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The Church Should Create Gainful Employment To Discourage Ineffective Prayers

Money – Omokiri Corrects Pastor Adeboye

Honestly, we hardly refer to individuals not cited in the Bible in our discussion. However, this has become necessary because we notice a trend that must become popular with the passing of the Age of Grace. Hopefully, discerning Christians and the elect of God will pick on the true issues masquerading as popular discuss. The Bible must remain the primary reference to guide us as Christians and we must avoid distortions that form traps of deception. In this case, we refer to the rather bold attempt by a popular writer in Nigeria challenge a spiritual dignitary and father figure of Pentecostalism, Pastor Enoch Adeboye on his call for Nigerians to pray to God to intervene in the cataclysmic demise of the local currency, the Naira. Unfortunately, this author demonstrated the superficiality of his academic ability by using biblical references that were irrelevant to the discussion in the attempt to disparage the authority figure of Pastor Adeboye.

Fallacies Guised As Scriptures

The said article of Seun Opejobi published in the Daily Post of February 5, 2024, Omokiri quoted James 2:17 to suggest that prayer is not work. This is demonstrable of degree of spiritual ignorance and disrespect for the Word of God. In fact, it is poor editorial oversight that no one picked up this fallacy because works translated to action in that quote has nothing to do with labor. They refer to the high morals that espouse the gospel to make the love of God attractive to others.

This fashion of distorting the Word of God and the messages communicated by men of the robe must be decried because they are mere attention seeking puffs disguised as oratory unknown to unsuspecting consumers with whom the soundbites will likely resonate. The authors recognize that the social media buzz created will overwhelm the people for whom decoding the revelation of the scriptures remain cryptic at best. For example, using the economic sophistication of irreligious communities as a whip against faith would make people consider that faith may be an obstacle to social progress in opposition to traditional beliefs.

One wonders what such ill-baked opinion will make of the nearby Arabs whose communities not only demonstrate a strong faith but evidence of strong modern socio-economic advancements. What do we make of their neighbors, Israel in 2024, a deeply religious country whose economy remains an enigmatic in 2024? Like it or not, America remains a country proud of its Christian foundations claiming that the faith is responsible for its position in the world. In essence, the Christian faith is a determinant of the politics of America as the country grapples with how to marry its faith with emerging social order. I am convinced that America is not poor, and Christianity has not weakened its economic development.

Jesus, the Christian example spent forty days praying and fasting (Luke 4). Satan approached Jesus when His flesh must have been at its weakest and offered Jesus all the power and glory of all the kingdoms of the world. I would hazard the guess that you can only give what you own or at least have control over. Satan was offering all the power and all the glory. One would have thought that this was the primary mission of Jesus on earth, to reconcile humanity to God. Nothing more could be tempting at that point, because all that Jesus was fasting about was apparently being offered by Satan. Except that it becomes questionable whether Satan truly owned the powers and the glory, even though, he may have control over them at that point. However, he went on to misquote the scriptures. When one carefully compares Psalm 91 verses 11-12 with Luke 4:10-11, you will realize that some phrases are missing from Luke 4:10-11. That discernment got Satan booted out of the way immediately.

Christians need to arm themselves the Word of God and the ability to discern these distortions. The scripture says, “Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession (Psalm 2:8). I would believe that we ask by praying. Prayer can be so powerful as to make even God repent (2 Chronicles 7: 12-16). Prayers not only transform nations, but they also transform individuals and circumstances (Matthew 9: 20-21). Therefore, when a priest calls for prayers, they are in line with their responsibilities and duties.

End – Times Signaling and the Spirit of the Anti-Christ

Christians must understand the teaching about the spirit of the anti-Christ if possibly more so than that of the anti-Christ himself. The spirit will operate very heavily in our dispensation of the Holy Ghost to challenge the gospel. It is such a spirit that inflates the egos of attention social media influencers who masquerade as geniuses to attack spiritual dignitaries. They sound so believable that even the elect will be deceived if care is not taken. “And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling—that is, those who dwell in heaven” (Revelations 13:7, NLT). This describes the anti-Christ. Yet, it helps to discern what his precursors who live among us are up to (2 Thessalonians 2: 6-7).

