, it must end. The spirit of begging and pleading with people, it must end. That spirit of struggle and strife, it must end.
The Bible says that the fervent prayer, the fervent prayer, the heartfelt prayer of a righteous man avails God's power—dynamic in nature. That earnest, continued prayer is making tremendous power available. It's dynamic. It's not limited. It can work in any way.
You must build. You must build a house of your own. You must buy a land for the ministry God put on your life. That TV station must start. That radio program must start. That hospital must be built. That school must be built. That visa must become unplanned. Men are going to lose sleep. Men are going to lose appetite. Unplanned to come and advantage you, to come and advance you, to look for you, to promote and provide. Not planned by man, but planned by God.
You might not be ready, but God is ready. You might not be prepared, but heaven is prepared. You might have not received the memo yet, but majors have been assigned. Speak that over your children. May they have unplanned sponsorships. May them have unplanned trips, unplanned promotions.
Every parent raise your voice. Mention the names of your children by name. Say: my children and planned progress, unplanned advantage, unplanned favor. Speak over your children. Say: you're entering nations without any plan of mine or yours, but God is in it.
God validate your children. May they never bear the reproach of a fallen world. May they never be found in any scandal, any form of struggle. Your children will never beg blood. They'll never beg bread. Planned and unplanned provision will come. It will find them. Unplanned helpers, destiny helpers.
The Bible says your offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants among the people. The Bible says God will look at your children in Isaiah 61:9 and all will see their prosperity. They will recognize and acknowledge that they are blessed of God.
Now I want you to take a few seconds and thank God because it is done. Celebrate like it's unplanned. Celebrate in a way you didn't plan to celebrate. I say celebrate in a way that is not planned. Celebrate in a way that is unusual because what is coming to you is unusual.
Whatever you're doing is an act of faith. Whatever you're doing is an act of faith. I said whatever you're doing is an act of faith. Hallelujah.
Now I want every man standing where you are—we want to do an altar call. That's the most important thing to heaven. Those of you want to go back home, this is more important than what you're going to do because somebody might go with you and be stumbled and God will say you were selfish to receive but not willing to give me those few minutes to get men saved.
If you're here and you've never given your life to Jesus and you say, "Pastor, I want to give my life to Jesus," come right now and I pray with you. Come. Ask your neighbor if they're not born again. Start evangelizing. If they're not, tell them: let's go together. Escort them here. If they fear, you escort them here.
You are doing something new. Every day of my life, you are touching me afresh. Every moment of my life. Lord, I believe in you because you were doing something new.
As I was waiting on the Lord in prayer, He spoke to me very clearly: "Tell whoever listens to this sermon to expect an unplanned miracle." It's going to seem accidental. Let me emphasize this—when we talk about unplanned here, I'm not saying that God has not planned it. No, I'm saying that the believer will have nothing to do with it. It is not going to be in your program. It's not going to be in your arrangement. It's not going to be in the principles of your preparation.
Something is about to happen to whoever is listening to me. It's not going to be in your budget. It's not going to be in your prospects. Something unexpected. Something out of the confines of your predictions is going to happen to you this coming week, tomorrow morning, this month, this year before the end in Jesus' name.
Human beings find their greatest comfort in a world of planning and predictability because we are creatures of habit. We thrive most in the familiarities of routines and the assurances that come with foresight. Planned Parenthood, planned careers, planned vacations, planned events, planned relationships, planned finances, planned health. In its own way there is wisdom to plan.
I believe in the power of planning. I teach planning. I'm a stickler for planning. We have budgets as a ministry. I plan for my family. I plan my life. I plan my businesses because I don't want things to catch me unaware. But it takes a certain level of prudence for a man to know the full counsel of God. The prudence of the spirit will reveal to you amazing ways in God that will be unconventional.
For people who are stuck in their ways, who think that God works only one-dimensionally or who are quick to disqualify the workings of God that are not aligned to how they understand Him—it's easy to miss God in such instances. This God we serve is a God whose ways you must study. If you incline to only one dimension of interpretation, it is possible to miss God.
Take for instance, if you knew God to appear in a fire—and truly so, because you gave reference to Moses who by a burning bush had an encounter with God—you'd miss Him if you think that He only appears through fire. In the time of Elijah, the Bible says He sent an earthquake before Elijah, but He was not in the earthquake. The Bible says, "And then He sent a fire after the earthquake," but the Bible says the Lord was not in the fire. He appeared to Elijah through a still small voice.
