Stop Praying
Samuel Smith
23 Jan'19
5
STOP PRAYING
Nobody can doubt the effectiveness of prayer and how important it is in the life of the Christian. It is out of prayer that the man enslaved by sin is able to break free through the forgiving power of our God. When you are burdened and overshadowed with the cares of this world, the only way to lessen your burdens is to take them to the Lord in prayer. It is through prayers that we receive healing, protection, wisdom, God’s favour, great faith and peace.Due to the role of prayer in the Christian walk with God, we are admonished to pray without ceasing. This means that, prayer should punctuate every step of the Christian life to help glue him/her to the Saviour. Prayer is proven to be fruitful, but in our era of spiritual dogmatism and indolence, majority of Christians hide behind prayer and neglect their duty. This pharisaic attitude of many Christians has made prayer preposterous and reprehensible.
Christians of our time needs to comprehend that, faith without works is dead. Sometimes, our praying turns to be playing. How can you be praying in the church house 24/7 while seeking for employment? How can you be praying for a life partner whiles you are in a sexual relationship? Many people are praying for prosperity but have no jobs, they want God to bless their businesses but they are hostile to their customers. Most students want good grades in their exams but hardly do they sit down to study. How can you wait for manna in a land that is full of honey and milk? Actions must follow every prayer.
When the people of Israel reached the Red Sea, the word of the Lord was sure; they should cross the Red Sea but like majority of Christians today, Moses started praying. The answer from God is an order to all of us, "why do you cry (pray) unto me" take an action. The word of God is clear, believe in Jesus Christ, keep His commandments, forgive your offenders, return your tithe, and help the poor. If the word of God is clear, stop praying and act on the word.
We should not hide behind prayers and neglect our duty as Christians. If you really know what to do or are convinced of the way to go which is in line with the will of God, hiding behind the veil of prayer will be a signal of fear, procrastination and denial of faith. In walking with God, obedience deferred becomes disobedience and delayed action becomes inaction. As we give God His part, we should not neglect our part. If not, then stop praying.
Another field of this fallacy is when people hide behind prayer to cover up their sins and masquerade as holy angels. You see them in fields, temples, prayer camps, bushes, mountain tops etc. praying. However, behind the curtain of prayer, they sing the worldly tunes and dance to the worldly rhythm. If their sins were known to many, the rebukes they would have received would have led them to repentance. However, such people hide behind the curtain of prayer to conceal their evil deeds. The Lord expects all of such people to stop praying and rather repent. Moreover, many people instead of praying for their enemies, they pray against their enemies. They pray to curse their enemies instead of being a channel through which God can bless such people. If you are involved in such offensive prayers, stop praying for God will not hear. My dear friend, do you still cling to a known sin and cover it up with prayer? Repent! If not, then stop praying. (
Pr. Nicholas Obeng Agyekum