Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Ready@20

Copyright © 2022 Dag Heward-Mills

Published by Parchment House 2022

1st Printing 2022

Find out more about Dag Heward-Mills

Healing Jesus Campaign

Write to: evangelist@daghewardmills.org

Website: www.daghewardmills.org

Facebook: Dag Heward-Mills

Twitter: @EvangelistDag

ISBN: 978-1-64330-633-9

All rights reserved under international copyright law.

Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book.

CHAPTER 1

Ready@20

READY@20

(Song and Lyrics by First Love Music)

VERSE 1

I’ll be ready at twenty ready for the war

l’ll be ready at twenty for the work of God

There is nothing I can’t do for the Lord

There is nowhere that’s too far

No battles I can’t fight

Ready at twenty

VERSE 2

1Let’s give ourselves to this glorious mission unreservedly

Let us never think that our time, our strength, our families are our own1

Let us dedicate them all to God and to His work

Let us give ourselves wholly that our profiting may appear

CHORUS

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty, ready for the war

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty for the work for God

VERSE 3

Are we justified in staying here while so many are perishing

Without means of grace in other lands

We must take every chance of doing good to the lost

We’ll be laboring, traveling day and night

CHORUS

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty for the work for God

VERSE 4

We must instruct, we must teach, exhort, rebuke and preach the Word

With all long suffering and an anxious desire for the lost

We must be instant in prayer for the pouring out

Of the sweet Holy Spirit upon all the people

CHORUS

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty, ready for the war

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty for the work for God

VERSE 5

Surely it is worthwhile

To push ourselves with all our might

In promoting the gospel

And the kingdom of our Christ

CHORUS

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty, ready for the war

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty for the work for God

VERSE 6

God is gracious; do not run away from Him

A few more days, and our work down here will be done

2When it’s done, it’s done for eternity

Your life spent is irrevocable

It remains to be contemplated yeah, through all eternity2

CHORUS

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty, ready for the war

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty for the work for God

VERSE 7

The days go by, and they are gone forevermore

It is too late to mend the days that are past

Each day must be marked with such usefulness

And be clothed with such a garment

That we would wish to wear for all eternity

CHORUS

l’ll be ready at twenty, ready for the war

Ready at twenty

l’ll be ready at twenty for the work for God

Ready for war, ready to fight

Ready to serve, ready to work

Ready for missions, ready to travel

Ready for building, church planting

Ready for preaching, ready for teaching

Ready for soul winning, ready for war

1-1 William Carey

2-2 Adoniram Judson

CHAPTER 2

Ready@20 for War

FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

Numbers 1:3

And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names:

And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, by their polls.

As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

Numbers 1:17-19

And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:20

Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:24

Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:26

Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:28

Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:30

Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:32

Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:34

Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:36

Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:38

Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:40

Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war;

Numbers 1:42

So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;

Numbers 1:45

Twenty Things You Are Ready to Do at Twenty

You must be ready@20 for war! Moses declared that anyone who was twenty years and above was ready to join the army. He declared that anyone who was twenty years and above could and should fight for Israel. What does it mean when you are ready@20 to join the armies of God?

1. By the age of twenty, a man is ready for war.

2. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to go to war and to die for his nation.

3. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to go to war and to fight for any cause that is deemed appropriate.

4. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to go to war and to fight to the death.

5. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to kill or be killed in a war.

6. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to be disciplined and prepared for war.

7. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to forsake the pleasures of civilian life.

8. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to live the life of a hardened warrior.

9. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to be in a war, which is a mission to extinguish the enemy.

10. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to be part of a war where he will march for hours in the heat and in the cold.

11. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to be at war where he will take orders from authorities.

12. By the age of twenty a man is ready to be in a war where he will live apart from his parents.

13. By the age of twenty a man is ready to be in a war and take up the responsibility of bearing weapons.

14. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to be loyal to a cause.

15. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to be a good soldier.

16. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to invade another person’s country.

17. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to travel far from his home.

18. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to go to war and never come back home.

19. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to be at war where he will eat little and sleep very little.

20. By the age of twenty, a man is ready to go through untold pain and sacrifice.

In the above list, you see all the things that people were ready to do at twenty. Moses recruited anybody who was twenty years and above, to join the group of soldiers who would fight for the children of Israel.

Today, God is calling you to join the group of people who are ready to do all the twenty things that have been listed. Twenty is the age when you are ready for war! Twenty is the age when you are ready for ministry.

Ministry is war! Ministry is the good fight of faith. “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12) Paul referred to the ministry as warfare. If you have any experience with ministry, you will know that it is a war. It is a fight for your life.

This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest WAR A GOOD WARFARE;

1 Timothy 1:18

Paul calls it a good fight because ministry is a fight for eternal rewards. Ministry is a good fight because there is a good reason for the war. We are fighting for people’s lives! We are fighting for souls and that is a very good cause! Most wars have a foolish cause.

The First World War was fought because an archduke of Austria - Hungary was assassinated by separatist and terrorist forces in Austria. The Second World War was fought because a madman wanted to invade and dominate the whole world. The French Revolution was fought because there was a shortage of bread. Over forty thousand people perished in the French Revolution. At the end of the revolution, the leader of the revolution, Robespierre, along with twenty-one of his followers were guillotined. Those who had organized this revolution were the last victims of the murderous holocaust.

Yet, after the French Revolution, all the things that the revolution sought to remove, such as the church and the monarchy, were re-established. Indeed, Napoleon was made the emperor of France after the revolution. The revolution had removed and executed the king of France but as the revolution ended, an emperor was installed.

Most of these fights and wars are senseless because at the end of the war, everything becomes almost exactly the same as when it started out. The First World War caused the deaths of twenty million people. The Second World War caused the deaths of fifty million people. Another twenty-five million people died from war-related diseases and famine. Therefore, seventy to eighty-five million people perished because of the Second World War.

In 1945, after the Second World War, the borders of European nations were exactly the same as when they started fighting in 1939. Everything was essentially the same. No one lost any land and no one gained anything. Fifty million people died for no good reason. So then why were these wars fought? These wars were fought when satan inspired and provoked their leaders to fight and kill each other.

With all these realities, men keep going to war. Human beings keep sending their young men to fight for useless causes. When Moses needed an army who would fight for the children of Israel, he called up those who were twenty years old and above. By the age of twenty you must be ready to go to war.

We have a good cause to fight for. Our war makes sense! Our war will have a good outcome! Our war is against the forces of wickedness who have captured this world. Our war is against the devil who is marching millions of people to hell every day.

Everything that is required of you when you are a soldier will be required of you when you are at war for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is advancing. Jesus is coming soon! We need to take territories for Jesus.

Older people are full of wisdom and experience. Unfortunately, they are not usually selected for combat. Many people in their fifties and sixties will not be able to march on in the heat and in the cold. Perhaps, they would have been happy to march without food and water when they were in their twenties. Armies need people who are young, strong and capable of enduring and fighting. When you are fifty years old, you are even more sure of what you believe but you are a little less capable of achieving it. The strength, manoeuvring, organization, skills, speed and the endurance needed for ministry are simply not there at an older age.

Young people must be made to realize how much depends on them. Many people assume that their youth must be spent fooling around and playing games. They assume that church is for the older, more sober and wise-hearted people. They assume that ministry is for the mature, experienced, sufferers who have been in this world and experienced many sad days. The more sombre and sober a person is, the more qualified to be a priest he seems to be. Young, happy, energetic men are not chosen for ministry because it is assumed that they are not disciplined or mature enough for important things.

However, the secular world does not think so. The secular world produces fighter jets costing ninety-four million dollars and gives them to young pilots who are aged between eighteen and thirty. They entrust this very expensive piece of equipment to a twenty-year old boy and expect him to use it wisely. Indeed, after the age of thirty you usually cannot be trained or accepted to be a fighter pilot. Do you see how much confidence is placed in a young man?

In the church, people reject God’s servants because they are twenty-one years old. How come the American government is able to train twenty-year olds to fight with F35 jets and yet we cannot entrust a twenty-year old to hold the Bible and preach to a congregation? How come we cannot entrust a twenty-two year old man with a mission? Can you imagine what it is like for twenty-one year olds and twenty-two year olds who are pilots, flying the world’s best fighter jets in the deserts of Iraq and Kuwait, having “fun” and communicating with each other as they fly along in formation? Why are young men trusted so much in war? Why are they entrusted with such responsibility? Why are they trusted with the command of an airplane loaded with weapons, missiles and bombs?

It is time to entrust our young people with great responsibility just as the armies of the world do. God can and will use the young people to do great and mighty works. God can and will entrust His young people with millions of dollars, equipment and men. He is going to use young men to do mighty works. Just as the US Army, the Chinese Army and the Russian Army entrust things to young men, God is entrusting things to the young men of our day.

Do you think a young man can be a general and command large numbers of soldiers to do what is right? I think so!

Napoleon became a general when he was twenty-four years old. He went on to achieve many great things until he became world famous.

Moses, in the book of Numbers, told us how old a person had to be to join the armies of God. Twenty! Twenty years old! All you need is to be twenty years old!

Are you twenty years old and above? Then you are ready for the army of the Lord. Do not wait until it is late. There are things you cannot do when you are older. All branches of the military require young people. God requires young people too!

CHAPTER 3

Ready@20 to Reign

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.

2 Chronicles 26:1-5

You must be ready@20 to reign! Uzziah did not even wait to be twenty years old. Uzziah was ready before twenty.

King Uzziah was sixteen years old when he ascended the throne of Israel. He accomplished great things and he was famous for many great things that he accomplished. Uzziah did not feel that he needed to wait till he was twenty years old. Being ready@20 is even easier than being ready at sixteen.

Look at the amazing things that Uzziah did. Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem. Uzziah dug many wells and built many towers in the desert. Imagine that! He was producing water in the desert. Uzziah was into farming and he had lots of farmers under him. King Uzziah had large hosts of fighting men and a large army. King Uzziah invented engines in Jerusalem, long before the Industrial Revolution started.

Moreover UZZIAH BUILT TOWERS IN JERUSALEM at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them. Also HE BUILT TOWERS IN THE DESERT, AND DIGGED MANY WELLS: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.

Moreover UZZIAH HAD AN HOST OF FIGHTING MEN, THAT WENT OUT TO WAR BY BANDS, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains. The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred. And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones. AND HE MADE IN JERUSALEM ENGINES, INVENTED BY CUNNING MEN, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

2 Chronicles 26:9-15

Napoleon became an army officer just after his sixteenth birthday. He went to military school in Paris when he was fifteen years old. He was forced to complete the two-year course in just one year, after his father died of stomach cancer. As a teenager, Napoleon became his family’s chief source of income. He became a commissioned officer just after his sixteenth birthday. Even at the age of sixteen you can become the main breadwinner for your family. Napoleon became famous because he started his career at the age of sixteen. Just like King Uzziah, who also started his career at the age of sixteen, Napoleon accomplished great things!

A sixteen-year-old girl called Laura Dekker is the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly. Laura was fourteen years old when she set out in 2012 to become the youngest girl to sail around the globe single-handedly. This remarkable journey was achieved in 518 days. Imagine sailing around the world single-handedly! Imagine sailing across the deep lonely oceans filled with sharks, whales and other frightening sea creatures. Imagine sailing across the very deep Pacific Ocean, the violent Atlantic Ocean and all the other deep dark and great oceans. Remember that some of these oceans have swallowed entire aeroplanes with hundreds of passengers aboard.

It is amazing that people are accomplishing such great feats at the age of sixteen.

From today, you will no longer use your young age as a reason for shying away from the work of God. You are not too young to serve the Lord. Just as the army is looking out for young people to drive its armoured tanks and to fly its planes, God is looking for young people to man His churches.

If an eighteen-year-old boy can drive an armoured tank that costs thirteen million dollars, then God can put His twenty-year-old young men in charge of His great works. An armoured tank is simply an expensive car. Normally a car would cost about thirty or forty thousand dollars but these tanks cost more than ten million dollars each. God wants to put millions of dollars’ of buildings, equipment and ministry into your hands so that you manage it for Him.

Ministry involves reigning and ruling. And that is exactly what Uzziah was doing! He was reigning and ruling. The first step in being a pastor is to rule your house. “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;” (1 Timothy 3:4). Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began doing what a pastor and a bishop is supposed to do – ruling and reigning.

CHAPTER 4

Ready@20 Just Like Jesus

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. AND WHEN HE WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, SITTING IN THE MIDST OF THE DOCTORS, BOTH HEARING THEM, AND ASKING THEM QUESTIONS. AND ALL THAT HEARD HIM WERE ASTONISHED AT HIS UNDERSTANDING AND ANSWERS.

And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, how is it that ye sought me? WIST YE NOT THAT I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS?

Luke 2:41-49

Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. And JESUS HIMSELF BEGAN TO BE ABOUT THIRTY YEARS OF AGE, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Luke 3:21-23

You must be ready@20 to be like Jesus! When Jesus was twelve years old, He demonstrated that He was getting ready for ministry by the age of twenty. His parents found Him in the temple, sitting amongst doctors. Jesus demonstrated seven keys for readiness for ministry by the age of twenty. In this chapter, I want you to receive these seven keys so that you will become someone who is ready for ministry at twenty.

Seven Keys to Readiness for Ministry @ 20

1. Like Jesus, do not follow your parents’ lack of spirituality.

Certainly, Joseph and Mary had no understanding of Jesus’ mission. They knew that He was a mysterious child. But they could not fathom who He really was. Many parents of called and anointed people are not as spiritual as their children. It is important to honour your parents but do not allow their lack of spirituality to dampen or quench your calling. Perhaps your parents are not even born-again. Perhaps they do not know God the way you do. Perhaps they do not have the call of God on their lives as you do. Perhaps they do not understand what it means to be called. These realities should not quench your calling. Do not let parents quench the call of God on your life.

2. Like Jesus, develop the ability to stay in church for a long time.

Staying in church for a long time is key to developing your ministry. You cannot do well in the ministry if you do not enjoy it. To enjoy ministry, you must enjoy staying long at it. It is those who tarry long at the wine who get inebriated by it. I take communion using real wine. I have never been intoxicated or affected by it. This is because I do not stay for long at the wine. If you want to be affected by something, you need to do it persistently and continuously. When you stay in church continuously and persistently, you will be affected positively by the anointing.

3. Like Jesus, develop the ability to have three-day retreats.

It is not just important to stay in church but to be able to go for three-day meetings. Jesus spent three days in the temple, seeking God. His parents only found Him after three days! Develop the ability to do what Jesus did and spend time alone with God. As a young person, you can become engrossed in the things of God and spend days alone with God. Do not take any notice of those who are surprised at your dedication and zeal for the Lord. Jesus Christ did not go missing with His girlfriend for three days. Jesus Christ did not go to a wild youth camp or on a spree of fornication for three days. Jesus was full of the zeal of the Lord. Jesus was seeking God for three days. People were surprised at the zeal that Jesus had and at how He could go missing for three days.

4. Like Jesus, ask questions about the ministry.

Jesus asked important questions about the ministry. He was found in the temple hearing the doctors and asking them questions. It is important to have questions about the ministry. When I was in school, I would ask many questions in class. I often did not understand the things that were being taught. Whenever I asked a question, other students would shout me down. They would say, “You are taking us back. Don’t you understand this simple thing?”

With time, I got the impression that asking questions was a sign of ignorance and stupidity. However, Jesus asked many questions. I do not think Jesus was ignorant or stupid. Indeed, with time, I have found out that asking many questions is a sign of intelligence.

Asking many questions is a sign of interest. Your interest in ministry is expressed by the questions you ask and by the questions that are generated in your heart. Ask yourself, “Why is this preaching so nice? What is it that makes this man’s teaching ministry so exciting and exhilarating?” You must ask yourself, “How did this great man of God become anointed? How did this person achieve all this? What must I do to bear fruit like this? How can I heal the sick like this man? How can I preach the gospel with such passion?”

The more questions you ask, the more you will find the answers that you need.

5. Like Jesus, give yourself to listening to messages. Jesus is a great example setter for our lives and ministries.

Jesus Christ gave Himself to both hearing and asking questions. If you give yourself to hearing the word of God, you have given yourself the best chance in succeeding at ministry. There is a saying, “You are what you eat!”

There is another saying, “In the ministry, you are what you hear!” Everyone who amounts to something in the ministry has given himself to hearing and hearing. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing helps you to know the word of God. Hearing changes you in a way that reading does not. The scripture teaches that the anointing comes through hearing the spoken Word.

And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.

Ezekiel 2:2

The Spirit enters you when He speaks to you. Every single time you are listening to the word of God, you must expect the Holy Spirit to be moving. When Peter was sent to Cornelius’ house, he preached the Word powerfully to the whole household. As he spake the Word, and as they heard him, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone.

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

Acts 10:44

Indeed, the Holy Spirit always falls on those who are listening. Give yourself to listening to messages, (audio or video) and you will grow to become as mighty as Jesus.

6. Like Jesus, relate with those who are ahead of you.

Jesus was not found chatting with old friends from school. Do you think He did not have schoolmates?

Jesus was not found making friends with girls in Jerusalem. His parents could have found Him chatting with a girl in a corner of Jerusalem. It is important to make friends with older ministers of God. The fact that you do not know older servants of God is a bad sign. If you relate only with your classmates, you will not become what you are supposed to become. Jesus Christ was sitting in the midst of doctors, even though He was not a doctor. You can always tell what you are going to become by the associations you have when you are younger in ministry. Go on and make friends with older ministers. They will definitely have something to contribute to your future.

One day I was analysing my life and ministry and I realised that most of the people I am happy relating with are older than me. They are mostly people who are far ahead of me. Most of these people are fifteen to thirty years older than myself. You end up becoming like the older people that you relate with! If they survived, you are likely to survive! If they made it, you are likely to make it too! If their marriages succeeded, your marriage is likely to succeed too. If they know secrets, you are likely to find out what those secrets are and walk in them too.

Job, the richest man in the east, had secrets that made him successful. Notice what he said, “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;” (Job 29:2-4). I am sure that if you were to spend some time with Job, you would discover the secrets which made him the richest man in the east.

7. Like Jesus, be about the heavenly Father’s business.

You must spend all your life being about the Father’s business. I know there are many options. You can be about a political party’s business. You can be about an earthly moneymaking business. You can be about making money. It is important that you choose to be about your heavenly Father’s business. There are so many things we can do to make our heavenly Father’s business prosper.

