To make positive impact is to become a force that people would reckon with and not just a mere figurehead. This means that if you want to be a pastor, be a pastor that will make impact; or to be a prophet, be a prophet that will make impact; or to sing, be a singer that will make impact. Any talent you want to use, use it in a way that will positively impact the lives of other people. Fortunately, there is no talent that cannot make you a millionaire, even if it is ordinary dressing people up. People have become millionaires by cat-walking. To make positive impact means to be a source of change.
When the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries started in 1989 other churches laughed at us. Some preached against us. Some people stated that we were praying useless prayers. But those who said so are now praying the same prayers. They are much more aggressive than we are.
To make positive impact is to be an agent of transformation. You make notable impression upon people’s hearts and minds when you make a positive impact.
WHY YOU MUST MAKE AN IMPACT
Why must you make a positive impact
- You are important to God’s plan on earth.
- You can do much more than what you are doing now.
- God has deposited great things into your life which must benefit others.
- You are born as a star and you must shine.
- Your impact here on earth determines your reward in heaven.
- You must be a voice and not an echo on earth.
- You must be a contributor and not just a consumer.
- You must be among the best and not just among the rest.
- You will be remembered for the impact you make.
- You have to make an impact because God is a God of impact. He said, “Go ye into the world and make disciples of me.”
Jesus was born in a street. That has only 11 houses. Most of His disciples were even born in worse places but they turned the world upside down. They made a change. They made a difference. You will make a change. You will make a difference, in the name of Jesus.
What are the obstacles to people making an impact?
- Lack of vision: Perhaps you have no vision about your life, no vision about what to do. You don’t know who you are. You don’t know where you are going. You have never prayed “God show me my Joseph’s dream.” You have never said: “God, Jet me know who I am. Let me know what I want to become. Let me know what kind of life I should live.” The Bible says, “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Or you have a low vision of yourself. When you have a low self-steem, a low vision of yourself, you have allowed immorality to bury your star.
- Ignorance: This is a disaster. The Bible says, ”You shall know the truth and the truth you know shall set you free”. There is power in truth to set free. You must have knowledge.
- Disconnection from heaven.
- Prayerlessness: Always try to increase your praying time.
- Laziness: This is resting when you are not tired.
- Pride and arrogance.
- Sinfulness: When you enjoy sin, it will stop you from making an impact. The Bible says, “Flee from any appearance of sin.”
- Being narrow-minded: This is an obstacle to making an impact.
- Moving with the wrong people.
10. Demonic influences.
What are the keys to your making an impact in life?
- You must become a friend of God: If you are not friendly with the Almighty, He cannot help you. Surrender your life completely to Jesus if you have not done so.
- Let the Bible be your companion: Be a friend of the Bible. It is recorded in history that those nations where the Bible is their foundation, have never been enslaved.
- Live a holy life: Holiness will move you closer to God. It will bring you good
- You must be humble: Humble yourself to learn from anybody.
- You must read: You must read and study. Get good books and materials. Read, learn and study them.
- You must have a vision: With vision you can measure your worth in life and then you will have strength to forge ahead because you know where you are going.
A man and a woman came to me for counselling. The woman became very bitter as she was crying saying: “Look sir, both of us went to Canada to study. I was just 17 years old and this man pushed me into marriage. At 18 I was married. He concluded his education. I did not finish mine.” I said, “Madam, it is because you have no vision for your life.”
- You must seek for competence: Anything you do, be competent. It is only when you are competent that you will be accepted anywhere you go. You cannot climb higher in life unless you become a master of what you are currently doing. If you took your car to a mechanic once and he spoils it, you will not take it to him again.
- You must be a prayer addict: Your prayer life determines how far you will go in life. You cannot rise higher than your prayer life. If you don’t kneel before God, you cannot stand before great people. Nothing must compete with your prayer life. You must bury anything attacking your prayer life.