What we have in this generation are the disciples of Elijah fighting with the disciples of Moses over the same God because one received a share different from the other. There are no exclusivities when it comes to revelation. There is no individual that has a full revelation of God on the earth. Remember, God has defined us as parts. The ear cannot say to the nose that I don't need you.
For some of the people who are very quick to disqualify God because He's not working their way, I pity them—that they miss God. This is something that God dealt with me very early and has broken my heart to the conveniences of where the winds want to blow. If He tells me this is how I want to move and I'm sure it is Him and I can affirm it through scripture, even if I've never seen a man go that way, I will go because He promised us that what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, what has not entered the hearts of men, He has prepared for them that love Him and are called according to His purposes.
Take for instance the story in John the 6th chapter where 5,000 men follow Him and they don't have food but they follow Him. Five thousand men are following Jesus. Why? Because the Bible tells us they saw miracles which He did on them that were diseased. They just followed Him.
Now, the stickler for planning and budgeting would come through and say it is not wise in my understanding to move with 5,000 people when you've not planned what they have to eat. There are people who understand only one file of the ways of God. I would think in that day there are people who must have thought Jesus to be not wise if He's a son of God. Why would it take a mother, a father, a child? These people are supposed to be home feeding with their families or perhaps they've left their jobs.
Some of these kids, if there was an education system then, they would say some of these kids should be in school now. And look at that foolish group—they're just going. I know some of you've been victims of people who think that way. You spend all your time at church instead of doing something constructive with your life. To some degrees, they can be right because I know individuals who don't come to church to serve. They come as an excuse of not wanting to work.
But there are people—it doesn't matter what you do, they'll still want you to be at a certain place to do something better than being at church or in the service of the Lord. So it is with this Jesus story in John 6. Thousands of people are walking with this man. They are seeing miracles, signs and wonders. Some perhaps didn't lock their doors back home. Maybe thieves broke through. Some would say foolish Alice left her door open. She left a young man unattended. Others who believe in budgeting and planning would say: "If we have not grown enough food for people to eat, why in the world would we even move with them when they have nothing to eat?" They don't know God.
I believe in the principle of seed and harvest. It's one of the most powerful laws of the earth. The Bible says, "For as long as the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest shall not cease. Be not deceived. God cannot be mocked for you reap what you sow."
I believe in that principle. Our God is a God of principle and pattern. But I have also learned in the very scriptures that not every harvest that you will have you will sow for. If you have not sown for it, it's not in the ambit of your plan.
The Bible says in John chapter 4:37, "Therein is that saying true: One soweth and another reapeth." I believe in the principle. Whoever sowed it shall reap. But in this instance, we see one sowing, one planning, and another one reaping who did not plan.
So it's possible to actually enter something that you didn't plan for. The Bible says in verses 30:38, "I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor. Other men labored, and you have entered into their labors." Tell your neighbor: Not every miracle will be in your plan. Not every miracle will be in your order. You must expect from God some things that are unplanned.
Because that's the essence of what we call prevenient grace. What is prevenient grace? In my simple language, I would say it is the grace that God avails us for because He weighs your potential, your abilities, your credibility and judges that nothing on you can plan opposition itself. Yet in His mercy and sovereignty and desire to give you a thing, He says, "Let me just do it for them because I love them." It's prevenient grace.
When you planned to go to school, your parents paid school fees, and then you went through your high school, your university, graduated, got a job—well, that was a success. God gave the blessing but there was a contribution of your planning that put you under strict order and discipline. You had to wake up in the morning at the right time, prepare yourself, go through a routine, sit in the classroom, write all your notes, attend all your lectures, take all your exams. If you fail, you repeat it. You pass that and then you said, "Ah, receive your collect." Yes, there's a blessing of God in that, but there's also a necessity of your planning.
Some things cannot be handed over to you without the contribution of your planning. But I also want you to know that there are things that will come to you without your planning. And if such miracles exist as the scriptures have showed us, then they have to come to you. You also have to connect to that realm.
The man at the pool of Bethesda had a plan. What was the plan? When they brought the sick, the lame, the blind—the Bible says there was an angel that came down at a certain time in the pool and stirred up the water. And while the waters were stirring, once a man fell in, the Bible says they were made whole. So coming to that well, he had a very clear plan: the moment the waters start, jump in.
Perhaps—just hypothetical, I love imagining things—he says, "I'm hungry. Let me go buy some bread." He excuses himself. And while he's buying bread, the waters start. His friend Jackson was waiting. Jackson and Theophilus and Anita fall in and they get healed. And then he comes crawling. By the time he comes to the well, the waters are still. Jackson is celebrating. Theophilus is celebrating. Anita is celebrating. Oh, what a sad day. Till next year.