Our heavenly Father’s business has to do with receiving the Word and giving it out. It takes a lot of time to receive the Word and develop yourself in the Word. A real minister spends time lying in God’s presence and waiting on Him. A real minister knows that he must spend many hours in God’s presence, seeking His face, praying, fasting and loving Him.

Often, outsiders do not understand the job of “being about your Father’s business.” They will think you are lazy and they will offer you jobs to keep you busy, to give you an opportunity to earn a decent wage. When you are a real minister, your wife may give you errands and chores to do because she may feel you are idle and have a lot of time on your hands. People may ask your wife, “Your husband does not work, does he?” They may say, “Your husband is free and resting at home. Is he going to find a job soon?”

The truth is that people do not understand what the Father’s business is. The Father’s business is unlike any other business.

The truth is that, it is difficult to understand other people’s jobs when you are not close to them.Those who fish in the deep seas have a job like no other job. They are out there in the night, sitting on a canoe till the morning. There is no other job like fishing in the deep seas in a canoe. Those who catch shrimps have a different experience in life. Those who drive septic trucks have a completely different job, going from house to house extracting the sewage.

I once saw some sanitation workers working all night, opposite the church. I had never known that they worked so hard. I simply did not understand their work.

It is easy not to understand somebody’s business. Do not take any notice of people who mock you because you are waiting on God. Just give yourself to the Father’s business. Be like Jesus! You will reap the benefits of giving yourself to the Father’s business.

CHAPTER 5

Ready@20 Just Like the Levites

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: FROM TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS OLD AND UPWARD THEY SHALL GO IN TO WAIT UPON THE SERVICE OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION: AND FROM THE AGE OF FIFTY YEARS THEY SHALL CEASE WAITING UPON THE SERVICE THEREOF, and shall serve no more: But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

Numbers 8:23-26

You must be ready@20 to be a Levite! Levites were supposed to start work from the age of twenty-five and keep working until they were fifty. Another scripture teaches that people should work in the ministry from the age of thirty and upwards. “From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,” (Numbers 4:39)

The Law and the Prophets are teaching us what is important. The Law and the Prophets are teaching you the ages at which you will be the most useful to God. This is an important revelation. I had a spiritual father called Uncle James. He shared this amazing revelation that the Levites were supposed to work from twenty-five to fifty.

It struck a chord in my heart and I knew that I must serve the Lord as a young man. It is important to assume that you will have to retire from God’s work at the age of fifty. When you know that you will retire at the age of fifty, you work with all your heart and might. You give yourself to the task God has laid before you.

The truth is that the most fruitful years of your life are between twenty-five and fifty. Every woman is most fertile between the ages of twenty-five and fifty. Usually, after the age of fifty she is not able to have children. This is because she has ceased to be fertile, fruitful and productive after the age of fifty.

Nature is teaching us what the most fertile and fruitful period of your life is. “Doth not even nature itself teach you, ...?” (1 Corinthians 11:14).

Nature is an amazing teacher. Nature teaches you what to do, what to expect and when to expect it. Nature teaches you that you will be most productive for God between twenty-five and fifty. God wants to use you when you are in your twenties, thirties and forties. Unfortunately, many people want to give themselves to God when they are in their forties and fifties and in the twilight of their lives.

Do not believe it when they say, “Life begins at forty.” Indeed, life begins at twenty! You must be ready@20! You must work for God in your twenties. Do not wait till you are forty! There are many things you can do at twenty. At twenty you are better at fighting and dodging evil.

Although you have many more desires and longings as a young man, your ability to fight back is greater. Although there are many strong desires in your youth, you are more able to dodge evil. You can pray longer when you are a young man. It takes strength to pray. You can fast longer when you are a young man. It takes strength to fast!

I know a grown-up who died during a three-day fast. The three-day fast was too much for her. She developed an illness during the fast and died. If she were younger, she probably would have had a better chance to survive. It is important to know that there are many things a young body can do better. Between twenty-five and fifty you can be better at marriage! Between twenty-five and fifty you can do the ministry better! Between twenty-five and fifty you can build a church better.

I remember a brother who set out to build a church. After a while, his church was not doing well and it was not growing. He decided to branch off into motivational speaking and writing books for students. Even though he was a fine minister, his church planting mission was failing because he had started his ministry too late. He was now a middle-aged man, a little slower, a little less sharp, a little more hesitant and a little less in touch with new technology. It is not easy to see how huge changes come upon a person as they grow older.

I once had the privilege of being on a flight with a football star who had played in the English Premier League. He was so famous that his name had become a household name and all the fans had a pet name for him. He was a little older when I spoke to him. I asked him whether his ability to play had changed as he had grown older.

He nodded, “Yes.”

“Why?” I asked, “What exactly has changed?”

He said, “Now, when I shoot at the goal, the shots are not as accurate as they used to be. The ball would go a little to the right instead of going straight. When I was younger, my shots were sharper and straighter.” He was describing many little changes that had taken place as he grew a little older.

The changes in your body are not easy to detect.

A seventy-year old minister told me that he had handed over his church to a younger person when he was sixty years old. He said, “There is a difference between when I was sixty years old and when I was twenty-five.” He said, “When I was twenty-five years old I had the zeal and the desire to build the church. I would search for any material I could lay my hands on that would help me to build the church.

As I got older, the quality of my decisions changed. I made more mistakes. I had less passion for the ministry. I felt more and more that everything was hopeless. I became more conscious of the fact that people do not change when you preach to them.”

You will notice that Solomon had three different books ascribed to him. The Songs of Solomon shows him at the youngest stage of his ministry. He was full of love. He was full of passion. He was full of zeal.

The book of Proverbs shows him full of wisdom and practical common sense. The book of Proverbs shows him more in the middle stages of his life, probably from forty to fifty years.

As Solomon grew older, he became more philosophical. He reflected more on the realities of life and that is when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. In this book, he almost sounds hopeless about the situations in the world. He reflects on how people work so hard and all they get in return is envy. Solomon notes how vain and futile life on earth is. He calls life on earth “life under the sun”. You must have heard the phrase “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

Indeed, after the age of fifty, you will be saying, “All is vanity.” You will notice the futilities more than you notice the possibilities. You will see the tinge of sadness and hopelessness in people’s eyes. You will see the hopelessness all around. You will long for the coming of Jesus. You will hope for the end of the world. You will sense impending catastrophe all the time.

It is not easy to build great things for God when your mind is working in the Ecclesiastes mode. You cannot work for God and say it is vanity of vanities. You need to be in the Songs of Solomon mode if you want to build great things for God. You need to be full of love and passion to serve God. You must really love God with youthfulness and strength to serve Him beautifully.

To be a good wife, you need to be youthful and strong so that you can serve your husband with comforts, softness and delights that will make him miss you when you are not with him. When you are tired and retired, you will not be able to serve him with comforts, softness and delights.

You need to have a fresh anointing! You need to have zeal! You need a drive! You need to be sacrificial! You need to be relentless! You need to pursue and overtake what lies ahead! You need to be hopeful! All these beautiful qualities will surface naturally when you are between twenty-five and fifty.

CHAPTER 6

Ready@20 because You Were Born in the House

His foundation is in the holy mountains.

The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.

And of Zion it shall be said, This and THAT MAN WAS BORN IN HER: and the highest himself shall establish her.

The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that THIS MAN WAS BORN THERE. Selah.

As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

Psalm 87

You must be ready@20 if you were born in the house! The eighty-seventh psalm speaks of the spiritual blessings that follow young people who were born in the house.

Being born in the house is an important qualification for the service of God. Wherever you were born affects you. This is why many countries give you a passport if you are born in their country. When you are born in a country, it is assumed that you will grow up there. There is a prophetic blessing for those who were born in the house. If you were born in the church and grew up in the church, expect great things from God.

Being born in a particular church and growing up in that church to become a leader in the same church is a prophetic blessing God is giving you.

Blessings for Those Born in the House

1. People born in the house are going to be greatly established.

And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her:

and THE HIGHEST HIMSELF SHALL ESTABLISH HER.

Psalm 87:5

It is far easier to be established in the things of God when you are born in the house. Prophetically you are destined to be established as a successful minister in the house of God.

Years ago, I would go to the horse races on Saturdays. In those days, the horses stood behind the net and when it was time for the race, the net would be raised suddenly and the horses would take off at top speed. Unfortunately, some of the horses would not be lined up at the right spot when the net went up. Sometimes, they were even facing the other direction when the net went up and they would have to turn around before starting their race.

Obviously, those horses that were not lined up properly and not facing the front would not have a good start. The way a horse started a race always determined which won the race. It was only very special horses that could overcome a bad start, catch up and win the race. The race for your ministry is just like that! When you are born in the house you have a good start for your life and ministry.

People born in the house are going to rise up and do well. Those born in the house will have special names. You will be remembered because you were born in the house.

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.

Psalm 87:4

2. People born in the house will have a foundation in the holy mountains.

His foundation is in the holy mountains.

Psalm 87:1

Without holiness you cannot see God. Holiness is a great secret of ministry for young people. Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness. “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” (Romans 1:4) You will be declared to be a great man of God only by the Spirit of holiness.

Without sanctification, without purity, without holiness you are going nowhere in God. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” (Hebrews 12:14) Do not believe any modern doctrine that comes to belittle the importance of your purity and holiness before God.

When you are born in the house, you can grow up without having gone on any unholy excursions in the world. In the world, you will learn things that become habits. They become like social and sexual albatrosses that hang over your neck. In the world, you can receive a foundation of sexual habits and patterns that are difficult to break from. Many people develop sexual habits and addictions that make them unable to live a normal married life.

You may receive a foundation of addictions and negative attitudes from the world. A foul mouth, a seductive attitude and a treacherous character can be imparted by the company that you grew up with. People are corrupted by their interaction with one evil person. If you encounter one evil person from the world, your personality and temperament may be altered permanently.

What a blessing, therefore, it is to be born in the house of God! A young man who is born in the house will have his foundation in the holy mountain of God.

3. People born in the house will have glorious things spoken of them.

Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

Psalm 87:3

Glorious things will be spoken of you in the ministry because you were born in the house. You will accomplish what grown-ups could not accomplish. Beauty will be found in your ministry. You will have a lasting foundation. Satan will threaten to destroy you with sex but you will stand sure because you have a solid foundation in holiness.

4. People born in the house will be counted among the great.

The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.

Psalm 87:6

You will be counted among those who are great in the house of God. You may not be included in the list of doctors or on the list of famous men. You may not make it to the Honours List. God will ensure that when the lists of His great men are made, those of you who were born in the house and had a good foundation of serving the Lord when you were young, will be included. It is amazing what a good foundation will do.

5. People born in the house will produce good music. Singers and musicians will all be born in the house.

As well the SINGERS as the PLAYERS ON INSTRUMENTS shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

Psalm 87:7

Even the music in the church is different when you have people that were born in the church. All the children in the church will play instruments. All the children are singers. All the children are choristers. They grow up loving Christian music. They never know the depths of satanic music. They are never polluted by the music of the world.

What a blessing to have our own church music! We never need to go out there to find good music. God provides all the talents and the gifts through the children of the church.

CHAPTER 7

Ready@20 to Serve

AND MOSES AND AARON WERE BROUGHT AGAIN UNTO PHARAOH: AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, GO, SERVE THE LORD YOUR GOD: BUT WHO ARE THEY THAT SHALL GO?

AND MOSES SAID, WE WILL GO WITH OUR YOUNG and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Exodus 10:8-11

You must be ready@20 to serve! Moses refused to go out of Egypt without the young people. Moses declared that all the young people would be going along with him on the mission. Why were young people so necessary for Moses? Young people have important qualities that are helpful in the ministry. Instead of seeing young people as irrelevant, it is important to see them as an indispensable part of ministry.

1. Young people are needed for their music, dance, flow and joy!

And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.

Exodus 10:9

The music will change, the dance will change, the flow will change and the joy level will change when there are young people. Young people are indispensable.

Every church that does not use its young people is making a mistake. I once attended a church that had some very funky, young-sounding music. The choir was located a little behind where I was sitting, so I did not turn my head to see who was singing.

Somehow, I assumed there was a young trendy group singing for us that evening. When I turned my head, I was shocked to find about twenty grandmothers or great-grandmothers jamming away. I had never seen such elderly grey-haired women singing and playing that kind of music. Almost every one of them had grey or white hair. It was a sight to behold.

I wondered where the young people were. Indeed, the church was half empty that night. Apparently young people did not do much in that church. Later on, I found out that most of the young people were given to playing basketball instead of being involved in church activities.

A church cannot grow and move forward without young people. Growth always comes about by the arrival of children. Without children you can never say your church is growing. This is why Moses insisted on going with the young as well as the old. Moses knew that he needed the wisdom of the old but he also needed the contribution of the young.

2. Young people are needed for their strength.

The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

Proverbs 20:29

The glory of young people is their strength. This means that the beauty or the nice part of young people is their strength. The strength of a young person is seen in his determination to serve God. Many young people are full of zeal and unwavering determination to follow Jesus.

It is young people who believe that they can go out into the world and into the uttermost parts of the earth. Older people consider the Great Commission to go into the whole world as something far-fetched. Older people consider many of the instructions of Jesus as fanciful and unrealistic statements that cannot be followed by a normal person.

What are some of the instructions and statements of Jesus?

Go ye into all the world1!

I will make you fishers of men2!

Feed my sheep3!

Go to the uttermost parts of the earth4!

1 Mark 16:15

2 Matthew 4:19

3 John 21:16, 17

4 Acts 1:8

Signs and wonders shall follow you5!

You shall drink deadly poison and they shall not harm you6!

Go on a mission without a purse, a bag and any money7!

Do not lay up treasures on earth8!

Many older people think that a person must be mad to follow such “weird instructions”.

Indeed, it is young people who will receive these instructions and try hard to obey them. The older ones will just smile sheepishly and say, “I am sure your father has a lot of money; that is why you are thinking of being in full time missions.”

Without young people, many parts of the Bible will not be obeyed. Without young people, many sections of the Bible may not even be considered as true.

3. Young people are needed to bear the yoke.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

Lamentations 3:27

There are many yokes that you have to bear in order to be successful in the ministry. Young people must serve the Lord now so that it is easier for them when they are older. Could it be that an old person who is working extra hours with hard labour did not bear his yoke in his youth?

It is better for a man to bear the yoke when he is young. What is the “yoke”? The “yoke” is the hard and difficult part of your life’s assignment. It is important that you take up the hard and difficult aspect of your life’s assignment as a child.

5 Mark 16:17

6 Mark 16:18

7 Luke 9:3

8 Matthew 6:19-20

If God has asked you to start a church, the hard and difficult part is the laying of the foundation of the church. Starting a church is more difficult than pastoring an existing church. If you have been called to be an evangelist, organising the actual campaign is more difficult than preaching.

I once met a seventy-year old evangelist. I asked him whether he would be able to continue preaching at crusades.

He answered emphatically, “Yes! I can preach at crusades.”

He went on and explained, “I cannot organise the campaigns as I used to. I cannot do the administration, the fundraising, the advance work, the mobilisation, the publicity, the pastoral interactions, the governmental interactions and all the protocols that have to be observed for a crusade to come on. But I can still preach,” he emphasized. Indeed, this evangelist was clearly outlining “the yoke” that an evangelist bears. The yoke of an evangelist is heavy and it is good for an evangelist to bear this yoke when he is young.

One day, I met a brother who was about to start a church. He was past his middle age and had put on a lot of weight. Due to different circumstances, he had been forced to plant a church at this stage of his life. I knew him from the time he was a young man. He was an anointed pastor and someone with a genuine call of God. However, I was a little worried about him pioneering a church at this stage of his life.

I was concerned because he would have to find a hall in the right location and rent it. He would need to find chairs, instruments, a drum set, an organ and a projector. This middle-aged man would have to go out on the streets and do door-to-door evangelism, person-to-person evangelism, and house-to-house invitations to bring people to church.

He would also have to organise breakfast meetings, open-air crusades, stand at street corners and hand out tracts to passers-by. He would have to find a designer to design a logo, a leaflet, handbills and contact the nearest printer to print leaflets advertising his church. He would have to make a pulpit and set up a banner for his new church.

This new pastor would have to conduct services with very few people at the beginning of his ministry. He would have to go through several Sundays during which very few people would practically attend his services. Indeed, he would have to find the finances to support his new church. He would probably need supporters to give him money. All these experiences are difficult yokes for a middle-aged man to bear.

A young person will, however, go through these experiences with ease. It is far better for a young man to bear the yoke in his youth! In the ministry, there are yokes that are heavy burdens of ministry. There are also lighter and easier sections of ministry. When people do not accept to bear the yoke in their youth, they set themselves up for failure.

Years ago, I met a man in London. He said God had called him to be a pastor. He told me that it was his mission to build a church for God. And I asked him, “What are you waiting for?”

He said, “I am putting things together. I will start soon.” I warned him that he needed to start his church immediately. There were certain difficulties and trials he needed to go through. “The sooner the better,” I told him.

However, he delayed in starting the church. Eventually, he started the church and went straight from one crisis to another. Instead of having a successful ministry, he ended up having one disaster after another. The burden of a new church and the financial realities soon caught up with this middle-aged man who had several children by this time. Indeed, he was completely overwhelmed by the church. The last time I saw him, he was begging for money. Because he did not bear his yoke in time, he turned into a beggar instead of a successful minister.

Never forget this important truth: there is a yoke/difficult part of ministry. It is good that you pass through this stage in your youth. “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth” (Lamentations 3:27).

Indeed, there are other yokes that you must bear in your youth. Every young man becomes an old man. Every man has sexual desires and needs. When you begin the ministry as a young man, you will encounter sexual desires and temptations. You will be rigorously tested in your youth. When you bear this yoke in your youth, you are likely to do well later on.

Those who mess around with fornication, adultery and other forms of immorality in their youth, grow up to become deceptive, immoral and perverted men. Those who do not overcome this yoke in their youth often become abusers of young ladies in the congregation. As the years go by, these people who do not bear the yoke in their youth are faced with the realities of uncured immorality that they did not resist in their youth. It is important to bear your yoke in your youth!

