Bishop Oyedepo is one man that is greatly criticized for his style of ministry and affluent lifestyle.
But one thing has always struck me about him.
I’ve observed that there has never been a time that he responds to the media talks and all the barrage of attacks in the news about him from time to time.
Instead, he is committed to creating more and more success stories, to the point that by the time people are done talking about the last great work, another one is done.
I have been tremendously impacted by the powerful words of wisdom of this great servant of God, who has helped millions of peoples gain access to light and escaped the oppression of evil.
Here I try to summarize what I have studiously observed as his ways and keys of success.
1. Clarity of Purpose and Divine Direction
David O. Oyedepo, affectionately called “Papa” was born September 27, 1954 in Kwara State Nigeria. He is the founder and presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church World Wide, also known as Winners Chapel, and its affiliated international churches known as Winners Chapel International, with headquarters in Ogun State, Nigeria. Oyedepo is the senior pastor of Faith Tabernacle, a 50,000 seat church auditorium, reported to be the largest church auditorium in the world by the Guinness Book of Records
The man Bishop David Oyedepo is a strong believer in the fact that not all that glitters is gold. He believes that a man’s worth is in following a path ordained by God.
In one Shiloh night service in 2007 he said, “One wrong step is enough to crash a destiny. God has an already made plan for you. If you miss it, you’ll pay dearly for it.”
In his book, Understanding Divine Direction, he tells several personal life encounters that show the importance of following the plan of God for your life.
He believes and teaches that you don’t need to be a pastor to be successful and make a great impact in life. All you need is to do whatever it takes and find the plan of God for your life and then give it your 110% effort.
In his book UNDERSTANDING VISION he gives a clear step-by-step-guide on how to discover what your life calling is and what you should focus your life on.
2. Understanding the Details of His Undertaking.
Bishop Oyedepo and Wife, Faith Oyedepo
To succeed in life we must endeavor to understand the details of our enterprise and undertaking.
Listening to Bishop David Oyedepo, one thing that you’ll quickly observe is that this is a man who fully understands the details of what he is doing. He is not doing a guess work or trial and error.
He knows where he is going and knows the exact road to take to get there. He believes one should sit down and strive to understand the details of his enterprise.
If you are called to preach, what are you called to preach? If you are called into business, what kind of business is it?
A grasp of the details of our undertaking is important for success in life and business leadership.
3. Great Seeker of Knowledge Through Books.
David Oyedpo in his Office
There was a time he went to the US and returned only with boxes full of books. When asked by the wife, what did you bring for us, he showed her the boxes full of books and said, “with this I can produce anything you’ll ever need in life”
Great leaders and successful people are always great readers and addicted knowledge seekers. They keep seeking and asking questions and getting things done in a better way.
The man of God, Dr. Oyedepo, said,
“…I am largely a product of books. I believe my worth would have been far more less than what it is today without access to life-changing books.
Before starting the Covenant University, he read all manner of books and biographies of universities, carefully finding out keys that make them succeed or fail.
Today, CU is rated among top ten Universities in Africa.
He has personally authored over 30 books and the Winners Church members are highly known as book people.
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said, “You’re the same today as you will be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read.”
Therefore, “Seek out books from proven authors, sit down and ask sincere questions & God will answer you,” Bishop David Oyedepo.
4. Addicted to Work and Creatively Improving On a Daily Basis.
Faith-Tabernacle-Ota
This is the Faith Tabernacle, a 50,000 seat church auditorium, reported to be the largest church auditorium in the world by the Guinness Book of Records
It takes extreme hard wok and creativity to run the kind of schedule that Dr. Oyedepo runs.
Running 2 Universities, secondary schools, pastoring the largest church in the world and preaching 4 services every Sunday, authoring books and managing a bunch of estate, certainly is not for people who hate work.
But work is not just about work. You have to add creativity and productive thinking in what you are doing.
If you’ve seen the 50,000 capacity Church edifice, called Faith Tabernacle, you’ll agree that lots and lots of creative thinking went into that project, especially when you learn that he was the lead architect in the team that produced the architectural design of the edifice.
He would humorously say in one of his books,
“Can you imagine a student in school that does nothing but read the Bible, pray and fast, when his textbooks are there to be read? He will be the most fantastic and charismatic failure.”
On several occasions the Bishop tells listeners that things only work for workers.
And he believes that there is o reason to be idle.
5. Extremely Focused.
Covenant_University_Campus_View
Serene view of Covenant University inside Canaan Land, Ota. This is reported to be one of the best Universities in Africa.
There is a saying that if you chase two rabbits, both will escape.
Bishop Oyedepo typifies what happens when one is fully focused and refuses to be distracted. According to him, “I am too busy with my work to notice what someone is saying.”
He is not attempting several things at the same time, except of course only those things that align with his overall purpose in life.
We must of course learn to be extremely focused and get results in our undertating and not chase after too many things at the same time
6. Dangerous Giving Lifestyle.
Bishop Oyedepo does not just teach people to give. He gives.
Recently he said:
“No one can pray his way to prosperity. No one can fast his way to riches. No one can beg his way to abundance; you can only give your way out.”
Every year, he invests millions in student funding and other charitable works, both within the church he pastors and outside of it.
There is no doubt that giving has a way of inviting the universe to support us in our quest to succeed in life. That is why it is important for us to develop the habit of giving to the church, society and our family.
7. Non Attendance to Oppositions and Criticism.
Bishop Oyedepo is one man that is greatly criticized for his style of ministry and affluent lifestyle.
But one thing has always struck me about him.
I’ve observed that there has never been a time that he responds to the media talks and all the barrage of attacks in the news about him from time to time.
Successful people don’t spend time answering opposition and critics. They are just too busy succeeding and creating the next success story
8. Sincere Love for God.
One thing that is easy to see in the life of the Bishop is His love for and passion for God. Many years ago, when he was just a youth and was in village for a service, he learned that there was no church in that community, and he used up all his earnings to start a church there before leaving.
He is one man that doesn’t serve God for the benefits. This, no doubt, has created spiritual channels of favor for him.
