The Covenant Of Success by Dr David Oyedepo

Success is not arriving at the peak overnight; it is making continuous progress. Success is not a destination, but an adventure, which is accessible to all who dare to venture. So, when everyday is a plus on the previous, you can be termed successful.

The journey to the land of success is also a covenant walk. God has His way and they are the highways of life. A strict and consistent compliance with His ways on your part will take you to your covenant dreamland of success.

Joshua 1:8 is God’s formula for success.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Here, God is saying that there are things you must do, if you want to make your way prosperous. It is not what God will do for you, but what He is asking you to do, in order for Him to establish your desires.

Success is a covenant! No one can stop a covenant man from arriving at his ultimate. All he needs do is to know the covenant details and to comply with them. The covenant is superior to the climate. Nothing can stop the covenant from prevailing. Wherever the sun prevails, there the covenant prevails.

The Lord said, "Except you can break My covenant of the day and of the night, that there should not be sun in the day and moon in the night; then may also My covenant with My servant David be broken" (Jer. 33:19-26).

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Ecclesiastes 10:5-8

Here, the Holy Spirit introduces us to certain covenant secrets about success, our inheritance in God, our position in Christ, His plan and purpose for our lives and our outstanding destiny with Him. He is saying here: "There is a covenant. If you break that covenant, then you expose yourself to the wickedness of the devil."

God’s covenant of success hinges on Wisdom, Discipline and Diligence. With these three forces working in your life, you are sure to get on your horseback.

Wisdom

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7

Wisdom is the baseline for a successful life, as it is the principal thing. I believe that the quality of wisdom at work in any business determines the quality of results derivable.

The quality of wisdom applied determines the quality of results expected. Success in life, business, Family, ministry, etc, is a function of wisdom — the wisdom available and the wisdom applied. Wisdom is what makes stars in every field of endeavour.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament...
Daniel 12:3

That business in your hand can become an event in your country when you encounter the kind of wisdom we are talking about. You can emerge a world-wide star in your profession and career. You need wisdom for direction, the use of your mouth and a working knowledge of your given task.

Wisdom For Direction

Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
Ecclesiastes 10:9-10

The struggle of the princes is because of the absence of wisdom. That is why you find a man expending all his energy on a task and nothing seems to be working. He lacks direction. He doesn’t know where he belongs, where he should be and what he should do. But to be successful in life, you must have direction.

Every increase is a function of wisdom. If you don’t know what to do with ten naira, how will it ever increase to fifteen? Insight is what guarantees increase, the ability to see ahead and plan for the future. You need wisdom!

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
Proverbs 3:13-16

Wisdom generates riches, which is one of the yardsticks for measuring success. It is the controlling factor for success in every area of life. Wisdom is better than weapons of war; it is better than strength. It takes away all the struggles and sweat from your life. When by wisdom you are able to find a bearing for your life, it brings you to the place of honour (Prov. 4:5-13)

Also, outstanding success is impossible without a well defined focus or purpose for living. The world has a popular saying — "Jack of all trades, master of none." This won’t be your portion in life, if you by wisdom identify your purpose for living. Jesus Christ, the Creator of the whole earth, came to the world for a singular purpose (Jn. 18:37) and He faced it.

Everyone is born for a purpose. "I know My plans for you; plans of welfare not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11). Your life will take shape when you locate and identify with God’s plan for your life. You are at your best at that thing which He has prepared for you. Your discovery of it and identifying with it is all it takes to lay hold on outstanding success in life.

Wisdom For The Use Of Your Mouth

Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
Ecclesiastes 10:11-13

In walking in wisdom to get at success, you need to mind what you say with your mouth, because you are ensnared by your words. By your words you are both justified and condemned (Matt. 12:37).

The way some people talk, no matter how hard they work, they can’t succeed; because they sow seeds of failure with their mouths. The prevailing principle in the school of faith is, "He shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mk. 11:23).

What you say is as important as what God says in the school of faith. Why? God is as committed to what you say as He is to what He says (Isa. 44:26).

Let’s see how the words of our mouth bring us success.

A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompense of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.
Proverbs 12:14

That is, the rewards of the work of your hands are released through the words of your mouth. So, if you are busy working with your hands and at the same time burning such works with evil words from your mouth, you will never see success. All your inputs find conclusion in the mouth, whether they bring results or destroy what you have done.