CHAPTER 8

Ready@20 to Be Sent on a Mission

AND HE SENT YOUNG MEN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord.

Exodus 24:5

1. You must be ready@20 to be sent on missions.

And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.

And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

AND HE SENT YOUNG MEN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord.

Exodus 24:3-5

Moses sent young people. Young people can be sent on a mission. Many people cannot be sent on a mission because of their age. When I first began apostolic work, I did not realize that being older had an effect on whether you could be sent or not.

Younger people are more humble and keener to obey instructions. They are also able to withstand difficulties and go through humbling conditions. If a person who is sent is too big and too proud, his mission is often forced to come to an abrupt end. Older people require more things to survive on their mission.

I once met an American pastor and asked him why they no longer sent missionaries to the mission fields of the world.

He explained to me, “American missionaries are very expensive to send. The church would have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to maintain an American on the mission field today. The American missionary would have to rent a house in the most luxurious suburb of the city. Often, the most luxurious suburb on the mission field would match an average home in an ordinary neighbourhood in America. The American missionary’s children would have to go to a special American school that would cost thousands of dollars. The American missionary would shop from the special supermarkets that provide things for expatriates. The American missionary would need security guards and servants and the cost of these would also be very high.”

He continued, “In the end, the cost of having this American missionary on the mission field would be astronomical.” Indeed, I began to understand why there were not many American missionaries on the mission field today.

Indeed, when a person is no longer young, free and flowing, he is not so sendable. This is why Moses sent young men on the mission.

2. You must be ready@20 to be sent on difficult missions. Young people who serve the Lord can be sent on missions to difficult people.

AND DAVID SENT OUT TEN YOUNG MEN, AND DAVID SAID UNTO THE YOUNG MEN, GET YOU UP TO CARMEL, AND GO TO NABAL, and greet him in my name: And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. And when DAVID’S YOUNG MEN came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?

So DAVID’S YOUNG MEN turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. . . . .

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not THE YOUNG MEN of my lord, whom thou didst send.

1 Samuel 25:5-14, 25

King David sent young men on a difficult mission to meet Nabal. It was a very difficult mission and it ended up in disaster. The young missionaries were rebuked and sent scuttling back home with nothing in their hands. There are many missions like that. You always need a young person when you are sending people on a difficult mission.

One day, I sent an older brother on a mission to a very difficult town. After some time, I was no longer receiving any communication from this missionary. One day, I received a series of letters from the missionary. Sections of the letter were typed out in capital letters. Some sections were in red. Other sections were in black. This missionary was clearly upset with the conditions under which he had been sent. He began to find fault with these conditions and I soon realised that I had made a mistake of sending someone who was far too old for such an adventure. Remember that older people have many more responsibilities. They are not as free and flowing as the young people.

Indeed, it is important to go on a mission when you are a young person. You must go on a mission when you do not have many children and when you do not have many responsibilities. Ready@20 means you are ready to be sent on a mission at the age of twenty. Open up yourself to be sent out as a young person!

Another reason why it is important to be sent out as a young person is because it takes a lifetime to accomplish anything. You need to give yourself a good thirty years to be able to accomplish anything substantial in the ministry. If you start your mission at the age of forty-five, you will soon be in your fifties and start approaching the twilight of your life.

The twilight of your life is when the light is going out but has not really gone out yet. There is no need to strain yourself during the twilight of your life. In the twilight of your life, you need to be reaping what you have been sowing in the last thirty years. Do not delude yourself that you can accomplish very much in five years. Ministry takes your whole life!

CHAPTER 9

Ready@20 to Be an Armour Bearer

AND JONATHAN SAID TO THE YOUNG MAN THAT BARE HIS ARMOUR, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.

1 Samuel 14:6

You must be ready@20 to be an armour bearer! An armour bearer is basically an assistant to a warrior. An armour bearer existed to carry the heavy armour that was needed by the fighting soldier. The armour bearer would not really fight himself but observe what happens in real life battles.

When you are a young man, God can train you by giving you a role as an armour bearer. You may not be involved in the fight yourself but you will see many battles at close quarters.

Whilst your master is fighting, you will learn from the kind of wickedness that is manifested against him and you will learn how to defend yourself. An armour bearer will learn how to dodge many evils. When you see the sword aimed at your father, you will realise how wicked the enemy is and how he would like to slice off your father’s legs, hands and head.

It is important to have a revelation of the enemy. It is important to have a revelation of the extent of evil that is determined against you. It is because people do not realise how extreme the enemy is that they have postured themselves mildly against the enemy. Even as a young man, you must learn to fight extremes with extremes!

In the days when armour was used, dead soldiers lay on the battlefield, having been chopped up and butchered into pieces of meat and bloody flesh. Flies would come from miles around and the buzzing of the flies would be heard over the fields of dead, butchered, bloody-red flesh. An armour bearer is supposed to see all this and sense the evil that is purposed against the armies of the Lord. There are two types of ministers; those who sense that a great evil is determined against them and those who are carefree and happy, thinking that all is well.

I once visited a man who had had armed robbers entering his house in the middle of the night. They put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him. It was the most traumatic experience of his life. When I visited his home, the entire front door and front wall was covered with two layers of steel. The man had developed a special barricade of intricately designed iron rods to protect his house. He was so conscious of the dangers of armed robbery that he had changed his house into a virtual prison that no one could enter or come out of easily. This is what happens when you have seen evil at close range. Most Christians have not seen a certain level of evil at close range and because of that they live a carefree life, unprotected and unguarded from certain dangers.

As a young man bearing the armour and seeing the fights just ahead of you, God is preparing you for your own fights. He wants you to see how satan would like to destroy you. He wants you to see how your head can be chopped off, leaving behind a headless body, gushing with blood.

As a young man, I saw the effects of prayerlessness and unspirituality. I saw what happens to those who do not give themselves to waiting on God and praying in the Spirit. A man of God confessed how his ministry was destroyed because he did not wait on God regularly.

Perhaps God has allowed you to see what happens to those who do not take the laws of marriage seriously. As an armour bearer, you will see marriages go flat, sour, negative and foul before your very eyes. God is allowing you to see what is happening in pastors’ marriages so that you will defend yourself against that. Experiences as an armour bearer are to prepare you to avoid such evil in your life and ministry.

Perhaps, God has allowed you to see the effects of adultery in the church. I saw a church collapse through the power of adultery. Whilst in the ministry of an armour bearer, I observed the total wipe-out of churches through adultery by the pastor. These experiences are to warn you and to protect you.

Take note of all the experiences that God allows you to have. God is allowing you to observe spiritual fighting at close range. One time I was in a foreign country and I heard some church members of another church discussing a pastor who used the church offerings directly to solve his personal financial needs. They lambasted him and criticised everything about him and his church. I learnt there that church offerings should never be used personally but must go directly to the church. As I listened to church members speak bitterly against pastors misusing offerings, I learnt a very important lesson about how offerings must be used.

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

Numbers 11:28

Joshua was one of the young men around Moses. Joshua saw the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. He saw how people repaid good with evil. He saw how you can lead people out of bondage, care for them, provide for them, perform miracles in their lives and yet they will still turn against you. As a young man, Joshua saw much rebellion and disloyalty from the elders and leaders of Israel. Joshua also saw how Moses’ relatives, Miriam and Aaron spoke against their brother. He saw the effect of familiarity.

It is interesting to note that under the ministry of Joshua, there was no rebellion and disloyalty at all. Rather, there was a different type of evil – deception! Under Joshua, there was the deception of Achan who stole goods and secretly hid them against the commandment of the Lord.

But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

Joshua 7:1

Achan did not openly rebel against Joshua as Korah, Dathan and Abiram did against Moses. Achan was rebellious but he did it undercover. Under Joshua, there were no more people like Korah, Dathan and Abiram who openly fought against the leader. Joshua had wiped out disloyalty and open rebellion because he knew what it was from being around Moses.

Being a young man around God’s servant will expose you to many evils. You must make sure that those evils dry up around you when it is your turn to lead. If an armour bearer does not have the right attitude, he will see the many evils that beset God’s servants and despise God’s servant. Instead of despising God’s servant who is going through many troubles, you must learn how to prevent them from happening in your life. Honouring your father makes you learn from your father. Despising your father makes you blind to the wisdom that a father has.

By staying with Moses through the various rebellions, Joshua inherited a team of leaders who understood the horrors and evils of rebellion. Almost every evil that Joshua encountered as a leader was laced with deception, hiding and pretence. No one was bold enough to come and challenge him the way they challenged Moses. Notice how the Gibeonites used deception to fight against Joshua.

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us.

Joshua 9:3-6

The Gibeonites dared not take on Joshua in a frontal attack. They deceived him in order to overcome him. Today, God is giving you an opportunity to see His servants fighting through many battles. If you see many battles, wars and fights in the ministry, it means you are an armour bearer. It is only armour bearers who see the fighting at close range.

CHAPTER 10

Ready@20 to Be Clean

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Psalm 119:9

You must be ready@20 to have a clean and holy life! Young men can have clean ways. A young man can be pure.

Jesus Christ was pure and holy.

Jesus Christ knew no sin!

Jesus said, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John 8:46)

Indeed, Jesus is the best example of a young person who lived a clean life. Apart from Jesus, many other young people have lived relatively sinless and pure lives. Think about the young man who came to see Jesus to ask how he could have eternal life. This young man was confident in declaring that he had kept all the commandments from his youth upward. “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The YOUNG MAN saith unto him, ALL THESE THINGS HAVE I KEPT FROM MY YOUTH UP: what lack I yet?” (Matthew 19:16-20)

There are many young people who have lived relatively sinless and pure lives. You will be one of the pure people who keeps the commandments from their youth upwards.

Young People Can Have the Spirit of Holiness

1. Young people can be empowered by the Spirit of holiness.

And DECLARED to be the Son of God with power, according to THE Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Romans 1:4

Holiness is engineered by the Spirit of holiness and not by being an older person. Age has nothing to do with holiness. Older people have fewer desires but that does not mean they are holier. Holiness is not the same as becoming an elderly person who has no desires.

There is a hidden Spirit of holiness who empowers a person to be holy. Jesus Christ became a holy person and became the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness. He said to the people around Him, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” (John 8:46)

No one could “convince” Jesus of sin. He was truly pure, sinless and sanctified. Every young person can be empowered by the Spirit of holiness to become whatever God wants him to become. The Spirit of holiness can empower you to become a great apostle or a great prophet.

2. Young people can live free from sin.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, AND CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUTES, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

The Spirit of holiness empowers you to walk in the word of God. The Spirit of holiness empowers a person to live his life according to the word of God. The Spirit of holiness is behind the rise of every great ministry. The Spirit of holiness is the power behind anybody’s righteousness and holiness.

3. Young people are sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning CHOSEN YOU TO SALVATION THROUGH SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

The Spirit is the sanctifier. The sanctification of your life is by the Spirit of holiness. The sanctification of you and your ministry is by the Spirit of holiness. The Spirit of holiness is necessary to make you sanctified. We have been selected for holiness by the power and sanctification that comes from the Holy Spirit.

4. The Spirit of holiness was the power behind Jesus Christ’s sinlessness on earth.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, WHO KNEW NO SIN; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus Christ was a young man, just like you. Yet, Jesus was sinless because of the Spirit of holiness. It is indeed a mystery for a man to live on the earth without sin. Yet, we are told that Jesus Christ KNEW NO SIN! Indeed, it takes a power beyond human power to turn you into a man who knows no sin.

5. Young Daniel rose to power by the Spirit of holiness.

Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is THE SPIRIT OF THE HOLY GODS: and before him I told the dream, saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

Daniel 4:7-9

Even the unbelievers of Daniel’s era recognized the holiness and purity that he had. They recognized that there was a spirit that empowered him to be holy and pure. They called it “the spirit of the holy gods.” It was not called the spirit of the gods but “the spirit of the holy gods.” Holiness was behind the rise of young Daniel.

6. Young Joseph rose to power through the Spirit of holiness.

And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: HOW THEN CAN I DO THIS GREAT WICKEDNESS, AND SIN AGAINST GOD?

Genesis 39:7-9

Young Joseph refused to commit the sin of sleeping with his master’s wife. He considered it an impossibility because of the trust reposed in him. Joseph passed all his tests of morality and holiness. All these tests of morality and holiness helped to catapult Joseph into the prison from where he would be launched as a prime minister. If Joseph had failed the test of adultery and fornication, he would have spent the rest of his life as a treacherous deceiver in Potiphar’s house. We would never have heard of Joseph if it had not been for the Spirit of holiness. I know many young men who crossed the line and lived in fornication and immorality instead of walking in the Spirit of holiness. By these acts, they entered into the wastepaper basket of ministry!

7. The Spirit of holiness is behind very anointed people.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Psalm 45:7

Very anointed people have the Spirit of holiness in them. Because you love righteousness and hate wickedness, God anoints you with more of the oil of gladness than other people. Loving righteousness and hating wickedness is a secret of very anointed people. Very anointed people may not talk about holiness but it is the basis of their heavy anointing.

CHAPTER 11

Ready@20 to Please God

Therefore THE LORD SHALL HAVE NO JOY IN THEIR YOUNG MEN, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 9:17

You must be ready@20 to please God! You can please God as a young person. You do not need to be an older person who is devoid of energy and life before you can please God. Pleasing God does not mean you have become quiet, lifeless, morose, gloomy and anti-social. To please God, you need to obey His will and do His will.

Decide to be one of the young people who please God. Do not wait until you are older to please Him.

I remember an elderly Christian lady pastor who was preaching powerfully one day. She was preaching about holiness and righteousness. She got on to preaching about immorality, fornication and adultery. I would not have thought twice about this message but then she became even strong-er on the topic of fornication and adultery.

As I continued to listen and look at this elderly grey-haired woman, I remembered the life she had lived as a groovy, sexy and sensual young lady with several boyfriends. Now that she was old, grey-haired and shapeless, she was a strong advocate for holiness and an even stronger advocate for fighting fornication, adultery and all other forms of lewdness. The fact is that most people will be strong advocates for holiness and righteousness when they are older. From a certain age onwards, you will not even have opportunities to walk in those sins any more. There will be little desire left in you.

The Bible speaks about fleeing youthful lusts. (2 Timothy 2:22) There are things that are peculiar to your youthfulness; but even with your youthful lusts, youthful desires and sexual cravings, you can become a God-pleaser.

God can have joy in young people. Young people can please the Lord! God can have joy in the young! Decide that you will be one of the young people who please God.

Remember that older people also have their own set of spiritual problems. Older people suffer from prejudice, hatred, revenge, bitterness, unforgiveness and pride. You will hear older people say things like, “Watch out for people from this country.” “Be careful of people from this tribe!” “Be careful of so-and-so!” All these are the prejudices that have been built up through their experiences.

It is equally difficult to serve God when you are proud. Take advantage of your youthful humility and become one of the young people that give God joy.

Elijah was a man of like passions. Elijah had lots of feelings and passions. Yet God used him. He pleased God!

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

James 5:17

Perhaps, Elijah was much younger than we think. Maybe Elijah was a very young prophet. Elijah had lots of feelings and passions. And yet God used him mightily. You can be ready@20 to be one of those who please God.

CHAPTER 12

Ready@20 to Be a Good Example

LET NO MAN DESPISE THY YOUTH; BUT BE THOU AN EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

You must be ready@20 to be a good example! A young man can be a good example. Most of the time, we expect the older people to be the good example. A young person can also be a good example. There are five areas that a young person can set a good example.

1. Ready@20 to be an example in the Word.

Let no man despise thy youth; but BE THOU AN EXAMPLE of the believers, IN WORD, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

A young person can be an example in the Word in a way that older people cannot. A young person can memorise scriptures in an amazing way. The younger you are, the more scriptures you can commit to memory. I have watched young children quote entire books of the Bible. I have seen religious schools where the young people are memorising their entire holy book.

I was once in Israel where I saw young children memorising the Torah. Older people cannot memorise scripture in the same way. Open your heart to become the best you can at memorising scripture. By being a good example in the Word, many other young people will follow you and also begin to know the Holy Scriptures.

2. Ready@20 to be a good example in behaviour.

Let no man despise thy youth; but BE THOU AN EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, IN CONVERSATION, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

Paul asked Timothy to be an example in his behaviour (conversation). The behaviour of a young man can be a good example for others to follow. As you pattern your life after the word of God, you become a good example for someone to follow. Always ask yourself, “Is what I am doing a good example for others to follow?”

3. Ready@20 to be a good example in charity.

Let no man despise thy youth; BUT BE THOU AN EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, in conversation, IN CHARITY, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

As a young person, you will develop the ability to forgive and forget. Charity speaks of love. Love always has to do with forgiveness and letting things go. Older people remember many thing. They are more bitter and more unforgiving. A younger person has a greater chance of being a good example in the area of love.

4. Ready@20 to be a good example in the Spirit.

Let no man despise thy youth; but BE THOU AN EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, IN SPIRIT, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

A young man can be a good example in the Spirit. The Spirit has to do with the anointing. You can be anointed with the Holy Ghost as a young person and move in the things of the Spirit.

A young person can have a very sensitive heart and flow seamlessly between the Spirit world and the natural world. As a young person you are more likely to believe in and flow with the anointing.

Your young, soft and tender heart will believe easily in the supernatural. Is it any wonder that when the Lord used Kathryn Kuhlman powerfully, her mantle did not fall upon older seventy-year olds, sixty-year olds or fifty-year olds? The mantle of God and the anointing passed on to Benny Hinn who was only twenty-four years old when Kathryn Kuhlman died. Thereafter, Benny Hinn became an example in the Spirit and anointing of healing, miracles and manifestations! You must be ready@20 to be an example in the Spirit.

5. Ready@20 to be a good example in faith.

Let no man despise thy youth; BUT BE THOU AN EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, IN FAITH, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

A young person tends to believe things much more easily. Remember how little children believe in “Father Christmas” flying through the air to bring them presents. Little children believe all that they are told. Little children believe all the bedtime stories they are told. I used to tell my children bedtime stories all the time. Sometimes, I would start a story and not know how it would end. I would keep inventing the next episode, creating marvellous escapes for the characters in the stories. The children would be enchanted and they would want to hear the story again.

