Testimony: “I Heard The Shepherds Voice”
"I was raised in a nominal Christian background. I would go to church every Sunday. I believed I was a Christian. The village I lived in were filled with my brand of Christians.Years later, I left my village to pursue higher studies. I went to a highly cosmopolitan city for my Bachelors. Unlike my village, this place was daunting to say the least. It challenged my traditional thinking and beliefs. As I began to settle in the new city, I realised I need to go to church at least on Sundays. I could not find my church in this new city and settled for a Pentecostal one, closer to home.I started to like what I was hearing and decided to go to this church. On the third Sunday, an elder believer from the church stopped me before I left. He began to ask about me and at the end said, "If you want to know more about Jesus, come home someday." I decided to go, and a few days later I landed at his house.For the next 2.5 hours he shared Christ non-stop. Sharing life testimonies, and basic doctrines and teachings from the Word of God. After all the sharing, he asked me if I now really was a Christian ever. I told him that I wasn't, now that I understood the truth about God. I realised my belief was only religious and not rooted in truth.The next minute, the believer asked me If I wanted to accept Jesus as my personal Saviour in the right way, in prayer, through confession and thanksgiving to Jesus. I agreed. We sat for a minute to pray, and then the believer decided to call his wife and another young believer (new in Christ) to join in prayer.Before we restarted our prayer, I heard the testimony of the new believer. I had never heard such testimonies in my life. I was very encouraged to know Jesus like I never imagined before. I knew in my heart what these believers were saying was true.We began to pray, each of us sitting on the four corners of a rug on the floor at the believers home. As we were praying, the elder believer interrupted the prayer asking me to open my mouth and confess. He told me that the devil had to hear too, my bold submission to Christ. I was too shy to do it, and the others started to pray boldly to God.Suddenly, I heard a voice which said, "Take the name of Jesus and pray". I was shocked and scared, and started to say. "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus". Again out of the blue, I felt two powerful supernatural forces pulling me from both sides. I started to shout the name of Jesus, and I was set free, a peace settled in my heart. I closed my prayer and sat quietly.Soon as the elder believer closed the group prayer, he asked me what had happened. I narrated my experience. He explained to me that Jesus had already accepted you, and that now it was my turn to receive Jesus by giving my life to him.The elder believer also explained how he was led by the Spirit to rebuke three spirits in me in the name of Jesus, during my struggle with supernatural forces. The three spirits he referred to was the spirit of Facebook and Internet (I was an addict), and the lust of the flesh. The young believer also confirmed that he too in a vision during prayer, saw two angels come down from heaven and pull out three spirits from my body.I was overwhelmed by the experience. From that day onwards I decided to attend more meetings in the week at church and extra days in the elder believers home on the days he hosted prayers.I started to grow in the Lord. I began to overcome a lot of bad habits and temptations in my life. One day, I was told about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and how it was a promise for all children of God. An evening at the elders house I began to seek the Lord for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As I prayed, I saw Jesus come down to where I was and place his hands over my head, as if to place something. Immediately, I received the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues. Another young believer praying with us also saw the same vision as mine.After I had received the anointing, the elder believer requested me to take Water Baptism. I was afraid to make that decision because if my parents knew they would get angry. He insisted and then said, let's pray about it, let God speak to you. Another evening during prayer, as we sought the Lord concerning my Water Baptism, God spoke to me. The voice of the Lord came to me saying, "Just like I separated Moses from Egypt and brought him into the wilderness, I have separated you from a terrible darkness and brought you into a marvellous light". I decided to take Water Baptism in an upcoming Youth Camp held by the church.My life has been transformed since I received Jesus into my life. All I want is more of Jesus, everyday."Note: Names and certain incidents are omitted for anonymity without compromising on the essence, for the edification of readers and believers.