Personal Stories

I am in Houston, Texas, writing this praise report as I prepare to return to Lakewood Church to hear you speak in person for the second time. I thank Jesus for bringing you to the United States.

Pastor Prince, I want to thank you for the blessed truths you have brought into my life.Two years ago after the birth of my son, I started to find it hard to cope.

I grew up in a legalistic environment. We were taught to ask for God’s forgiveness each time we sinned to avoid going to hell. We were also taught that we could lose our salvation and that kept us sin-conscious.

My wife had contemplated suicide because I kept failing to keep the promises I made to her. It seemed like the more I struggled to do things right, the more I ended up doing those things wrong.

I just want to say thank you for what the Lord is doing through your ministry. When I came across your broadcast almost two years ago, I was at the end of myself and as you’ve said, I was both “wandering” and “wondering” what happened to my relationship with the Lord.

I am a pastor with one of the churches here in Nigeria. Since my salvation, I’ve always subconsciously rebelled against legalistic teachings. There was always a lingering feeling in my spirit that God is not the stern and intolerable dictator that some people make Him out to be because I’ve experienced the love and mercy of God even in the times when I’ve failed woefully.

I’m thirty-four years old and was involved in full-time ministry for thirteen years. For seven years, my husband and I pastored a local urban church in Chicago. We conducted Bible studies, seminars, teachings, trainings and outreaches. We saw people saved, water baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit and went through discipleship courses. However, we saw very little lasting fruit.

I started listening to Pastor Prince preach on a Christian channel. Some time later, the Holy Spirit led me to read Pastor Prince’s book Grace Revolution.

I became a Christian when God showed me that my life’s purpose was found in His Son, Jesus. From that moment on, I decided to get involved in ministry by serving as a youth overseer in my district.

During my secondary school days, I was extremely notorious and caused many problems to my peers, school and family. I was also involved in gangs and vile activities that harmed both my body and the people who cared about me.