One of their favourite stories was the story of a snake that hitched a ride on the back of a horse to cross a river. Why did I keep telling these stories? Because my children believed them! Indeed, young people believe the Bible much more than the older. If you are twenty years old, you are ready to be an example in faith. Believe the word of God. Believe in the Great Commission. Believe in witnessing! Believe in evangelism! Believe in the promises of God!

6. Ready@20 to be an example in purity.

Let no man despise thy youth; but BE THOU AN EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, IN PURITY.

1 Timothy 4:12

A young man can also be an example in purity. Older people usually have less lustful feelings and desires. It is when you are a young man that you have a chance to be an example in purity. As a young man, you will constantly be experiencing urges and cravings for the opposite sex. It is your best chance to show yourself as an example in purity. When you are old, tired, withered, stooped over and without feelings, you will not need so much to be an example in purity. This is your chance to demonstrate that you can live free of fornication, free of immorality, free of lasciviousness and free of wickedness.

Joseph was seventeen years old when he was captured and taken as a slave in Potiphar’s house. Joseph was eighteen years old when Potiphar’s wife tried to have sex with him. He had been living in Potiphar’s house for one year when the incident happened. He spent twelve years in prison because of the false accusation of immorality. A few years later, after going to prison for some time, Joseph became prime minister at the age of thirty. “And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:46)

CHAPTER 13

Ready@20 to Flee Youthful Lusts

Flee also YOUTHFUL LUSTS: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

2 Timothy 2:22

You must be ready@20 to flee youthful lusts! When you are a young man, you will have to contend with youthful lusts. These lusts are specialized desires that target the young. What are “youthful lusts”? “Youthful lusts” are desires, cravings and longings for things that are forbidden.

1. “Youthful lusts” are lusts, longings, desires and cravings that are particularly common in young people.

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and DESIRE SHALL FAIL: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Ecclesiastes 12:5

You will notice that desires actually reduce, and even fail to exist, as you get older. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we have an accurate description of old age. Ecclesiastes predicts that, among other things, “desire shall fail” in old age. It is important to believe and understand that desires, longings, cravings and lusts are peculiar to the youth. Every young person desiring to be a minister must fight to overcome these lusts, desires and cravings.

2. “Youthful lusts” are sexual desires that you must respect.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Genesis 3:16

Desires are powerful things that must be respected because of what they can do.

Your sexuality is something you must respect. Any young person who comes into the service of God must have a proper respect for his or her sexuality and desire for the opposite sex.

A proper respect for youthful lusts, rather than a denial of them will save you from them. Desires are real forces that guide the events of life. Desires are so powerful that they can be used to guide human beings to their destiny. God punished Eve by giving her a desire for men. A woman helplessly desires a man to marry her without knowing that she is being disciplined and guided by God into her due punishment.

3. “Youthful lusts” are driving forces that lead young people to the anger of God.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Ephesians 5:5-6

Do not trifle with this subject of immorality. It is true that there are ministers who are involved with sin and immorality and they seem to be getting away with it. However, Paul was emphatic that it brings about the wrath of God. Immorality will cause the wrath of God to be directed towards you.

4. “Youthful lusts” are cravings and longings that lead young people to hell.

And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart…. HER HOUSE IS THE WAY TO HELL, GOING DOWN TO THE CHAMBERS OF DEATH.

Proverbs 7:7-10, 27

Joseph would have been robbed of his destiny to become the Prime Minister if he had slept with Potiphar’s wife. If Joseph had slept with Potiphar’s wife, he would have ended up as a secret and deceptive adulterer living permanently in Potiphar’s house. Joseph would have gone to hell and darkness for being a wicked and treacherous man for many years.

He would never have gone to prison and had the opportunity to interpret dreams for the butler and the baker. Therefore he would never have been introduced to Pharaoh and he would never have become the Prime Minister of Egypt.

Having sex with Potiphar’s wife would have robbed him of the future that God had planned for him. Having sex with Potiphar’s wife would have changed his destiny. His childhood dreams in which the sun and moon and stars had bowed down to him would never have been fulfilled. Many visions and dreams that you have for your life are not fulfilled because of youthful lusts. What has God called you to do? Beware of youthful lusts! Youthful lusts can abort your divine calling. What has God put in your heart to accomplish in the ministry? Do not let youthful lusts end it all.

5. “Youthful lusts” in a girl are also desires for marriage and children.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Genesis 3:16

Many young ladies do not realise that they have strong desires and cravings for marriage and children. There are many ladies who serve the Lord well but when it comes to marriage and children, they will give up everything so that they can marry.

I was once conducting a camp meeting with the most zealous and ardent Christians in my church. These were Christians I had earmarked for missionary work, outreach, prayer and fasting. I had earmarked them for these things because they were so zealous and committed to the Lord. In the middle of the camp meeting, I asked how many of them would be prepared to marry a prince from a pagan nation. “Would you be ready to marry a prince who is not a Christian and go into his palace with him?” They all said they were ready for that. About six ladies from this group gave up their Christianity and volunteered to marry the pagan prince. I was stunned beyond measure! Indeed, I realised that their strong desires and cravings for marriage had gotten the better of them. Every young woman must respect that need in herself.

CHAPTER 14

Ready@20 to Overcome the Wicked One

I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, YOUNG MEN, BECAUSE YE HAVE OVERCOME THE WICKED ONE. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

1 John 2:13-14

You must be ready@20 to overcome the wicked one! Young people who serve the Lord must be strong and overcome the wicked one. It is a mistake to ignore the special role of a young man’s strength for the ministry.

Satan is wicked! The wickedness of the devil is the brutal, callous and evil nature which satan manifests without emotion or feeling. Satan is cold blooded, cold hearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, savage, stony-hearted, unfeeling and compassionless.

This malevolent creature is out to turn human beings into phantoms of what God created them to be.

When you see the deformities, sicknesses, diseases and infirmities that plague human beings, you will have an idea of the wickedness of the creature that we call the wicked one. These physical deformities are a picture of the spiritual deformities that satan wishes to inflict on God’s people.

If you allow the wicked one, he will turn you into a twisted, perverted, contorted version of what you are supposed to be.

If you allow the wicked one, he will turn you into a shallow, unspiritual Christian, a backslider, a liar, a thief, a sexual pervert, an immoral person, an addict and a slave.

Satan looks at you with great desire! Jesus told Peter; “...Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” (Luke 22:31) Imagine that! Satan looks at you with desire to have you, to eat you, to enjoy you, to lick you, to consume you and to destroy you. You are the desire of satan. You are his goal! You are his target!

A young person is amazingly more capable of fending off the wicked one. You would have thought that it would be the older people who are more capable of fighting the evil one. What does the scripture say? “I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.” (1 John 2:13) There are many evils that you can ward off better as a young man. It also takes physical strength to fight the enemy.

Indeed, King Solomon is a good example of someone who was able to overcome the wicked one because he was young. It was when King Solomon was young that he was able to overcome problems with strange women and idol worship.

It was when King Solomon was young that he was able to overcome the distractions of other gods. It is when Solomon was a younger man that he was able to overcome the problem of not following God fully. It is much easier to be a follower when you are a younger person. Solomon never had a problem with disobedience when he was young.

It was only when Solomon became an older man that he had problems with disobedience. You must remember that disobedience is the biggest open door to curses.

As you can see, Solomon overcame the wicked one as a young man. He was destroyed by the wicked one when he was an older man.

Young Solomon

1. Young Solomon was ready@20 to love God.

When King Solomon was a young man, he was full of faith and love for God. He was very principled and very obedient to his father. Solomon loved God so much that his heart was bent on only loving God.

And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

1 Kings 3:3

2. Young Solomon was ready@20 to make great sacrifices.

Solomon offered a record-breaking thousand offerings. Solomon’s offerings were the highest ever heard of in human history. No one had ever been known to offer a thousand offerings.

And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

1 Kings 3:4

3. Young Solomon was ready@20 to do the will of God from his heart.

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

1 Kings 3:9-10

Young Solomon was ready@20 to do the will of God. Solomon’s famous prayer was made when he was a young man. All that God wanted Solomon to do was to be a leader of God’s people. God wanted someone who would lead the children of Israel into peace and stability. You are that person whom God will use to judge and to lead His people.

4. Young Solomon was ready@20 to serve God’s people as a shepherd.

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

1 Kings 3:9-10

Solomon was ready to be a shepherd. A young person can be a shepherd. A young person can indeed be a king if he has the right kind of heart. A young person can be made the leader of many people once he is filled with the wisdom of God. Your youthfulness does not prevent you from being a leader of God’s people.

5. Young Solomon was ready@20 to manifest great wisdom.

At a very tender age and at the very beginning of his reign, young Solomon manifested great wisdom. In a landmark case, he gave a judgment in favour of the true mother of a child. Solomon was very young when he manifested this great wisdom. Indeed, you can be ready@20 to manifest the greatest kind of wisdom.

And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

1 Kings 3:25-28

The Older Solomon

Unfortunately, this same Solomon changed drastically when he was older. Satan, the wicked one, came in to destroy and pervert Solomon. Solomon, who was so filled with virtue, now became perverted and filled with evil. The “older version” of Solomon was unable to overcome the wicked one in the way the young Solomon did.

For it came to pass, WHEN SOLOMON WAS OLD, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

1 Kings 11:4

Satan came in like a flood and turned the older Solomon into a phantom of what he used to be.

1. The older Solomon’s heart was not as devoted to God as it used to be.

For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

1 Kings 11:4 (NASB)

2. The older Solomon did not follow the Lord fully.

And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.

1 Kings 11:6

3. The older Solomon did not copy his father as he did when he was younger.

Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.

1 Kings 11:6 (NASB)

Amazingly, when Solomon was older, he felt he did not need his father’s wisdom. He did not see the use of following the things that his father had done. David never worshipped idols! David never turned away from God! David never desired to build a temple for an idol! In spite of David’s sin of immorality, he never turned away from the worship of the true God!

4. The older Solomon was disobedient to God.

But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

1 Kings 11:1-2

God had said that he should not associate with the women and the nations of the world; but Solomon had gone ahead and disobeyed God in relation to these. He held fast to these women, even though he was the king of Israel and could have had any number of women in Israel that he really wanted to. He held fast to these foreign women even though it was against the word of God.

5. The older Solomon fell to strange women.

But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

1 Kings 11:1

It is not easy to serve God if you love strange women. Strange women are dangerous women who lead a person to hell. Solomon, in his older state, was even more addicted to these strange and dangerous women. You would have thought that a younger, more sexual, virile man would be going after strange women. Instead of the younger Solomon going after strange women, it was the older Solomon who fell to strange women. As the scripture says, “Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.” (Proverbs 7:24-27)

6. The older Solomon became an idol worshipper.

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

1 Kings 11:5

When Solomon was a young man, he worshipped only God. When he was older, he served the gods of wood, the gods of stone, the gods of iron, the gods of gold and the gods of silver. How sad that this great wise man had fallen to the level of an idol worshipper. Solomon seemed to be wiser and stronger when he was a young man.

7. The older Solomon built temples for idols.

Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

1 Kings 11:7

How sad I feel to report that the Solomon who built temples for God also built temples for Chemosh, and for Molech which were the abominations of the children of Moab and Ammon. Solomon would never have done this as a young man.

As you can see from all these examples, being a young man is not a bad thing. You can be ready@20 to do many good things for God. Solomon proved for all time that he did better as a young person than as older man.

CHAPTER 15

Ready@20 to Be Sent as Ambassadors

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20

You must be ready@20 to be an ambassador for Christ! Are you ready to be sent as a young ambassador? It is not easy to be an ambassador because ambassadors have to maintain the aim for which they were sent. It is not easy to maintain the aim! Ambassadors have to maintain the aim by frequent communication with the home base. An ambassador must maintain the aim and accomplish the purpose for which he was sent.

Most churches have not maintained the aim of preaching the gospel. Most of us preachers have lost the original purpose for which Christ sent us forth.

But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. AND THE YOUNG MEN THAT WERE SPIES WENT IN, AND BROUGHT OUT RAHAB, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

Joshua 6:22-23

In this story, Joshua decided to use young men as ambassadors. Moses believed that young people could be ready@ 20 to be ambassadors. Moses could have chosen older, mature and experienced men to be his ambassadors. But he chose young men! Are you ready to be one of the young men to be chosen for important ambassadorial jobs?

Earlier in the ministry of Moses, twelve spies were sent out. Moses sent out twelve ambassadors but ten brought back an evil report. Ten evil ambassadors brought back an evil report about The Promised Land. Moses’ first group of spies were impossibility thinkers! These older ambassadors spoke negatively about the mission field. These older ambassadors spoke negatively about the harvest field. The older ambassadors discouraged others who were ready to go out on the field. They dampened the spirits of everyone else.

But the men that went up with him said, WE BE NOT ABLE TO GO UP against the people; for they are stronger than we. And THEY BROUGHT UP AN EVIL REPORT OF THE LAND which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Numbers 13:31-33

On the second occasion, Joshua sent out young men in particular. These young men were to look at the land and bring back a report. These two spies almost died because they were hotly pursued by people from the city of Jericho. These spies, who almost lost their lives on their spying mission, rather gave a good report about the land. Those who see things negatively always see things negatively!

And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

Joshua 2:22

Young people see things differently. Perhaps, because they were younger men, they believed more in the power of God. Even though they saw how impenetrable Jericho was, they were happy to get involved in the mission. They were not moved by the fact that the battle for mighty Jericho was going to be a big test for their lives.

So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them: And they said unto Joshua, TRULY THE LORD HATH DELIVERED INTO OUR HANDS ALL THE LAND; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

Joshua 2:23-24

God is, indeed, raising up young people for the mission. Not men of impossibilities but “can-do” men of many possibilities! Men who are ready@20!

I prefer to send young people on missions. Young people see problems differently. Young people see possibilities! Young people have more faith! Young people can overcome mountains! Young people do not see high walls as a message to stay away or to stay out. Rather, they see the walls as an opportunity to accomplish something for God.

CHAPTER 16

Ready@20 to Be Anointed

AND SAMUEL SAID UNTO JESSE, ARE HERE ALL THY CHILDREN? AND HE SAID, THERE REMAINETH YET THE YOUNGEST, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. AND THE LORD SAID, ARISE, ANOINT HIM: FOR THIS IS HE. THEN SAMUEL TOOK THE HORN OF OIL, AND ANOINTED HIM IN THE MIDST OF HIS BRETHREN: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 16:11-13

You must be ready@20 to be anointed! David, the youngest son, was called out from his family and anointed. His life changed from that moment forward. When you are ready@20, you are ready to be chosen out of your family. Do not worry if you are the youngest in your family. When it comes to spiritual things, you may be the youngest but you may also be the one whom God has chosen.

One day I travelled to a certain country and was met by a delegation of young men. They ignored me and greeted everyone else who was with me. Then they asked where the bishop was. They were so embarrassed when they found out that I was the bishop. They apologised, explaining that they were expecting a much older person.

They had listened to my messages and thought I was a much older person. The truth is that I was, at the time, actually a very young person. When you speak the words of God, you always sound older and wiser than you actually are.

The anointing of God can turn the youngest into the oldest. David became the darling boy of Israel, even though he was the youngest in the family. The anointing of God on the youngest member of the family turned him into a national hero. When you are ready@20 you can do what the mature, the wise and the strong do. Being young does not detract from you!

Once the anointing is upon you, your age will not matter anymore. In Psalm 89, David describes how he was chosen when he was too young to be even considered. The anointing is an amazing thing.

I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

Psalm 89:20-29

1. Ready@20 to be found by God.

I HAVE FOUND DAVID my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

Psalm 89:20

God is choosing you right now! God is finding out where you are because He wants to anoint you. Even though you are the youngest, God has decided to pour His oil on you. I remember a vision someone had. In the vision, a cup full of oil was raised over his head. Just as the oil was to be poured on his head, a voice came from heaven and shouted, “Stop.”

In the vision, God changed His mind and decided not to pour the oil on the pastor’s head. God has to decide that He is going to pour His oil on you before you become anointed. The anointing will transform you into another man. God is always looking for young men upon whom He can pour His anointing.

2. Ready@20 to be established and strengthened.

With whom my hand shall be ESTABLISHED: mine arm also shall STRENGTHEN him.

Psalm 89:21

Through the anointing every young man will be established. I was twenty-eight years old when I began the first project to build a cathedral for God. Establishment comes from God and through God. It is a curse to continue in a state of instability for a long time. Instability and being unsettled are things that are allowed to continue only for a season. You must not be unsettled forever!

God will settle you through the power of the anointing! God will settle you even though you are a young person. As the scripture says, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5:10)

Even in your youth, you will be established because of the anointing.

3. Ready@20 to overcome deception.

The enemy will not DECEIVE him, Nor will the son of wickedness afflict him.

Psalm 89:22

You can escape the deceptions in the world through the power of God. Satan is a deceiver! The strongest and most pervasive work of darkness in our world is deception. Almost every aspect of our society is riddled with deception. Our education, our politics and our financial systems are riddled with deceptions and based on deceptions.

Usually, the younger you are, the more deceived you are; but because of the anointing, you will be delivered from the deceptions around you. Pray every day for the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Pray for the Spirit of truth so that you will no longer be deceived. Pray for the Spirit of revelation so that you will not be deceived. Pray for light so that you will not be deceived. The amount of light in you as a young person will keep you from deception.

Arise and shine @ 20 for your light has come. When light comes deception is banished and you can begin to shine brightly. Light drives away darkness and deception.

Gentiles will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah 60:3)

4. Ready@20 to overcome enemies.

And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

Psalm 89:23

The anointing gives power to every young person to overcome their enemies. I have encountered many enemies of my soul over the years. I have encountered people who hated me without a cause. When I was in my twenties someone told me he was sickened by the mention of my name. They hated me with a passion. They hated me without a cause! I have had people who have predicted my downfall since I was a youth.

I knew one pastor who repeatedly told his friend that I was going to fall and be destroyed. I could not believe that this man hated me so much and wished my downfall so earnestly. I have had people speak so viciously about me that it made me stay up all night in amazement and wonder.

Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

Isaiah 41:11-12

I have heard comments certain pastors made about me. I could literally feel the hatred and malice. Through the anointing of the Lord, your enemies will be beaten down. They will be crushed, according to the prophecy of Isaiah.

