NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 30th Sept. - Sunday 6th October 2024
3 THINGS CHRISTIANS MUST KNOW
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him (Eph. 1:17).
Several incredulous things have happened in the Church, that make the discerning person wonder if some Christians were not hypnotized. A sister fasted for ten straight years because a “pastor” gave her a prophecy that God would use her mightily in Nigeria, but before she would be thus used, she needed to fast and pray daily for ten years. She completed the fast a few years ago. (We are still awaiting the manifestation of what the "pastor" prophesied.) There was a church vigil where members came with machetes to fight the devil. There was another video clip recently, of church members with pestle at a prayer meeting, furiously pounding the life out of Satan.
Are some congregations under a spell? No, they lack a personal revelation of Christ. In the Spirit-anointed prayer of Eph. 1:17, it is said that God would grant us the “spirit of wisdom and revelation”. Without divine “wisdom and revelation,” the average Christian would become a prey to spiritual predators pretending to be servants of Christ. Each Christian must know Christ for themselves.
The spirit of wisdom and revelation, according to Eph 2:18-19, would enable the believer to know three things:
1. The hope of his calling – the purpose of God for each Christian.
2. The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints – the reward awaiting each Christian after successfully fulfilling the purpose of God.
3. The exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe – the enormous power of God available to each Christian to do the will of God.
Any Christian who does not know these three things is at risk of spiritual manipulation by many predators prowling the sanctuary of God. Many lives and destinies have been truncated by false teachers and false prophets who speak lofty words beguiling unstable souls.
One major problem, particularly in the Church in Nigeria, is that many Christian assemblies no longer teach New Testament doctrines. What is becoming common in the Church is the practice of “syncretism”: the combination of Christianity and tradition. It is a deviation from the Commission of Christ: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28: 20). The Christian is manipulated and kept in spiritual bondage while he assumes he is serving Christ.
Without seeming to target some churches by citing instances of the manipulations, let it be said that the problem is pervasive, no longer restricted to the 'new generation churches.' Even older denominations have joined, because the practice of syncretism is the easiest method of gathering a crowd and receiving hefty offerings. The churches that insists on the pure and unadulterated New Testament doctrine sometimes do not witness overflowing crowds.
With syncretism comes the obnoxious practice of “hero worship” in the Church. Christ made it clear that the head must be the servant of all in His Church. Presently, we see Christian leaders acting like royalties, in some cases, as emperors over the Lord’s people. Church members submit to such unchristian leadership patterns because both they and their leaders have the same cultural DNA.
In traditional African society, most of the idols used to be men of renown in ancient times, whom the people deified as objects of worship. For example, amongst the Yoruba people, nearly all the gods were men/women who distinguished themselves in their lifetime. Examples are Ogun, Sango, Oya, Osun, Orunmila, Obatala, and so on. The worship of heroes comes naturally to the people. It is their culture, but it is not Christianity. Unfortunately, the attitude has been brought into the Church. It is thriving because some Christians do not have a personal experience of Christ. Consequently, they depend on their “church leader” to define Christ to them.
When God anointed some men to lead the new wave of in-grown revival in Nigeria, the people accorded them the status of gods. Regrettably, instead of correcting the people (like Paul and Barnabas did in Acts 14:11–18) and pointing them to Christ, some of the Church leaders received the “worship” from their brethren. In some Christian assemblies, if Jesus should tell a Christian to go somewhere, and the church leader should tell the same Christian to stay back, they are more likely to obey the church leader.
The lack of a personal knowledge of Christ is traceable to the failure of many pastors to comply with Eph. 4:11–15.
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
This is the purpose of the five-fold ministry in the Church. It is to build up each believer ”unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” that Christians should ”henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, …” The opposite of that is what is going on in the Church.
If the problems of spiritual immaturity, disunity, and carnality are going to be solved in the Church, individual Christians must know Christ for themselves. The person most Christians know is the church leader. Since many pastors no longer teach what Jesus commanded His disciples to observe, the only recourse is to intercede for the believers. Intercession must commence for Christians to be filled with the “spirit of wisdom and revelation” in the knowledge of God.
At present, many Christians are in bondage and servitude to their church leader. Those syncretic Church leaders run the Church like the “rulers of the Gentiles”. It is time to proclaim Galatians 5:1 to all Christians: ”Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Christianity is equal brotherhood in which the Master gave us an example, that the leader must be the servant of all (John 13:15). Christ did not call men to be superstars in His Church. He called them to be servants.
It is time to return to the simplicity and humility of Christ. It is time for each Christian to pray for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God.
PRAYER POINTS
1). Eph. 1:17–19
Pray that God would fill you with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
2). Eph. 1:17
Intercede for all saints, that God would fill them with the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Christ personally.
3). Gal. 5:1
Pray that Christians would be set free from spiritual and emotional manipulation by false teachers in the Church.
4). Mal. 3:2-5
Pray that God would purify His sanctuary in Nigeria and judge all false teachers and false prophets who have been defiling the Church with lies and greed.
5). Heb. 12:5-8
Pray that God would chastise ministers of the gospel who have strayed from the narrow path to the broad road that leads to eternal destruction.
6). Gal. 1:6-9
Pray that God would uproot every ministry or denomination practising syncretism while claiming to be serving Christ.
7). Col. 2:6–7
Pray that the saints shall be deeply rooted in Christ and in sound doctrine in the Church.
JOIN US AT THE NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
DAILY INTERDENOMINATIONAL PRAYERS FOR NIGERIA
Started since 18th April, 2022
TIME: 9:00pm – 10:00pm daily (Nigeria time)
VENUE: ZOOM
ZOOM link:
https://zoom.us/j/96806190505?pwd=K2RqcUN3YjRwQzEzRDZaMUt2N1ZsUT09
Meeting ID: 968 0619 0505
Passcode: 024184