Bishop David Oyedepo
The Mandate
Received from the LORD Himself in an eighteen-hour vision, and carried into every nation.
The commission
“The hour has come to liberate the world from all oppressions of the devil through the preaching of the Word of faith, and I am sending you to undertake this task.”
One mandate, two further messages, and three platforms that carry them. Here they are, in the Bishop’s own words.
I was on a trip to Ilesha, now in Osun State of Nigeria, on 1st May, 1981, on the lookout for the welfare of a Christian friend who I had not heard from for a long time. I was concerned, not knowing if he needed any form of attention. This was how I came into my place of encounter.
I got to this brother’s house, but he was not around, and there was a note on his door announcing he had travelled. Something gracious came out of me: ‘All things work together to the advantage of them that love the Lord’. It was soothing; I felt no disappointment at all!
Then, the Holy Spirit said to me, ‘Look out for a quiet place; I want to talk to you’. This was a timely instruction because I had quite a lot of Christian friends in that town, and I could have had a lot of fun being with them that day. However, I obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit and asked a passer-by if there was any hotel on the outskirts of the town where I could lodge, and that was how I met with destiny!
The quiet place I found was an International Hotel Ilesha. It was a ‘great’ hotel, and I disliked the state of the building and the room in particular, the room. But I knew in my heart that I had to be there. Behold, as I knelt down to give thanks in that ‘wonderful’ room, the encounter began! This lasted for eighteen (18) hours. In that great vision, I saw a line-up of the afflicted and oppressed, broken, beaten, battered, the blind, the lame, insane and the wretched. I saw all kinds of deformities, and I was greatly bewildered. I heard their wailing as they filed past me. Their groaning was so intense that I could almost feel their pain.
I could not help it, and while I began to cry and sob along with them, I asked, ‘Lord, what is this?’ I heard God say to me, ‘And from the beginning, it was not so’. I broke down the more in tears, and in the midst of all that, I kept asking, ‘But why Lord?’ Then, I heard God say distinctly to me:
‘And from the beginning, it was not so, and now, the hour has come to liberate the world from all oppressions of the devil through the preaching of the Word of faith, and I am sending you to undertake this task’.
My sobbing became even more intense as I asked the Lord, ‘Lord, why me?’ I had always thought I would remain in the helps’ ministry, where I would be a blessing to the Kingdom through my giving and services. However, I rose from the eighteen-hour-long vision fully persuaded of God’s call upon my life into the ministry. This was how I received the Liberation Mandate.
- 18
- hours of vision
- 1981
- the Liberation Mandate
Two more messages
Other two messages handed down to this commission.
I was away in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A, in the summer of 1987 for a series of speaking engagements when I had a unique encounter with God in my hotel room, which culminated in the delivery of another mandate. This was in the early hours of 26th August. While getting out of bed to begin my morning devotion, the spirit of the Lord spoke clearly to me:
‘Arise, get back home and make my people rich’.
I looked at myself and wondered, ‘Who am I to make others rich, and what do I have?’ It sounded like a strange word to me. However, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I discovered from the epistle of Paul to the Corinthians where Paul wrote, ‘As poor, yet making many rich’ (2 Corinthians 6:10).
It was then I breathed a sigh of relief; I saw home as Africa and not just Nigeria, where most people live below the poverty line. I immediately arose, and like Paul the Apostle would say, ‘I conferred not with flesh and blood’ (Galatians 1:16). I abandoned all my speaking engagements and rushed back home in obedience to this Mandate. Today, to the glory of God, multitudes have been made rich through the anointed teachings and diverse ministrations. This is the root of the prosperity message of this ministry, and the proofs are all around today.
- 26 Aug
- 1987
- 2 Cor 6:10
- “as poor, yet making many rich”
On 29th June 1992, the Lord spoke to me again:
‘It is time for change. Prepare yourself for the imminent change of the phase I have talked about over the years. It is the era of signs and wonders; it is a new dimension of a higher order.’
‘Begin to declare a total war against the kingdom of darkness; proclaim liberty, emphasise power and step into the realm of anointing. Usher in this new era with Me! It is time for the restitution (replacement/restoration) of all things, which the mouth of the Lord has spoken (Acts 3:20-21)! It is time to administer the forces of the spirit that will enable the saints to take up their inheritance in Christ. I am launching you into the Apostolic phase of your ministry for pacesetting. Therefore, “Walk before Me and be thou perfect, and I will perform every word of Mine in your direction.”’
As it is known today, signs and wonders have become the identity of Winners worldwide.
- 29 June
- 1992
- Acts 3:20-21
- the restitution of all things
How it is carried
Our core operational platforms.
There are core operational platforms which give operational direction to the Word of Faith mandate. The platforms are as follows.
When the Mandate was delivered in 1981, I saw it mainly as an outreach ministry. My stand was that there were enough Churches already; so, we didn’t really need another one, all we need is to see God bring revival into the existing Churches.
However, one early morning, God showed me something from the Book of Luke, Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also… (Luke 1:1-3). God was telling me, ‘There are many churches, yes, but I am giving you a portion of the church ministry’. ‘I also’ became the marching order for our Church Ministry. That is, ‘Others have written it, but you have a part of it to write’. That is the part we are writing, which is fast becoming a global phenomenon. To God be the glory!
- “I also”
- the marching order
In the early hours of 14th February 1983, while going through a Christian magazine captioned the New Wine, I had an encounter that culminated in the delivery of what we now know as the Publishing Mandate. God told me:
‘The word I have put in your mouth, the same commit into writing, and I will cause the same unction upon the spoken word to rest on the written word, bringing about the same effect.’
Today, several millions of books have been published and are in circulation across the nations of the world, transforming and changing the stories of many to the glory of God.
- 1983
- the Publishing Mandate
- Millions
- of books in circulation
While travelling back home from a speaking engagement, the Lord spoke to me clearly in the car, ‘The harvest of Africa is now over-ripe; rush in and preserve it from decadence’. That was on 4th May 1994.
On another occasion in August 2000, after speaking at a conference in London, while I retired to my hotel room and engaged in God’s presence, the Lord spoke to me from Acts 8:4, ‘And they that were scattered abroad. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere, preaching the word’. I understood that was the next phase of our foreign mission task. Today, the Commission is in over 146 nations of the world to the glory of God.
- 4 May
- 1994, the harvest of Africa
- 146+
- nations today
To God be the glory.