Gabriel Agbo
Power Of Midnight Prayer

“Prayer draws its very life from the bible. It places its security on the firm ground of scripture. Its very existence and character depend on revelation made by God to man in His holy word. Prayer, in turn, exalts this same revelation and turns men toward that word. The nature, necessity, and all – comprehending character of prayer is based on the word of God.”

Well said by these spiritual generals. Now, we can also know the will of God and pray it through the messages we receive from dreams, visions, discernment, word of knowledge and word of wisdom (prophetic words). God through these revelation gifts can make known His will for an individual, for the church or for the people. And when you sense that the message is coming from God and pray it, it receives answers. I can testify to this. I receive most of my revelations from God through dream and visions.

Though, God also speaks to me through other means, but dreams and visions have become predominant. When I dream, it comes out exactly the same. Some nights, I do have as much as three to four dreams, all carrying different revelations. So, I don’t joke with my dreams at all. Consequently, when I am praying, the things I receive in the dream form a substantial part of my prayer points.

In fact, most times, as the dreams come, the vibrations will instantly wake me into midnight prayer (which is mostly intercessory). Each of us should know and master the surest way that God speaks to us. Jesus said that His sheep would hear His voice. And if you are truly a son, you will always recognise the voice of your father. Since prayer is communication, you and God must have a common ‘medium’ of interaction. This is very important.

So, when praying in the midnight with my team, we don’t lack prayer topics. We receive these points from the word of God (bible), revelations and other prophetic gifts. Through all these we can discern what the will of God is in any given situation and pray accordingly. By God’s grace we always have the results to show for this.

I wish to also comment on the imperativeness of having a prayer and deliverance team in every church. With all humility, I believe that a church without a prayer team is just like a city without walls. Prayer team serves as watchtower, shield and hedges, guide and spiritual lifeline of any church. They detect the evil plans of the enemy against the church.

They protect the church against the arrows and attack of the enemy. And they also draw down the glory and power of God to the church. I can not be in a church without a standing prayer team. I will feel powerless and exposed. We will say more on prayer groups later. But let’s first comment on other things that also aid our prayers.

Praying in Tongues

For your prayers to be effective, especially during the midnight battles, you must learn how to pray in tongues. It is very difficult if not impossible, to pray effectively for very long hours in the night (which sometimes last for days or months) all with plain languages. You will definitely run out of words. But when you speak or pray in tongues, you pray according to the direction of the Holy Spirit and you will never lack words to express your requests, because the spirit knows exactly what requests to make according to the will of God.

If you have been practicing this, you will know what we’re talking about here. You don’t get tired easily and there is always a sense of strength and accomplishment that envelops you after praying in tongues.

Look at how 1Cor. 14:4, 28 puts it;

“A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally in the Lord.”

As he speaks (prays) in tongues, the spirit refills him with more strength. So he can stay on without getting physically tired. Then, also when you pray in tongues, you are talking to God directly through the spirit encoded words. Who can understand God more than the Holy Spirit? The Spirit surely knows what, how and when to make requests to the father. He knows the will and programme of God more than humans do. So, we must begin to pray in tongues, pray in the spirit. In fact, what I understand as praying in the spirit is praying His word and praying in tongues. Or you can tell me more.

Please, also permit me to clarify something here. I would like us to know that there are three forms of speaking in tongues that I found in the bible. One is the speaking in tongues as an initial evidence of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. Two is speaking in tongues as a gift of prophecy. This is the one that requires interpretation. And some are also given the gift of interpreting tongues, according to the scriptures. Then, the third is the one we are discussing here; communicating directly and privately with God. This is the one that the bible said that it is only the Holy Spirit that can decode what you are saying; because your spirit is sending an encoded message to Him directly. And this in what we have called praying in tongues, praying in the spirit or groaning in the spirit.

Pray Until Something Happens (PUSH)

Anyone that is involved in spiritual warfare like the midnight prayer and other forms must have this principle as a banner. Once you know what the will of God is, you must be ready to pray until you see the manifestation or until God tells you clearly that He has answered your prayers. There are so many examples from the bible, but we will just mention two – Daniel and Elijah.

Daniel 10:12-13, “Then he said, don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the Spirit Prince of the Kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the Archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the Spirit of the kingdom of Persia.”

This biblical record gave us a rare insight into some of the activities that go on in the spiritual ream. Daniel was fasting and praying to God. And immediately he began to pray, on the first day, God sent Gabriel (a high ranking angelic being that stands in His presence) to go and deliver the answers to Daniel’s request. As Gabriel was coming, a powerful demonic principality blocked his way and he could not come through to meet with Daniel. Gabriel was there with the demon until another strong archangel – Michael (the Spirit Prince of Israel) came to his help. Only then could Gabriel go to dispatch the divine message to Daniel. Wow!

