In many Christian organizations today, the understanding they have regarding Satan is quite low. Many, when praying, would do so with aim of destroying Satan, but the following day, they still discover Satan is alive and did not die. The same is repeated all year long but Satan remains himself.

One wonders, is God not answering such prayer? To the General Overseer of Zion Family, Lagos , Rev. John Nwaefido, "Satan cannot die until the time appointed by God. It is just lack of knowledge of the scriptures that make people to pray such prayers, you can only rebuke Satan, you can't kill him."

Why are Christians afflicted?
The book of Psalms 119 verse 67 says "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word." That's to tell you that the major reason Christians get afflicted is because such has gone astray. Going astray has to do with disobedience to the words of God. When one shows doubt and unbelief to the words of God, He makes room for affliction.

Also, the same Psalm 119, verse 71 says, "it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." So, when we fail on our part to do things the way God wants it, the result is affliction. When you don't pray, when you don't study the Bible, when you stop to walk in righteousness, then you invite affliction.

God doesn't do bad
Devil does it. God only permits when one goes astray. Devil is very relevant in God's plan for the earth, he plays a key role in God's agenda. That is why God allowed him to afflict Job. Nobody can destroy Satan until the appointed time, it doesn't matter your prayer, Devil will not die, you can only rebuke the devil by the word of God through the power of Jesus. I laugh sometimes when I hear some prayers Christians pray, it shows their scriptural level of understanding. No amount of prayer can kill Satan, he plays a key role in God's agenda.

When you look at the case of Job, Bible points it in chapter 1 verse 6 that Satan was present with the sons of God when they gathered with God – he has a purpose to fulfill. When we go astray, it becomes the responsibility of Satan to accuse and afflict.

But Job did not sin?
Job had fear, that worked against him. He was living in fear and fear was responsible for his calamity. All who fear will always be victims of witches. Those who fear water get drowned, those who fear travelling by air get plane crash.

I had a friend who said then that he wouldn't like to travel by air again, he got afraid because of the mishap of that time, eventually he died in a plane crash. Fearful mind is a victim of the devil. When you read Job 3:25, he says that what he feared mostly happened to him. So, Job was fearful and fear itself is a sin.

How can one differentiate if what he's passing through is as a result of sin or for other reason?
I can say with confidence that many of those things that believers pass through are result of going astray. There is one common sin of omission people don't recognize, it is lack of gratitude to God and it brings affliction to Christians. Deuteronomy 28:47 and 48 talks of serving God with joyful and grateful heart.
This confirms there are a lot of things we pass through not because we don't go to church but because we don't worship with joyful and grateful heart.

But where is the place of trial of faith?
Trial of faith is like challenges you pass through or what I can call temptation. That is when your faith is challenged, and when you release your faith by praying and remaining firm in the Lord, the problem will leave you. Somebody may have miscarriage, lose his job, late marriage, those are trials of faith, or it could be prolonged sickness like the woman with the issue of blood, she released her faith and got the solution.

We also have what we call chastising of the Lord. That is discipline of God on His children. There is judgment of God and there is chastising of God. God chastises His children who are supposed to have grown to adulthood but remain babies; He gives them what belong to babies.

How then can one know if he is being inflicted, passing through trial of faith or being chastised?
It is the function of the Holy Spirit, He will always bear you witness as a believer when problem comes; He will tell you what really goes wrong.

How would a Christian know he needs deliverance?
Every problem does not attract deliverance. There are problems that were not caused because the victim is possessed and if the person is not possessed, he doesn't need deliverance. Though there is what I call word deliverance, not until you lay hand and the victim falls, you can deliver somebody by opening the word of God and let him see some truth of the word. The Bible says that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

So, there are some deliverance that can happen by teaching and not necessarily by laying of hands, only that the minister has to be sensitive in the spirit to be able to differentiate.

There was a woman that came to me, she was married for years but no child, I told her to change her bed, the foam and everything, I told her: "if you don't conceive this month don't call me pastor again." By the grace of God, she conceived that same month, they did their child dedication here in February.