Testifier: Phil Thompson
Title: I Would Have Been Labelled Autistic Because I Couldn’t Talk Until I Turned Five.
“My mother told me I didn’t start talking until I was five. For most of my adult life, I didn’t have this information. I started thinking about my son, Isaiah. He also didn’t start speaking until he was five, and they had Isaiah on the autism spectrum. But how many people know that we believe in prayer? We prayed, and when he turned five, he had never spoken a word, but his tongue was miraculously released, and he started speaking in complete sentences. And now Isaiah is talking my head off. He is a junior in college and on the honour roll,” were the words of the ‘My Worship’ crooner and American worship minister, Phil Thompson, while ministering during the thanksgiving service for August at The Transforming Church, Gwarinpa, Abuja.
Phil Thompson, while sharing his astounding testimony with the congregation, said that his mother told him he would have been labeled autistic if autism had been discovered at that time. He further said that when he started speaking at age five, he developed a terrible stutter.
“For people that have dealt with stuttering, you know in your mind all of the effort that it takes to get words out. A lot of times, you have something to add to a conversation, but it’s so difficult and embarrassing to get the words out. People who deal with stutters push the work back down. I’m a very shy and introverted person, and the devil wanted to use that to get me. The enemy tries to use your history against you. The lie I had in my head for most of my life was that I had nothing valuable to say. How many people know that the devil is a liar?
“That’s why when I wrote this song, “My Worship,” there’s a line that is so dear and especially deep to me: ‘I will not be silent’ to counter the lies of the devil. Whenever we sing this song, I feel like there’s a part of me letting the enemy know that he lost,” he narrated.
It was an electrifying worship session, which he opened with his song ‘My Response’. He said it is better to spend one day in God’s court than thousands elsewhere. He urged the church to appreciate the lead pastor of The Transforming Church, Rev. Sam Oye, declaring his love for the church, Abuja and Nigeria.
As he led the congregation in his next song, he said, “How many know there is only one name with the power to save, heal and deliver? Because you, Lord, are worthy, no one can worship you for me. For all the doors you’ve opened for me, here’s my worship.”
Responding to his testimony, the Executive Pastor of The Transforming Church, Gwarinpa Centre, Pst. Sunday Adebamiro, said the enemy knew Phil Thompson’s gift was his voice and wanted to take it away from him. He prophesied to the congregation, saying, “The most important part of your lives will not be taken or paralyzed by the enemy. Whatever God has given you that the enemy wants to tie or seize is released now. Your gift will not be stolen. The oil of God upon your life will not run dry. Your voice will still be heard. You will fulfill your destiny. You will reach your dreams and goals. The enemy will not incapacitate you in Jesus’ name.
“Whatever God has given you to bless your generation that the enemy has stolen, I decree a release now. I lose your ideas to flow and find expression. You will not die as an average person. Say to yourself, I will still bless and impact this world. This world will still feel my gift. I won’t die average; the devil is a liar. You will not return to Lo Debar, the wilderness, your past, shame, reproach, borrowing, or begging.”
Using Mephibosheth as a case study, he stated that Mephibosheth was rescued from Lo Debar and ate in the palace with the king for the rest of his life. He added, “Anything that wants to return you to your past will not succeed; it will not be your portion.
“Why did God close the red sea? The first reason was so that the enemy would drown in the sea. The second reason was so that the Israelites would never return, even when their taste buds were craving garlic in Egypt.” He said metaphorically, “You will never return to Egypt, Lo Debar, with your struggles or insults. You will not wear rags or return to eating bones after eating meat. Every enemy from your past running after you to take you back to yesterday shall be drowned.”
Declaring August as the month of ‘The New’, he prayed against selective disfavour and quoted Rev. 21:5, “He who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. Then he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”