Beyond the Walls

Dubai has 22,000 mosques and counting.Egypt has a mosque per five minutes walk same with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries.Where there are no mosques, Muslims find a suitable place to pray five times daily. During the Ramadan season, Muslims fast, and even their athletes have been known to enter international tournaments while fasting which is of concern to many. Sometimes whole tournaments are delayed because of this. 

Religion is not the reason some nations didn’t grow as expected, the nations mentioned above are growing and some have surpassed expectations with their advancement in science and technology. We should stop thinking in a pedestrian manner as Nigerians. Our problem has nothing to do with churches or the time Christians spend in worship. Hindus and Buddhists also spend time in their temples and they spend the time doing nothing related to the economy or commercial activities.
There is more to life than making money, to live a wholesome life requires that every individual spend time in faith regardless of what religion the person subscribes to, even atheists spend time reflecting on their godless beliefs.

 Faith is a personal thing. I may spend a year in church praying and fasting for a personal reason while you may spend that same year working as a production manager or a president of a nation and at the end of the year the quality of my life and my achievement would surpass yours by many miles! Many so-called Nigerian leaders or talking heads speak based on the assumptions that Nigerians would not critically examine what was said and its true reflections on their ability for deep introspection. 

I am not criticizing any political leader with this writing, I am just wondering why Nigerians wouldn’t see through these provocative words that sincerely have nothing to do with our struggles as a nation. The way the Christian prays as led by the spirit does not require a believer to be in church before his or her prayers are answered. We pray in the spirit! Religious prayers may require one to go to church to pray but praying ceaselessly as commanded by Jesus requires us to pray at all times, even when we are at work or playing or relaxing.

Being a spirit-filled Christian removed every barrier and access to God permanently. Believers must pray or they will faint! This is why this discussion is nothing but a talking point that really has nothing positive to offer.

Pray, dear believers, please pray anywhere and everywhere. The psalmist informed us that prayer is the key by which we walk with God without faltering and it is true Apostle Paul told us he prayed more than a certain church and it did not affect his productivity. If we pray the right way, the issue of ceaseless vigils won’t be a topic for discussion because we won't be praying for religious purposes, prayer will be for our edification and we will stir up the Holy Spirit of promise in us at all times without faltering in our productivity. We must pray ceaselessly everywhere we find ourselves and set courses right at all times.
 -GSW-