Pastor Taiye Olayemi has shed light on the right motives of fasting and prayer in the wake of the ongoing usual practice of new year fasting and prayer exercise by many churches for the new year 2025. The General Overseer of Ever Increasing Anointing Ministries says every believer needs a consistent fasting and prayer life to operate in purity and power for the sole purpose of aligning oneself with the advancement of God’s kingdom. He also speaks on the relevance and the bastardization of the yearly releases of new year prophecies by some preachers and the place of the prophetic ministry in the lives of the people and the nations in this interview with Christian Benefits.

Briefly recap the manifestation of God’s power at Ever Increasing Anointing Ministries in 2024

God manifested His power mightily at Ever Increasing Anointing Ministries in 2024 in the lives of the church members. As the owner of the work we enjoyed His partnership tremendously in 2024 with awesome testimonies of soul winning, God’s kingdom seekers with miracles, signs and wonders. He is the sovereign God and we always acknowledge this. We are gratefully thankful to God for how far he has brought us.

Ever Increasing Anointing Ministries usually closes every outgoing year with 78 hours marathon fasting and prayer meeting every December. What is the significance of this end of the year marathon prayer meeting?

The significance is for the church to further seek partnership with God. No one can partner with God without fasting and prayer. This particular meeting like all our other prayer meetings is aimed to partner with God to advance His kingdom through soul winning, financing His cause and rendering services. It is not a religious exercise that some churches do yearly. It is also to express our love and gratitude to God. Summarily, we hold the meeting to submit and humble ourselves under God’s will in advancing His kingdom in purity and power. The kingdom of God cannot be advanced with mere teachings. The kingdom of God is in demonstration of power. You need a consistent fasting and prayer life to operate in purity and power. To operate in purity you must consistently consecrate yourself with fasting and prayer.

What are the motives of a consistent fasting and prayer in the life of a believer?

One major motive of a consistent prayer and fasting exercise for every believer is disciplining oneself to submit to God’s will. The motive of fasting and prayer is not because you see some groups of people or some other churches doing it. Fasting and prayer is not competition. It’s not because one religious sect or the other is doing it. The main and primary motive of fasting and prayer is to align ourselves with the advancement of God’s kingdom.

Talking about religious practices, what’s your take on the religious practice of new year prophecies by some preachers at start of every new year?

Every preacher has specific area of calling in the fivefold ministry. We have the pastors, the teachers, the evangelists, the prophets and the apostles. So, I cannot condemn those who are called into the prophetic ministry for their yearly new year prophecies. No matter how some people are doing it, or how some people have bastardized the prophetic ministry, we cannot remove the prophetic ministry from the scriptures. It has come to stay. So long there are remnants, God still speaks to the people and to the nations through the prophets for warnings, corrections, counsels, admonitions, directions and for the future etc. So, we should not abuse or condemn the prophetic ministry; no matter the influxes of charlatans because God still uses the prophets for the people and for the nations. Preachers who claim that they operate in all the fivefold ministry is an error. Every minister should operate within his or her specific area of calling in the fivefold ministry. The scripture enjoins everyone to stay wherein he is called. You cannot operate in the prophetic, and then come into the teaching or the evangelism ministry. If every minister operates within their respective specific areas of calling the body of Christ will move forward. So, I strongly believe in the prophetic to give warnings or directions to the people and to the nations at any time. I also believe God still speaks concerning each year. He has his mandate for each year, and speaks through the prophets on his mandate for each year.  

What happens when some prophecies seemingly failed in the eyes of some people?

Two things accompany a prophecy. One is the conditions for it to come to pass. You don’t just declare a prophecy without knowing the conditions that accompany it. You must know both the God’s part and the human’s part of the prophecy. Some prophets just run with only the God’s part of the prophecy; leaving the human’s part, or vice versa. A prophecy does not fulfill itself. It takes men that know the conditions of the prophecy to bring it to pass. You just don’t declare a prophecy and go to sleep. Elijah said, according to my words, there shall be no rain. But he later went back and prayed for rain to come. So, prophecy does not fulfill itself. Look at the conditions of that prophecy. One of the conditions of prophecies is warfare.

Some preachers today build their churches on prophecy. Can such churches survive without prophecy, or when prophecy ceases in their assemblies?

It is an error to establish a church on prophecy. Prophecy is not meant to build a church. Prophecy is to guide a church. Prophecy is to warn a church. The people who are meant to build a church are the teachers and the pastors. You can’t be a prophet by just prophesying. There are other things that accompany the office of a prophet. One, to be a prophet, you must be a teacher. If all you do is just prophesying, then you are a seer; and not a prophet. Therefore, to be good prophet, you must be a teacher. Second, to be a prophet, you must have one of the two revelational gifts; either the gift of discernment or the gift of the word of knowledge. A prophet that does not have proper and in-depth inbuilt of the word of God, you don’t follow, or regard such a person as a prophet.