This is indeed a very rare insight into some of the actions and reactions that go on every day on our behalf in the spirit realm. Now, what if Daniel had prayed for 3 or 4 days, waited for some answer and had given up? Maybe Gabriel would have gone back to heaven and there wouldn’t have been any need for God to send Archangel Michael as reinforcement. Then, Daniel and the people of Israel would have also remained there without any solution to their predicaments.

Without knowing the struggle that was going on his behalf in the spiritual ream, Daniel continued praying and fasting for 21 days, and at last the answer came. Thank God that he stayed on. He endured. That is the mark of an intercessor.

Sometimes, when we pray, we trigger off fierce struggles in the spiritual realm and this can cause delay in receiving immediate responses to our requests. And because we don’t often see what happens in that realm, we get desperate or fall into despondency. We must learn how to persevere in prayer if we must be champions and veterans of spiritual warfare. We must develop the capacity to endure, recognize, ambush and demolish our enemies. I have earlier said that we must persevere, persist, and then we will prevail. And this must be the attitude of a midnight warrior.

Elijah

This man wielded so much spiritual power when he was here on earth that he locks and releases the dew and rain at will. Fire, death, and the laws of supernatural multiplication and velocity also obeyed him. But he once demonstrated that an intercessor must be ready to persist until he/she receives the desired results. Look at what happened after that great contest at Mount Carmel.

He had locked the rain for several years and now he came back to restore it. But that must not happen before his contest with the 850 satanic priests in Israel. After winning and slaughtering those demonic priests, he immediately informed king Ahab that rain was coming. In fact, Elijah clearly said that he was already hearing the sound of a mighty rainstorm and immediately went into prayer.

After the first prayer, he sent out his servant to go and check the rain. His servant went, came back and told him that he saw nothing. Elijah kept sending him until the seventh time. It was at the seventh time that the servant said that he saw a little cloud rising from the sea. And the prophet of God shouted. Then, the rain came.

Now, the lesson is that this great man of God had to persist in pray for seven times before he saw the physical actualization of his vision. He did not give up or show any sign of discouragement. Remember, he had already heard and seen the rain in the spirit and needed to birth it in the physical. We must learn how to pray until something happens (PUSH).

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Let us pray for revival. Let us pray for the release of those in captivity. Let us pray to dismantle the dominion of the demonic forces of darkness. Let us pray against the spirits behind the false religions. Let us pray that the glory and power of God will come down in His Church. May God strengthen us in the name of Jesus!

Prayer Groups and Meetings in the Bible

The early church in Acts of Apostles always met to pray and that was why God released His power and presence upon them. Praying together draws down the ‘Corporate Anointing’ from the throne of God. It also unites the believers.

Let us see Act 1:14-15,

“They all met together continually for prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. During this time, on a day when about 120 believers were present, Peter stood up and addressed them as follows.”

Again in Act 16:13, 16, we also saw that the early Christians had a particular place where they regularly met for prayers.

“On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we supposed that some people met for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had come together.” and “One day as we were going down to a place of prayer,”

They had a place for prayers and they met regularly. Now tell me why the glory of God would not come upon them. No wonder today’s church has not been able to witness the same level of anointing, glory, and authority as the early church. The early church had places of prayer and they met regularly!

This coming together by the early believers to pray and fellowship precipitated the baptism of the Holy Ghost and ‘explosion’ of the early church. That simply means that, there are things that God will not do for His people unless they come together to pray and fellowship in unity and love.

The bible also said that they (the believers) were in one place and in one accord and God said, “Yes, this is the best time to give them that eternal and wonderful promise I made to them.”

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“And when the day of the Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven…

“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day they were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Acts 2:1-5, 41-42 (KJV).

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The believers prayed together regularly and the promise and power of God came down. As a result three thousand converts were made in one day. If you also read down that story, you will find out that love, joy, favour, signs and wonders also came upon the church. When believers come together to pray in one accord (in agreement and harmony), there is nothing that they would not be able to achieve.

The devil knows this very well and that is why he will do everything to bring confusion and disaffection amongst Christians and even amongst the ministers. He knows that a united prayerful church is a great threat to his kingdom and his clandestine operations.

The church must come together; we must present a united battlefront against our common enemies – Satan and his agents. We want to see more of interdenominational fellowships, interdenominational prayer groups and meetings. Jesus said, “I will build my church (not my denomination) and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The more people you have praying in unity, the greater the anointing.

God said in Leviticus 26:8,

“Five of you will chase a hundred and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath the blows of your weapons.”

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Did you get that? The more the believers, the greater number of the enemies they will pursue. And He also gave the assurance that the enemies will fall for us. Praise God!

National Prayer Meetings in the Bible

In the bible, national prayer meetings were variously called to seek the face of God or His intervention in the affairs of the people. We will mention just two of them because of limited space:

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When three nations Moabites, Ammonites and the Meunites declared war against Judah, King Jehoshaphat quickly summoned a national prayer meeting at the Temple in Jerusalem. God heard their prayers, fought and defeated their enemies. “Jehoshaphat was alarmed by this news and sought the LORD for guidance. He also gave orders that everyone throughout Judah should observe a fast. So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the LORD.”

