Next Level September To Remember 2026 Day 3 Evening by Apostle Johnson Suleman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Genesis 13:16-17

God says, I will bless you, I will increase you, I will prosper you. But arise

Showers of blessing is God's intended next level for believers

Ezekiel 34:26

Showers of blessing is God's ultimate plan to move you closer to the level He has intended for you

Showers of blessing is God's unfolding, gradual plan for the believer's lifting

Showers of blessing is God's ultimate agenda for the end time believer

Abraham and Lot

Abraham had brought in Lot, his nephew, and they had conflict

There were 3 things that led to the problem of Abraham and Lot

One was great prosperity, great wealth. They were so blessed beyond what they could imagine Genesis 13:2

When God is about to expand a person, it always begins with a crisis

Every expansion begins with a crisis

Abraham told Lot to make a choice, choose where you want to go. Lot chose the north, the east, the west, everywhere except where Abraham was standing

Abraham was the blessing, if he was wise

The blessing is not in the space, it's in the man

The donkeys of Saul's father were missing. They went through Shalisha, Shalim, the land of Benjamin, looking for them and could not find them 1 Samuel 9

The servant said, there is a man of God in this city, let's go and meet him that he may show us our way

The man of God told them, the donkeys you have been looking for have been found

Meaning, what you are looking for is not in a place, it is in a man

As they found the man, they found the missing donkeys

Lot left with a lot. Lot took a lot. But Abraham stood. Where Abraham stood, God began to speak

Your standing point is your starting point

Where you are standing should not be where you cry, it should be where you start. You don't cry from where you are standing, you start from where you are standing

When prayer seems unanswered

No matter how many times you pray and don't see an answer

2 Corinthians 12:8

Three times. Meaning a whole apostle had a prayer point that he kept repeating. If it had been answered, he wouldn't repeat it

Paul was the custodian of prayer. He said, I speak in tongues more than you all 1 Corinthians 14:18

A man that fasted often. One time in Acts he fasted two full weeks Acts 27:33-34

If he was fasting, everyone was fasting, yet he was the one encouraging them. Everybody was broken in a two weeks fast, but Paul was a fasting machine.

Yet there was a prayer point he prayed and got no answer

Luke 22:31-32

Jesus prayed for Peter. If the prayer had been answered, He wouldn't say "when you are converted"

Even our Lord prayed a prayer that was not answered

People think an answer is when results go their way. Even when a result doesn't go your way, it is still an answer

If everything in life is to go the way of God's nature, there's nothing that will make you happy

If somebody comes after my life and I pray and the person drops dead, it makes me feel honorable, it makes me feel the anointing is working. But that's not the character of God

God does not want that person to die. God wants the person to repent

If you point your hand at me and your hand withers, it confirms that I'm anointed. But that's not the character of God, because that man stretching his hand is still blind.

God wants to open his eyes so that he becomes saved

If the absolute will of God took place in the life of everybody, you would be so sad, because your enemies would be getting blessed the more you pray.

God wants to use that blessing as a witness against him

God will allow them to feel they have gotten you. He will allow them to feel He's silent. Then He will show up

There are adversaries that will not drop dead. God will keep them alive and bless you to give them mental problem

There are some people that don't like you. What God will do is to bless you. Imagine how you will eat when the table is prepared in the presence of your enemies Psalm 23:5

Psalm 110:2

That's what He did for Bartimaeus Mark 10:46-52

Bartimaeus was on his own. He cried, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. All the disciples told him, shut up. He didn't call their names. It was Jesus he called

After a while Jesus stopped and said, go and call him. The same people who told him shut up were the ones sent to call him

It's not the protocol, call him. It's not in the schedule, schedule him. Bring him here

Your enemies will become your messengers

Vision and motion

The first stage of progress is vision. The second phase is motion

Until motion collides with vision there is no progress. Vision without motion is a nightmare

Venture is the mother of adventure. If you don't venture you can never access adventure

Vision is a daydream until action is initiated

Arise, walk through the land. It takes risk to arise

Lot had taken over some spots, but God is now talking to Abraham: eastward, northward, westward. That includes where Lot took

God was saying, eventually I will give you this place, but let him be there for a while. And where Abraham was standing became Canaan