That is why in giving the great success formula God said, "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth..." Stop saying what is happening, start emphasizing what is written and give the angels more assignments to do.

Wisdom demands that you learn how to speak correctly; otherwise, you will work and never see results. This topic will be discussed in more details later in the book.

A Working Knowledge Of Your Task

In the world of success, information is the greatest asset. There are people in various businesses today who do not know anything about their business except for personal ideas, some of which are very weak.

When God gave the formular for success, He tied it to information: "This book of the law (the Bible) shall not depart..."

Every successful person in the world today encountered one information or the other, that brought about his success. Richard Branson (the owner of Virgin Airline in Britain) was rated the eleventh wealthiest Briton about six years ago. He rose to this position by the information he came across from reading a little book, Small Is Beautiful. Branson dropped out of school at the age of 19 and started business as a newspaper vendor. But the information he gathered from that little book paved the way for his great heights in business.

Another man, James Owens (popularly known as Jesse Owens), picked a piece of information from his coach in school and went on to win four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He set a world record in the running board jump (also called long jump) that stood for 25 years. He told his coach, "I want to be a star." The coach replied, "Boy, you want to be a star? Very simple. You require determination, dedication, attitude and discipline. With these four, you can get to any height in the world of sports."

Owens utilized the information and became a resounding success in the world of sports and is still being celebrated today! All by information!

To be informed is to be transformed! By laying hold of relevant information and applying themselves to the information, these men were able to transform their lives and destinies!

We can’t go any further than we are informed. It is an idea that begets an ideal, a thought gives birth to acts, which in turn give birth to results. Thus, your value for information is what ultimately determines the level of transformation you will experience or enjoy. Information is vital!

To be a resounding success on the earth, you need a working knowledge of your assignment. If you are in business, strive to have a good working knowledge of that business, so that your work won’t be wearisome.

The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Ecclesiastes 10:15

The man doesn’t have a working knowledge of his job, so he has a problem on hand. To be a resounding success, you need to know what obtains, what makes it work and apply yourself to them.

Every candidate in an exam has an idea, but only those that have facts scale through. You don’t pass exams with ideas, but with facts. Likewise, you need facts about whatever you are doing to succeed in it. It takes facts to become fat. Every fat mark is as a result of facts. It takes facts to be fast. If you don’t know the answer to any question in an examination, even if you are given ten hours to write it, you still won’t finish. But when you have the facts, you can even finish before the time alloted is over.

What facts do is to make you stand out among your equals. If you locate the facts of life, you will be a highflyer. So, apply yourself to locating those facts, then put them to work in your life. That’s all it takes to be a success!

Only lazy men believe in luck, men of worth believe in facts that make for success. A wise man once said, "Success is a matter of luck, ask any failure."

I love how the Living Bible renders Proverbs 24:3-4:

Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.

Facts are what make one profit wonderfully!

Discipline

Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Ecclesiastes 10:16-17

Indiscipline is an enemy of success. No indisciplined man ever ends up distinguished. You need to do the right thing at the right time. To wake up at any time you wish, sleep any time, receive visitors and talk to friends at will, is not the path to success.

Direction plus instruction is what equals distinction. Instructions are the highways of distinction. Deuteronomy 32:9-14 tells us that God’s instructions were what caused Jacob to suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock.

You don’t walk in inspirations alone and end up successful. To be a success, you must walk in instructions also. God made Jacob to ride upon the high places of the earth by instruction, not by inspiration. Until you do what you are expected to do, God will never do a thing in your direction. Every act of God is initiated by man through compliance with His instructions.

I am so particular about keeping records because I have found out from God’s Word that until you are faithful at one level, you will never get to the next level. I’m very disciplined in my spending because I know that if I’m a waster of resources, I’m not entitled to His plenty. I found out from God’s Word that borrowing is not allowed. I also understood that whenever I borrow, I’m simply saying to God, "You are too slow." I then told myself that if I ever borrow to eat, then I must be eating beyond my size, because His Word says His children will not beg bread.