2 Chronicles 20:3-4.

And in the book of Esther, the people of Israel found themselves in a very precarious situation. An irrevocable death decree was hanging on them, not because of any crime, but for the envy of their enemies. Please can we just read the story? It is indeed an interesting one:

“Then Haman approached king Xerxes and said, ‘there is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire. Their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they refuse to obey even the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. If it pleases you your majesty, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 375 tons of silver to the government administrators, so that they can put it into the royal treasury.

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“The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite – the enemy of the Jews. ‘Keep the money,’ the king told Haman, ‘but go ahead and do as you like with these people.’

“On April 17 Haman called in the king’s secretaries and dictated letters to the princes, the governors of the respective provinces, and the local officials of each province in their own scripts and languages. These letters were signed in the name of king Xerxes, sealed with his ring, and sent by messengers into all the provinces of the empire. The letters decreed that all Jews – young and old, including women and children – must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen nearly a year later on March 7. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them. A copy of this decree was to be issued in every province and made known to all the people, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. At the king’s command, the decree went out by the swiftest messengers, and it was proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.”

Esther 3:8-15

This was the situation of the people of God. They were to be killed – their young and old, women and children. All their properties were also to be confiscated after the planned genocide. What did the Jews do? Mordecai tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes. Other Jews joined him. They fasted, wept and wailed.

Now, when Mordecai gathered all the Jews of Susa and prayed for three days, God moved to revoke the death sentence hanging on their necks and also destroyed their enemies.

God started the deliverance process by visiting the king Xerxes in the night. The king could not sleep again because fiery petitions of the people of God were bombarding His throne. The decree against the Jews was reversed, their archenemy hanged and his properties were handed over to the Jews. Praise God!

When a people, a nation or citizens of a state gather to pray and cry to God, the effects are always penetrating. The condition of your people or your nation can be changed if you would bring them together to seek the face of God today.

Individual Prayers in the Bible

Prayers done by individuals also have tremendous results. Moses, Jesus, Joshua, Daniel, Nehemiah etc, are some of the people who have changed the course of their people through prayers. As a prayer warrior; especially of the midnight stock, you should not only affect yourself, your family, but you have the capacity to affect the destiny of your people, your nation and even the entire world. Jesus’ prayers and activities still affect the world till today. Moses’ prayers saved the entire nation of Israel. Daniel’s prayer set the stage for the deliverance of the Israelites from Babylon.

Let us take the cue from Nehemiah. He stood in the gap for his people. Hear him,

“They said to me, ‘Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been burned.’

“When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel.”

Nehemiah 1:3-6

You already know the tremendous result of that Nehemiah’s prayer. God intervened. The falling walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. And the worship of God was restored. God can also do such with you. And remember, there is a reward that will always come after you have prevailed.

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In Joshua 23:10, the bible says that,

“Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy.”

One person to chase away a thousand enemies? You can only do this supernaturally through praying. Your prayer can bring tremendous results. Yes, your prayer. And also know that when you prevail, God says you will receive a crown and He will make you a pillar in His house. A pillar and a crown reward from God? That will be wonderful!

“All who are victorious will become pillars in the temple of my God”

Rev. 3:12.

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Please, let’s move over to praise.

PRAISE

Chapter Five
Praise

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Paul and Silas also sang praises in the dungeon that night. With fresh wounds all over their bodies, chains on their hands and legs and in the usually dark underground prison cell, they sang praises to God. Praise and worship are some of the most powerful tools given to the believers by God. I mean spirit-filled praise and worship. There is great power in praise and worship. They are tremendous weapons of our warfare and the devil knows that. That is why he would do everything possible to stop or at least, corrupt them.

When we praise God, we bring down His presence and glory. No wonder the bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people. This simply means that He dwells, lives, occupies or resides in the praises of the believers. When you praise God, you create the atmosphere for Him to come and occupy.

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Now, you cannot make a success of midnight prayers without praise and worship. Midnight battles must start and end with them. Even, there are times you may not need to make any request, but just praise our great God and you will see your needs melting away on their own. I have tried it severally. I would get up around midnight and start to praise Him. I would do that for hours hoping to pray after, but would be submerged in His presence and consequently forget my file of requests. Then, I would watch those needs sorting out themselves.

In fact, I see praise as more powerful than prayer, though both are means of communicating to God. When you make it a habit to praise God at the face of every difficulty or persecution, the devil will begin to think twice before he brings problems to you, because he would have known what your reactions would be.

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Praises usher us into the presence of God. An intercessor and all Christians should always have this in mind. The presence of God has a gate to it and praises and worship are the keys. When you come to do battles in the midnight, the first thing you must do is to open the gate of His presence with the key of praise. Then, you can begin to receive the answers to your requests.

The Psalmist knew this very well when he said in Psalm 100:4,