David also had many enemies. Take note that the anointed shall beat down his enemies. (Psalm 89:23) Because of the anointing you will enjoy victory after victory. At the end of David’s life, he wrote a psalm and outlined the victories God had granted him over his enemies. At the end of your life, you will realise that God has destroyed your enemies and humbled them before you. Encourage yourself with these ten prophecies that David gave concerning the enemies of the anointing.

Ten Predictions for the Enemies of the Anointed

1. “He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.” (2 Samuel 22:18)

2. “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.” (2 Samuel 22:21)

3. “For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.” (2 Samuel 22:30)

4. “Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.” (2 Samuel 22:36-37)

5. “I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.” (2 Samuel 22:38-39)

6. “For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.” (2 Samuel 22:40)

7. “Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.” (2 Samuel 22: 41)

8. “Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.” (2 Samuel 22:43)

9. “Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.” (2 Samuel 22:44)

10. “It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.” (2 Samuel 22:48-49)

5. Ready@20 to enjoy God’s faithfulness and mercy.

But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

Psalm 89:24

Because of the anointing of the Lord, you will receive His mercy as a young person. A young person will need a lot of mercy. The younger you are, the more mistakes you can make! As you walk along with God expect His faithfulness to carry you through. God is faithful towards His young and anointed servant. He will lift you up and remember you.

6. Ready@20 to cross rivers and the sea.

I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

Psalm 89:25

Through the anointing you will become a young traveller. The anointing of the Lord will cause a young person to cross the rivers and the seas to bring the power of God to many. As I look back on the many places I have been to, I can only say that it is God’s power that took me to these places. I knew no one there and there was nothing in my background that linked me to these places.

You will soon be going to places that you do not know. There is no connection between you and those nations and yet you will be found there! God is going to work a work that will make the ears of those who hear to tingle.

I used to yearn for people to introduce me to some of the powerful people they knew in other countries but no one ever did. I remember wondering to myself, “How would I ever know any important person? Who would ever invite me to preach in another country?” And yet, without any connections, linkages and favours, God has taken me to many nations of the world to preach His Word. Do not despise your youthfulness!

7. Ready@20 to be a great seed.

His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

Psalm 89:29

The power of God on your life causes even your children to be affected.

The anointing is an amazing blessing for all generations that will come out from you. Because you are anointed your seed will be remembered by God.

Because you are anointed, the generations after you will receive mercy and help.

God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love. (Hebrews 6:10) He will reward you by calling your children.

CHAPTER 17

Ready@20 to Be a Prophet

So the young man, even THE YOUNG MAN THE PROPHET, went to Ramothgilead.

2 Kings 9:4

You must be ready@20 to become a prophet! A young person can be called to be a prophet. Many young men were called to be prophets. It is important to believe that the gift of God does not work because of your age, your riches and your standing in society. There are places where your age matters, there are places where the money you have matters and there are places where your education matters. However when it comes to being a prophet of God, you can be ready@20.

God has His own criteria for choosing who must see visions and who must be a prophet. Most of the prophets in the Bible were called as children or very young men. These examples must inspire you to serve God very well at a tender age.

Seven Prophets Who Were Ready@20

1. The prophet of Ramothgilead was ready@20.

AND ELISHA THE PROPHET CALLED ONE OF THE CHILDREN OF THE PROPHETS, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead: And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not. So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.

2 Kings 9:1-4

The prophet of Ramothgilead was a young man who was sent to deliver a prophetic word to Jehu, the captain of the host. This was a dangerous mission in which he was informing a captain that he was to be made king instead of Ahab. This young prophet was operating in the anointing of Elisha the prophet. He was indeed one of the sons of the prophets. His prophecy was clear;

“And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain. And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel” (2 Kings 9:5-7).

This was indeed a bold step by the young man. This young prophet made no reference to Elisha. Even though Elisha had sent him, he confidently stood under the anointing and prophesied to Jehu. This shows that he was walking in the strength and the anointing of a real prophet.

2. Samuel the prophet was ready@20.

AND THE CHILD SAMUEL MINISTERED UNTO THE LORD BEFORE ELI. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

1 Samuel 3:1-4

Samuel was found in the house of God as a child. He received amazing prophecies from the Lord as a child. The famous prophecy of Samuel in which the Lord called out his name when he was asleep, came to him as a child.

Being a young child in no way prevents you from becoming a prophet. Indeed, many evils will come to you as you get older. Perhaps your various experiences will prevent you from seeing and hearing clearly from God. Jesus spoke about the Pharisees, saying that their hearts had become hardened and callous.

3. Jeremiah the prophet was ready@20.

BUT THE LORD SAID UNTO ME, SAY NOT, I AM A CHILD: FOR THOU SHALT GO TO ALL THAT I SHALL SEND THEE, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Jeremiah 1:7-10

Even though Jeremiah was a child, God called him to root out and to pull down works of darkness. Jeremiah was anointed to pull down evil things and destroy the works of darkness. Jeremiah was a church planter and a builder even though he was a child. Great prophets are called to serve the Lord even though they are children.

4. Daniel the prophet was ready@20.

AS FOR THESE FOUR CHILDREN, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

Daniel 1:17-20

Daniel was a great prophet. He ministered at the highest level to kings and prime ministers. Every new government that came to power recognized him. Yet Daniel came in to his prophetic ministry as a child. He is one of the four children mentioned in the first chapter of Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, plus Daniel, made up the four children. Daniel, who turned out to be one of the greatest prophets ever in Israel, started his ministry as a castrated young boy captive. Yet the power of God was on him! He was a great prophet and he was ready to be used by God as a very young person.

5. David the sweet psalmist was ready@20.

Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

2 Samuel 23:1-2

David was clearly a prophet. He was an anointed psalmist and the Spirit of God spoke through him many times. Goliath mocked at David because he looked so young. Disregarding young people whom God has called can cost you your life. Great advances, great victories and great progress will come when you allow the young people to join in the work of God.

And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: FOR HE WAS BUT A YOUTH, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

1 Samuel 17:42

6. Solomon the writer was ready@ 20.

And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: AND I AM BUT A LITTLE CHILD: I know not how to go out or come in.

1 Kings 3:7

Lemuel was a symbolic name for King Solomon. The words of Lemuel were considered as prophecies. The prophecies of Solomon were the prophecies that his mother taught him.

The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

Proverbs 31:1

Almost every single word in the book of Proverbs is a prophecy. They are predictions of the outcomes of various things. For instance, the statement “A diligent man will stand before kings” (Proverbs 22:29) is a prophecy for diligent people. All these great prophecies are ascribed to Solomon. The books of Songs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs are all prophetic books written by Solomon the prophet.

Open up your heart and allow God to use you as a prophet even though you are a little child.

7. Jesus the prophet was ready@20.

And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast… And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Luke 2:42, 46-47

We call Jesus the Saviour of the world but He was also a great prophet. Notice the scripture: “And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That A GREAT PROPHET IS RISEN UP AMONG US; and, That God hath visited his people.” (Luke 7:16) Jesus began His ministry at a very young age. By the age of thirty He was at His peak and almost ready to end.

CHAPTER 18

Ready@20 to Appreciate the Anointed and His Anointing

And David said unto the young man that told him, how knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? And the young man that told him said, as I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. And he said unto me, who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.

Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. AND DAVID SAID UNTO HIM, HOW WAST THOU NOT AFRAID TO STRETCH FORTH THINE HAND TO DESTROY THE LORD ‘S ANOINTED?

AND DAVID CALLED ONE OF THE YOUNG MEN, AND SAID, GO NEAR, AND FALL UPON HIM. AND HE SMOTE HIM THAT HE DIED.

2 Samuel 1:5-15

You must be ready@20 to appreciate the anointed and his anointing! The young man in the scripture above was called in to destroy someone who had touched the Lord’s anointed. Many people do not understand what the anointing is and why it must be appreciated and protected.

Saul was anointed by God and that is what changed him and made him a king. David valued the anointed and his anointing. David taught the young man a great lesson by asking him to kill someone who had touched the Lord’s anointed. David wanted the young man to appreciate the anointing upon the Lord’s anointed. That is why he said to the young man, “Were you not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” You should be afraid to do anything negative to someone who is anointed.

If you do not value the anointing, it will not come near you. You will attract what you respect, what you cherish and what you value! Many people cherish education, nationality, societal status, wealth and a good family name. But they do not cherish the anointing. It is time for you to cherish what can make a difference in your life.

The anointing is the power of God that enables you to become something in the ministry. If you value the anointing, you will appreciate it, cherish it and attract it to yourself. Jesus became a powerhouse because He was anointed. You must remember that Jesus put on the form of a man. Jesus shed off His supernatural and superhuman abilities and took upon Himself the form of a mere man. A mere man is a weak, dishonourable and wretched person. When Jesus took up the form of a man, it was a great step of humility and sacrifice because few men have real dignity and purity.

It was necessary for Jesus to be anointed because He had taken up the form of a man. The anointing makes you super- human. The anointing makes you able to preach the gospel to the poor. Most of the world lives in poverty. Through the power of the anointing, you will be able to travel to where poor people live and minister Jesus to them.

Through the power of the anointing, you will be able to set the captives free.

Through the power of the anointing, you will be able to open the eyes of the blind.

Through the power of the anointing, you are able to proclaim amazing and great things that will come to pass.

The anointing is the God element in your life. The other elements of your life are your wretchedness, your humanness, your corruption, your weakness, your sins, your shortcomings, your false steps, your jealousies, your envies, your lusts and your unfounded pride.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luke 4:18

Jesus was extremely happy to announce that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him. Jesus was happy to announce that He was anointed. Jesus understood the value of the anointing. The anointing changed Jesus from a mere man into a super human being with supernatural powers that could not be explained by anything or anyone.

To be ready@20, you must value the anointing and understand its worth. King David knew what the anointing was worth because it had changed him. David knew what the anointing had done to Saul. The anointing had transformed Saul into a great king.

When you respect the anointing, you are ready for ministry. You are not ready for ministry until you cherish and value the anointing! You are not ready for greatness in God until you respect the anointing. King David was shocked that someone would dare to kill a king upon whom the anointing oil had been poured.

The anointing is the presence of God Himself. The anointing is the God element in you.

Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, AND SHALT BE TURNED INTO ANOTHER MAN.

1 Samuel 10:1-6

Seven Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the Anointed

1. You must not destroy the anointed because the anointing is what turns you into a captain and a leader of God’s people. Do not drive away what will turn you into a leader!

The Lord is anointing you to become a captain over God’s inheritance. The anointing makes you into a leader. If you touch the anointing, you are attacking the very thing that turns you into a leader.

Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because THE LORD HATH ANOINTED THEE TO BE CAPTAIN OVER HIS INHERITANCE?

1 Samuel 10:1

2. You must not attack the anointed because the anointing helps you to recover all that is lost. Do not drive away what will cause you to recover all that is lost.

No one goes through life without losing things. Today, through the power of God and the anointing of God, you will recover everything that was lost by your past foolishness!

When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

1 Samuel 10:2

3. You must not touch the anointed and the anointing because the anointing is the power which will make you advance and go forward in life and ministry.

Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:

1 Samuel 10:3

Do not drive away what will cause you to advance and go forward in ministry!

It is God who advances you in life. Without God, you will not make any progress and you will not step forward. “And Samuel said unto the people, IT IS THE LORD THAT ADVANCED MOSES and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Samuel 12:6).

4. You must not touch the anointed and his anointing because the anointing is what will cause people to salute, you, to honour you and to receive you. Do not drive away what gives you honour. Do not attack the very thing that makes people recognize and receive you. Do not bite the hand that is feeding you.

And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.

1 Samuel 10:4

If you look into your life, you will see that no one ever honoured or recognised you until you became a servant of God. It is your connection to the Lord that brings honour and recognition. If you disconnect from the anointing, you will never be recognised. Saul was saluted and honoured in a way he had never been before. This honour came to him because he had been freshly anointed.

5. You must not touch the anointing because it is the reason why you will have provision from God. Do not cut away the hand that is providing your needs. Do not pierce the fingers that are giving you your meals.

And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.

1 Samuel 10:4

When God anoints you with power to do His work, you also receive the financial power to accomplish His will. Financial power always goes along with the anointing to do exploits. If you are really anointed, you will notice that God sends the provision for you to do the exploits.

When you strike at the anointing you are striking at your wealth, your riches and your provisions. Do not rise up against the source of your well-being! Do not go mad just because you are angry! Do not let your anger turn you into a crazed and demonic version of what God has called you to be. Do not slice away the tender arms that are stretched out to care for you. Do not strike the very thing that blesses you with all that you need.

6. You must not touch the anointed because that is what puts you into the right company.

After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

1 Samuel 10:5

Saul joined the company of prophets because of the anointing on his life. He would never have had anything to do with prophets. Saul was very far from being a prophet. Through the power of God and the anointing, he suddenly found himself mixing with these amazing prophets of God. You will soon be walking in the right company because of the anointing of God on your life. Why would you attack something that takes you out of the company of licentious, wicked, immoral and perverted people and gives you a place amongst God’s prophets?

7. You must not attack the anointing and the anointed because that is what changes you and turns you into another man. Do not frighten the anointing away!

And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

1 Samuel 10:6

God is turning you into another man! Don’t you want to be transformed and made into a completely different person? Those who are ready@20 and value the anointing, will be transformed.

Even at your very young age you can see that you need transformation. Without the power of God, you are doomed! David was horrified that someone would be bold enough to touch an anointed person. David knew all too well that it was the anointing that made the difference in his life.

CHAPTER 19

Ready@20 to Be with Kings

And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; CHILDREN IN WHOM WAS NO BLEMISH, BUT WELL FAVOURED, AND SKILFUL IN ALL WISDOM, AND CUNNING IN KNOWLEDGE, AND UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and THE TONGUE OF THE CHALDEANS.

Daniel 1:3-4

Be ready@20 to be dwell with kings and nobility! The four children, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel were chosen to work closely and personally with the king. They needed to have special abilities in order to do that. It is not only old and wise people who are needed to work in the king’s palace.

Some kings have great respect for the young and believe that young people can add something substantial to their lives. The kings of Persia seemed to want the young children of Israel to come close to them.

Castrating the Jews was a way to take away their sexual drive as well as their drive for other things. But castrating them and turning them to eunuchs did not change their level of wisdom. The children of Israel were still intelligent and full of wisdom. There were seven things that these young children needed to have in order to work in the king’s palace. You are receiving these seven things right now. Become a young man who has the ability to work in the king’s palace. Be ready @20 to be a young man who has the ability to work in the king’s palace.

Seven Things Young People Need to Work in the King’s Palace

1. A young man without blemish. A blemish is something that destroys or diminishes the perfection of a thing. A blemish is a mark, a defect or a flaw that takes away from your appearance and your existence. In order to achieve the greatness that God wants you to achieve as a young person, you must remove from your life all blemishes. Think carefully about your life! What defect or flaw in your life would detract from your appearance? What is there about you that will destroy or diminish the perfection of your life? What moral blemish are you hiding in your life that will remove your shine and change who you are? It is important that as a young man you clear out of your life all moral defects and flaws.

2. A young man who is well favoured. A well-favoured person is someone who has done all the things to obtain favour. In order to be a man who is well-favoured, you need to be merciful and truthful. Without mercy you will lose favour. Without being truthful you will lose favour. “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.” (Proverbs 3:3-4)

3. A young man skilful in wisdom. You must become skilful in wisdom. Wisdom has to do with how you apply knowledge. How you apply all the things you have been taught reveals your wisdom.

4. A young man with knowledge. You must become a young man who is full of knowledge. Fight hard to become a man of knowledge filled with understanding. Think of cabbage heads in a garden. They know nothing. They are filled with nothingness. The cabbage heads are only good for eating in your cabbage stew. As a young man, you must ensure that your head is worth more than a cabbage head in a vegetable garden.

5. A young man who understands science. You must be a man of science. Do not fall asleep when scientific discussions are taking place. A failure to learn new things reveals that you are not a man of science. I notice how some people spring to life when a little gossip is injected into the conversation. They sort of come alive because there is a mention of some sleazy story. It is very noticeable to me. Yet, such people fall asleep when there is something scientific being discussed.

6. A young man who can be close to the king. The ability to be close is an important characteristic for your ministry. Many people cannot be close to the king. They would immediately become familiar. Some would be offended by what they see. Some would speak against the king because they see his personal life. Some would criticize! Some would take pictures and send to their friends. Some would develop a severe problem of familiarity and be unable to receive wisdom and guidance from the king any longer.

Judas’ closeness to Jesus did not help him. Seeing Jesus at close range made Judas think that he could betray Him and get away with it. If Judas had been afar off, he would have just been awed by Jesus’ greatness. Perhaps Judas overheard Jesus discussing His death on the cross. Judas probably misunderstood these discussions. Judas thought that he would simply cash in on Jesus’ crucifixion. When you do not have the ability to be close to the king, you easily misunderstand what you see and hear.

7. A young man who can learn languages. A young man must be someone who can learn languages. Older people struggle to learn languages. Young people are quickly birthed into new languages. You must become a young man who is ready to flow in two, three and even four different languages. I am always impressed when I meet people who can speak several different languages fluently.

CHAPTER 20

Ready@20 to Be Sober

YOUNG MEN likewise exhort to be sober minded.

Titus 2:6

Be ready@20 to be sober! A sober person is controlled by the Holy Spirit. From today, nothing will control you except the Holy Spirit!

It is important to be sober! God wants to control you Himself. God does not want anything else to be in control of you. A sober person is not under the influence of anything or anyone. Unfortunately, many young people are under the influence of something other than God.

In this chapter, you will learn that God is fighting to take control of your life. He wants to own you! He wants to possess you! He does not want any of the usual influences to have any sway over your feelings, over your emotions and over your mind.

A sober person is marked by the seriousness and solemnity that characterize the ministry of a priest. A sober minded person has self-control. A sober minded person is free from the excesses that come from being under the control of something evil.

God has called us all to be kings and priests (Revelation 1:6). When you are ready@20, you are ready to live in such a way that you are always sober and not under the influence of alcohol, drugs, women, men or any other evil.

What It Means to be Sober

1. To be sober means that you are not under the influence of alcohol.

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Proverbs 23:29-32

Alcohol is a very common evil influence. I want you to believe that alcohol can lead you on a path of destruction.