These are all instructions. You may decide either to comply with them or not to. Whatever God tells you to do, do it. That is the secret of success, because when He commands it, you will never struggle to get results. When you act on His instructions, you commit Him to act on your behalf. He can never deny Himself.

The success we enjoy in ministry today is purely by acting on His instructions. He showed me the meaning of hardwork, that it guarantees high life; so I submitted myself to it. He also taught me the place of discipline (that is bringing yourself under necessity) in order to accomplish your given task. They don’t have to be convenient; just as long as they are commanded, you comply with them.

When we had our second son, we needed money to entertain guests at the naming ceremony, but didn’t have it then. I knew that if I wasn’t faithful with the little I had, it would never become much. So, rather than dip my hand into His money (church money) to name my child, we served our guests snacks at the naming ceremony, rather than food.

Listen, do you want to get to the highest place in life? Then, diligently hearken to the voice of His Word, observe to do what He commands; then will He set you above all nations of the earth! (Deut. 28:1.) But you haven’t done what He said you should do and you are crying. What do you want Him to do? To break Scriptures? No, He won’t!

You can’t be the kind of person I am to my wife and not have your wife submit to you. Neither can a woman be to her husband what my wife is to me and not have peace in her home. Why? We are both under instructions. God’s instructions are the highways to distinction. Stop roaming about looking for who will help you. Do what God has asked you to do! His commandments are not grievous, they are only meant to groom you.

Do you want to be free from shame? Study! (2 Tim. 2:15.) Study, give yourself to light. Seek after light, make it brighter by the day and you will never see shame.

Everything in the kingdom works by instructions. "He led him about He instructed him as an eagle" (Deut 32:10). The man who will succeed must enjoy instructions and give himself wholeheartedly to obeying them. May God help you to value His instructions and grant you the grace to comply with them excitedly.

Instructions enhance your confidence, causing you to face life with absolute covenant confidence. May God help you to locate the instructions relevant to each area of your life.

Diligence

Success is your birthright, true; but no lazy man has a future in the kingdom. Living without working is like dying without knowing.

By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
Ecclesiastes 10:18

You will never find a successful man who is not a successful hard worker. If you go through the story of successful men in the world and even through Scriptures, you will find out that no man ever rose to the top who was not a proven hard worker. Every man of height and dignity in the world today and in Scriptures is a notable hard worker.

The blessings of God flow through the works of your hands (Ps. 1:3). His promises are coupled with human responsibilities. He said to Abraham, "I will make you great and your name very great." The Bible says, "So Abraham departed." He didn’t depart only to continue sleeping and waking up. No. He departed and started rearing cattle. Not long after, Genesis 13:2 records that:

...Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

It is impossible to see success without diligence. A wise man once said, "Trying to be successful without pouring yourself into your job is like trying to pluck a star out of the sky." The Bible says:

Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
Proverbs 22:29

If a man has no business, he can’t stand anywhere higher than where he is right now. You need to be diligent in your business, not running about like the devil; that’s only when you can stand before kings.

A great man of God, who has been in ministry for about 53 years, wrote me a letter and started off by writing, "My dearly esteemed friend." This man started ministry even before I was born, but by reason of staying on my job, I became his dearly esteemed friend!

Here is a testimony of a brother who understood the covenant secret of work and went out for it.

"After my Youth Service, I started looking for a job. In May, the month of our prosperity, the Bishop said somethings that ignited a fire in me. He said, ‘Living without working is like dying without knowing. Until you work, nothing works! When there’s a will, there will be a way. What you need to succeed is insight, not capital; and the insight you need demands your humility.’

Behind this, I wrote a question mark, Why? And he went on to say, ‘Because, until they mock you, God won’t make you. If you despise the days of little things, you will never see great days.’ I settled down with these statements and didn’t need any more Scriptures.

I then prepared myself and started selling coconut. I got one of my aunts to help me prepare the coconut, and everyday, I would carry it to the market and convince the women to buy. One day, I met someone who asked if I would like to teach. I said yes, and he told me I would be paid 20 naira per day. I accepted the offer, saying, ‘The Bishop said I shouldn’t despise the days of little beginnings.’ So, I was teaching on a part-time basis and was still selling my coconut. I was very confident doing them, with no shame whatsoever.

