Chapter 1 My Personal Experience with Prayer and Fasting I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14 What powerful words! Growing up in Africa, we believed these precious promises of God and experienced them in our daily lives. Now, after many years have passed, I am convinced that God worked so powerfully in our lives because of our dedication to a life of prayer and fasting. Some of my earliest memories are of my father taking a bottle of water and leaving the house so that he could find a solitary place to seek the face of God in extended prayer and fasting. He didn¿t go to a hotel. He preferred an unused stretch of beach where he could spend several days in God's presence. When he returned, I could see the anointing of God on his life. My nephew Leonard had a serious health problem when he was young. He had something like epilepsy. I was there the day Daddy took Leonard aside and laid hands on him. He said, "In the name of Jesus Christ be healed." From that day on, Leonard never suffered another attack, and today he is a preacher of the Gospel. God also gave me a praying mother. She has prayed for hours every day since I can remember. Prayer is her bread. Since she has lived with us, I have never known her to spend a complete night in sleep. Every night I hear her praying. At three o'clock she is praying. At four o'clock she is praying. At five o'clock she is praying. She is always praying. The dedication of my parents to a life of prayer and fasting kept me from going the way of the world, saved my life on many occasions, and put me on a straight course toward the ministry. When I was only six, I was hospitalized with a serious eye injury. It was so severe that I was in a state of unconsciousness for three months and had to be fed intravenously. Three specialists -- one from Germany, one from England, and one African -- all gave up hope for my recovery. One of them told my mother: "I am very sorry. There is no hope for your son." When my mother heard that dreaded verdict, she began walking all over the hospital, talking to God and interceding on my behalf. God told her that if she would enter into a period of serious prayer and fasting, He would spare my life. She obeyed God, and I miraculously recovered. The dedication of my parents to a life of prayer and fasting kept me from going the way of the world, saved my life on many occasions, and put me on a straight course toward the ministry. When I was only ten, I made a determination to follow God and to live an exemplary life, as my parents had lived before me. At the age of fifteen, I was one of seven teenagers who formed what we called: The Power House Evangelistic Ministries. Our goal was to go from village to village, city to city and school to school, leading people to Christ. Soon after we formed that group, I was led to enter into a three-day period of prayer and fasting for the first time. If God could use my parents, He could use me. I would seek His face until I heard from Heaven and until His touch was upon my life. During those days, I attended a meeting in the bush about three miles from my home. There I lay on my face before God and waited expectantly to know God's voice and to get dear directions. I desperately needed to know His perfect will for my life. I was afraid to move to the left or to the right without knowing His desire. I told God that I would rather die than live without His blessing on my life. Some people may think that such words, uttered by a fifteen-year-old, are not very important. Believe me, they are important to God. It is because of that prayer that I am where I am today. God revealed Himself to me during those days. One night in a service I had a glorious experience. As we were praying together in the church, I experienced what is known as a "trance." In old-fashioned Pentecostal terms, I "went out under the power of God." For the next three hours I was caught up in the Spirit. Other people were praying around me, but I was oblivious to what they were doing or saying. That night I had an encounter with the Lord that changed my life and my ministry; I saw the Devil for the first time for who he really is. It was also during this encounter that I received an anointing to pray for the sick. From then on, I had a new sense of urgency and a new sensitivity to the Spirit of God. When I got up, someone asked me, "What happened? You were talking, but we couldn't understand what you were experiencing." I tried to explain to them, the best way I could, what God had done in those three hours. I had been in the presence of God, and the experience forever changed the course of my life. So, very early in life I began to notice the powerful effect dedicated prayer and fasting has on the Christian life. I witnessed yokes being destroyed and heavy burdens being undone and the works of the Enemy being brought to naught -all because someone had fasted and prayed and sought the face of God. My parents were never afraid of Satan or his hoards of demons. They approached him under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He respected them. When they spoke to him to go, he could only answer, "Yes sir! Yes ma'am!" He could not resist them and had to submit to their authority. No wonder Satan tries to keep us from fasting! No wonder he offers every conceivable excuse to the flesh! No wonder he lulls God's people to sleep! He hates prayer and fasting. When Christianity first came to our part of Africa, we didn't have any fancy meeting places no any buildings that would accommodate us. We met in the bush to sing the praises of God. Sometimes we gathered and prayed all night. During the night it might rain - except in the spot where we were gathered. God protected us. Many of our outdoor crusades were likewise threatened by rain. When it happened, we commanded the rain to wait until the meeting had ended, and it did. We had such simple faith in God, and He honored our faith. Some years ago, when a group of other Americans went with me to Africa for meetings, they saw a demonstration of this faith in action. Heavy rains came during our stay and threatened to disrupt our outdoor activities. The archbishop in charge, Benson Idahosa of Nigeria, boldly declared on national radio and television that the crusade would not be suspended and that rain would not interfere with what God wanted to do.