Nothing is hard for God 2 Kings 2:10

Elisha asked a hard thing, not an impossible thing. It may be hard, but it's not impossible. A next level may be hard, but it's not impossible

The woman with the issue of blood

Mark 5:26

What the physicians did to her was more than what the sickness did

When doctors have prescribed and prescribed and don't know what to prescribe, they start guessing

Doctors didn't say they didn't know what was wrong. They kept giving prescription after prescription, and the prescriptions began to stir up ailments that were not there before

You take so much drug and your liver is getting affected, your kidney is getting damaged. What was not there before started generating. She was getting worse and worse

Until one day she heard that Jesus was passing. She heard that Elohim was passing, Elyon was passing, El Shaddai was passing, Yahweh was passing. She prescribed for herself: they have been prescribing drugs for me, but I'm prescribing for myself now.

If I can touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made whole

Every sickness, every disease, every affliction, every pain, every satanic arrow, every infraction of hell in your body and in your life, today it shall come out

The woman with the alabaster box

Mark 14:3-9

Jesus entered the house of Simon the leper in Bethany. There was no evidence the man was healed. He was still called Simon the leper

The Healer who heals lepers by His word was in the house of a leper, and the leper wasn't healed

The woman had an alabaster box. She imported it from India. She saved nine months of her income to buy it, preparing for the day she would have an encounter with the Master

She was not valued. She was ignored. They called her the woman of the city because she was a loose woman. Every man had messed her up, so they disregarded her

But she came to the Master. She knew He would die. She wanted to anoint Him before death, because after death she may not be given that opportunity

What she would have done later, she was doing now

Procrastination is a thief of time

Mark 16:1-4

The women came with sweet spices and oil, saying, who shall roll away the stone? When they looked, the stone was already rolled away

Who anointed Him? He was anointed ahead of time

I keep telling people, pay the price now, because you may not have time for the price tomorrow

Study scriptures now, because you may get so great in life that you won't have opportunity for 20 chapters, 30 chapters. Do it now.

Spend 7, 8 hours now, because a time will come when your business will be so big you won't have time

Anoint now, because a time will come when you think you are preparing

There is nobody God has lifted in ministry who will tell you he studies the Bible now like before. Where's the time? I used to read 35, 38 chapters a day, not verses, chapters.

10 hours speaking in tongues, 8 hours, 12 hours. Where's the time now?

As a man of God, it is my duty to see people and pray for them. It's my calling. But I have plans. What I will do tomorrow, on Sunday, next, is already planned

To put you in the schedule, I have to know ahead of time. Not to get to town and say, sir, I'm around, can I see you?

It's like passing a governor's city and saying I'm around. He won't even reply, because you knew you were coming

There are things you must do now, because tomorrow you don't have tomorrow

Those who have lost family members say, if only I knew my mother was going, if only I knew my father was going. There are things you did not do

I lost a very precious friend. Somebody and I were talking on the phone and both of us started crying. If God had shown us, if we had known

If I was angry or offended at him, I would see him at my gate, at the airport. We grew together. We could stay 3 months, 4 months without talking

After he died, I picked up the phone to call him before I remembered he was dead

There are things you must do now because there's no tomorrow. That love you need to show, show it now. That care you need to show, show it now

You still have your husband around you and you don't know what God has done for you. You have your wife around, both of you in the house carrying face

Ask people who have lost their husband, they will tell you how many times they cry, especially if he was a man who covered a lot of shame in their life.

Why do you think some men don't remarry? It's not because they don't see women, it's because they can't see that wife

You're not losing anybody. I'm telling you to do some things now. Buy that gift, buy it now. That love, show it now. That concern, show it now

All you have is today. You don't have tomorrow. You will live long. Your family will live long, your relatives will live long

Every usage is preceded by a shaking

There are liquid drugs you are given in a bottle. When you have kept it for a while, you are instructed, shake before use. Why? So it circulates

If God wants to use you, He will first shake you

When God wants to use a man, He will first shake him. Every time you see a man going through trial, God is shaking him before you

In Adullam, God will shake you before He uses you. God will take away your will so that you can say like Jesus, not my will but Thine be done Luke 22:42

God takes away the pride, the mockery, the bitterness, the fear. He takes away the ego, the self-centeredness, this I, me, myself