And then another year comes. He waits. This time it should be coming. He waits over. In fact, he does overnight at the pool. Nothing happens. And he says, "You know, let me go to the restroom." He goes to the restroom. As he's going to the restroom, the waters come. For 38 years, the plans are failing. Have you ever planned and failed? Every time either you're behind schedule or you're ahead of schedule or you're accurate by one degree and inaccurate by another, or just something ruined everything.
Jesus walks to this man and He asks him, "Do you want to be made whole? Do you want to be made whole?" The man goes back to his plan. "I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred." Are you seeing the problem? This thing coming is not according to his plan. The method God is going to use doesn't even require this man's preparation.
Do you want to be made whole? And somebody says, "You know, I have nobody to throw me in the water." Maybe let me put it in present day. Do you want to get a visa? Then somebody says, "You know, I don't have a bank account and it's one of the core requirements of applying for an American visa." Do you want a visa? And somebody says, "No, you know, I want to but I don't have a passport."
Do you want to get married? "You know, I'm 54. I have five children. I'm past that because I'd planned to get married at 25. Richard came and broke my heart and I moved on. My plan failed."
Do you want to get married? "And the problem is..." No. Some of us plan first, go for an operation, make sure they operate everything that is for part, then once they put these things back together then I will get married. Everything must work under your plan, your stickler of planning. If it doesn't agree with your budget.
Do you want to buy a brand new Mercedes-Benz? Then somebody tells you, "I would love to, but you see, I have a debt with this bank and then I have a mortgage on a house. The other debt was for my school fees. So there's also a mortgage on the bank. They just topped it up just a couple of weeks ago. So nothing can really provide for that car."
Do you want a Mercedes-Benz? "You see, I'm planning to first build a house, then after building a house, I also build a house for my auntie and my grandmother. Do you want...?" God can give you that house and that car and the house you want to build for your auntie, but you have a plan. You have a plan and it's a good thing to have a plan. But the God I'm talking about has a deliberate heart to create out of your effort and plan.
This is the prophetic message I'm bringing you this evening because in prayer I saw people literally having things happen to them unplanned. Again, I repeat—the word was like it was an accident because it didn't suit their plan. It didn't suit their projections. But there they are.
So I went through the annals of history. In 1928, there was a wonderful Scottish scientist called Alexander Fleming, known to have discovered this powerful drug called penicillin. But when you read the story, this man discovered this drug not after a deliberate effort to go in his laboratory to mix chemicals together and draw some hypothetical theorem and then try to build and prove them through some experiments.
No, he was back from his vacation and after his vacation, he had left a petri dish open. Like when you leave food on a plate, you go for a vacation and you've perhaps forgot to put it away or put it in a dustbin. And he forgot a meal. He comes back from his vacation and notices a mold—they say it was called penicillium notatum. This mold had grown on that dish on the food he had left—but he noticed that this mold was killing or could kill bacteria. After studying that through, it's where this wise finding now gives us these strong antibiotics that have saved lives. It wasn't planned. It was accidental.
Charles Goodyear in the mid-19th century—an American inventor—accidentally dropped a mixture of rubber and sulfur in a hot stove. And this incident led to the discovery of the process of vulcanization which strengthened rubber and made it suitable for a wide range of industrial and commercial uses. Because of that you have tires on your car. It wasn't a planned discovery. It was typically an accident that landed this man into the destiny of history that now I'm reading for you.
Percy Spencer, 1945—an engineer was conducting research on radar equipment when he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted due to the heat generated by a magnetron, a component of the radar system. This accidental observation led Spencer to develop what you call microwave heating technology, which now makes your microwaves at home. That famous appliance that is almost in almost every house that can afford it. The birth of a microwave was not out of a planned event. No, it was an accident.
So I say: God, if people who are not tongue-speaking, not Christianity spirit-filled, demon-chasing can by accident invent something that can become millions and billions of dollars—what about people who have a covenant with You? How about people who have a relationship with You? The Holy Spirit told me exactly: "Tell them I want to do the unplanned."
You remember the story of David in 1st Samuel chapter 17. David was not a success through much planning and meditation. There's no evidence that an angel appeared to him and told him, "David, the spirit of promotion is over you." A prophet didn't come and say, "I see that you're gaining favor by the king in a few days. I see that there's this monstrous giant that's going to rise in the Philistine house and you're going to slay that giant and you're going to take over."
