Apostle Michael Orokpo has stressed that divine intervention occurs when individuals become restless and refuse to remain in difficult circumstances. In a sermon on the seven types of divine intervention, he highlighted that the first stage involves what he calls “the realm of the restless spirit.”
“If you don’t come to that point where you are tired and you say enough is enough, you will continue in that pain,” Apostle Orokpo declared. “You have to come to a point where you say, ‘Listen, this thing cannot go on anymore.’ That is when the gates, the portals of intervention begin to open.”
Referencing Genesis 27:40, he discussed the biblical account of Esau and Jacob, explaining that despite Esau losing his blessing, he was given a path to breakthrough. “Jacob said, ‘By the sword, shalt thou live.’ That means Esau had to fight for everything in life. But then he was also told, ‘It shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, thou shalt break his yoke from off thy shoulders.’ Another translation says, ‘When you become restless, you shall break his yoke off your back,'” he explained.
He pointed out that suffering often persists because people passively accept their struggles. “Many times, people were with Jesus and they were suffering until they made the decision to press for help. Peter was sinking before Jesus, yet Jesus did not intervene until Peter cried out, ‘Master, save me!’ Then the Bible said, ‘Immediately, Jesus reached out and pulled him up.'”
Apostle Orokpo also cited the biblical event where Jesus slept through a storm while His disciples battled the waves. “At first, they were trying to manage the situation because they were experienced fishermen. But when they hit the frequency of the restless spirit, they cried out, ‘Master, carest thou not that we perish?’ Immediately, Jesus stood up and rebuked the wind and the waves.”
He cautioned that Satan deceives people into normalizing their struggles. “Anybody who does not hit that frequency and say, ‘No more!’ will never have intervention. The sign that you have reached that frequency is that you cry out and make demands. The intensity of your demand shows the degree of your frustration.”
Emphasizing persistent prayer, he quoted James 5:16: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” He explained that effective prayers must be fervent and persistent. “You must get to a point where you are praying with intensity and resilience, saying, ‘I won’t stop until there’s an answer!’ When you hit that frequency, your prayer becomes like incense in the heavens, and heaven will respond.”
Illustrating the principle further, he referenced Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-6. “Even a wicked judge who neither feared God nor man responded because of the widow’s persistence. How much more will your Heavenly Father respond when you refuse to accept your situation?”
He also cited Jacob wrestling with an angel, saying, “Jacob wrestled all night and said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The angel later told him, ‘As a prince, you have wrestled with God and man, and you have prevailed.’ If a man becomes restless, things happen for him.”
Urging his audience to reject complacency, he declared, “If you accommodate any issue, it will remain with you forever. Whether it is sickness, oppression, or hardship, rise up! The day you rise up is the day your intervention comes. Israel was in captivity for over 400 years, crying but never rising up. The man who eventually brought intervention was the one who became restless—Moses.”
Apostle Orokpo emphasized that divine intervention is not reserved for the experienced or qualified, but for those who refuse to accept their situation. “God trained Moses for 40 years because he was the only one restless enough to challenge Pharaoh. Only the restless can say ‘enough is enough’ and not turn back.”
He concluded with a powerful charge: “Some of us are too comfortable with our problems. ‘It is well’—even inside the pit? If you are inside the pit, come out! When Jeremiah was thrown into the well, he prophesied from there. When Jonah was in the belly of the whale, he cried out from there. Your problem is that you are comfortable in the pit. I prophesy to someone today: because of your restlessness, your challenge will end now!”
