TB Joshua when birthday is a gift. Prophet TB Joshua celebrated his 49th birthday on the 12th of June, 2012.

. Rather than absolute concentration on programmes of celebration and jollity which atte nd such events (especially considering the fact that The SCOAN has successfully operated as a tool of light for more than 20 years), the prophet had specificall y asked the world to pray for him as you have been doing. He was responding to wha t God said; he was obeying a divine assignment an assignment which has kept assi sting humanity to grow and expand; an assignment which points to what should be the fulfillment of a perfect relationship between God and man. As a special gift of God on earth in this troubled moment, Prophet T.B. Joshua c ertainly needs prayers because he has been engaged in the assignment of delivera nce and healing for upward of over 20 years, which shows that he has been in dir ect conflict with the powers of darkness. These powers which have engulfed the w orld have kept destroying men and their lives; and poisoned their existence. Man y have died, and many are in a state of permanent frustration and confusion who should be set free. Joshua has been an agent in this uphill task of freeing the citizens of God; people who have kept being menaced by forces of retrogression, entanglement and traps. Disease and affliction have been walking the streets of human societies in contemporary times until T.B. Joshua was inspired by God to b ecome an agent of deliverance and righteous living. Joshua, today, is a celebrat ed world prophet. And as he told The Economist magazine (July 7th 13th, 2012), It d oesnt matter how many people come to services. Its about how many people are being saved. Gifted with exemplary humility, simplicity and touching goodness, Joshua is an example of the persecuted who has received Gods grace. Prophet Joshua, during his birthday, had asked for prayers. The church should be committed to the salvation of the human spirit. Joshua did not fail to, therefo re, ask the people: Dont stop praying for me! You can see the result of your praye r is obvious. He had added: Anywhere you are, pray for me. While praying, remember those who are in need of what you have your love, your care, and your possessio n. In other words, he was not only calling on people to pray, but to be good neig hbours with others; to support the hopeless and poor, and those without means of livelihood. These commitments have been the trademark of Joshuas own life a life of assisting the poor, helping the needy, raising the young, and drawing people to Christ. Another significant statement Prophet Joshua made during the birthday was that: T he gift I am praying for and expecting from God is to add more wise men and also give wise women in those areas of healing and deliverance, and endow them with prophetic gift not only within the church but prophesying to the nations and the world at large. This is because there is so much work but few labourers. God sh ould add to His labourers, in Jesus name. Why did he insist on more wise men and wise women? The church is in need of help because satan is spreading evil around, among men, to jeopardize their existenc e. In the church, deliverance and healing and salvation are no longer discussed and prayed on; what is holding sway is the quest for materialism and wealth. A lot of men and women of God have been desecrated in mind and belief. Important also is that sufficient souls have not been won for Christ. There are no suffic ient labourers to win such souls, and those who do not hear the Word of Christ m ust hear the word of satan. True laborers are critically few. Though there are m any people holding on to the fact that they are pastors, evangelists, prophets a nd apostles, most of these are yet to be truly delivered, in the true sense of t he word. The exercise of owning a ministry or a church or doing evangelism from one part of society to the other is not a signal that deliverance has been exper ienced.

As shown by hundreds of examples from deliverances in The SCOAN, many pastors ar e yet to be left alone by satanic agents; their knowledge of the Word is yet to be an integral part of them. Hundreds still confess to being possessed or afflic ted by evil forces, which traumatize their lives and ministerial work. It is oft en shocking to hear such men and women of God confessing, through the influence of evil forces, that they hate Jesus and Christians, and are representatives of ancestral forces, pythons, spiritual husband and wives, crocodiles, mammy water etc. Such people cannot be described as labourers for Christ, unless delivered. In Th e SCOAN, are five Wise Men who carry equal fire to deliver, like Prophet Joshua. The Wise Men have done a lot of deliverances for hundreds of such pastors. To b e in the pastoral profession does not confer anyone to be innately qualified as a practitioner; a pastor should be a doer of the Word, and grow day by day to gai n supremacy over one, to quote Joshua. He referred to the Bible, which must be gi ven life in the learner, because Christ and the Word are one. Knowing the Bible is not knowing Christ. There is no disparity, no half-knowledge. Joshua said, Gods power working through His Word and His Spirit brings about a new birth. Such sho uld be about bringing forth fruits. Prophet Joshua insisted in his recent sermons that you cannot build one up spirit ually on philosophies or theories about the Word or on the history of the Word. We are made spiritual by living in the Word and the Word living in us. These facts point to the relevance of the kind of powers which the labourers in the vineyard should have, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A heart wh ich is blessed with an integral knowledge of the Word should belong to a true la bourer. Millions of people all over the world are in need of freedom from bondag es, diseases and afflictions, and the labourers have to be competent in all mani festations. To train a labourer is not easy; it takes time and preparation. What is the process of belief, the ingredients? asked recently by Prophet T.B. Joshua. The process is attained through faith which is not imitation. The true labourers know that it takes a lot of time, knowledge and commitment to achieve perfection in the job, especially since, God is Spirit; anything of God must also be spiritual. Prophet Joshua said that studying the Word should not be su fficient for a labourer. He should be able to act upon it and the spirit is renew ed. The church needs labourers who must act, do and live the Word. This is the only way to attain universal deliverance and healing. What a danger if there is no cor responding action, said Prophet Joshua recently. Fajenyo and Patrick are foremost journalists and Fellows of Social Engineering R esearch Initiative.