The scriptures tell us when Goliath, that Philistine of Gath, rose and became a threat to the children of Israel, Saul built an army. And Jesse looked through his boys and said, "Uh-uh, David is very weak." The Bible tells us he got three of his elder sons, looked at their muscles and sinews and said, "These are guys who are ready to fight. Go and fight for Israel."
There's a little boy somewhere looking after sheep. Unplanned. One of those fateful days, the father calls him and says, "Hey, David, come take an effort of corn. Take some bread and some cheeses to those people. Take them food." David was taking food. No plan.
As he gets there delivering, are you hungry? Have as a serving. Then somebody says, "Man, we have this. Who? What's his name? Goliath. What has the king said? Whoever defeats this man, what will be given to him?" He says, "Take me to the king." Unplanned. I'm going to repeat it again until it sinks: Not every victory coming your way will come with a planned morning, planned afternoon, distinct preparation, calculated order.
No, when a man is under a covenant, sometimes they won't need to plan their promotion or prosperity. That stone in the slingshot is not there because this boy is accurate. But he has a covenant. And that covenant came with some words.
In the morning he's a shepherd boy serving food. By 6 p.m. he's the champion of Israel. Come on. I say it: something is going to happen to you in hours, in minutes, in days, and it shall be said as it was said of David, that in the morning he was simply a son of a peasant. In the evening, he was the redemption of a nation.
In the morning she was a simple lady coming from one of the poorest villages in Uganda. In the evening she was the deliverer over there. Am I preaching to somebody? This is a prophetic message. Things are going to hit you that are not your age. Things are going to hit you that are not your education level. Things are going to knock you. Something is going to override your race.
You didn't come to be entertained. You didn't come because you had nothing to do. There must have been a power, a force, an intent by heaven that aligned you before you were born in your mother's womb to 2024 at this date, this time, this minute, this hour for this message. Not everything has to be planned. Not everything has to be planned. Not everything has to be planned.
Not every destiny is aligned to your understanding. Was Moses ready when God appeared to him? Moses was not ready. God tells him it is time. And I've realized this: When God examines the heart of a man, even when they are not planned or prepared, but He examines the heart of a man and it carries enough faith, grit and tenacity to go for something—I have learned by God that not all preparations come before the mandate or the assignment. I have met men who have been prepared after the assignment came. Moses is one example.
He was not ready. Listen to the questions he asks God: "Who should I tell them sent me?" Is that a man who has been trained with visions? No. "Who should I tell them?" No, Lord, I'm not eloquent. How will I articulate? How will I express myself before Pharaoh? For you know that I'm slow of speech and of a slow tongue. What sign should I show them?
God is telling Moses, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you've not planned it. I know I know you can't even speak. I know I know you don't even know me well to announce me, but I know you well to send you." Am I communicating with somebody? Then God shows him numerous signs, tells him, "Moses, go. We shall finish the process later because a nation is at stake and you're the chosen vessel."
"The nation is at stake and you're a chosen vessel. You might not have planned it, but I chose you." Let me tell you—I am living proof that when some of us were sent in this nation, we were not ready. Not everything on us was ready. Our speech was not ready. I mean, there are things I would mark myself over and say, "How could you even choose this?" But I believe in a God who can even send you before and perfect later.
Enter the marriage and we shall fix. Yes, I believe in making yourself ready as a wife because men don't find women, they find wives. But I also believe in a God who is not limited by your preparation, that He can take you in and still deal with those issues. At the end of the day, we all reach the finish line and say she lived a marriage life. Yes, she might have had some turbulences. He might have had some confusions, but there was a God who began that work. And the Bible says He shall see it to accomplishment to the door of Christ.
Isaiah 28:11 says, "With stammering lips and another tongue will I speak to my people." He looks for a man who can't even speak up. He says, "I know you're not ready. You don't even know how they speak, but let's go. I don't want a planned speech. Let's go," because you're the one I've chosen.
There are jobs that are not looking for men who have planned. Am I prophesying? They want you raw. The people who are interviewing, they're not looking for qualification. They're looking for how raw, how crude an individual is. Because there's an innocence that comes when a man is not planned. And I've seen the wisdom of God sometimes permeate through the hearts of men with such innocence. They look unready but to God they are the ready ones because He wants that kind of purity.