It will make some things happen that will humble you. It is not humiliation. It is a shaking

God will take you to a point where people you depended on will disappoint you. It's not humiliation. It is a shaking

Those going through the shaking now are there because of the agenda of God for their life. The plan and purpose of God for your life is preceded by a shaking

In the shaking, God will not allow you to see corruption. In the shaking, He will not allow you to see regret

He allows some shaking so that in that shaking:

• You know your true friends
• You know those who truly love you
• You know those who believe in you
• You know those who are standing with you

3 keys to your next level

1. Kill the mindset of failure

   When you are planning, have no failure involved. Have no thought of, what if he does not, what if he does

   If you always think of obstacles before making a decision, you have no future. Take failure out of your mindset. There's nothing like failure

   Anytime something stops you in destiny, God wants you to rest for a while. Never see any stoppage as failure. See it as God wanting you to relax and acquire momentum

   Illustration: the high jump

   In track and field there is shot put, long jump and high jump. High jump is one of the most regressive kinds of sport, because anytime they lift the bar you have to go back

   When they lift it and increase it again, you still go back. So if you see me going back, I'm not backing off. It's because my target is increasing. I'm increasing my momentum

   Micah 7:8

   You don't serve a dead God. You serve a mighty God Hebrews 13:8

   When God says yes, no man can say no. When God lifts you up, no man can bring you down

   God is on your side. Power is on your side. Glory is on your side. Favor is on your side. Praise is on your side

   Shakespeare's work has been read since secondary school was called grammar school. He could not get a degree from an institution, yet he is referenced

   Have no thought of failure. See your current condition as raw material for your next level. Stop rounding up your life with your current condition

   Failure is an event, not a person

   You are not a failure because you failed. Failure is an occurrence, not a person. There's no person called failure. Nobody should call you a failure because you failed

   If the enemy hits you with failure, bounce back, hit him with success. If the enemy hits you with a setback, bang back, hit him with grace and movement

   A setback is not a step back. A setback is a setup for your comeback

   Your condition should not stop your declaration. Your declaration is stronger than your condition. Every time you see a condition, have a declaration. Your mouth must be moving

   In the medical world, if somebody is sick and still talking, there is hope. When he stops talking, everybody is afraid, they say he's dead

   Even in natural life, when you close your mouth too long it starts smelling.

   That's why we brush, because for 5 hours of sleeping our mouth was closed and all kinds of things are on the tongue

   I didn't fail. I can't fail. It's not in my DNA to fail. There may be no food on the table now, but I know there's something waiting for me tomorrow

   My past is my history. Even if my present is a mystery, my future is my destiny

   Illustration: the prodigal son Luke 15:17

   The prodigal son asked his father for the portion that falls to him. His father was still alive

   He kept looking at his father: you're getting younger, you don't look like you will die soon. Where is my father? They said he went to play football. Another time, he went to swim.

   This man is not planning to die

   So let's settle this matter now. The father said yes and gave him. He took it, went out and wasted everything on riotous living

   No man gave to him, because no matter what you have, if nothing is entering you will still lose what you have. When there is no inflow, you start losing what you have

   When he came to himself. That decision to ask his father was not him. Something took over his mind, something manipulated his mind

   There are decisions people take that you say, this is not them. There are steps and ideas people come up with that you say, this is not them

   A man left a wonderful duplex, well furnished, where he and his family lived, and began to squat with a young girl in one room, bed on the floor.

   People said, it's not him, there's a spell, he needs to come to himself

   You don't insult or fight such a person. You pray. Common sense will not work with that one

   The children came for days and had to drag him, come out. He said, leave me, I know what I'm doing

   No failure zone here

   God said, arise. He never told Abraham that as he goes he will see an obstacle. He said, everywhere you see I will give you

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   That doesn't mean you won't see challenges of life. But God expects those challenges to be stepping stones. Anything that comes your way as a challenge, heaven expects you to conquer it

   1 Corinthians 10:13

   This trial you are in now, I decree you will locate the way of escape. This challenge you are in now, I decree you will locate the way of escape.

   This situation you are in now, may you locate the way of escape

   No matter what you are going through, don't allow discouragement

   Bishop Oyedepo said, don't threaten God with age, He's the Ancient of Days. I laughed. He said, don't threaten Him with fasting, He has never eaten.

