During the morning devotion, Adebayo led the worship session while Adebisi led the prayers.
It was Chidi’s turn to preach. He spoke on faith. He was very uneasy. He mumbled his words and kept stammering. He seemed to forget the words in the book that he had read. Chidi was very scared as he stood in front of those who knew the Bible more than he did.
“Chidi, you are unprepared. You don’t have adequate knowledge of the Bible. And the fact that you are stammering means that you don’t yet have a good understanding of faith. So, do us a favour and get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to bless us today. Surrender to him!” Pastor Justice instructed.
Chidi shut his eyes and repeated over and over again under his breath, “Lord help me. Holy Spirit, please, help me.”
Afterwards, he opened his mouth to speak. He felt that he was not the one speaking anymore but that he was listening to someone speak with his voice. Yet, everything he said were things he knew from studying the bible and reading ‘The Real Faith’. He also spoke from experiences in which he exercised faith while living with his parents. But everything was put together to bring a new meaning to faith in a way he had never understood it before. It felt like Chidi was preaching to himself and not to anyone else. When Chidi was done, he saw amazement in the faces of everyone. Pastor Justice buttressed some points and then blessed the family.
After the devotion, Pastor Justice gave Chidi two books, both on ‘Grace’, which he was to finish in one week.
Chidi wondered, “How will I finish reading these two books in a week?”
“You are also going to minister in the church next two Sundays,” Pastor Justice said.
Mrs Justice shared out the house chores. The person to take Adebisi to school came very early and joined in the breakfast. Chidi recognized him as the person that drove the compact-sized car from Owerri, on Sunday. Pastor Justice left to church very early in the morning. He did not join in the breakfast. Pastor Justice fasted most of the time.
After Adebisi had gone to school and all the work at home was done, Mrs Justice took Chidi and Adebayo to church. That was Chidi’s first day of going to Life Renewing Word Church. The church was breathtakingly large and beautiful, with very large compound space. The church could contain tens of thousands of people at once. Also, two storey buildings were close to the church. One of the buildings had several offices, including Pastor Justice’s office and Mrs Justice’s office. It also contained a bookstore, a library and a temporary accommodation for delegates, ministers and programme participants which had many furnished rooms that looked like hotel rooms. There was also a large room called prayer room where several people, men and women received prayer requests from people and prayed for them, mostly on phone.
The second building was called the youth centre and housed the children church. The building had classes according to the ages of children. Classes for ages 1 to 6 were on the ground floor. Classes for ages 7 to 12 were on the first floor and the topmost floor was a very large auditorium that was not divided into classes and it served as the teen church and meeting place for youth fellowship and some special programmes.
Bayo quickly went inside the Youth Centre while Mrs Justice took Chidi to Pastor Justice’s office. Pastor Justice introduced Chidi as his son to his pastors and some of the church leaders and members. Chidi watched as everyone prepared for the next Sunday’s service with precision. Afterwards, he joined Adebayo at the teen church as the teen choir rehearsed. Unlike rehearsals that Chidi had seen, the teenagers rehearsed with musical instruments with microphone and speakers fully functional. Adebayo and some other teenagers made sure that the connections were perfect. Chidi found out that Adebayo was the technical leader of the teen church and the youth centre at large. Adebayo and his unit members also had to make sure that all electronics and non-electronics were functioning perfectly in all the classes of lower ages. Before Adebisi left for school, she was the ushering leader of the teen church. She and her unit members also coordinated the children of lower ages and making provisions for their welfare.
When the service units were done with their meetings and duties, the youth pastor, Pastor Kingsley, gathered all the children and led them out for evangelism.
From Wednesday of the next week, Chidi refused to eat breakfast or lunch. He only drank water during dinner time. Because of the family’s tradition, Chidi had to sit at the table and watch as everyone ate their dinner while he sipped his water. The same thing happened on Thursday. Chidi neither ate breakfast nor ate lunch and he drank water as dinner.
Mrs Justice wanted to know why.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m blessed to have the option of eating, anyway. Less than two weeks ago, I was starving. I am just taking the advice of someone that I respect so much,” Chidi said.
