—Submitted by Omotayo from Norway
The Explosive Power of Praying and Fasting
It was in 1999. I’d just graduated from the Federal University of Technology, Yola in Nigeria, and finished my youth service (we served the country for one year). I sought a job from November 2000 to October 2001.
I come from a Moslem family, and my father had many political and business networks. He was ‘well connected’ as they say in Nigeria. Incidentally, I studied Chemical Engineering at the University, so it was nothing for him to connect me to his friends working at the oil companies in Nigeria.
My father contacted many of his friends on my behalf. One time, I received an envelope encasing a letter from the president’s office; to deliver to Shell Nigeria for employment considerations. I still remember the letter, it had an engraved Nigeria’s coat of arms. I hadn’t seen such a well-designed letter. I traveled from Portharcourt, where I lived at the time to Lagos. There I and my dad went on to deliver the letter to the office of Shell’s Human Resources Director. I didn’t hear a word back from that office to date.
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They disappointed me…
I’d tried quite a number of my father’s connections. We went to the executive vice chairman of Exxon Mobile at the time for an opportunity in Exxon Mobile. We even contacted the then Chief Security Officer (CSO) Rivers State Government for a position in Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) Bonny, yet nothing came from it. I applied to several companies but no one gave me a callback. The intriguing thing about everything was that I was praying and at the same time “pressing the buttons” hoping to get help from my connections. I tried every possible connection until I burned out. This lasted about 1 year.
Something must be wrong with me…
Out of frustration, one day my well-meaning, Moslem dad had an idea. He advised me to go have a spiritual bath. He went ahead to introduce me to one of his friends that had taken a spiritual bath. ” After I had this spiritual bath, ” his friend announced, ” doors began to open”. I was swamped, daily by such suggestions from my dad and half-sisters who by the way thought I was too proud to take anyone’s advice. It got to the point where my father commenced verbalizing his dissatisfaction with me. He said he had done everything possible a father could do for his son. He had put me through school; he took me to his friends with high status. “There must be something wrong with you”. I must have been cursed with some sort of bad luck,” he suggested, angrily. “Christianity is a useless faith,” he continued, “We pray five times but you Christians pray only once. Which do you think will have more power?”
I decided to do something differently…
Perplexed by all the rantings and disappointments, I told my dad I needed to go away for five days. On September 9th, 2001, I left for my friend’s house in Ebonyi State for a spiritual retreat. I embarked on a three-day, morning to 6 pm fast. It was during this fast that the Lord reprimand me. He said I was foolish in thinking that the arm of flesh would get me a job. He reminded me of Jeremiah 17:5, The scipture says “Thus says the LORD, Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD”. “You have not looked up to me,” The Lord rebuked me. Ah, with a penitent heart, I cried bitterly to God and repented of my sins.
God heard me…
About three days after the fast, in my father’s living room, I stumbled upon Psalm 102:13 which says “Now I will arise and have mercy on Zion for it is time to show favour to her; the appointed time has come.” I felt as though those words were whispered directly to my spirit. There was no shadow of a doubt that those words were for me. In excitement, I jumped up and started dancing. I danced and danced such that an onlooker would think I was dancing to some tune or some music. I only stopped for not wanting the neighbour to think I was crazy. I had a reassuring peace that God had heard me.
You’ll also love Taiwo’s story, How God Miraculously Provided During my Studies
The next day, Tony my friend visited me. And out of excitement, I told Tony that I was going to get a Job. He looked at me expressing surprise like, what has come over you? Seeing, we have both been looking for a job for the past year. He asked, “so what has changed?” Anyways, less than a week after I read that verse—around September 18th, 2001. I received a letter from the company: Fugro Consultant Nigeria, formerly called Nigeria Prodec Fugro asking me to come down for an interview.
This was the first interview letter I’d received after countless applications. The moment I saw this letter, I knew it was my job. The company needed to select only 2 successful candidates. As I prepared for the interview, however, I heard doubts in my head asking “How are you sure you’ll be selected?” The results came out, and I learned that the company selected those who had a score of 70 and above. I luckily scaled through with slightly above 70 marks. There were many others with high scores in the ’80s and ’90s.