   I think I can add, don't threaten Him with vigil, He has never slept

   Who are you talking to? The tireless, weariless, faintless God. The one who sees the end from the beginning. The one who says a thing and it doesn't fall to the ground

   The uncreated Creator. The one who suspended the heavens from the earth without a pillar. Lamb of God, seven eyes and seven horns Revelation 5:6. That is the one we have come to serve

   There's no failure material in your system. The construct of your life is failure proof. There's no wiring of failure in your DNA

   You are success material, a product of success, a carrier of excess success

2. Never be discouraged

   Abraham saw enough to discourage him. See what Lot did. But God was not even speaking of what Lot did

   Personal experience

   Some things have happened to me that really hurt me badly, as the human being that I am. When I go into God's presence, I have noticed one trait.

   The Holy Spirit will never talk about it

   Maybe somebody did something and I feel broken. He will never come and say, what he did to you, how do you feel?

   You are almost grieving over something and He's telling you to plan a crusade

   I said, Father, did you see what I'm going through? He was not going to talk about it.

   He will tell you somebody is going to see you at a certain time, wearing a certain cloth, and what is coming. Pray for him

   It might take two months. He will then come to that matter when you have even moved on and say, this is what you should learn from what this person did. It was a lesson

   I said, Father, when I was crying, why didn't you say allow your human nature to be expressed? He said, it is human for you to feel the way you feel.

   I understand, because I was once a man. I came in the form of a man

   I allow you to accept that nature, but it will not consume you. You will survive it. Not only will you survive this challenge, your children will survive it. It will not swallow them up

   Don't be too conscious of your condition, because it can affect your faith. When you are always conscious of what you are going through, before you know it your faith will start shaking

   Even medical doctors will tell you, when you take drugs, once in a while go for a walk. So you can forget what you are going through and get your mind off it

   Acts 7:55-60

   Stephen was being stoned. He saw heaven open and Jesus standing. Jesus doesn't stand, Jesus sits. Why was He standing? Coming to the rescue of Stephen, coming to defend him

   Then God took him. That was why Jesus was on His way down.

   In the next chapter He appeared to Saul on his way to Damascus, because He was coming down for Stephen, not Saul Acts 9

   They stoned Paul at the same spot where they stoned Stephen, and left him for dead Acts 14:19

   Philippians 1:21

   When they left, Paul shook himself, stood up and started walking

   The problem you have is that you allow your emotion to overwhelm you. For you to live a life of faith, your emotion must be logged out

   There are matters where you have to log out emotion, because faith and emotion cannot travel the same path

   When we say walk by faith, we are not saying we are not seeing the pain. We are saying if we focus on the pain, the pain doesn't go anywhere

   Numbers 21:8-9, John 3:14

   A serpent was lifted. A serpent was biting. He said, look up to the lifted serpent. When you see the lifted serpent, the biting serpent dies.

   But if you focus on the biting serpent, the biting serpent kills you

   Isaiah 54:4

   It looks like a grammatical somersault, like tautology, but it's not repetition. The meanings are distinct

   Being ashamed is private. Being put to shame is public

   Your car won't start at home because you forgot there was no fuel, you are ashamed. You enter a cab. When the car stops in the middle of the road, you are put to shame

   Your children say, Daddy, we have not paid school fees, stay at home. You are ashamed. When in class they say, Mr. So and So's son, come out, you are put to shame

   A woman is leaving the house and her flow starts, she is ashamed, she puts something on. In the market somebody says, madam, see your back, she is put to shame

   Whether in private or in public, you will not be ashamed, you will not be put to shame

3. Understand that your current level is not your final status

   Abraham was already rich, already blessed, yet God was saying, I will give you more. The length, the breadth

   There is no level you have gotten to that you can say, this is the apex of God's dream, this is the apex of life

   God will always plant people around people that have seen better than them.

   Why do you think God is still keeping Papa Adeboye and Papa Kumuyi alive and will keep them for many more years? So the younger generation will know they have not seen anything

   What greatness have you seen that you can compare with the expansion of ministry Papa Adeboye has seen? What testimony can you share?

   Illustration: how many acres

   God gave us a property in America, our first church building there. I told my father, daddy, God has helped us. He said amen. I said, God has given us a property in America.