Who has woes? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who has sorrow? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who has quarrels on end? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who has senseless talk? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who has been bitten by a snake? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who has been stung by a viper? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

Proverbs 23:33-35

Who is going to be attracted to strange women? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Whose heart will be corrupted and destroyed? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who will see hallucinations and think he is lying down in the midst of the sea or upon the top of a mast? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who will wake up and find out that he is feeling sick, even though he has no illness? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who will wake up and feel that he has been beaten, even though he cannot remember whether it really happened? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Who will wake up from drunkenness and immediately look for another drink? The one who is under the influence of alcohol!

Indeed, the Bible is warning all and sundry to be careful of alcohol. You never know whether you will become an alcoholic or not. It is like playing with a snake. You may watch a snake handler play with a snake. But when you try playing with that snake, you may be bitten and die within twenty minutes. Alcohol is demons in solution! Don’t drink a solution of demons! Beware of danger!

You can live without drinking alcohol and not miss it. It is possible to live your life without drinking any alcohol at all. Drinking alcohol is an evil that you should not entertain. It is an evil that may grow in you and destroy you one day. When I was in secondary school, we had a teacher who was a drunkard. Everyone knew that this teacher had a great problem with drinking. His brother was a man of God who lived his life by preaching and teaching the word of God. When our teacher died of alcoholism, it shook me. I realised that he had been killed by this terrible habit. Perhaps, he started out thinking that he could control himself; but he ended up being consumed by this evil influence.

Today is the last day that you will give yourself to this evil! You are set free from alcoholism and other wicked bondages!

2. To be sober means you are not under the influence of drugs.

All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

1 Corinthians 6:12

Be sober! Be ready @20! You must not be under the influence of anything. You must not be brought under the power of anything evil. You are set free from the power of drugs. Be careful of anything that is addictive. It seeks to bring you under its power! It seeks to control you! Do not let anyone deceive you. Marijuana is a commonly used addictive drug that has been legalised in some countries. Marijuana is a well-known cause of schizophrenia. Cocaine is also well known for its evil effects. There are prescription drugs like pethidine which are dangerous because you can be addicted to them for life.

You must have a proper respect for drugs. An experiment was carried out in which some rats were turned into cocaine addicts by feeding them constantly with food mixed with cocaine. The rats became cocaine addicts and were kept in a room and starved of both cocaine and food. When the rats were released after some weeks of starvation, the rats that had not eaten for a long time, were offered food and cocaine. These rats, which had not eaten for three weeks, did not go near the food but rather went to the cocaine. They were more interested in having the cocaine than in eating. This experiment showed how addictive cocaine is. Today marks the end of your cocaine habit! The power of God sets you free from the demons of addiction!

Addictive drugs are things that young people experiment with. There are many people who have experimented with drugs and ended up on the rubbish dump of life.

Many years ago, there was a pile of heavy plywood in my father’s backyard. One day I decided to pull them out and see how many of them I could support with my hand. Each one I added increased the weight that I was bearing up with my hands. When I added the last one, I realised that I could no longer bear the weight of the heavy plywood. It was coming down on top of me. So I jumped away from the wood as fast as I could. The wood came crashing to the ground but my foot did not escape. I almost lost my toe in this accident. Why did I have this accident? Because I was trying to see how many pieces of plywood I could support with my hands. I always remember this experiment and accident and tell myself I do not want to find out how strong I am anymore!

Why do you want to find out how strong you are? Why do you want to tempt providence? Do you not realise that you may cross over and become an alcoholic or a drug addict whose life is destroyed?

I once met a young man who had a great future before him. God had called him and he was busy preaching and teaching the word of God. Unfortunately, he had gotten himself involved with some drugs. Instead of his life going towards the destiny God had called him to, he spent all his time, effort and money trying to free himself from these terrible drugs. Drugs are chemical demons. Every time you inject yourself or administer any of these addictive things, you are injecting yourself with evil spirits.

3. To be sober means you are not under the influence of lust.

With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

Proverbs 7:21-27

To be sober is to be free from outside influences that direct, manipulate and guide you. Any girl who is under the influence of a man is not sober. Any boy who is under the influence of a girl is not sober.

In the story above, you will see how the strange woman is able to persuade a young man to come with her to her house. With charm, with her voice charged with sexual feelings, sexual moves, sexual sounds, sexual expressions of desire and a sexual touch, she would lead you to destruction. You must not be under the influence of lust. When you sense that you are experiencing strong desires for a woman or a man you must run away from it. Nowhere in the Bible are you taught to fight lust. We are taught to flee from lust.

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

2 Timothy 2:22

Lust is an animal desire for sexual indulgence. You must have a proper respect for your animal instincts and desires. The whole of creation has these instincts and desires. It is these instincts and desires that drive reproduction and ensure the populations of animals are kept at certain levels. If you do not respect these animal instincts they will overwhelm you, override you and lead you away from God’s plan for your life.

All human beings are born with these sexual desires. When you are young, you are most fertile and also most filled with lusts and desires for sex.

When a woman is filled with lust for a man, it will influence your thinking and she will not take the right decisions. When a man is filled with lust for a girl, he will not take the right decisions about life. This is why young people are supposed to keep themselves from influences that steal them away from the influence of the Holy Spirit.

These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Revelation 14:4

You will notice in this scripture that people who are not defiled by women are able to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. The presence of a woman will surely influence a man. All men are influenced by women! All women are influenced by men! Women defile men by taking away their ability to follow the Holy Spirit. In the scripture above, you see that those who are able to follow the Lamb are those who are not defiled by women. Make sure that you are not defiled by women!

Today marks the end of the defilement of your ministry with the spirit of lust and animal desires!

4. To be sober means you are not under the influence of money.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:9-10

Anyone with the love of money is not sober. God is raising up people who are ready@20 and who will be free from the influence of money. Perhaps you do not understand why the love of money is called the root of all evil. The love of money is called the root of all evil because it is the root of all evil!

There is hardly any problem that does not have its root in money or the love of money. Would you like to have a building with an evil root under the building? Would you like to have a garden with a large cobra living in the middle of the lawn? Certainly not! That is an evil root! You must uproot all evil roots from your life! You must not allow the desire for money to grow in you!

It is important to understand the eight different evils that can befall you because you have a strong desire for money.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:9-10

1. Who are those who are going to fall into a snare? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

2. Who are those who are going to fall into temptation? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

3. Who are those who are going to fall into foolish lusts? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

4. Who are those who are going to fall into hurtful lusts? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

5. Who are those whose ministries are going to drown in destruction? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

6. Who are those whose ministries are going to drown in perdition? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

7. Who are those who are going to err from the faith? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

8. Who are those who are going to pierce themselves with many sorrows? Those who love money and those who are under its influence!

CHAPTER 21

Ready@20 to Be Submitted

Likewise, ye YOUNGER, SUBMIT YOURSELVES UNTO THE ELDER. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

1 Peter 5:5

You must be ready@20 to be submitted! Many young people are filled with the spirit of rebellion. They are not happy to submit to authority. In these last days, God is raising you up as someone who is ready to submit to authority. Instead of being one of the rebellious youth in the world, you will be one of the young people who are mature enough to be submitted to authority.

Submission is not an evil thing. Submission is not an evil word. Those who do not understand submission make it out to be evil and therefore rise up against it. Satan is the author of rebellion! Satan is the one who accuses and attacks God! Satan is the accuser of the brethren! Satan is the one who rises up against established authority! Satan stirs up people to hate authority! It is satan who has given submission a bad name!

There is nothing wrong with the concept of submission. In these last days, many young people are going to flow with the idea of being submitted. Satan has stirred up wives to become rebellious against their husbands. Many Christian wives are in rebellion to their husbands’ ideas and ways of doing things. Many assistant and associate pastors are stirred up by satan to rise up against the authority of their senior pastor. The inability to submit is the reason for the disloyalty and confusion in many churches.

Instead of young people being the best example of proud and unsubmissive people, those who are ready@20 will become well known for their good flow and their submission.

What exactly does it mean to submit?

What It Means to be Submissive

1. To submit is to bow:

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Romans 14:11

Proud people will not bow! Big people cannot bow! Those who are ready@20 are ready to bow, ready to bend their knees in submission. To bow to someone is to salute, to give reverence and to give recognition to the person.

Those who are ready@20 will be ready to recognise and acknowledge those who are ahead of them. There is a generation that does not acknowledge the greatness of all the people whom God has used. They do not acknowledge the power of God. They do not want to submit to the great things that God has done. Soon, a powerful generation of submissive young men will arise and acknowledge the great things God is doing through others. By acknowledging what God has used others to do, they will catch the anointing.

When Napoleon invaded Russia, he desperately needed King Alexander of Russia to bow down and submit to him. Unfortunately, when Napoleon invaded Moscow, no one came to receive him or make any arrangements for the takeover of the city. When a victorious general conquered a city, the civil authorities would customarily present themselves at the gate of the city with keys to the city and make arrangements for the accommodation and feeding of the invading soldiers.

The king of the conquered city was expected to bow to the victorious general but King Alexander was nowhere to be found. This denied Napoleon of a traditional victory in which the king would bow to him. Instead of submitting to Napoleon, most of the population, including Alexander the king were nowhere to be found. The Russians opened the doors of the prisons, setting all the prisoners free. Then, they set fire to the city and burned down eighty per cent of the city of Moscow.

As Napoleon sat there in the ruins and ashes of Moscow, with no prospect of King Alexander coming to bow down to him, he had no other option but to withdraw his troops and return to France. The Russians had refused to bow down to Napoleon and therefore had refused to submit themselves to him. He could reign over ashes if he wanted to.

2. To submit is to flow:

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Isaiah 60:4-5

In these last days, many young people will be ready to flow along. Those who are ready@ 20 will flow along the stream of the Holy Spirit. To flow means to move steadily in a stream. Flowing brothers and sisters will fill the church. Someone who is flowing will circulate and easily move from one nation to another to do the work of God.

Open your heart and become a flowing person because young people are far more ready to keep moving. In marriage, those who are ready@ 20 will be constantly moving. They will not lie in bed like dead bodies freshly brought from the mortuary for a wakekeeping service. Keep moving because you are not dead. Being submissive and flowing means you are circulating and moving.

3. To submit is to yield:

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Romans 6:13

Those who are ready@ 20 will yield. To yield is to give up as to a superior power or authority. Young people will recognize that there are higher authorities that are worth submitting to and yielding to. Many older people are not prepared to give in to a higher authority. Unsubmissive people have arguments that last for hours. They have meetings that go on and on. Indeed, younger people must have the wisdom that comes from above and is easy to be entreated. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). Begin to walk in the wisdom of submission. Begin to be easy to be entreated. Begin to yield yourself!

4. To submit is to agree:

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Amos 3:3

Be ready@20 to agree! Indeed, no two people can flow together unless they are agreed on many things. Also, no two people can agree together unless one of them is submitted to the other.

In a home where the parents do not agree on issues, it is because there is no submission. The presence of opposing arguments and disagreeing partners is evidence that submission does not exist. Most Christian wives will say that they are submissive but this is how to catch them out. The fact that there is disagreement all the time is the greatest evidence that there is a wife who is not submissive. As the years go by, the topics that are discussed in a home where there is no submission become fewer and fewer because there are fewer and fewer topics where there is agreement.

God is raising up young people who are going to be filled with the grace of agreement.

5. To submit is to say, “Yes”:

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; AND I DENIED HIM NOT.”

1 Kings 20:7

Saying, “Yes” is a great sign of submission. When King Benhadad of Syria came to Israel, he requested to have the king of Israel’s wives, children, silver and gold. The king of Israel said “Yes” to all the requests of Benhadad, king of Syria. By not denying the requests of Benhadad, the king of Israel was submitting to the king of Syria. There should have been no war because the king of Israel had submitted by not saying “No.” Saying “Yes” is always a sign of submission. A proud person will say “No” and it will open the door for a war to determine who is stronger and who is greater.

Many proud people never say, “Yes.” Their reflex response is “No!” They seem to say “No” to everything!

“No” to going out!

“No” to staying at home!

“No” to the new idea!

“No” to the new suggestion!

“No” to joining the church!

“No” to being happy!

“No” to going out for lunch!

“No” to cooking at home!

“No” to having sex once!

“No” to having sex twice!

“No” to having fun!

“No” to watching a film!

“No” to eating now!

“No” to eating hot food!

“No” to eating cold food!

“No” to sleeping early!

“No” to sleeping late!

“No” to changing the dress!

“No” to wearing the same dress!

“No” to wearing different shoes!

“No” to wearing the same shoes!

“No” to wearing a wig!

“No” to changing the hairstyle!

“No” to hurrying up!

“No” to tidying up!

“No” to working faster!

“No” to getting someone to help!

“No” to sacking someone!

“No” to the disciplinary measures!

“No” to pardoning the sin!

“No” to instituting punishment!

“No” to the time of starting work!

“No” to the closing time!

“No” TO EVERYTHING!

Watch out for those who never flow and never say “Yes.” It may seem like a difference in opinion but it is actually a revelation of a non-submissive spirit. A lack of submission is a revelation of rebellion against authority. Rebellion against authority is a revelation of satan’s presence.

Remember that most of satan’s activities are subtle and well thought out. Satan beguiled Eve through his subtlety. Subtlety is a big characteristic of satan. Slow, gentle, not easy to detect steps are always taken when satan is raising up a deceptive scheme against you.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:3

Satan rarely has a one-step plan. His deceptions are huge and take many years to implement. The western world did not turn away from God in one day. The western world has turned away from God over hundreds of years. In the name of science and with cleverly crafted statements, millions of people have been turned away from God. This process of turning away from God was so subtle that it was not noticed when it was happening.

6. To submit is to accept:

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

Luke 4:24

A prophet is not accepted in his own country because people are not going to submit to someone they know so well. When a prophet arrives in his own country, people begin to size him up and soon they declare him unfit and unqualified to lead them, to inspire them and to speak to them. “Who are you? We do not accept you. We do not accept carpenters who turn themselves into self-appointed prophets!” (Luke 4:22).

Your ability to accept someone depends on your ability to submit to him.

When you do not accept certain things, it is because of your pride. Acceptance is a revelation of your humility. In life, you will be forced to accept many things. You will be forced to accept things that you do not like. You will be forced to accept many things that God brings your way. Your submission to the will of God will be tested by your ability to accept certain things.

Marriage brings you closest to the concept of acceptance. Through marriage, you will be brought to your knees and made to accept the temperaments, ways, behaviour and lifestyle of your partner.

Your partner may be unspiritual and you will be forced to accept it . Your partner may be rebellious and you may be forced to accept it. Your partner may be a poor performer and you will be forced to accept it. Accepting all these will reveal the extent to which you are submissive.

7. To submit is to bend:

The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 60:14

Bending is a sign of submission. Being flexible is a sign of submission and humility. When you bend over, you agree with someone that he is victorious and you are not. Bowing almost always goes along with bending.

In the last days, many will be ready to bend over so that they can do the will of God. Proud people cannot bend. Young people are going to be happy in their marriages because they have flexible wives who bend and bow with ease.

In the last days a new generation of bending, bowing, flowing, yielding children are going to rise up to do the work of God.

CHAPTER 22

Ready@20 to Avoid Deceiving and Lying

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

BUT PETER SAID, ANANIAS, WHY HATH SATAN FILLED THINE HEART TO LIE TO THE HOLY GHOST, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? WHY HAST THOU CONCEIVED THIS THING IN THINE HEART? THOU HAST NOT LIED UNTO MEN, BUT UNTO GOD. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

AND THE YOUNG MEN AROSE, WOUND HIM UP, AND CARRIED HIM OUT, AND BURIED HIM.

And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: AND THE YOUNG MEN CAME IN, AND FOUND HER DEAD, AND, CARRYING HER FORTH, BURIED HER BY HER HUSBAND.

Acts 5:1-10

The young men in the early church grew to fear the telling of lies and the creation of deceptions, falseness, pretence and hypocrisy. They saw the judgment that befell men and women of deceit.

Most people do not fear lying and deception! Telling lies almost seems second nature to many people. In the story above, the young men had the unfortunate privilege of watching two church members die suddenly and prematurely for telling lies to the pastor. God allowed this to happen in front of the young men so that they would put away deception forever. Every time you tell a lie, you accept a demon into your life. The more deception there is in your life, the more demons are present.

What is worse than Judas? The devil, of course! It is the devil that turned Judas into what he was. What is the difference between Judas and the devil? With Judas you see someone who was brought close and was trusted at the highest level, who turned against his master in a shocking twist.

I can tell you that there is something worse than Judas. And that is the devil! The devil is a liar and a murderer! All liars have the devil or demons working through them. The devil is the father of lies. Every lie and every deception is the product of demonic activity.

Someone who has devils in him is full of lies and deception. There is nothing real about the person! Everything about the person is deception, lies and falseness. No words of demonized people can ever be trusted. If the person tells you, “I love you” you must think of “I hate you.” If the person is a woman, do not be surprised if she comes one day to inform you that she is actually a man. With such people, you can only believe when the person says “Good morning” or “Good evening” because you can look outside and see what time of day it is.

It is good that as a young man you learn to fear the telling of lies, the making of dishonest things and the creation of deceptions. You must practically hate all forms of lying and deception, no matter how mild or harmless they seem. Can you imagine the effect this event had on the young men who carried out the dead bodies of Ananias and Sapphira? Certain events happen before your eyes to teach you the greatest lessons of your life and ministry.

In the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira, God has forever shown His attitude and judgment towards deceptions, falseness, pretence, lying, dishonesty and cheating. All these things are of satan. (Similarly, in the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, God has eternally showed His attitude towards sexual perversion - Genesis 18:20; 19:12-17, 24-25).

In your course as a leader, you will see a lot of lies, pretence and deception. This is because sin and wickedness need something to cover them up. Every wicked activity needs darkness to thrive. No matter the sin, there is usually some form of deception somewhere. You must fight the liars and deceivers around you! You must fight to shine light where people want to live in pockets of darkness. Always remember that liars hate you. Anyone who lies to you does not love you. Every liar is at war with you! Everyone who lies to you has declared war against you and therefore you must also go to war against them.

A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

Proverbs 26:28

You must curse the presence of liars, deceivers and traitors in your life so that they cannot flourish in your midst. The curse on liars and deceivers in your midst is biblical.