- You must be obedient to God: God does not want 99 per cent obedience. He wants 100 per cent obedience. The Bible says, “obedience is better than sacrifice.”
- You must seek to live an exemplary life: You must live a life that others would like to emulate.
- You must invest in your personal growth: You must embark on a life-long journey of personal improvement. Improve your character, disposition and communication. Improve yourself. If people say you talk too much, reduce your talking. If people say you are too aggressive, reduce your aggressiveness. If there is hatred, jealously and envy in your heart, get rid of them. Consign
your life to a regular pattern of self-improvement.
- Pray for anointing: Anointing is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Without it, you are empty. It is that divine lubricant that makes hard things easy to do. You must receive it. That is why we emphasise the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- You must embrace change: Change is the essence of life. You need to change when it is necessary. Stagnation is very bad. Change is the only constant thing.
- Pursue a life of excellence: Excellence is a state of quality and achieving it is by choice. If you choose to be excellent in life, you must imbibe the right culture.
With these 14 keys, there is no way that you will not make an impact in your life. With them the Lord will take you from where you are to what He wants you to be. With them you will overtake those who have gone ahead of you.
Deuteronomy 28:13 says:
And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.
There are 10 categories of people in life. You may decide where you want to belong.
- Those who never discover who they are: Those who are absolutely ignorant about their destiny.
A woman, who was one of the 40 wives of a fetish priest, had a dream that her husband came to her and withdrew certain things from her body. From that day she never prospered. Everything she did went down, even her children were not doing well. The woman, who was a Muslim, was passing by our Prayer City one day when she heard, “Die, die” and wondered who was being killed. She then asked one of the ministers to explain to her how we were praying. She asked, “Can prayer be this serious?” The pastor said, “Yes.”
She said, “This is what I need,” and asked what she should do, how she could join them. They sat her down and told her the way of salvation, ministered to her and she gave her life to Christ. The deliverance minister said, “Go home now, take some personal items and come here because you are going to be here for a week.” She did so. When prayer started at the deliverance ground, she starred praying. When they gave a break she slept off and had a dream.
In the dream she saw a man in white garment who introduced himself as an angel and came to her with a giant gun. The angel helped her to hold the gun and said, “Begin to shoot” and madam started shooting, shot for a long while and put the gun down. At the end of the deliverance she left for home and on her way home somebody called her and said: “Madam, have you heard that your husband fell sick this morning? He has been asking them to call you.” When she stepped inside the room, to her amazement she saw bullet marks all over the body of the man. The man then said: “I was the one who stole your virtue I did not want you to become what you should become. If you save me from this ordeal by begging the man who helped you to shoot to remove the bullets from me, I will go to Abeokuta to get your virtue and give it to you.” The woman ran back to the Prayer City. By the second week of the deliverance the witchdoctor was dead and immediately, the woman began to prosper. I pray that every arrangement of darkness to prevent you from going to where the Almighty has ordained for you, shall be buried now, in the name of Jesus.
- Those who do not know what is happening: They really do not understand what life is all about.
- Those who watch things happening: They are mere spectators. I pray that men shall gather at your result, in the name of Jesus. I pray that the spectator syndrome will disappear from your life today, in the name of Jesus.
There were plenty of people by the cross of Jesus when He was on the cross. Some felt sad, some felt sorry for Him. Some went there to sympathise and some to laugh at him. But there was a man on the cross, a thief who looked at Him and said, “Lord, remember me when You get to Your kingdom.” Jesus turned to him and said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, today you will be with me in the kingdom of heaven.” Only that thief got a miracle. The rest were spectators.
- Those who make things happen: That is the group the Almighty wants you to belong to.
- Those who struggle endlessly: These are the strugglers and the wrestlers. They struggle to go to school, they struggle to get married, they struggle to get a job, they struggle to live in a house. They do everything through struggling.