There's somebody here. The reason why you fail to move is every time you're preparing and you don't feel that you can ever prepare enough. And that's the truth. Because there are certain things you're never going to be 100% ready for. There are things you can say, "I've ticked all the boxes," but there are things you're never going to tick all the boxes because in some assignments, I've realized we don't even know the boxes to tick.
But there's an invitation in the spirit that tells you it is possible. That is why you must know the ways of faith. You must understand how faith works. I have a spiritual daughter here. I'll not point at her. I found her once in a hotel drinking soup. She says, "Pastor, I'm tired of poverty. Pray for me." And I laid hands on that dear woman. She came back to me a few weeks later and told me, "They gave me a job. Even people with degrees, master's degrees, PhD are praying to have yet I don't have papers to my name."
Do you know the God I'm talking about? I said, do you know the God I'm talking about? A man may plan his ways, but there's a God who says this is the direction. You might have planned that way, but I direct you this way. You might have dreamt that direction, but I'm saying no, this is where you should go because I am God. I'm sovereign. I can do it. I can fix it. I can align it. I can position it myself such that you get to that place and you can't say that it was my planning.
People who have entered such realms are usually humble people. There's a humility that hits you when you know that you were unplanned. Oh no, this was the person we are going to give the job. We've got a worthy employee. They even write the letter of employment. And then something happens and then the wind starts blowing on a certain woman. And that day they find the boss in a very stressed mood. If they had phoned him fresh in the morning he would have said, "No, let's do other interviews," but it came through somebody and they said, "Why don't you consider this young man or young woman?" And usually it's not the way the boss works, but God is in the detail. I said God is in the detail—unplanned by man but planned by God.
And before you know it, they give them the job. After giving them the job, the boss next day says, "I don't even know why I hired her. I usually don't hire people like you. You're not our kind of person, but anyway, you just enter and work."
Not all the destinies of the children of God shall come under some arrangement or plan. Can I say it? Some of us who were not planned—I'm talking about some individuals here. Some of you even, if we look at the history, if we look at your birth story, you were something your mother even wanted to avoid. I mean, to abort, sorry, because you were not planned. You came in a time when they didn't have money to raise you. You came in a bad time during war. It was a mistake. Your mother thought she had swallowed a pill but here your parents might have not had a plan, but you are a blessing.
Some of us were born out of wedlock. The order should have been that our parents met first, went before a priest or a pastor, were joined together in holy matrimony—the perfect story. But we were labeled bastard. But as you started to grow, something started to happen to you that even legitimate children could not have. Certain doors started to open on you that even a child who was raised in a pastor's house could not have. Certain glory started to rest on your head that even people who had families of intercessors could not.
Unplanned in the order of men but planned and prepared in the purposes of God. Says, "Brethren, let us consider our calling. Not many of us were wise, and these offices were sitting in, look like they were offices of wise men. The plans of those offices were for wise men. Not many of us were honorable. The plans of those offices were for honorable men."
That is what I'm trying to tell you: that you're going to enter a place and you look at yourself and say, "Mm, I don't fit here, but I'm here." I said, you're going to say, "I don't fit." You look at yourself and say, "I don't fit here."
And may I warn you: unplanned miracles will come with such rejection and envy because there will always be a prying eye that judges you lower than that qualification. Some of you, you don't have evil spirits pursuing you. No, you just entered unplanned. I mean, if men can reject children because they were not planned, what about an employee? The way you look, you were not planned. So some people will have issues with you already.
The anomaly is that the kind of people who enter those kinds of graces must have grown up a certain way. Let me tell you: I went in a meeting once and some men of God had a problem with me—not because I was a bad minister but because I was not raised under a certain great pastor. They say, "You, where are you from? Who are you? Whose son are you? You must be coming from either Prophet so and so, Apostle so and so, or Bishop so and so or Pastor so and so. Where did you come from?" You tell them, "Apostle So and So." "Who? Where is that? Where is that from? How many members does it have? Did the pastors go to Bible college?"
But whether the devil wants it or not, the blessing of your life was appointed so that even in unplanned territories, heaven would plan for you by prevenient grace—that your spirit must be ready to take this miracle because in a few weeks, a few months, a few years, some let me tell you: years ago, we used to tell people and they never understood us because the things we were telling them were unplanned. And that's the way of faith.
Whenever you get to a place of applying yourself to faith, if we now go into the deeper demystification of that mystery of faith, you must understand that things are not always going to have to align themselves a certain way. You know, we have a generation of people who only agree to "stars aligning." "Oh, this person's stars are aligning." And I'm saying we have a God who can work even when the stars are misaligned. Am I preaching to somebody?