Fortunately, Christians will have been raptured away and will not witness the reign of the anti-Christ, but the increasing intensity of the manifestation of his spirit in our dispensation is a warning that the end times are close. Therefore, we are not only to be armed against the deceptive oratory of the negligent spirit, but we are also to prepare for the Rapture. That includes evangelizing to win more souls away from the challenges of the tribulation that follows the Rapture that takes Christians away from that terrible period on earth.

God of Possibilities Including Miracle Money

Not to take away from the primary point of labor over laziness which appears to be the motive of Omokiri’s outburst. We see how much Isaac had to struggle against jealous opposition because of the covenant prosperity displayed by his father, Abraham. People opposed Isaac persistently, yet he proved the addition of God over human effort as a blessing that children of covenant enjoy (Genesis 26). So, God blesses the effort of man, yet He also blesses our faith.

To wit, the invitation of Pastor Adeboye for prayers to transform the fortunes of the naira are not out pf place. No one is compelled to leave their employment to camp in church to observe the invitation. The only people that may physically be present in church are those who have nothing else to do at that point in time. It is equally true that available work avenues have not been created to otherwise engage these folks from showing to prayers. It would have been more helpful to the economy if Omokiri had directed that to his cohorts instead of the church. If only the Daily Post and Omokiri will educate themselves on how many people collect wages from the church, they would have desisted from attacking Christian leadership. Yet, that is a basic requirement of journalism.

In addition to gainful employment, God proves Himself to be a miracle worker all the time by inventing victories from various challenges for nations. When the Israel’s army was challenged with thirst, God produced water mysteriously that changed the battle-readiness of the nation (2 Kings 3: 16-18). There was the occasion when the choir led the war cry (2 Chronicles 20). The choir does nothing except church things, sing praises, worship God and lead prayers yet they won the battle. And relating this to money, we do remember the overnight transformation following the declaration of prophet Elisha despite the wisdom of the king’s chief aide (2 Kings 7).

Of direct relevance to our modern age are the testimonies from the work of Jesus Christ, a Jew whose country is at the advance of 21st Century world socio-economic leadership. We do remember the mystery of feeding hundreds of people with two loaves of bread (Matthew 14: 14-21). The same Jesus when challenged with tax dues sent them the disciples to go get a fish that has money its mouth from the sea (Matthew 17). That must be a lot of money in the mouth of that single fish to take care of the financial need of a whole team of people.

Finally, the net braking testimony of Peter because of obedience of the Master’s instruction shows that individuals and families can enjoy the mystery of God’s miracle as well as nations. Which puts Pastor Adeboye encouraging the cry of salvation unto a God who saves in the right, because if Gods chooses to answer the prayer, it costs Him nothing to turn what appears impossible to men to testimonies of joy. How else will one describe the elimination of nearly 70 percent of Nigeria’s debt burden in about three months of Cardoso’s work.

In conclusion, the church may not be about gathering prosperity, yet it is not the breeding ground for poverty. No where in the scriptures does God motivate poverty over prosperity. In fact, all He espoused were blessings that reward obedience and work (Psalm 1). Just as Jesus entered the boat to change the personal story of the depressed Peter, he can help people who cry unto Him (Matthew 7:7-8). Even nations can be transformed overnight (2 Kings 7). God hears the cry of His people and answers prayers.

Hopefully, the authors of the confusion and the news organization will find the grace to repent of public confusion that they have embarked upon and open retract their articles help realign people that have been misled by their false assertions. More importantly, it is wise counsel for tyrannical minions to avoid disses against giants such as Pastor Adeboye who have conquered their own industries to worldwide acclaim.