Lying and deception is a spiritual and demonic work and all demonic works in your life are cursed. You must fight extremes with extremes. Notice the curse upon all liars and deceivers in your life. The curse on liars flies into every house, consuming even the timber and the stones.

He told me, “This book is the verdict going out worldwide against thieves and liars. The first half of the book disposes of everyone who steals; the second half takes care of everyone who lies. I launched it ‘—Decree of GOD of the Angel Armies—’ and so it will fly into the house of every thief and every liar. It will land in each house and tear it down, timbers and stones.”

Zechariah 5:3-4 (MSG)

You must also fight against lies and deception in yourself. You must fight the stages of lying and deception all the time. Do not allow the enemy to deceive you into the smallest and lowest aspects of lying. Let us quickly go through the stages of lying.

Stages of Lying

1. STAGE ONE OF LYING AND DECEPTION: NOT LOVING THE TRUTH

Not loving the truth is the first dangerous stage in the journey of deception. You begin lying by not loving the truth. Loving the truth at all costs is your great protection from deception. All those who do not really love the truth can and will fall into deception. The scripture below tells us that strong delusions descend on people because they do not have “the love of the truth”. It is not just important to know the truth or to speak the truth but to actually love the truth. A righteous man hates lying from the bottom of his heart. “A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.” (Proverbs 13:5)

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because THEY RECEIVED NOT THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them STRONG DELUSION, that they should believe a lie:

2 Thessalonians 2:9-11

2. STAGE TWO OF LYING AND DECEPTION: WITHHOLDING INFORMATION

The next stage of lying is withholding information. Withholding information is a kind of deception. You are guilty by association of the evil that you are hiding. Whenever there is an uprising against a government, all those who knew about the conspiracy are considered guilty for aiding and abetting the treachery. Withholding information is a way of conniving, aiding, encouraging, backing, assisting and supporting evil. Notice how Mordecai was rewarded for not withholding the information about the king’s assassins. People who withhold information are dangerous enemies.

On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.

Esther 6:1-3

3. STAGE THREE OF LYING AND DECEPTION: GIVING MISLEADING INFORMATION

Another stage in lying and deception is giving misleading information. In this case, a person will say things that take your mind away from the issue. I remember sitting with a liar who began to describe the sins of another person. This completely took my mind in the wrong direction and successfully led me astray. Watch out for people who give you information that mislead you from the truth. Experienced liars are clever, deceitful and wicked.

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,

1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)

4. STAGE FOUR OF LYING AND DECEPTION: SELF DECEPTION

Many people live in self-deception. When there is longstanding deception, people tell themselves lies and also believe their own lies. Whilst they are doing bad things, they actually believe they are doing good things.

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, DECEIVING YOUR OWN SELVES.

James 1:21-22

5. STAGE FIVE OF LYING AND DECEPTION: TELLING OUTRIGHT LIES

Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.

Proverbs 12:22

These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Proverbs 6:16-17

6. STAGE SIX OF LYING AND DECEPTION: LYING WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE

When the conscience is seared, the person speaks and lies without batting an eyelid. They speak lies are as though they are breathing. Their lies are part of their breath. Their lies are as effortless as their breathing. Watch out for those whose lies are like breathing exercises!

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

1 Timothy 4:1-2

7. STAGE SEVEN OF LYING AND DECEPTION: LIVING AND ACTING A LIE WHICH IS HYPOCRISY

Just as preaching can have signs and wonders following it, lies can have “signs and lying wonders”. A “lying wonder” is an act or an event that helps the deception to be established.

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and LYING WONDERS, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2 Thessalonians 2:9-11

I remember a brother who stamped his feet, cursed himself and hit his chest as he lied to me. He asked that he should be struck dead if he was lying. He actually asked that God should afflict him a “stroke” if he was lying. I immediately believed all the lies he had told me. For someone to stamp his feet, curse himself and hit his chest so hard that it sounded like the bass drum in the church, I thought to myself, “He must be telling the truth. He can only be telling the truth.”

When liars develop in their deceptions, they actually start acting out their lies. For instance, a person who has a bad marriage will constantly put on a show to demonstrate a good marriage. He will hold hands in public and say how much he loves his wife. All the while, as he is holding hands and making amazing love speeches, he is secretly loving someone else.

Hypocrisy simply means acting. Indeed, in the olden days, actors were called hypocrites. When film stars were not around, people would say, “The hypocrites are not around.” When they did not have enough actors, they would say, “We do not have enough hypocrites for today’s show.”

Hypocrites are advanced liars who simply act out certain things in order to confirm and authenticate their lies.

8. STAGE EIGHT OF LYING AND DECEPTION: HYPOCRISY WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE

The highest level of hypocrisy is where the entire life of a person is fake. This is where duplicity comes in. Duplicity is the art of living in two worlds. Duplicity is the art of having two different personalities in one person. This double-faced individual successfully moves in and out from one group to the other. Duplicity is something you will see in the church. It is the art of being dual. Two in one! This is the betrayer! This is the serpent!

Every time you touch the person, you are touching the triangular head of a brown Gaboon viper. The Gaboon viper was originally discovered in Gabon. White settlers initially thought it was harmless because it lay still for so long and slept endlessly. Little did they know that it was one of the most venomous snakes in the world. So is the liar in your midst! Initially he looks sleepy and harmless. With time, you discover the great danger you are in because you allow the serpent to flourish around you.

Every time you “caress the head” of this double-dealing dual man or woman of duplicity, you are stroking the head of a giant king cobra. Some people are serpents! Some people have serpents in them. Some people are serpents inside! All in all, you are dealing with the serpent! The liar! The deceiver! The false one! The subtle, crafty minister of righteousness who is actually the devil himself! You are dealing with the devil in a suit. You are dealing with Lucifer in a pretty dress. You are dealing with the ancient serpent hiding behind that appealing presentation. May you be saved from becoming such a monster! May you be delivered from the purposes, plans and goals of the lying, silent serpent in your life and ministry!

Spies have to live out their entire lives as though they were someone else. This is lying of the highest order. Most films last for just two hours. After two hours, the actors can come back to their real lives. In church, however, there are people who completely live out their lives as someone else, like spies do.

I once had a pastor who had two families. Each family did not know the other family existed. Each wife did not know that the other wife existed. This pastor successfully deceived everyone and would travel in between the two cities without anyone knowing why he was travelling. He would give a lame duck story and leave one family to visit the other family. Then he would give a cock and bull story to one wife and leave to visit the other family. His whole life was a lie. He lived comfortably in the midst of deception. He had a pleasing face and an appealing look. As he cooked up stories to get more money to buy goods for the church at twice the price, we had no idea that we were looking at the devil in the flesh.

Anytime you meet the devil in the flesh, you will see lies, deception, falseness, fake things, trickery, dishonesty, duality, doubleness and duplicity.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Matthew 23:25-28

9. STAGE NINE OF LYING AND DECEPTION: DECEIVING A LOT OF PEOPLE; WHOLE FAMILIES, THE WHOLE WORLD

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 12:9

Liars are ranked by how many people they are able to deceive. Most people deceive a few people. There are always some people who know the truth. The “dragon” is ranked as the greatest liar of all time because he is able to deceive the whole world. Today, you must ask yourself what rank of a liar you are.

I once met a brother who almost matched the dragon’s rank. Everyone in his world was deceived by him. He had successfully deceived his wife, his children, his church, his relatives, his brothers, his sisters, his friends and every other person who ever knew him. I thought to myself, “This brother is challenging the dragon himself.” Watch out that you do not cross into stage nine of lying and deception. The end of the dragon will be your end when you reach this stage of deception.

10. STAGE TEN OF LYING AND DECEPTION: LYING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

Acts 5:3-5

Lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God. God knows you are lying before you start speaking. Ananias and Sapphira died immediately when they lied to the Holy Spirit. It is important that you do not tell lies to the Lord’s anointed. You can never tell when the judgment of Ananais and Sapphira will fall on the next liar.

As a pastor, I have had a number of people lying to me, just like they lied to Peter. All of these liars are alive and well today. I am sure that I am not as anointed as Peter was. I am sure that the anointing that was in the early church was much stronger then than it is today in my ministry. However, it is still dangerous to lie to the Lord’s anointed. You never know when the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira will manifest itself again!

CHAPTER 23

Ready@20 to See Visions

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Acts 2:17

You must be ready@20 to see visions! Young people are supposed to see visions. When you are ready@20, you will be filled with visions and dreams from the Holy Spirit.

Having visions and dreams can be compared to speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues and prophesying are the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. However, you will notice that the prophecy of the Holy Spirit does not mention speaking in tongues but rather, having visions and dreams.

A young person who is ready @20 to serve the Lord must be filled with visions from the Lord. You must believe in visions and you must set your heart on them.

And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and SET THINE HEART UPON ALL THAT I SHALL SHEW THEE; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 40:4

The first reason for visions for young people is for them to set your heart on certain things that God is showing them. In this amazing scripture, Ezekiel is told to set his heart on the vision that God had given him. You must ponder on the things that God shows you. You will see dimly!

Do not expect to see things clearly! When you get to heaven you will see clearly! For now, you are expected to make do with the hazy pictures that you see. CCTV cameras often show a hazy picture of things. Those who are used to looking at these pictures get used to the poor picture quality and are able to identify important things that help in security. Similarly, you must get used to the poor picture quality of the visions we have on earth.

God has decided that the visions and dreams that you see will have a poor quality; so that only those with a real zeal for God can find out what they mean.

The second reason for visions for young people is so that they will declare all the will of God and accomplish His purpose on earth. Notice what the scripture says:

And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: DECLARE ALL THAT THOU SEEST TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.

Ezekiel 40:4

You must declare all that you see! You must do all that God shows you!

Two Types of Visions for Young People

1. “Visions of the Night” for those who are ready@20

These are experiences that you have whilst you are sleeping. A vision of the night is also called a dream. Visions of the night are critical for your ministry. You will not go far without dreams and visions of the night. Many people despise dreams! Dreams are considered to be lower experiences that many carnal people also have. Perhaps the greatest warning against this kind of thinking is found in the life of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Joseph had three significant dreams in which he was directed to accept Mary as his wife. He was also directed by a vision to escape to Egypt and also to come back to live in Nazareth. It is important that you accept dreams as an important part of the spiritual guidance for your life.

NOW A THING WAS SECRETLY BROUGHT TO ME, AND MINE EAR RECEIVED A LITTLE THEREOF. IN THOUGHTS FROM THE VISIONS OF THE NIGHT, WHEN DEEP SLEEP FALLETH ON MEN, Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying...

Job 4:12-16

According to Job, God speaks in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on you. During these visions of the night, you see spirits and interact with the spirit world. There are times God will ask you to go to bed so that He can speak to you. There are times God will cause you to sleep so that He can speak to you.

When you wait on God, you will discover that times of deep sleep are not necessarily times of rest but also times of deep communication with God. Paul had a vision of the night like this, when he saw a man calling him to come to Macedonia.

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

Acts 16:9

2. “Visions of the Day” for those who are ready@20

“On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate” (Acts 10:9-17).

In visions of the day, God will show you a picture and speak to you as He would speak with you in a vision of the night. When this happens during the day, your senses may be suspended for a while. Visions of the day are more memorable and you will remember them better.

Usually, visions of the day are important for your direction in the ministry. As you can see, Apostle Peter was directed on what to do in the ministry. Very soon, God will be giving you a vision that will guide your whole life and ministry.

I once had a vision in which I saw a man asking me to hold crusades and pray for the sick. I was wide awake sitting in my study when I received this amazing direction for my life and ministry.

I also received a vision one day whilst sitting in my chair. I asked about how I could be fruitful. Suddenly, I saw a hand holding a book. I was stunned! The Holy Spirit was telling me the books would be the way to bear much fruit. I suddenly knew that I should spend a lot of time and energy to bear fruit through the books.

You are going to have many visions and dreams!

Today marks the beginning of a flood of visions that you are about to receive!

CHAPTER 24

Ready@20 to Avoid Foolishness

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And THE YOUNGER of them said to his father, Father, GIVE ME THE PORTION of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into A FAR COUNTRY, and there WASTED HIS SUBSTANCE with RIOTOUS LIVING. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

And he went and JOINED HIMSELF TO A CITIZEN OF THAT COUNTRY; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with THE HUSKS THAT THE SWINE DID EAT: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Luke 15:11-24

Seven Types of Foolishness You Can Avoid When You Are Ready@20

You must be ready@20 to avoid foolishness! In the story of the prodigal son, we see a younger foolish son behaving very badly. He manifested seven types of foolishness that you should avoid in your life and ministry!

Every young man has the same tendencies of the young man in the story of the prodigal son. It is important for every young person who is ready@20 to focus on avoiding these particular types of foolishness.

1. The foolishness of asking for things prematurely.

Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. YOUR GRAPES WILL NOT FALL FROM THE VINE BEFORE THEY ARE RIPE,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Malachi 3:11 (NLT)

The prodigal son asked for his inheritance prematurely. This request for premature promotion triggered a chain reaction that led to his downfall.

Many young people seek to have things before they are due. The young man in this story wanted freedom and liberties long before they were due him. God is giving you wisdom to wait until you are qualified to enjoy certain things.

One day, a twenty-two year old young man graduated from our Bible school. He wanted to work in the ministry but he gave various conditions for his ministry. Among the conditions was that he wanted a house and a Land Cruiser. I was amazed at his demands and expectations.

Grapes are not supposed to fall from the vine just because they are ripe. When people demand things prematurely, they get destroyed. Demanding things prematurely reveals that you think of yourself more highly than you ought to. Demanding things prematurely reveals your presumption and your arrogance.

Years ago, when I was getting married, I spoke to my father and told him my requirements for marriage. I described an ideal house and other conditions I felt were essential for my marriage. He then proceeded to tell me how he had struggled in the early stages of his marriage. He described to me how he had only two chairs in the living room. He described how he and my mother would play musical chairs any time they had a visitor. Any time my mother came around, he would get up and go out to do something. When he came around, she would get up and go out to do something else. In this way, the two chairs were just enough to handle each visitor in a way that the visitor would not notice that there were only two chairs in the house.

I was surprised at how poor my father was when he got married. Indeed, I realised that I was presumptuous and arrogant in my expectations of how I wanted to start out in life.

When you start out in ministry, do not expect to have certain privileges. Do not make demands! Do not reveal your presumptuousness and your pride!

God is delivering you from opening your mouth and asking for things that you should never even mention.

2. The foolishness of separation from your father.

These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Jude 1:19

Many people seek to separate from their parents long before they should. In the ministry, you must be careful not to be separated from what you are supposed to be connected to. God did not create us to be islands on our own. We need one another.

Ignoramuses do not understand the value of being connected. Rebels are cursed to have dense and dark thoughts in which they often display stupidity of the highest order. Their sudden and rebellious separation is often the beginning of their undoing. Rebellious separatists are unraveled and condemned by their actions. All you need to do is to hold your peace when you see rebellious and ungrateful people manifesting their wickedness. They will be hanged by their own words! You cannot touch just everyone! You cannot touch fathers and get away with it!

Develop understanding and wisdom as a young man. To be ready@20 means you are full of wisdom and understanding. Wisdom and understanding will keep you connected! Thick, impenetrable and dense brains cannot understand why you should be connected and relate with others. The spirit of madness, folly and rebellion will urge you to separate yourself from your lifeline and from your source of oxygen. Receive the wisdom of the elderly to understand that everything you have will come through someone you are connected to.

3. The foolishness of being far away.

And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

Luke 15:13

The prodigal son decided to go into a far country. All through the Bible you will find God encouraging you to draw near to Him. Whilst God is encouraging you to draw near, satan is encouraging you to go far away. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (James 4:8).

Do not sit at the back! Do not hide yourself amongst the crowd. Do not allow yourself to be an unknown entity. Make sure the pastor knows your name. Make sure your lecturer knows your name. Sit in the front when you are in church. Sit in the front in class. Sit in the front during lectures. Be seen! Be visible! People who stand afar off and sit far away, are often practicing some kind of evil. They do not want to be seen. They do not want to be detected. They do not want to be noticed. They do not want anyone to detect when they come and when they go. You must be ready@20 to serve the Lord. No one should be able to describe you as someone who is far away.

Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

Jeremiah 2:5

4. The foolishness of riotous living.

And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living…

But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

Luke 15:13, 30

From today you are delivered from riotous living! Riotous living in this context has to do with having many girlfriends or boyfriends. Fooling around with the opposite sex is riotous living and that is exactly what destroyed the young man. Young people are more sexual than older people. The sexuality of a young person can lead him or her into destruction. Today, you are delivered from the foolishness of riotous living that happens when you are a young man. Even Apostle Paul admitted that he had lived an evil life following the desires of his flesh and his mind.

Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Ephesians 2:3

When Paul was converted to Christ, he put aside the foolish things that had possessed his mind and flesh in his youth. From today, you will be one of the unusual young men who will live their lives without indulging in evil and destructive sex!

One day, I spoke to a young man who enjoyed having sex with many different girls. I told him that he was creating a situation for himself in which he would be unable as a married man to live with one girl. When you develop a taste for having a different girl every other day, it becomes difficult to live happily ever after with one woman. Today marks the end of riotous living in your life! You will no longer take pride in the number of girls you have slept with! You will no longer boast about the number of ladies you have deflowered! To deflower a woman is to deprive her of her virginity. God forbid that you will be involved with such wickedness!

5. The foolishness of joining yourself to the world.

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

Luke 15:15

Unfortunately, many people who are in the ministry join themselves to the world system. The young man in the story of the prodigal son joined himself to a citizen of the country but that did not help him. The citizens of the country made things worse for him and made him grovel with pigs.

Worldly systems which encourage loans, mortgages, bonds, arrangements of all sorts will only make your finances worse than they already are. Worldly ways and worldly systems will only make you worse.

Learning to live within your means is a humble way of raising capital to fund the great things God is leading you to do. Do not believe the world systems! The world is charged with deception and falsehood. Almost everything in the world will go up in smoke as you trust and give yourself to it. Many banks give a false impression of stability and wealth! Many businesses are fake and empty! Many governments have no money! Do not trust the worldly systems. Trust in God. Young people must believe the word of God above every falsehood that exists.