In preparation for the 2nd interview phase, I read all the relevant books I could think of. On the morning of the interview, after my quiet time with God, I began to do a recap of all I’d read. Just then, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart to pick up the diary I’d used during my youth service. The diary contained some points I jotted down from a book called “How to answer tough interview questions” I’d completely forgotten about this diary and hadn’t opened it for a year. I dusted it and opened it that morning, then I glanced through it for a few minutes and continued with my engineering book.
As I sat for the 2nd phase of the interview, I thought it was going to be a question-and-answer exam. Surprisingly, it was a written exam. There were 16 questions. 15 of the 16 questions were almost word for word what I’d read from my diary that morning. Seeing this, excitement gripped my heart. My first words were “ God I thank you”. I tingled with Joy as I happily reproduced back the answers.
I didn’t receive a response after the said time…
After waiting for the stipulated 2 weeks given by the company, I was quite concerned I’d not been called by the company. Anxiously, I called one of my friends who had also made it to the 2nd round. He informed me he had already received a rejection letter. This made me all the more nervous. I called the company to find out what was happening and was advised to wait until I get a response.
About the 3rd or fourth week, I received a letter requesting that I come for discussions with the management. On the eve of the scheduled discussion, I attended a vigil —as was my custom— in the Assemblies of God church in Port Harcourt city, Nigeria. After the prayer meeting that night, I bought a book displayed on the tables there at the church.
The next morning, I left for the management discussion with the book I’d bought the previous night. On arriving at the company’s building and having waited at the reception office for a while, the Managing Director summoned me into his office.
We began to talk. The director asked me questions starting with subject-specific questions and gradually veered into more general questions. This was when he asked me why I was holding a Christian book. Now, that was a logical question as my names reflect my Moslem background. I replied, that I was born a Moslem but was miraculously converted to Christianity. On hearing this, he immediately called the office secretary (the late Kate Okafor) to give me my employment letter to sign.
What I later found out from Kate…
Kate later explained that the company had already selected the 1st candidate and had reservations to pick me as the 2nd candidate. They’ve had an issue with a former Moslem employee, so this time around the company wanted an employee who would fully participate in the company’s values. My confirmation was delayed because my two first names are Moslem names. Even today, I often wondered why they still held on to me. This God is good! All glory to God!
You will be encouraged by Amaka’s story, How God Answered Specific Prayers to Clear my Debt
I learned that…
- We shouldn’t trust in the arm of flesh— my letter from the office of the presidency.
- As believers, we cannot dictate to God ”Use this man or this person”. Let God use whosoever he wants to.
- People say you need to know someone before you get a job. I’ll say you need to know God and then He’ll connect you with the right people.
- The promises we claim by faith are promises that are revealed to our spirit. It feels as though you’ve already received it when the written Word becomes revealed to you. We must, however, properly position ourselves to hear God.
- This experience increased my faith by leaps and bounds. I was able to respond to my father that God was alive. What my dad couldn’t do, God did for me.
- During the times we were hoping in our connections, something kept telling me, why don’t you take out time to seek God? I knew something was not in agreement with my spirit but because I desperately needed a job, I ignored the HolySpirit and tagged along; until I hit rock bottom.
Oh, thank you, Jesus!
Related articles on breakthroughs from praying and fasting
- Overcoming Tough Disappointment God’s Way; When God Helped me through a Tough Disappointment
- The Incredible Power of Specific Prayers; How God Provided to Clear my Debt
- My 18 Days Mental Battles; Hef-zibah’s story
There are indeed amazing benefits in praying and fasting
Thank you for reading!
Have you had a similar experience? what happened and what did you learn? Please comment below. We’d love to hear.
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Hey. I’m glad I stumbled upon this post. I needed some motivation and guess what this is and it even changed my mood from being slightly okay to feeling hopeful and joyous. I’m from South Africa. Thank you for the inspiration and I’ll come running back with my testimony to the very same platform.