Chidi was fasting for God to come down during the Scripture Union Fellowship meeting on Friday as Pastor Justice had advised. Chidi kept on praying. He prayed more than he had prayed when his sister’s life was on the line. He did not sleep at midnight but kept on interceding. Those two days that he fasted and prayed, he noticed that Pastor Justice and his wife hardly slept either at midnight but were always interceding. That Thursday night, he wanted to pray in the parlour but found Mrs Justice there praying earnestly for a church member whose marriage was about to fall apart. He could also hear Pastor Justice’s voice faintly from the Master bedroom as the latter prayed in tongues. He returned to his room and prayed. He did not know when the hours passed and it was time for morning devotion. During the devotion, Chidi felt weak and sleepy since he had not eaten anything nor had he slept. He asked God silently for the strength to carry on. He rejected breakfast still that morning and he refused to take a lunch pack to school.
Apart from Adebayo who knew that Chidi had nothing to eat, no one suspected that he had been fasting in his school. During break time, Chidi put his head on his desk and slept off. He was awoken by the sound of the bell that announced the end of break time. The brief sleep rejuvenated him and he carried on the rest of the day’s activities without feeling starved. It was soon school closing time and the members of Scripture Union Fellowship congregated at their usual venue.
As a pastor’s son, Adebayo was automatically seen as one of the fellowship leaders. This meant that he could assign anyone he wished to do some duties. Adebayo also tried to make sure that everything went smoothly. He assigned a junior student to take opening prayer and then asked Chidi to lead the worship session.
“♪Be magnified, oh Lord, you are highly exalted♪” Chidi began and the students joined. “♪Great are you, Lord, greatly to be praised♪”
In a few minutes, the atmosphere became charged as the students lifted their hearts and their voices to adore the Lord. Just the week before, almost half of the students were distracted during the praise and worship session but that day, everyone’s heart was on God. The beautiful melodies that they made that afternoon attracted other students who had not yet gone home but were chatting with friends. Most of the students outside the fellowship hall left what they were doing to come into the hall. They met their fellow students in tears, kneeling and blessing God. Some were praying in tongues. Chidi sang some songs more before Adebayo took over from him and led the fellowship in a powerful prayer session.
Chidi who had been on his knees rose to go to his seat but he staggered and almost fell. It was not because of the anointing. He was exhausted, as he had not eaten anything in three days. Plus, the virtue that left him made his body weaker. Chidi left the hall and sat down on the ground, resting his back on the wall of the hall. He closed his eyes as he tried to regain his strength. Just then, he heard someone pass. He raised his head to see the fellowship’s visitor, Mr Oladayo, arrive.
Mr Oladayo usually came late as he worked in an organisation which was a bit distant from Chidi’s school. Also, Mr Oladayo usually dismissed from at the same time as the fellowship commenced. He had explained the situation to the fellowship’s student leaders and urged them to take charge whenever he was not around.
That day, Mr Oladayo met a different fellowship. For one, the number of people that were present at the fellowship was much more than he had ever seen. Secondly, the atmosphere was charged as the students prayed from their hearts. Mr Oladayo took over from Adebayo. After that, he asked all the students to sit down as he taught them God’s word. Shortly after he began to teach, Chidi entered the class and walked up to Adebayo to request for money to buy something to eat. Chidi left immediately so that he would not distract the fellowship much.
Not knowing who Chidi was, Mr Oladayo began to have a bad impression about Chidi.
“Firstly, I saw this boy seated outside while other students were inside worshipping God. Then, he entered inside the hall to distract the class and left immediately as if he has aversion to God’s Word,” Mr Oladayo thought.
Meanwhile, Chidi’s body was very weak and he could only think of getting his strength back. At a nearby kiosk, Chidi requested for a bottle of energy drink which he drank in a hurry. He also bought snacks and water. When he was done eating, he returned to the hall and gave Adebayo the change. Then, he sat down to listen to the message. This angered Mr, Oladayo even more. He saw Chidi as a bad influence on the pastor’s son that had to be cut off.
That evening, Adebayo could not wait to tell his parents during the dinner time about the Scripture Union Fellowship meeting that was beyond expectations. He spent a lot of time describing the service to his parents.
“Chidi, are you done with the books that I gave you? Remember that you will minister in Church this Sunday,” asked Pastor Justice.
“The truth is that I have finished reading both books but I’ll need more than last Saturday’s miracle to speak on Grace. The Grace thing is confusing me. I mean, I know that Grace is unmerited Favour, but…” said Chidi.
“But you need a more practical explanation,” Pastor Justice said.
Chidi nodded.
“Well, you fasted and prayed for your fellowship’s service right?”
Chidi nodded again.
“Would you be angry with God if nothing happened and there was no release of power?” Pastor Justice asked.
“Of course not. I did not expect that anointing would come down the way it did, anyway,” Chidi replied.
“Okay. So, would you say that it was your prayer and fasting that brought the anointing down?” Pastor Justice asked.