6. The foolishness of eating the wrong things.

And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

Luke 15:16

The prodigal son ended up eating pig food. There is no way that he would do well and be healthy by eating pig food. Many ministers are eating pig food. Many ministers do not eat the right books. The books that people read and the messages that they listen to, determine the fruit that they bear. If you read certain books, you will become fruitful. Notice what Paul said:

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;

2 Corinthians 9:10

One day I was praying to increase the fruits that I was bearing in the Lord. The Lord directed me to this amazing scripture. Increase the seeds you invest in yourself and they will increase the fruits of your righteousness!

The scripture above gives an important revelation of the two uses of seeds. Half of the seeds are used to make bread and half of the seeds are sown as seed. The sower receives seed that he can sow as a seed! The sower also receives seed that he turns into his food! The seeds and food that the sower sows and eats are what enables him to bear the fruits of his righteousness. Today, you will increase in the fruits of your righteousness because you are increasing the seeds that you sow in yourself. Spend money to acquire the food that you need.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Isaiah 55:1-2

7. The foolishness of wasting opportunities.

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

Luke 15:11-13

The young man in the story of the prodigal son lost the opportunity to be the second in command in his father’s house. Many great things lay ahead of him yet he threw them all away. You will not lose the opportunities that God is giving you. Instead of losing and misusing your opportunities, you will make the best use of them!

What is an opportunity? An opportunity is a chance to serve the Lord. It is a chance to preach the Word! It is a chance to travel! It is an opportunity to give yourself to the purposes of God.

When I was twenty-five years old, I became the pastor of a small church in a classroom. I just had a few members in my little church. Everybody in my church was a very young person. I was probably the oldest person in the church. I did not despise my opportunity and I did not throw it away. That was my opportunity! That was my chance to serve the Lord! That was my chance to preach!

I did not say that twenty people were too small a number for me to preach to. It was everything to me and I embraced my opportunity wholeheartedly. My opportunity grew in my hands until that little classroom church was in over a hundred countries. What are you doing with your opportunity?

Once upon a time, a young man who had been with me for many years jumped out of the church and began to insult me. He was a bright young man and very talented. I felt sad, not because he was insulting me, but because he was destroying the great opportunities that lay ahead of him. He destroyed his life by jumping out of the boat.

One day, a pastor came to see me. I looked at his withered face in pity. I had trained him in the ministry and given him many great opportunities to serve the Lord. He used to live in a certain country but I helped him relocate to another country so that he could become a pastor.

In the other country that he used to live, he worked as an orderly and a chauffeur. Through the opportunity that I gave him, he became a well-known pastor. One day, it occurred to him that he had served me enough and that he needed to move on. Just like the prodigal son, he prematurely requested his inheritance and left the ministry.

After several years of this adventure, he was left with nothing. He had no ministry, no money, no congregation, no support, no church! Satan had led him to fulfil the prophetic story of the prodigal son. He had destroyed many lives and had been destroyed himself!

Dear friend, do not be deceived! The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Everything that Jesus taught was prophetic. Countless people fulfil the story of the prodigal son without realising what they are doing. It will never happen to you! You are changing levels and getting closer instead of getting further away from the truth. You are reading this book because you are going to be a good example of someone who is ready@20 to serve the Lord.

CHAPTER 25

Ready@20 to Think about Judgment

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and LET THY HEART CHEER THEE IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that FOR ALL THESE THINGS GOD WILL BRING THEE INTO JUDGMENT. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

You must be ready@20 to consider eternal judgment! In this amazing scripture, young people are encouraged to have fun and do whatever they want. However, they are warned about the judgments that will come on young people for the things they do.

Most young people do not think about judgment. “Let’s have a good time! Let’s party all night long! Let’s drink! Let’s eat! Let’s take our ease! Let’s hang out! Let’s have fun!”

Most young people do not think about the consequences of their actions. Indeed, most young people do not think about eternity. But you are going to be different! You are ready@20 to go to war for God! You are ready@20 to think about judgment. You are a different kind of young person whose heart and mind are fixed on God.

Once God has called you, your attention must turn towards judgment. It is your thoughts and concerns about judgment that change the way you behave.

When I was in secondary school, there were two types of students. There were those whose minds were fixed on the looming exams and there were many carefree students whose minds and hearts were fixed on the other activities that existed in the school.

In our school, you could play hockey, volleyball, football and cricket. Indeed, there were many extra-curricular activities. You could join the cadet corps, you could join the Scripture Union or you could go to the gym. There were also loads of athletics: hundred metres, four hundred metres, eight hundred metres, one thousand five hundred metres and five thousand metre races. We had the shot putt, javelin, long jump, triple jump and high jump. There was also a marathon race through the forest that was called the cross-country race. Indeed, many of us were engaged in all these amazing activities.

Unfortunately, all these activities did not contribute to our academic scores. Many of these activities only served to distract students from the judgment day, which is exam day. Unfortunately, there were no exams on one hundred and four hundred metre races. There were only exams in biology, chemistry, physics, maths, English, history, geography, etc. If your thoughts and attention did not turn towards biology, chemistry, maths, history, etc., you would be shocked on the day of examinations.

If your thoughts and attention do not turn towards the judgment day, you will live a carefree life and be shocked on the judgment day. Most young people are attracted to the extra-curricular activities of this life without taking thought to the Judgment Day that is looming.

Your readiness for the ministry is helped by you thinking about judgment. Thinking about death will always make you think about eternity and judgment. There are specific judgments that a young person must be concerned about.

1. Young people must be concerned about the judgments for a lustful and immoral life.

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

1 Corinthians 6:18

Immorality is a habit that starts from youth and grows with you into adulthood. Young people are filled with lusts. If you allow those lusts to consume you, you will become a depraved person. When you commit fornication, you sin against your own body. This means that you harm your body.

Fornication is a strike against your own body and your own life. You must think carefully about the judgments that come upon all those who toy with the idea of fornication. If you develop the habit of committing fornication as a young person, you will become an established adulterer in your old age. You will not have a stable marriage or a loving relationship. Through a lifestyle of fornication at an early age, you may be doomed to instability, uncertainty and immorality in the future.

2. Young people must be concerned about judgments for a lying and deceptive life.

What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Psalm 120:3-4

Lying and deception are habits that develop from youth. You must be ready@20 to be free from deception. The habits of lying and deception can stay with you until they have consumed you and destroyed everything about you. The judgment for lying and deception is a curse. All liars are subject to the curse of having “sharp arrows of the mighty” and “coals of juniper” poured on them. Whatever that means, it does not sound good. Avoid becoming a chronic and habitual liar. Fight the curse of becoming a deceiver. Do everything to prevent yourself from becoming a pretender, an actor and a hypocrite!

3. Young people must be concerned about judgments for disobedience.

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Hebrews 5:8

It is important for young people to learn about obedience. It takes a long time to discover that obedience is better than any other sacrificial effort you make. The judgment for disobedience can be found in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. There are almost sixty-eight verses of warnings about the curses that will befall those who disobey the Law. Instead of living a carefree life, those who are ready@20 begin to concern themselves with the judgments that will befall those who disobey the word of God.

4. Young people must be concerned about judgments in eternity.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:10

What will you do when you see Jesus face to face? Will He be pleased with you?

If you want Jesus to be pleased with you on Judgment Day, you must serve Him whilst you are young. When you are older, your mind will come to eternal judgment because eternity will be looming. It is unusual for a young person to think of death. It is unusual for a young person to think of eternal judgment. Most young people think that they will live forever.

If you are ready@20, you must keep your mind on eternal judgment. Keep thinking about the possibility of appearing suddenly in eternity.

One day I had an accident when I was driving to the northern part of Ghana. Our car somersaulted and we narrowly escaped death. I realised that I could have been in eternity without even knowing what had happened. The accident happened within a few seconds. One minute earlier everything was normal. The next minute we were upside down and almost dead.

From that time, I considered deeply the possibility of dying suddenly without being given any notice. I decided to live my life by always thinking of a sudden and unexpected departure from this earth. This thought has made me take many wise decisions for my life and ministry. I always thought about what would happen if I were not there. Through thoughts of judgment, my life and ministry were upgraded tenfold. Thoughts of judgment will not kill you. Preparing for eternity is not a sign of impending death. Always preparing for a sudden departure to eternity creates an unusual kind of wisdom that brings stability and wisdom to your life and ministry.

The Bible has given us the rules for eternal judgment. Those who will be cast outside into the lake of fire are clearly listed in the Bible. The fearful, the unbelieving, the idolaters and liars will all have their part in the lake of fire. Make sure that you do not allow any of these negative traits to grow in you until they take you away from heaven.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Revelation 21:8

CHAPTER 26

Ready@20 to Escape Captivity

The Lord is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: MY VIRGINS AND MY YOUNG MEN ARE GONE IN-TO CAPTIVITY.

Lamentations 1:18

You must be ready@20 to escape from all forms of captivity! A young man who is a captive cannot obey the Lord because he is bound to some other activity or cause. Young men who serve the Lord must not go into captivity. Captivity means that you cannot go free, even if you want to. When a young person is in captivity, he is imprisoned, enslaved and confined.

The anointing of the Lord is designed to set you free from captivity. It is very sad to see young people who are unable to serve the Lord because of one captivity or another.

If you are going to work for God, you must ensure that you escape all forms of captivity. Satan takes captives so that he can keep them on a leash. Satan wants to ensure that you never serve the Lord. Any form of captivity is demonic in origin. You must do whatever you can to be free from demonic captivity.

And that they may recover themselves out of THE SNARE OF THE DEVIL, who are taken captive by him at his will.

2 Timothy 2:26

A snare is something you touch with your foot and suddenly you cannot walk away any more. A snare is something you touch with your hand and suddenly you cannot pull it out any longer.

Be careful of things which do not allow you to move away any longer. God has called you so you will escape from the snare of the devil and you will not remain in captivity. It is not everything that has the power to capture you and keep you permanently tied to it; but there are certain things that take young people captive and hold them in bondage until death. Because God chooses young people to work for Him, satan marks them out for captivity. If he can keep them captive through their youth, he can ensure that they will never be a threat to his kingdom. Many dark practices can become sources of captivity.

Be careful you do not touch an area of sin from which you cannot return! Many people have tasted evil from which they cannot withdraw themselves.

Here are some of the common captivities that take hold of young people, rendering them useless to God.

Types of Captivity

1. The captivity of narcotic drugs. Narcotic drugs will not allow you to escape from them. Addiction to these drugs is well known. Drugs like cocaine and heroin are the best examples of drugs that can take you captive.

2. The captivity of prescription drugs. Some prescription drugs will never allow you to escape from them. Drugs like Pethidine, which are given to relieve pain, have become sources of captivity.

3. The captivity of alcohol. Alcohol may seize you, take you captive and not allow you to escape from it again. I have watched people die from their captivity to alcohol. Perhaps, alcohol did not grab your friend tightly, so you felt you could play with it as well. Alcohol may seize you in such a way that you will never be free from it. Alcohol has become a source of captivity for many people in many parts of the world.

4. The captivity of nicotine. Nicotine will not allow you to escape from it. It may hold your hand and that will be it! Cigarette smoking is something that people cannot stop, in spite of the warnings about how smoking kills. The captivity forces them to stay on.

5. The captivity of marijuana. Do not toy with marijuana! Marijuana will not allow you to escape from it. It will seize you! Many people are warned about the dangers of marijuana. Marijuana can cause schizophrenia and yet people continue to smoke it, grow it, inhale it, eat it and even drink it. When a man is in captivity, he does not want to do what he is doing but he does it anyway.

6. The captivity of gambling. Gambling will not allow you to escape from its addiction. People who are into gambling and betting are often held captive by it. It holds them as prisoners until it has destroyed them. One day, a distressed wife described how her husband had lost one hundred thousand dollars in one night. Surely, such captivities like gambling should not be the portion of those who are ready@20.

7. The captivity of pornography. Pornography may never let you go free if it gets hold of you. While a large number of people are free from pornography, there are many who are in captivity. They simply cannot stop watching it and using it. Anything, which keeps you bound to it against your will, is a form of captivity.

8. The captivity of masturbation. Be careful you do not touch masturbation from which you cannot return! Many people have tasted this evil and cannot withdraw themselves from it. Masturbation is a habit, which some people acquire, and this leads them to become consistent permanent practitioners of masturbation. Masturbation usually goes along with pornography. Together, these two vices hold millions of young men and women in captivity. Anything you cannot stop holds you as a captive.

9. The captivity of fornication. Be careful you do not touch fornication from which you cannot return! Many people have tasted this evil and cannot withdraw themselves from it. There are some people who keep you permanently tied to themselves in a life of secret fornication. Fornication may be an event that comes and goes. But for some people, it holds a strong bondage and causes a captivity to begin. The unusual and unrelenting urge to keep on doing the sexual sin leads a person on until he is destroyed.

10. The captivity of sexual perversions. Be careful you do not touch sexual perversions from which you cannot return! Many people have tasted the evils of sexual perversions and cannot withdraw themselves from it. Sexual perversions also holds a strong captivity for many people. Many are unable to move away once they engage in these practices; and that is what makes it captivity!

11. The captivity of social media. Be careful you do not touch the evils of social media from which you cannot return! Many people have tasted this evil and cannot withdraw themselves from it. Social media holds many people’s attention all day long. It forms a type of captivity that a person cannot break away from.

12. The captivity of the phone. Be careful you do not get involved with your phone in such a way that you cannot be free. Many people have tasted the evils of phone captivity and cannot withdraw themselves from it. Many have been captured by their phones. Their heads are bowed down continually. Their eyes are glued to their screens. They speak to you with their heads bowed down with their eyes permanently on their screens. The screens have captured their faces and their lives.

Steps to Getting Free from Captivity

1. Take strong decisions and set yourself free: Decide that all these types of captivity are enemies. God does not deliver you from your friends. God delivers you from your enemies! Decide to hate all these agents of captivity.

2. Pray and escape from captivity: Pray about becoming free from captivity. Pray specifically about whatever captivity you are in. Hours of prayer will set you free. Those who pray are always counted worthy to escape.

For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and PRAY ALWAYS, THAT YE MAY BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Luke 21:35-36

3. Fast and break loose from captivity: Fast and pray about every form of captivity in your life. There are different kinds of problems but the kind of problem that brings captivity does not go away easily.

And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, THIS KIND CAN COME FORTH BY NOTHING, BUT BY PRAYER AND FASTING.

Mark 9:28-29

4. Bind the devil and end the captivity: Satan is most uncomfortable when you mention his name and bind him. Satan, like a serpent, sneaks into homes, families and churches unawares. It is important to mention his name, describe the demon you are dealing with and bind him.

5. Take practical steps to walk away from your captivity: Take practical steps to escape from the bondage. For instance, you can decide to dry out some of the sins over a period of time instead of abruptly cutting them off. Abruptly ending certain things may not work that well.

6. Make faith declarations and overcome the mountain of captivity: Use faith confessions to come out of bondage. Call those things that are not as though they are (Romans 4:17). Declare the end from the beginning. Continually declare over your life that you are free from that particular vice.

7. Be open and set yourself free from the snare: All forms of evil thrive in darkness. Secrecy and darkness are the breeding grounds for captivity. When you are open about your problems, they become smaller and vanish.

8. Confess your sins to God and end all spiritual captivities: Confession brings the end to many spiritual problems. Confession is a condition that God has given to bring about the end of sin in your life. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

9. Confess your faults one to another and be healed of the effects of captivity: Confessing faults one to another is the key to healing and restoration from your sins.

Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. When you talk to the right person about your problem, you will find that the size of the problem reduces.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James 5:16

CHAPTER 27

Ready@20 to Be a Nazarite

Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. AND I RAISED UP OF YOUR SONS FOR PROPHETS, AND OF YOUR YOUNG MEN FOR NAZARITES. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord.

Amos 2:10-11

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, WHEN EITHER MAN OR WOMAN SHALL SEPARATE THEMSELVES TO VOW A VOW OF A NAZARITE, TO SEPARATE THEMSELVES UNTO THE LORD:

HE SHALL SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM WINE AND STRONG DRINK, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.

He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.

Numbers 6:2-8

You must be ready@20 to become a Nazarite! A Nazarite is a man with a special calling. A Nazarite will not make himself unclean or unholy for any reason. A Nazarite was a special person who abstained from many things, in order that he would be holy and special to the Lord. He was bound by a vow to leave his hair uncut and to abstain from wine and strong drink. A Nazarite is someone who would practice an extraordinary level of purity and devotion.

The ministry of a Nazarite reveals that there are people whom God calls for special things. Sometimes, a calling requires a very high level of devotion and separation. To whom much is given, much is expected.

But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Luke 12:48

Are you ready for this extraordinary call? Are you ready for the separation? Are you ready for holiness? Are you ready to pay the price? Samson is an example of a Nazarite given in the Bible. His purpose was to dedicate himself and make himself holy to God.

Apostle Paul said that fornication should not be mentioned even once. Today, lots of people have been involved in fornication a few times. Most people have been involved in different sins that pollute them and change their spiritual orientation and rank.

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

Ephesians 5:3

A Nazarite vows a part of his life or his entire life to God. Apostle Paul may have been a kind of Nazarite. His dedication to God was phenomenal and few have matched what he did. There are two occasions in which he apparently took a special vow. This may have been a Nazarite vow. The first time Paul took this vow he was at Cenchrea, on his way to Syria.

And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

Acts 18:18

On another occasion, at the Feast of Pentecost, Paul took upon himself again the Nazarite vow.

Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

Acts 21:23-26

Apostle Paul stayed away from marriage and espoused the highest kinds of moral principles. Paul continued to warn Christians that they should not indulge in fornication even once. Today, that is a very high standard that many do not keep to. Apostle Paul warned the church constantly against all forms of sexual immorality. Apostle Paul may have been a special kind of minister with the highest standards whom God used as a Nazarite.

Apostle Paul described his ministry as a special one with a special calling. He was given an abundance of revelation. He was given a commission to build churches. He was used by God specially. Paul’s ministry has reached down through the centuries and affected many people.

Do you want the Lord to use you the same way that He used Paul? You may have to pay the price and become specially separated from many things so that God can use you.

God is going to raise up Nazarites who are ready@20. Would you be one of those in whom certain pollutions will never be mentioned, not even once?

The grace of God which brings salvation is coming into your life and raising you up as the next, specially separated apostle, to the world. Keep your vows! Keep your promises to God! You will be the next person with much fruit to present to the Lord.