I’m so happy to hear this, Maria.
Hold on to your confession of faith without wavering, girl! For God is faithful who promised (Hebrew 10:23).
Thank you for reading!
I have no words to alter , Wow ,I relate on this . And I thank God that I came along this article ,God is Good , God will definitely connect you with people . I am from South Africa and God decided to connect me with his fellows through an article . Indeed we are serving a living God .
Yes, we are. Thank you mercy for reading. May the Lord lead you to a large place in Him without restrictions. God bless you.
God does answer, I always say when I pray” you know God inhale nothing , no connections, nothing special that I use to get jobs unlike other people, if you forsake me where will I go? .. praying should be you first and last resort, it should be your only Choice! Connect with God and pray very hard .I have been looking for spiritual cleansing and work, I pray when I’m in a bad space , I also pray when iam happy. When things start happening it all becomes unreal and because I’m used to struggling it amazes when God answers. I rely on him alone no one else and I see myself as someone who depends only on him with everything that I do I include him. God’s love and mercy for us amazes me. When I feel like I don’t deserve his love he Alswys come through for me.
You are very right Wendy.
Isaiah 2:22 asks “Why put your trust in mere humans? They are as frail as breath. What good are they?”
We appreciate your comment.
This is a very nice article ,I am a Cameroonian looking for a job impeded to continue school and this gave me hope
Yes, Withney. Hold on to God’s promises. He has good plans for you. Seek Him more, and you will find Him. He is your helper. Thank you for your comment.
Your testimony is so encouraging. My company closed late last year and I have been without a stable job since then. I had been there since 2004. I basically grew up there, so I have felt very lost in the direction I need to go. God has been very gracious to me during this time, but I still have some very draining emotional lows. I started researching fasting for spiritual reasons and I found your article. I know scripture has a lot to say about humbling yourself before God and Im seeing how fasting plays a part in that. Thank you for writing this.
Thank you Adam for sharing with us. I pray the Lord leads you into His perfect will now and always. God bless you!
Thank you so much , I Antonius reading this from Namibia as a graduate from the university of Namibia yet without job. Powerful testimony from you Amaka. I think am a victim too and I will pray to God . It’s time we come back to the lord look up to him and call him to intervene in our predicaments because when we needed to do it better by ourselves at our own time things failed completely BUT now we have to come back to him our Lord to intervene for every request of us shall be responded positively at his time and by his Grace all things will be great.
Antonius ?
I praise God that I came across your article I graduated since 2015 and up to date I don’t have a job, lately I have been seeking for spiritual help trying all the necessary things and today the hold spirit lead me to your article may God hear my prayers to get a job and a breakthrough.
God bless
Ame and thanks to Amaka for having shared this powerful testimony. Am a graduate from the university of Namibia and most of my compatriots started working already yet am still home facing the unemployment saga. I am not sleeping but always praying to God for his Grace shall be upon me at his right time. Yes connections speaks louder than qualifications “they say it in Namibia ” and I had decided not to use the sa.e phrase in my life but to say GOD SPEAKS LOUDER THAN CONNECTIONS. Your story has made me realise a lot that we need to come back to the Lord and ask him for everything forhe shall grant it to us.
Help me go through this my breathrens. Am praying and fasting for this coming interview and God will do his wonders. Amen
Antonius ?
Thank you so much Antonius for taking the time to comment on this post. Psalms 20:7 says, ”some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Those who put their trust in the Lord are like mount zion. They will never be moved. I pray the Lord leads you to His perfect will. God bless and sustain you.
I have liked the verse
True, when we trust in God and only in him and not our own logic we truly get to see the power of his blessing. I will quickly share a pretty miraculous experience I had. I had applied to this specific company for a job that I really wanted. I was called for the first interview, which I prepared for well. I was then told that the recruitment process would follow with an Assessment and possibly a second interview. I was sent the assessment which I successfully completed, it was after this that I received a rejection email. After this email, I do not know where I got the guts to call the recruiter to ask what was the cause of the rejection so as to improve in future, but I did. When I asked the recruiter this she instantly told me to come see her again and on the day I went back I was offered the job on the spot and conducted a very casual second interview , I assume for formalities sake. I got my dream job and it was the best job I had ever had.
