The General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Worldwide, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; the presiding pastor of Living Faith Ministry (aka Winners’ Chapel), Bishop David Oyedepo; the General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Dr. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya; and the Primate of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba, have admonished Nigerians to move closer to Almighty God in 2023 through prayers.

The eminent clerics noted that it is by the powers of prayers that the nation’s myriads of challenges could become resolved in a peaceful atmosphere.

The clergymen spoke yesterday while delivering their church sermons to usher in the New Year.

Adeboye urged Nigerians to put God first, despite the challenges confronting the nation.

The RCCG general overseer, who presided over the first Sunday thanksgiving service for the new year at the church headquarters (Throne of Grace) in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, spoke on the topic: Thanksgiving.

The cleric spoke through the Special Adviser to the General Overseer on Administration and the Pastor in charge of Region One, Pastor Dele Balogun.

He said: “We have so many things to celebrate about Nigeria, despite the fact that we have not arrived at the Nigeria of our collective dream.

“History will tell us that some African countries did not pass through one-tenth of what Nigeria is passing through before they got divided.

“God has been preventing the country from another war because there is no country that can accommodate Nigerians with the population of more than 200 million.”

Adeboye, who had told the congregation during the New Year crossover night service that the global weather pattern would become more erratic, however, assured believers that it would be good for God-fearing people.

The cleric also said the world would be relatively more peaceful in the new year.

He said for individuals, the biggest challenge of 2022 would lead to their biggest testimonies in 2023, adding: “The Lord will speak peace to some troubled homes.

“For quite a few people, there would be restoration of past glories. Many troublemakers will lose the ability to make trouble.”

For Bishop Oyedepo, the world will experience great spiritual reawakening this year, despite the seeming darkness and gloominess that pervaded the horizon in the past year.

Oyedepo spoke during the Winners’ Chapel’s crossover service at the church headquarters at Canaaland in Ota, Ogun State.

The cleric said 2023 will be a year of wildfire spiritual awakening “where every winner shall be walking in the fear of God as a new way of life, thereby attracting multitudes to Christ and this church”.

He added: “The Year 2023 shall be that of the outbreak of light that will lead to a supernatural change of story for us as individuals.”

Oyedepo prophesied that there would be a new dimension of explosive church growth in the new year, far above what had been witnessed or experienced before.

“There shall be the rise of an army of giants, the kind the world has never known, from our midst in 2023, the darkness and gloominess hovering over the world notwithstanding,” he said.

The renowned cleric also prophesied that there would be a rise in the number of global solution providers in 2023.

“There shall be a rise of globally ranked financiers from this commission from the Year 2023 onwards.

“God shall be turning men and women, boys and girls in this commission into signs and wonders; individuals that shall be operating on the frequency of the supernatural in their various fields of endeavours,” he said

Olukoya called for prayers to forestall violent revolution and overthrow of those he called wicked leaders across the world.

“It is a year of war against lack and famine,” he said.

Painting the 30-Point “Prophetic Picture” of the new year, the cleric said God will humble the proud and fight strange wars for the attention of His people.

He said there would be divine judgment on bad leaders and their collaborators, as “God will deal with evil and wickedness,” quoting from Ecclesiastes 8: 11.

“God will dismantle mighty men, who stand on His way. God will fight for His children,” Olukoya stressed.

The cleric described 2023 as a year for God’s judgment on those who shed the blood of the innocent, adding that 2023 portends regrets and judgment for ritual killers, most of whose activities will backfire.

According to him, the new year has regrets for youths who refuse to exercise restraint in their sexual escapades.

Olukoya warned them not to assume that everyone they see around them are really human beings.

“If you join them, it is finished.

“It is a year that the flesh must be mortified; a year to wage very serious war against the spirit of procrastination, the process of which many have ran into trouble,” he said.

In his sermon with the theme: The Prison of The Flesh, the MFM general overseer noted that there is a prison called the “prison of the flesh” which put people in trouble last year.

“It is up to you to decide to either kill the flesh or allow it to continue to control you,” Olukoya said.

The cleric took his sermon from John 6:63 and Luke 9:23.

“The flesh has the capacity to run things and until we have emptied ourselves, we cannot dwell in Christ. You cannot see him with the eyes, but Mr. Flesh operates within the eyes, heart, soul, etc. The greatest enemy is not the devil, it is Mr. Flesh,” he said, adding that it manifests through pride, bad temper, lustful eyes and as a thief.

Olukoya noted that the devil comes to people when they open their doors to him through unmortified flesh.

The cleric explained that for the enemy to come into one, there must be a ladder, which is the flesh.

“The enemy knows the evil, immoral activities people indulge in. The flesh is the landing space for the aircraft of darkness,” he said.

For Reverend Ndukuba, Nigeria needs more political will to address the various challenges in the country.

In his New Year message at the Cathedral Church of the Advent Life Camp in Abuja, Ndukuba said the current challenges were biting hard on citizens.

According to him, the high cost of living, insecurity and huge number of unemployed youths pose a threat to peace and national unity.

He expressed the hope that with the intervention of God, there would be divine solutions.

Ndukuba stressed the need for the Federal Government to prosecute those sponsoring terrorism and other issues threatening national unity.

On this year’s general election, the Anglican Primate urged eligible Nigerians to vote for credible leaders.

He also appealed to political leaders to shun violence and support efforts towards peaceful conduct of the polls. (The Nation)

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