   He said, that's good. How many acres?

   I didn't have an answer. One acre is 15 plots, so somebody asking how many acres shows the level of thinking. If it was Nigeria I would answer.

   We have ministries with campgrounds of 100 acres, 50 acres. But this was America

   Now we have about five buildings in America. The branches are over 50, but I'm talking of churches that own their own property. That was the first

   God is keeping them alive so that we will know we have not seen anything, and still keeping them humble

   Where you are now is somebody's prayer point. What you call success, two cars, three cars, money, somebody is praying that God should deliver him from that level. What you call your best is somebody's worst

   One of my sons complained that financially he's not moving forward. He said if he showed me his account balance I would be shocked, he's really down.

   When he showed me, it was over 20 billion. He said this is not his level, this can only do one project

   Forget materialism, forget money, houses, property. Those are just windfalls, side effects of progress

   The highest level is intimacy with God

   You think you are praying when you see people praying. It should not provoke you or make you offended. It should challenge you

   Start from where you are now till you become the best. Start from where you are now till you get to where you are going. Don't look at me today.

   I used to run from prayer. If I prayed 20 minutes, God has answered, let all of us go home

   Illustration: the first vigil

   They started praying at 11. I thought they would close by 11:30 so we could sleep. 11:30, 12, I just went behind and joined a bench, used my Bible as a pillow and slept.

   When I woke by 4, they were gathered, and I said, have I been praying since then? Yes, yes. Who did you offend?

   Illustration: the mountain, 1993

   The first time I went to the mountain, I ran back. We drove in a Jetta. When it started raining we stayed under a tree. When the rain stopped falling, the tree rain was still falling

   As we climbed I asked myself, what am I looking for? Who did that offend? What brought me here?

   One brother said, Lord, we have come, let us rest first, we will be here for another seven days. That demoralized me.

   I couldn't go back alone, we came in a Jetta, and they would look at me somehow

   That evening we were fasting. I asked where I could drink water, and I drank. When we finished praying they said we should rest till about 12 and wake up

   As they started, oh Lord, oh Lord, I was just eyeing him. A brother prayed, quoted scriptures, went on his knees, stood up.

   Another brother prayed less than 30 seconds, and I said me too, I should pray

   I said, Father, thank you. It's not the lengthy prayers. We know that even the things in our heart You can hear

   In the morning I carried my bag and went to the foot of the mountain. I sat down at a place where a woman was selling food, then went straight home.

   My people said, you came early. I said, yes, God has answered all my prayers

   That is me talking to you now. Today everywhere I go, one of the biggest complaints people have is, why is he not eating? I was not like this before

   What was your weakness with time becomes your strength

   Never give up when you are weak now. You can't pray for long, you are feeling bad. No, keep pressing, keep pressing

   Mama Kabosh, myself and two other pastors prayed for 26 hours, till the next day.

   Somebody said, Apostle will raise one prayer point, put his hand on his back and be doing like this for two hours

   Illustration: Benny Hinn and Yonggi Cho

   Papa Benny said he thought he was a prayer warrior. He went to Yonggi Cho's church. After the preaching, Cho said, let's go and eat at home

   Cho's wife brought food. The mistake Benny made was telling Cho to bless it. Cho blessed the food for 8 hours, because that was his lifestyle. Communion and intimacy was a natural thing

   Never think you have arrived. There are 7,000 that have not bowed their knees 1 Kings 19:18

   Whatever you have now, it can be better. In fact, be dissatisfied with your satisfaction

   Illustration: the womb

   When a child is in the womb 9 months, the child begins to rebel against the womb. The womb is more comfortable, because the child gets direct source from the mom.

   It's a world of his own

   But there is something better, a world better. After 9 months the woman is tired of carrying, she wants to drop. She's reacting, the baby is reacting

   For your next level you must be dissatisfied with your current level

Direction

God said to Abraham, arise. One problem you are going to have for your next level is direction

When you lack direction, you can't take action. Action is empowered on the premise of direction

Before a man enters his car to drive, he has a destination in mind. When the destination is not known, the arrival time is not known. That is ETA, estimated time of arrival

It is your destination that helps you calculate your arrival time. Once a man lacks direction, he can't take action

• Lord, I receive direction
• Show me what to do next
• Tell me what to do now