Thanks for sharing Thiwempanza, for the Righteous are as bold as a lion.
God is able
Thanks for sharing. It’s a good reminder that God does not like to share his Glory with us. We need to trust and surrender completely so He can do only what He is able to
Yes, trust and surrender He desires. Thanks for your comment Amaka.
I’m reading this in 2021. This story spoke to me in a way I can’t even explain. I literally am going through the exact same experience right now since last year. I have been applying for jobs since January 2020 but never got even a single interview response, not even once. Only after prayer and fasting recently did I get my first interview. In fact, the day I was supposed to have the interview I didn’t manage to show up due to a misunderstanding and the company contacted me to RESCHEDULE my interview. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen such a miracle in my life. This God has done wonders for me and I can never thank Him enough. I’m still waiting for a response from the company. I’m scared that maybe I may not get the job but the most part of me feels that this is the job for me because after more than 50 unresponded applications this is the only one I got to have an interview with. God specifically chose this moment in my life to grant me what I have been asking Him for because I made the decision to Pray, Fast and Trust Him to lead my way. This God we serve is amazing, I want the world to know that.
Hallelujah! I hope you got the job, Regina. Our God is indeed a faithful God.
What a beautiful and inspirarional account. Honestly God really responds to our cry for help
Yes, He does. His love is unconditional towards us.
Thanks Hef-zibah for your comment.
Thanks Amaka for sharing your testimony. Yes, that is true. We, like us, always try to do our best to make things happen because we trust ourselves more than God at the beginning. Only at the end of road, we realize we should seek God and keep looking up at him since we are so small and vulnerable . Your story inspired me. We all keep reading God’s words and we will find out the plan that God have prepared for us! God bless you and your family forever!
Thanks, Cece and great to hear from you. Yes, we must put our total trust in God. He always wants our best.
God bless you.
To God be the glory! Im reading this testimony for the 3rd im still in awe how similar it is to mine. How God works in mysterious ways his divine intervention surpasses human understanding. I have been unemployed for year and have been applying for jobs with no response, last year I got my first ever interview i was excited and hoped to get the job but they didn’t get back to me i fell into the deepest darkest depression, but I asked God to lift me up and he did. Fast forward 2021 I kept applying to no response I kept praying and fasting I applied for jobs and kept asking help from people and family but i didn’t happen, long story short in September I applied two job of which I qualify for I could feel that i will get the job but a month later i got rejected I cried for 2 days asking God why ! He must just remove me from earth because i have no more strength I prayed and a week later I jokingly asked someone to submit my cv at the very same company that rejected some a day after submitting it i got a call for an interview for the position i was rejected! If this is not God’s work then i don’t know I believe the Job is mine in Jesus name. Amen! Thank you Amaka your story spoke to me i had to write my testimony
Hallelujah, God is faithful!
”Though the vision may tarry, wait for it”— Habakkuk 2:3-4
Thank you so much for sharing with us. God bless and keep you.
Im back to give another testimony that God is indeed faithful and that delay is not denial. I got the job this year in May . Mark 1:37 im grateful to God. Everything is working out as he has planned for me. Jeremiah 29:11. Amen
Oh wow! glory to God! I am very happy for you, Kgomotso.
Thank you for sharing your testimony with us. Indeed weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning. God bless you!
Just as it is written: He is the God of all flesh and there is nothing too hard for Him to do. Thanks for sharing your testimony. God bless you richly and continue to increase your faith.
Thanks, Cynthia for your comment. God bless you.
Amazing testimony there. The God whom we serve!
Indeed God is good. Thanks Lameck for your comment.
God is indeed a miraculous God. He said in Mathew 7:7 that we should ask and it will be given unto us.
Thank you Okey for your comment.