I used to have a friend in those days when I was doing my PhD course. He was from Zimbabwe and his name was Sibanda. If I say, “Sibanda, how are you today?” He would say, “Not too bad.” When you say, “Not too bad,” it means that it is bad. He would go ahead and say, “The struggle continues until victory or defeat or both.” As he was confessing in his mouth that was what was happening to him. The strugglers and the wrestlers are just surviving. They have no breakthroughs. I pray that the struggling and wrestling syndrome of your father’s house that wants to start painting your destiny black, should be buried now, in the name of Jesus.
- There are zero people: These ones are just there and nothing is happening.
- We have the “not enough” people: They have but it is not enough. They are at poverty level.
- We have the “just enough” people: They are on the average.
- There are successful people: These ones have enough.
- There are the outstanding or significant people: These have more than enough and they impact others positively.
Of these 10 groups there are only two groups for you to belong:
- Those who make things happen.
- Those who are significant or outstanding.
These two groups have nothing to do with your background, where you were born, your village or your town. It has nothing to do with the kind of schools you attended. In fact, many people who have prospered tremendously did not prosper using what they learnt. The Lord is calling for people who will catch this fire on time and decide that their lives must make some impact in this generation and in the coming generation. You will become significant. You will make an impact in
What do we mean by impact?
We mean forceful effect. It means an indelible mark, a mark that cannot be robbed off. It means making an effect that brings colour.
We sent a pastor abroad to minister. He just talked to people anyhow and did not make any impact there. He was so funny that one day he shouted at one woman from the pulpit asking her why she was sitting with one side of her buttocks. He made no impact.
I sent another pastor abroad. He held the key to the auditorium in his pocket. He would come, open the auditorium, arrange the chairs, take the opening prayer lead the praise worship, take the testimony, read the Bible, sing the special number, preach, call the prayer points after the message, bring out a bag from his pocket and collect the offering, end the service and settle down to do counselling, shut the door, put the key in his pocket and go away. He did not train anybody because he was afraid that if he trained the local people they would take over. He left the place and made no impact. But when you leave a place with honour you have made an impact. When your presence in your family makes an impact, then you are doing the right thing. You are significant. You make things happen.
There are only three things about impact in life.
- You can have no impact.
- You can make a negative impact.
- You can make a positive impact.
I read the story about a cleaner employed in an intensive-care ward of a hospital. It was noticed that every Monday morning almost 70 per cent of patients in the ward would die. They brought all kinds of people to try to salvage the situation but all to no avail. Until somebody discovered that any time the illiterate woman employed to be cleaning the intensive care unit got to a patient and wanted to clean the bed, she disconnected the oxygen. After cleaning the bed she would reconnect it. You can see that woe betide that hospital the day the cleaner was employed because the impact she made there was negative.
- Bring quality repentance to the Lord.
- I shall not be a misfired arrow in the hands of my Maker, in the name of Jesus.
- Any foundational power, working against my calling, be destroyed, in the name of Jesus.
- Every yoke working against my spiritual growth in life, be broken, in the name of Jesus.
- The enemy will not make me a bad example, in the name of Jesus.
- Every destructive habit designed to waste my calling, die, in the name of Jesus.
- Power of good finishing, come upon my destiny, in the name of Jesus.
- Every area of incomplete deliverance in my life, receive complete deliverance by fire, in the name of Jesus.
- Every spiritual cataract, clear away from my vision, in the name of Jesus.
- Every spirit of slumber, I bury you today, in the name of Jesus.
- The eagle of my calling shall mount up by the power in the blood of Jesus, in Jesus’ name.
- Every anti-ministry arrow fired into my life, back fire, in the name of Jesus.
- Holy Ghost fire, destroy all the works of the devil in my life, in the name of Jesus.
- Every door opened to the enemy of my calling, be closed, in the name of Jesus.
- Let the waters of life flow into every dead area of my spiritual life, in the name of Jesus.
- Every weapon fashioned against my high calling, be destroyed, in the name of Jesus.
