The Senior Pastor of World Royal City Church Asokoro, Abuja Dr. Effa Emmanuel, on Saturday said that many prophecies on the 2023 general elections failed because they were humanly conceived and not from God.
Dr Emmanuel who is also the president of Pastors Support Network, with over 2000 pastors, noted that God is not an author of confusion.
The Cleric stated this while speaking with journalists at the Global leadership conference of Renaissance Bible College and Seminary with the theme ‘The Role of Theological Education, Ecumenism and Integration in the 21st Century’ held in Abuja.
Recall that during the building up to the 2023 general election, many clerics ‘prophesied’ the outcome of the poll which the result eventually went the other way.
Dr Emmanuel maintained that the failed prophecies were from the imagination of those prophesying, who he said must be called to order.
He noted that there is a need for clerics across the country to speak with one voice.
“We have CAN and Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). I think the leaders of these bodies should have the responsibility of calling erring pastors to order so that we don’t have confusion in the house.
“When Paul was speaking, I think to the Corinthians, he said if anyone has a prophecy, one should prophesize at a time, while others should judge. Prophecy is not a recipe for confusion. God is not an author of confusion.”
He explained that prophecy has three major sources – “one from the spirit of man, then from the spirit of the devil and from the Spirit of God”.
He added that any cleric who speaks from his own spirit is simply talking from imagination”.
“If you are inspired by the devil of course you’re a prophet but not a prophet of God”, he added.
“But there are also prophets of God, who speak from God. And if you speak from God, one sign that you are speaking from God is that it comes to pass. If it doesn’t come to pass, then you are not speaking from God.
“My take is that CAN and PFN should be able to regulate the house because the church is a house. We should be able to speak with one voice. And then the leaders of the organisations should be able to decipher who is really speaking and representing the voice of God so that we won’t have this rancour and disorder that we’ve had so far”, he noted.
Also, the Chaplain Chapel of Salvation, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Professor David Abraham, lamented the proliferation of churches across the country, noting that many pastors do not have theological training.
He said theological training is one of the major tools for character transformation and practical discipline.
“So there were prophecies, whether you like it or not, there are correct prophecies and there are those that have worked and there also fake which might even be more than the original because there are the ones that pick from anywhere and then begin to talk.
“They hear a lot of voices, and it could be satanic voices. And just like I have said, any prophecy that does not come to pass is not from God. So that is the basis of underlining the true and false prophecies. When it comes to pass, then you know it is true”, he noted.
Speaking on CAN regulating the activities of pastors, he said “Nigeria is such a lawless country for now but I believe our laws will come back. CAN is politicized. The politics in CAN is so much that until God changes them.
“CAN has a lot of roles to play in curtailing all the proliferation of these churches. They are the administrative head. They’re the ones that we run to. So any church that wants to be established must be registered with CAN.
While stressing the need for theological training for pastors, he added: “Many pastors come up and tell you that God calls them but they can’t tell us specifically what call asked them to do.
“Yes, God speaks to people, we all agree but that doesn’t mean you’re already an ordained pastor. It simply means you should go and search for more knowledge and learn. Moses was called from his mother’s womb but he went out to seek for knowledge.