Do you believe that you are never alone in your faith journey? Today, I am writing about five people who have had the biggest impact on my faith.
God will often times bring people who will speak a word of faith, hope and encouragement into your life in your seasons of spiritual ignorance, doubt and dryness.
This person or groups of people (community) through a word, sermon or action will usually bring you into a place of spiritual awareness and reawakening. You come into a deeper knowledge of God, your heart starts yearning for a deeper relationship with him and your roots grow deeper in God as you move along in your faith journey. Who has had the biggest impact on your faith?
Five People Who have had the biggest impact on my Faith
Personally, I have never had an ‘out of the ordinary’ God encounter. But I have heard stories from people who have had clear encounters with the person of Jesus through visions, dreams and angelic visitations and their lives never remained the same.
However, I have been introduced to God many times and in different ways through sermons, books and various individuals. When I gave my life to Christ many years ago, it was a message that spoke about God being a loving God who truly cared about me and wanted to make something beautiful out of my life that led me to the altar that day.
And over the years, whether through a unique message written or spoken, or an action that mirrors the heart of God – my faith in God has grown, my knowledge of God has expanded and my love for God has deepened.
While I have been blessed and nourished by some people around the world, I would like to talk about these 5 people who have had the biggest impact on my faith.
1. Pastor Doyin Ikoku of (Blessed Memory) & Pastor Sola Olubode
I believe that God brought these two ministers of the gospel into my life in that season. They were both pastors in the ministry where I gave my life to Christ. Any time I was home from school during the holidays, I attended their church and their sermons blessed me richly and empowered me further in my faith journey.
16th October 2004 was the day I sat in service and listened to Pastor Doyin minister to me in a way that I never forgot. We had listened to the sermon by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome via the TV Screen and then it was time to worship and pray. She was one woman who preached the gospel with a deep passion and also had a great singing voice.
She steps on the altar and begins to worship. I was in one of those low seasons of life where I needed God to really show up for me. And then she begins to sing this song:
He believes in me. He believes in me.
And that gives me the courage to be what I must be.
Because he believes in me.
He believes in you. God believes in you.
And that gives you the courage to be what you should be.
Just because God believes in you.
The words of that song flooded my spirit with light that evening. And she closed with these words that day – God does not and will not give up on you. He is not willing to let you go because he believes in you. I left the church service full of hope and with a deep conviction that God truly had a good plan for my life. Sadly, I only got to know that she passed away several years ago. Twenty years ago, God put that song in her mouth to strengthen my faith.
Pastor Sola Olubode pastored the same church after she was transferred to another Church. And as I sat through his many sermons, that childhood gift and love for writing was reawakened and came alive within me. He spoke a lot about God using the treasures and abundance God put in you to change and affect humanity for good. It was in this season I picked up my pen and started writing my thoughts and musings again.
“You are not in control of the future but you are in a relationship with the one who controls the future – trust him” – Sola Olubode
2. Bishop David Oyedepo – Bold Faith & Praise as a Weapon
His many messages speak of bold faith, living in the reality and blessings of being a child of God and embracing your rights/privileges as a citizen of his kingdom. My faith was built up and came alive each time I listened to his sermons and read his books.
Some of the things I learnt from him are bold faith, the power of praise, exercising your faith when God gives you a specific instruction and trusting God completely. There was also something about the simplicity of his writings that made the words come alive and enter your spirit man. One of his books I treasure is – Pillars of Destiny – Exploring the Secrets of an Ever winning Life by David Oyedepo.
In the book he says – Faith is to be consciously cultivated not to be assumed. Note that faith is not rated by the quantity of scriptures you employ, but by the depth of conviction of the truth you acquire from those scriptures.
He also always emphasized the power of praise as a weapon for victory against the onslaught of the enemy. There is this song in Yoruba Language (one of the many languages spoken in Nigeria, West Africa) I heard at one of his many services I attended and often sing silently some times.
This song was like a battle cry for me even though I did not fully understand the words. But there is no barrier in the spirit, each time the minister sang this song, there was a knowing that God himself had taken over the battle and was fighting for me. See song and translation below.
Alagbara BI Ara
Alagbara bi ara
Alagbara bi ara o
Eya Judah
Kiniun De
Eya Judah
O de
O de
Omo Alade Wura de
(Translation)
Your power is sometimes like thunder
Power like thunder
He’s from the tribe of Judah
The Lion is here
From the tribe of Judah
He’s here
He’s here
The Prince with the crown of Gold is here.
Indeed each time I heard this song and praised along, I believed with all of my heart that a powerful God had stepped into the scene and my victory was assured.
3. Joel Osteen – The Power of Speaking Affirmations
Sometime before Covid-19 hit the world, we were in a period of transition as a family and needed to make some bold decisions. During this time, we had a lot of sermons that we played over and over again in our home. One of those ministers was Joel Osteen and it was in this time I got to know who he was and his journey to becoming a preacher.
