The gate of every year is the begining of that year; the gate of every month is the begining of that month; the gate of every week is the begining of that week; the gate of every day is the wee hours (from 12midnight) of that day. Are you presently STRANDED or STAGNANT in your journey in life? It is perhaps because you're locked out by a gate-keeper, from entering into fulfilment and you don't even know. Take this literary tour with me to expose and conquer the forces responsible for your captivity.

"...or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?..." (Matthew 12:29)

This liberating scripture was the key that shattered the gate of my mental captivity and opened unto me the gates of fruitful and productive activities.

When I heard a wiseman once saying that 'The secrets of men are in their stories'. I quickly took a cue from his wisdom and started to pursue the stories of my heroes and heroines, par chance, I may stumble into the secrets of their greatness.

That study took me on a literary tour from June 2001 to April 2002 (11-months!). By the time of my arrival, I had caught the raging fire of success. I went with full vigour to apply my discoveries for total recovery of my tortured and trampled destiny. I came out with a bold declaration that: 'Our negligence to nurture the applicable truths of life is the reason for our torture'.

Having fully recovered, now I am poised to deliver that same truth to you through a series of articles on my potent encounter with what I have decided to call the 'Forces of the Gate' or 'Forces of the Midnight Hour'.

Take a look at these names and see if they mean anything to you. Jesus Christ; David Yonggi Cho; Kenneth & Gloria Copeland; Kenneth Hagin; Billy Graham; Enoch Adeboye; David Oyedepo; Daniel Olukoya; Bill Gates; Johanne Kathleen Rowling;...the list is by no means exhaustive, but I will only use them, in the course of this serial, as points of references to ratify the stubborn truth of greatness that many of us have been so negligent of, in the past.

There is a battle at the 'gate of destiny' that many are unaware of; many even fought this battle unconsciously and still obtained a good result. As I studied the secrets of greatness, I discovered that almost every great man or woman fought this battle and won, some lucky ones even fought it without knowing it. Those who lost this 'battle' ended up as destitutes in life. May you be strengthened with the discovery in these serial to go forward and win your own inescapable battle at the 'gate' of your destiny! Afterall, behind every recovery and delivery are the pillar and floodlight of discovery.

I saw in Isaiah 28:6 '...and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.' and I asked : 'Why the battle to the gate?' The answer came involuntarily from my spirit that: 'Only those who win the battle of the gates will conquer the city.' In acient times every city worth its salt was fenced round with walls and gates. Ancient Babylon, Egypt, Israel, etc. were notable examples and not exceptions of these.

In our modern times today, while it is a fact that the physical walls have crumbled, the customs and immigration walls are vibrant for all of us who travel regularly out of our respective countries to others, to experience.

The stories of the men and women of diverse backgrounds which I listed above showed a sparkling common gold thread of people who kept appointment with the midnight hour mentally and spiritually and were not disappointed.

When you wrestle mentally and spiritually at the 'entry point' of any territory or season with the 'gate-keeper' in charge of that territory or season, and you win, you are bound to shine and florish like the morning star.

All these men and women of stature, status and stardom are victors of the 'battle of the gates'. In my next article, I would show you what the midnight-battle of the gate means.

Aderemi Ojikutu (Aderaskeey) is a Motivational Author and Youth Mentor. He is a minister of the Word of God. A political economist and political leader. He is President of the TREASURE WRITERS CLUB in Nigeria (http://treasurewriters.50megs.com). He is also the current President of the National Democratic Forum (N.D.F). He was National Mobilisation Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (N.A.N.S) for several years. A revolutionary of over two decades, he was also the political secretary of the defunct Nigerian Labour Party in 1991.