Chidi thought about the question for some time and then answered, “No, it is God’s Will. He came down because He wanted to.”
“So, if your prayer and fasting are so unrelated to the outcome, it means that you just suffered yourself in vain, right?” Pastor Justice said.
At that moment, Chidi became very confused. “No, yes, I think… But God said that we can fast and pray for things we want. I guess the fasting brought the anointing down. I don’t know.”
“Chidi, calm down. All your answers were correct. The questions are to help explain grace. Whatever happened in your school today had nothing to do with your ability. It was all God. And He did it because He loves you. You fasted and prayed, not because it could change anything, but because the only One that can change everything asked you to. He did that because He wants you to open your heart to receive what has been freely given to you in faith and obedience. For instance, this spoon, I dropped it on my right hand. It has been given but it can easily be lost if it is not received (he topped his hand over and the spoon fell. He raised the spoon again and dropped it on his right hand), but if I receive it, clenching my hands like this, I can use it to do good work,” Pastor Justice explained.
“But then, speaking of works, the authors said grace was distinct from works and at the same time, James in the Bible said Faith without Works is dead,” Chidi said.
“Well, first of all, James compared works with Faith and not Grace. Grace and Works are indeed different from each other. At one hand, we have God giving us salvation and gifts, helping us, prospering us, intervening in our affairs and everything. And all that is without any of our input and certainly not because we are worthy, ‘Grace’. On the other hand, we have Jesus saying over and over again that he would reward those that do good works and live in obedience, ‘Works’. And in the middle of Grace and Works stands Faith, acting as a bridge and not a blockade. And the reason is that Grace is given so that we can do good works acceptable by God. That is why Jesus said that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, Grace. Whoever believes in him, faith, will not perish but have eternal life, God’s kind of life. Those that believe in him, he gave the power, the timely ability to do work, to become sons of God. And Paul speaking said, “By His grace, I am what I am. And His grace was not in vain but by it, I laboured more than them all”. Paul also wrote that where sin abounds, grace abounds but we cannot continue to sin that grace will abound. Why? Because the grace God gives, grants us the power over sin. So grace comes first, the grace is accepted in faith and the faith is shown by the good works we do, just like the spoon illustration,” Pastor Justice explained.
“And then the works are rewarded, leading back to grace, just like the fasting I did?” Chidi asked.
“No. Actually, the works are truly rewarded but that is not grace. Works come out from grace and not the other way round. Understanding this would determine how far you will go in ministry. If you understand physics much, you will know that there is no rotary force actually, but forces act at every single point to keep an object in rotary motion. So, here, grace, as a force, acts at every point of the circular wheel of progress. We might see it as grace is supplied for work and that work is rewarded, like the prayers, fasting and giving we make, leading to increased grace. But grace is the little seed in your hand. Grace is the instruction to sow. Grace is the willingness to sow. Grace is the strength to toil in the kingdom. It is the desire to set off fleshly desires and pleasures for the work of God, the time and opportunity to sow, the right soil to sow on and the strength to carry on in enriching your seed by watering and other processes. Every single point you are in obedience to God, there is sufficient grace that is released. God said in His word that He works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. And then, at the end, grace is the bountiful harvest you get. ‘I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase.’ And then, we get rewarded for allowing God to do all the work through grace.
“So, in the whole process, you really have nothing to do with it but if you do nothing, nothing will be done. The important thing is that we open up ourselves in faith and obedience to be used by God. He allows us to make our own choice since our willingness to serve him shows our love for him. So, He allows us to reach out to Him and to choose Him above all. And that is seen when we surrender everything to him, when we obey Him and believe in Him. So here is Grace, the gift of God, accepted in faith and the faith is shown by the works we do. Knowing that God is the doer of all, keeps us humble no matter the extent of success that we attain. ‘It is not of works lest anyone should boast.’
“On the contrary, pride in its deceptiveness says, “I work and I have faith that the work that I do will generate God’s grace and favour.” Work – Faith – Grace, just like the Pharisee’s prayer as opposed to the publican’s. The truth is that our best work is still seen as a filthy rag because of our imperfections. But when grace works through us, the Holy one works in us. And so, the works that we do, as Christians, are holy and can get God’s approval. It is our humility, faith and willingness to surrender to God, each depicting state of heart and not action, that increases God’s grace on our lives. God said, He resists the proud but grants grace to the humble. Some men of God rose to pinnacles of success only to fall due to pride, I don’t want the same to happen to you,” Pastor Justice explained.
