“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The Sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”
For I know that I know that I know that my Redeemer lives. You don’t believe? Listen to my testimony. And you are not reading this by mistake or error, for I do not serve a God of error.
In February, my older sister, who just graduated from College in Maryland gave her life to Christ. We had always grown up with the Christian doctrine. We had morals, we were ‘good’ girls. But for her, I believe she lacked something more personal. To cut a long story short, her new life changed me. She did not have to tell me that she did not listen to secular music for me to know that she had changed. She did not have to say oh wow, see what God has done for me. You could feel it. For it says behold old things have passed away, I have made all things new. And isn’t it easy to spot something new?
Anyway her new found zeal and passion for Christ motivated me. It created in me a thirst like no other. I remember calling my mum on the phone and crying because in my sister’s Church, I felt inadequate. Oh yes, I have been a Christian for as long as I can remember. My goal has always been to please Christ, but I don’t know if I’ve always shown Him in my words and actions and thoughts. I also know that I did not have the best friend Jesus had promised to send at His ascension. My mum encouraged me and talked to me a bit. But I was still uneasy. You see when the Spirit of the most High God wants to do something in your life, He’s going to so bug you until you yield. Because we are created for Him, only Him, so why should He share you w another?
From mid March I started attending Christ Apostolic Church, Bethel Campus Fellowship. Sometimes I would be so tired because I go to school in DC and the Church is basically in the Greenbelt area. That was a long journey and I started using that as an excuse not to go. The youth pastor Uncle George said we must find a way because I must fellowship with them. It’s so funny because I love my sleep, lol. If you know me you can testify to that. But on Sunday mornings I would wake up bright and early w a song in my heart and an even bigger song on my lips when I got to Church. For you could not NOT feel the Spirit moving when you got to Church. It says at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!
For the fool says there is no God, but wise men still seek Him.
Yet there was still something missing. I had started reading Benny Hinn’s book called Good Morning, Holy Spirit. Everything seemed so easy and I guess that was the problem. All the youths around me were speaking in tongues and I remembered learning in High school that yes there are different gifts, but not everyone has every single gift. So I thought tongues were for specific people, people who were in a ‘higher’ walk with Christ. Sometime in April, I called my friend and she told me that the gift of tongues is only a heavenly language. For when we pray in English or Igbo/Hausa/Yoruba, French, Chinese whatever it may be, devil hears us. Yup, he does. And it’s at that point that he sends his demons and agents to obstruct your prayer. You might ask not to fall into temptation and that’s when temptation will hit you like never before. So that is ONE of the reasons why there’s tongues, so that we can talk to God through the Holy Spirit, uninterrupted. Sometimes we ourselves do not even understand what we are saying
Romans 8: 26 – 27 says
In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
1 Corinthians 2:12-13
We have not received the Spirit of the World but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has FREELY given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
For the wisdom of man is foolishness before God.
On April 24th, there was Gethsemane experience at Howard University and a lady that I absolutely love preached about turning point. I wanted a turning point in my academics because there is this class that attempted to give me trouble (poor class does not know that God said “Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm” 1 Chronicles 16:22)
Anyway, I had stopped praying so hard for the revelation of the Holy Spirit but as I went out to pray everyone around me was speaking in tongues and I began to feel bad. My hands were open, God has promised it as a GIFT and He said if your earthly father knows how to give you fish not snake and poison, how much more me? And the gift is irrevocable. He said seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and the door shall be opened. So I began to search myself. Was there something I did that was holding my gift back? Did I sin? Am I a bad girl? Is God trying to teach my patience?
I cried for so long. But this God answers at His own time. After the program I went back to school because I had to hand in History homework before midnight. I prayed a bit more and fell asleep, into very fitful sleep initially because I had a terrible tooth ache.
At about 4 or 5am I stood up to use the bathroom and a Bible verse came to me.
Psalm 6:8
Away from me all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping
Oh Jesus! I had legit never seen that verse before, possibly ever in my life. When I saw that I dried my eyes but the devil has a way of planting doubt in our minds. I called my friend again and she said you know what, after Church tomorrow we’re going to pray. Because it is really very easy. It is a gift, all you have to do is ACCEPT His gift.
I was at peace but I did not want to be so ecstatic because I had heard this before and still nothing happened. After church we went to my friend’s house, where we talked about different issues, read a Bible passage and began to pray. At some points I would not know what to say. You know when they say you run out of things to tell God? That was how I felt. And of course the water works started again. The devil is a liar oh. What did he not plant in my mind? So many times I simply began to doubt if it was ever for me. But how can it not be? For His word says for as many have believed I have given the right to become sons of God.
At some point my sister placed her hands on my ankle and began to pray and speak in the Spirit. She said, it is there just open your mouth and talk. I did, and all that came out was English. I was so ashamed. I just began to sing Cece Winan’s No One
Then later on my friend came and held up my hands. Haha! Oh sweet Jesus. She said I should just be quiet and accept. I cannot even begin to explain to you in detail because this note is long enough as it is. But of course you know how the story goes.
God has a sense of humor. It was as if He said this girl see how you have been disturbing me for something as easy as this. So all I could speak for hours was tongues. I tried to switch to English, no show. All I could do was talk to Jesus, and devil had NO idea what we were saying to each other. I’m sure he was so mad. Who cares? For we are in this world but not of this world. So the prince of the world, Lucifer has no hold over me. One of my friends said this is a God of extremities. You do not want to know all I did in that room. For those who do not understand call it foolishness.
I did not get back to school till like 7pm and I immediately fell on my bed and fell asleep for 2 hours. When I woke up I was a bit scared. You know when you get into God’s presence you never want to leave so the rest of the World won’t taint you. But I opened my mouth and there it was. It’s like your mum buys you this bag you’ve always wanted and you go to bed. When you wake up you are still worrying, wondering if it suddenly walked back to the store and was sold to someone else. Impossible right? Well that’s the same thing with God. As if to solidify this point in my mind, my devotional for that day said whenever we feel He is far away, it is only an illusion. It’s either that we have turned our backs on Him through sin or put worry in front of our eyes and blocked out the fact that He is still there, right where He said He would be.
So I’m not worried. If I open my mouth and I pray in the language of men, so be it. My commission is not about what I can and cannot speak. I want to decrease as God increases in and through me and God forbid that my love and admiration of the gift blocks out the One who gives such gifts.
I’m not saying everything will be rosy and cherry from here on, but He that is in me is greater than he that is in the World. I have someone greater to fight my battles, that’s all I need to know.
If you read this to the end, my prayer for you is that your spirit remains troubled until you see the face of the one who created you. Until you feel His presence like nothing else, may you always search for Him. For w Him there’s no looking back!
This is Edia Uko's Testimony, written April 26th 2009.
God bless you sister!