His teachings were simple, relatable and filled with nuggets of wisdom for everyday living. I loved the story about him stepping up to take the leadership of his father’s church after his father passed away suddenly. He spoke about how he felt he was not qualified but trusted God in faith and today that ministry has grown in leaps and bounds.
But one thing that resonated with me from several of his messages was the power of speaking affirmations. He says this phrase often – ”say it like you mean it”! Here are some of his thoughts about affirmations.
“Nothing is more powerful than what you say about yourself, so speak positive affirmations over your life.
“The way you bless yourself is to say what God says about you. “I am strong. I am talented. I am forgiven. I am healthy. I am valuable. I am a masterpiece.” Those are not just positive affirmations; you just invoked a blessing on yourself. When you speak it out, you give life to what you’re saying. When you say, “I am blessed,” blessings come looking for you. When you say, “I am prosperous,” good breaks start tracking you down.”
In that season and even now, I learnt to speak God’s word back to myself. I wrote a lot of these affirmations down and still declare them from time to time over my life and family.
4. Oluseye Ashiru – Pressing Deeper into God to Know Him for Yourself
In the heat of Covid where everyone was stuck inside their homes, I stumbled on Oluseye Ashiru online. It was one of those prayer programs for your children only that this time, it was different. The word was rich, the passion was contagious and the prayers awakened a desire in me to start praying again.
I was a mother of two young children, overwhelmed and had lost my spiritual fire. I hardly prayed or even studied the word. It was like a season of spiritual dryness, but she came along and wet the soil of my heart with the word of God. My faith blossomed once again and then began a new journey in my relationship with God.
She is a coach and founder of Families Arising Foundation Canada and is impacting families around the world through her ministry. She encourages you through her teachings and coaching programs to press in deeper into God, get into the word, listen to what he is saying and be transformed into that woman God has called you to be.
I have been tremendously blessed by her ministry. Though, we have never met each other physically, but by God’s orchestration, I found her online and God used her to revamp my faith in that season of life. One of her favorite sayings of mine – “You have to put in the work to see the desired result in your life. It is always never convenient.”
You can find out more about her minstry at www.familiesarising.org
Or or you can download the app and get access to many resources at www.familiesarising.org/app
5. Pastor Sam Adeyemi – Daily Wisdom for Living
While some feel like he is a motivational speaker, I would say that he is a teacher who draws out practical wisdom from the word of God and makes it applicable to all areas of life. The unique leadership style of his ministry has endeared many to him. And his radio program from many years ago ‘Success Power” impacted many young people who still speak about how the words he spoke shaped their thinking and lives as teenagers and young people.
This is where I have called church for some years now. His sermons cut across many areas of lives and his books have so much wisdom embedded in them. One of the things his sermons helped me work on is a renewal of the mind, thoughts and thinking process. Why opening up your mind to see and think like God and being intentional about what you feed into your mind is so important in your christian journey.
Here are two of his books I believe will be a blessing to you. Start with what you have and Ideas Rule the World by Sam Adeyemi. One of his sermons that sits clearly in my mind from 2014 is titled Serve your Generation’ And he asked – what are some of the challenges confronting your generation that God will use you to solve?
He said – You may think that you are not qualified, but God will use you. The reason and purpose for your life is more than you. The least you can do for someone in your generation is to pray. What will God use you to confront in your generation?
I look forward to listening to him a lot as he encourages us to be true role models who will shine the light of Christ wherever we are.
Conclusion
I am forever grateful to God for how he has used men and women from around the world to encourage me in my faith journey. There are several others not mentioned who I have encountered through books who have impacted me in many ways.
Through their words I have found hope, peace, encouragement, wisdom, inspiration, nourishment and faith in my spiritual journey. And I know God will continue to fill my path with people who will keep me grounded in the faith and help me to continually stay deeply rooted in God.
Are there people who have had a big impact on your faith?
I love that you went back and really thought about who has been influential in your faith journey! What a lovely thing to ponder for all of us.
So true. It is always a great reminder to know how God uses people to accomplish his purpose and change lives.
I love this! It has me reflecting on those who have impacted my faith. I actually just called my high school track and volleyball coach last night to ask him to be a reference for a coaching job this spring. It was a blessing to tell him what an impact he made on my life…..25 years ago!
Wow. What a blessing he must have been. So good to give them their flowers while they are still alive.
I’ve been reflecting on this lately. I’m so thankful that so many people have impacted me along the way in my spiritual growth. As a parent it has opened my eyes too.
We are so grateful that God brought them into our lives in those seasons. thanks for reading.
I got your email and as usual, was delighted to read from you and I find my name on here. What a humbling moment! Thank you for sharing this post and I know for sure that everything you shared here has been a true blessing to me, as you have also been a blessing to me personally in different seasons of my life. God bless and strengthen your hands.
Thank you so much Coach Seye for everything. You will always be in the story. Aman and Amen to your prayers 🙏