Even when the weather does not agree, even when the economy does not spell so, God can still tell your neighbor, "Prepare yourself. Tell him again, prepare yourself. Get to your feet."
I want to pray with you. You know when we get into the place of miracles, I'm so passionate whenever I prophesy such things that I give somebody time to yield to it. So I want us to take a few minutes and I want you to yield your spirit to the words that have been spoken this evening until you're one with a prophetic proclamation.
Open your mouth and let's pray like men walking in unplanned miracles. We're going to take some time praying. I want us to pray for 10 minutes uninterrupted.
Miracle worker. You are a miracle worker. You are doing a miracle. Miracle today. You are doing miracles. Miracles today. Destiny changer. Our destiny changer. You are changing destinies. Destinies today. You are changing destinies destinies today.
Open your mouth and pray. Something must happen out of the ordinary. Something must happen out of the planned.
Unplanned by man but planned by God. Not planned by events but planned by God. Not planned by qualification but planned by God.
Financial breakthrough unplanned. Progress unplanned, promotion unplanned, contract unplanned, business deal unplanned. Job unplanned, marriage unplanned.
Pray like a victor. Pray like you are on an assignment. Pray like you have an agenda with heaven. Pray like you have a program with God.
Like the man at the pool of Bethesda, you'll be expecting for the waters to start and a door is going to open. Unusual, unlikely—to get you that miracle from another source, in another method that won't wait for long, where you won't need to compete with anybody. You won't need to compete with anything.
Unexpected sources, unexplainable resources, unpredictable places.
This time it will work because it's unplanned. It's not your will, your purpose. It's God's will. It's his purpose. It's not your way. It's his way. It's not your intervention. It's his intervention. It's not even how much you've been obedient. It's his faithfulness.
It is your time. This is your turn. This is the time. It must break. It must break. It must end. That situation must end. That disease must leave. That situation of poverty, of struggle, of renting, that spirit of renting, it must end. Living from paycheck to paycheck, it must end. The spirit of begging and pleading with people, it must end. That spirit of struggle and strife, it must end.
The Bible says that the fervent prayer, the fervent prayer, the heartfelt prayer of a righteous man avails God's power—dynamic in nature. That earnest, continued prayer is making tremendous power available. It's dynamic. It's not limited. It can work in any way.
You must build. You must build a house of your own. You must buy a land for the ministry God put on your life. That TV station must start. That radio program must start. That hospital must be built. That school must be built. That visa must become unplanned. Men are going to lose sleep. Men are going to lose appetite. Unplanned to come and advantage you, to come and advance you, to look for you, to promote and provide. Not planned by man, but planned by God.
You might not be ready, but God is ready. You might not be prepared, but heaven is prepared. You might have not received the memo yet, but majors have been assigned. Speak that over your children. May they have unplanned sponsorships. May them have unplanned trips, unplanned promotions.
Every parent raise your voice. Mention the names of your children by name. Say: my children and planned progress, unplanned advantage, unplanned favor. Speak over your children. Say: you're entering nations without any plan of mine or yours, but God is in it.
God validate your children. May they never bear the reproach of a fallen world. May they never be found in any scandal, any form of struggle. Your children will never beg blood. They'll never beg bread. Planned and unplanned provision will come. It will find them. Unplanned helpers, destiny helpers.
The Bible says your offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants among the people. The Bible says God will look at your children in Isaiah 61:9 and all will see their prosperity. They will recognize and acknowledge that they are blessed of God.
Now I want you to take a few seconds and thank God because it is done. Celebrate like it's unplanned. Celebrate in a way you didn't plan to celebrate. I say celebrate in a way that is not planned. Celebrate in a way that is unusual because what is coming to you is unusual.
Whatever you're doing is an act of faith. Whatever you're doing is an act of faith. I said whatever you're doing is an act of faith. Hallelujah.
Now I want every man standing where you are—we want to do an altar call. That's the most important thing to heaven. Those of you want to go back home, this is more important than what you're going to do because somebody might go with you and be stumbled and God will say you were selfish to receive but not willing to give me those few minutes to get men saved.
If you're here and you've never given your life to Jesus and you say, "Pastor, I want to give my life to Jesus," come right now and I pray with you. Come. Ask your neighbor if they're not born again. Start evangelizing. If they're not, tell them: let's go together. Escort them here. If they fear, you escort them here.
You are doing something new. Every day of my life, you are touching me afresh. Every moment of my life. Lord, I believe in you because you were doing something new.