Operating The Gift Of The Holy Spirit In The Marketplace And Ministry by Apostle Femi Lazarus: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Holy Ghost Is a Constant — What Is Missing Is the Operator

Genesis 1:1-3

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Then in verse two, the earth was without form and void. Darkness was upon the face of the deep — and the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters. He was there. He was present. And yet there was chaos.

The Holy Ghost is a constant. He is not absent from the places where the worst atrocities are taking place. He is there where people are being trafficked. He is there where people are taking drugs that destroy their organs. He can be present and the worst things are still happening — because what is missing is not him. What is missing is the operator.

When God said "let there be light" in verse three, the sun had not yet been made. What was that light? By Matthew 5:14, Jesus identifies it directly: "You are the light of the world." When God said let there be light, he was saying let there be man. The light he spoke into the chaos was a reference to his image-bearer being positioned correctly.

The Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Lord Are Not the Same Expression

There are different terms in scripture used for the Holy Spirit's operation. The Spirit of God was present in Genesis 1:2, moving over the void. The Spirit of God was present in the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 — and for years, the bones lay scattered, decomposed, and decayed while he was there. The Spirit of the Lord is only referenced when he has lorded over a man. The moment Ezekiel showed up and partnered with God, speaking to the dry bones, there was a noise and a shaking and life entered.

Why did God not say it himself? Because he has handed the earth to the sons of men. This is his jurisdiction — and when things go badly, the question is not "where is God?" It is "where is the man?"

The man born blind in John 9 was told by Jesus that his blindness existed so that the glory of God could be manifested. That means the man remained blind until someone who represented God came and opened his eyes. Someone is still sick because the healing anointing is not being walked in. Someone is still poor because those who are supposed to carry the blessing have refused to be blessed. Your failure affects more destinies than just your own.

The Level of Religious Activity and the Level of National Development Are Not Matching

In Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and across West Africa, young people are losing faith and asking questions. The honest question is: how can a people be the most prayerful and yet the most corrupt? How can a nation rank number one in religious activity and yet rank first in poverty? Is this the design of the Holy Ghost, or has something been missed?

The fact that something is scripturally backed does not mean it is true. Occultic practitioners have scriptures for their practices. The word can be rightly divided or wrongly divided.

All the Holy Ghost is capable of doing — wisdom, creative insight, revelation, economic strategy, healing, prophecy — and what most of the church has reduced him to is speaking in tongues. That is not the fullness of his mandate.

Joseph entered Potiphar's house by the Holy Ghost, and everything Potiphar did prospered because of it. When Esther walked before the king, it was not just favor — it was favor plus preparation. The Holy Ghost does not cover shame. He empowers excellence. Come ready.

The people who are doing 72-hour, 24-hour non-stop prayer — when they eventually arrive at the season where they are supposed to pay rent and build their lives, and discover they were not taught correctly, the hunger will turn into offense. They will doubt the church, then hate the church, then build platforms to fight the church. That is how weapons are fashioned against the ministry from within.

The Quality of the Information Produces the Quality of the People

At a certain point in ministry, an audit was done on the testimonies coming from within the congregation. The common thread was survival — bike accidents, rent miracles, petty near-misses. The honest assessment: if they had a car, they would not be thanking God about a bike. The level of miracle is determined by the level of expectation.

When the preaching changed — shifted from fire-and-glory to teaching people how to arise, think, plan, build — they started taking their masters, their PhDs, traveling nations, launching businesses. The quality of the information produces the quality of the people.

The Nehemiah anointing that is coming on this generation is not just for church planting — it is for building schools, universities, hospitals, economic systems. Many in this generation will go back and build the structures that bring the continent out of bondage.

The Daniel Standard

Daniel 1:3-4

Nebuchadnezzar's criteria for servants in his palace: no blemish, good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, quick to understand, and able to serve in the king's palace. This was a pagan king's requirement — and it was higher than what most of the church trains for.

The most difficult person to employ is sometimes a tongue-speaking Christian who is both deep and dull. How can those two things coexist? The time spent praying against being broke or being sacked should also be used expanding capacity — specifically the capacity to handle complex instructions, read a room, understand unspoken protocols, and navigate corridors of power with decorum.

Daniel 5:11-12

When Babylon had a problem they could not solve — the handwriting on the wall — the queen referenced a retired man: "There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God; light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him." An excellent spirit, knowledge and understanding, the ability to interpret dreams, clarify riddles, and solve difficult problems.

Daniel solved national problems. The honor given to a person is directly proportionate to the level of the problem they solve. Family-level problems bring family honor. National problems bring national honor. Continental problems bring continental honor. To demand honor at a level where nothing has been supplied is fraud.

Darkness Covers the Earth — Light Must Arise

Isaiah 60:1-2

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Then verse two: "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you."

The darkness mentioned in verse two is the same formless void darkness from Genesis 1:2 — the same darkness that emptied everything God had done will come again, except this time the sons of God arise.

Arise with business knowledge. Arise with skill. Arise with wisdom. Arise with might. Arise with the ability of God on your inside. The darkness does not come because light does not exist — it comes because the light has refused to shine.

Who controls the information about cancer cures? Who controls what TikTok shows to which country? Who controls the seeds used to plant food? Who controls the narrative about Africa and about the black Christian? You are in a construct, and you are becoming what you have been programmed to become. The moment a person begins to see beyond the box, life changes.

Our fathers have built camps and laid foundations. The next generation is not to repeat what they built — it is to build from where they stopped. Have structures in those camps that carry economic weight.

Purpose Is Found Through Anger

God cannot use anyone to solve problems they are not burdened about. In any aspect of life where there is no interest, there is no future assignment. One of the ways to know where the Holy Ghost is leading is that he will first take away peace. A burden will form. Concern will build. Questions will arise. The desire to solve something will start pressing.

Nobody told Moses he needed a dream or vision. He simply saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and he began to fight. One of the ways to identify purpose is through anger. A person will be angry in the direction of things they were designed to solve. When they see it go badly, that anger is the anointing pointing them toward their jurisdiction.

Father, let the builder's anointing come upon us. The extraordinary spirit of wisdom to build systems, to touch chaos and bring it to excellence — let it come. From today, let us begin to see differently. Let our minds begin to explode with light. Let every wall we have built for ourselves — walls of mediocrity, limitation, blindness, fear — be broken. Pour out the spirit of wisdom. Let your children become assets everywhere they go. In Jesus' mighty name.