After the service one day, a sister called me and asked if I would like to be a sales representative for a company. I told her I was interested and we both went to the company. And by God’s intervention, I was given the job. While on this job, one day I washed my feet before going out and I met a man, who needed a manager for his printing press and he gave me the job!"

— Shomefun, E.

He obeyed the Scriptures in Ecclesiastes 9:10 ("Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with they might") and God distinguished him. Here is another testimony of another brother, who almost got destroyed through laziness, until God had mercy on him.

"Three weeks ago, before the service started, I sat up there in the gallery. The Bishop looked up at me and our eyes met. Then I said to myself, ‘This week, something good must happen to me’ But when he started preaching, it was as if, he was preaching against me!

Talking about diligence, he said. ‘How can a man still be in bed at 10,11 O’clock in the morning?’ And that was exactly what I used to do! I wasn’t happy. I began to wonder about how he knew my deeds; I knew he didn’t know me, since I was a new member in the church.

I gave myself Monday and Tuesday as off days. I don’t go out on those days. I learnt this laziness from my previous job. I was in the aviation industry, where we normally have days off. I was lazy and this continued with me even in business. But after what I heard the Bishop say, I talked to myself the following day, Monday (my former off day). I told myself I couldn’t afford to remain in bed till 10 O’clock anymore, that I had to go out, in honour of the word I had heard.

I had this product that had not been selling. The Spirit told me to take it along with me. This product is an expensive one that one needs to get to Victoria Island and Ikoyi to get a good market for. I stopped at Ikeja and met a man I didn’t know before. I decided to show him the product and he was interested. He asked how much it was going for and when I told him, he ordered for cartons of the product! I was surprised, wondering if I was in a dream. I had left him when I went back to tell him that I would give him the product only on a payment-on-delivery basis. He said, ‘Why not. Bring it.’

I took the goods to him and he paid me in 10 minutes! I said to myself, ‘So this is what happens all those days I’ve been sitting at home?’

I moved to somewhere else and they bought the goods. And two days later, they ordered for more! And unknown to me, this man began to advertise for me. When I get to him, he would direct me to other places where my product is needed."

— Ademuyiwa, S.

One of the great fathers of America, Benjamin Franklyn, once said, "laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him."

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
Proverbs 24:33-34

Jesus, the Saviour of the whole earth, said, "I must work." In another place, He said, "The Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (Jn. 9:4; 5:17). If God the Father is working, and Jesus too, who are you going to resemble by being idle?

Work authenticates faith! (James 2:18.) What is faith? It is taking God’s Word and acting upon it. Let there be no more vacuum in your life. Let there be no time when you will sit down idle. Go out and pour your life into something. Only working hands are blessed hands. Rise up and react against failure! Fulfil your covenant obligation for success and see God back you up! The sister in this next testimony rose up against failure and she could testify at the end, "Things have really changed for good!"

"I came to this church in 1995. Even though I was born again when I came, my second name was failure! Life for me was a struggle. I was living in ignorance. No year passed without people telling me ‘sorry’ for one bad thing or another that had happened to me. I was frustrated.

I came to Winners’ Chapel and settled down with God. The Bishop kept saying, ‘If you don’t get angry with failure, you will die a failure. People keep telling you, "Sorry". Are you not tired of sorry? When are they going to congratulate you? You don’t have to be a misfit in the kingdom.’ These words kept following me.

I got so angry with failure that I determined to succeed. Another snag was, I did not have money to buy books. So, I sold my clothes to buy books and decided to read them. I bought Satan Get Lost!, Releasing The Supernatural and The Blood Triumph, all written by the Bishop. I stayed in the house for three days reading these books. When I came out, I knew I had overcome failure! I saw how foolish and stupid Satan and his cohorts are, by knowledge.

In less than 20 months now, I have a business worth over 100,000 naira and four people working for me! I have given myself wholly to the teachings here. Now failure does not know my name again. Success is written all over me.

"Congratulations!" is now the order of the day in my life! I could not buy clothes before, but now I give out clothes to people. Things have really changed for good!"

— Emmanuel, S.

Hear what the wise have said: "Does thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that is the stuff life is made of." Another wise man said, "Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish; but you can only spend it once."

With these three covenant keys in place in your life, there is no stopping your resounding success on the earth!