The confusion created within the arena of religious teachings that point to destiny and prayer have artificially nourished the growth of misunderstanding

Nathan Uzorma Protus

“DEAR Prof. I was employed to manage an establishment that has gone down to zero level. The owner initially wanted to lease or sale the company until my arrival to head the reconstituted staff of the company. I have strong confidence in what God is doing through you which made me to order two bottles of your oil as you directed. My prayer was for God to enlarge my new office and increase same… to the glory of God, the company is doing very well and everybody is wondering what happened. God answered my prayer and consequently put smile on my face… God is using you mightily sir…God bless you.”

– Mr. Richard 09075283107

“I NEVER liked reading your column for no reason I never knew that I could find my freedom via what I hated. My apologies please! My testimony is simple; I was married for 16 years without having any child. My husband was not worried at all and he asked me to go and sleep with other men if I was too desperate to have my own baby. He meant it, but I thought he was joking initially; I did not obey him as a leader of a big Pentecostal Church, I felt he was joking. I never knew he had a serious problem with his manhood at the early state of his life. He had a dream where a young spirit lady used hot iron and pressed his manhood when he resisted her sexual offer and when he woke up it became week. This happened at the age of 23 in 1988. He married me and was called into the ministry, yet the problem was there. After ten years of marriage I discovered that he could not perform at all. This situation made me cry unto God and consequently made me consult many men of God for solution. All to no avail, he suggested that we should adopt a child; I rejected it and trusted God until one day a man gave a testimony of what your oil did for him in our Church and I decided to contact you. After which you asked me to order three bottles of your oil and I obeyed and did the prayers associated with it. God answered me my prayer, my husband started performing and the low sperm count disappeared. Today, the lord has blessed me with a baby boy. Glory be to God…”

– Anonymous

The confusion hitherto created within the arena of religious teachings that point to destiny and prayer, have artificially nourished the ignoble growth of misunderstanding that has produced the evil that we complain about today. I feel so sad when I see those who ought to know and teach well, being toasted by the wind of conventional street theology. Prayer and destiny should be guided consciously so that humanity will not make the usual mistake of confusing the two. Let us briefly tilt the dimension of asking from the divine.

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The act of asking is not wrong due to the cocoon of ignorance that has encapsulated man for a long time. Religion should be held responsible and not spirituality. Audible prayer is impressive ask the Islamic Mallams, while shouting and speaking in tongues under one uncompleted building is also very impressive and alarming; unemployment may be responsible. Such noise making bereft of spiritual knowledge may result to momentary solemnity and gross/emotional elevation to our various religious thoughts. The question is, does it produce any lasting spiritual benefit? Profound insight into all this reveals the true situation, zeal not according to proper divine knowledge; this will certainly give occasion for mental reactions unfavorable to spiritual consciousness.

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss… James 4:3. Anyone who asks amiss is the one that does not know the destiny of his prayer. Every prayer has a destiny! It is of note here that God has arranged every event of man on earth. The chronology of subjective activity inherent in nature exerts its primordial authority in man, thereby making man the benefactor of destiny. Let me briefly explain. Events on earth are programmed! Everybody on earth is acting a script unknown to him in many ways, remember the biblical saying, “it is not in man to order his steps” hence the steps of the righteous are ordered by God. Therefore everything in life is primordially and ontologically ordained by the will of life.

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One can pray and fast for many years, but if the destined time, the cosmic hour of reality has not reached, the answers will not come. The case of Abraham and Sarah is a good example. They both needed a child from God, but Isaac was not born until Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah 89. Where they not praying and asking God to bless them? They did constantly but God was working on his own calendar and time. He had destined a day for Isaac to be born and except the hand of the clock hit the line of destiny ones effort will not be crowned with success. The bible reports, “….And they said unto him, where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life, (destiny) and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door which was behind him….Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I am waxed old shall I have pleasure? And the Lord said unto Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh saying shall I of a surety bear a child, which I am old…? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied saying I laughed not…” Gen. 18:9-15.

From the above biblical story which some scholars regarded as myth, three important issues are associated to divinity. One, the visit of the Lord to Abraham, two, the returning of God to Abraham’s family according to hour of (destiny) life and the lies Sarah told. What does the hour of life means? It simply means that God has set out a time, a day and an hour for his visitation in your life whether you pray or not if that hour comes nothing stops it. “It is not of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” Rom 9:16. I am not devoting this column to Pentecostal ideology, but the Bible quotations are design to authenticate the idea that you can not make effort beyond the provision of your destiny, at the same time, you cannot receive any answer to your prayer when the hour of its destiny hasn’t come. This philosophy relates to all religion!

From a profound experience, I have heard many Christians who have always complained and even go to the extent of petitioning God to man, that after much prayer and even fasting too, over a particular problem, nothing good seems to come by. Is it because we pray amiss or that God does not know that we exist? This is the problem of majority and the pastors in order to retain such people in their congregations will consequently develop a credo that will govern how God answers prayers.

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In such a case they say that God can either say, WAIT, YES, or NO. So when he says yes, it means that your prayers are answered and when he says wait, you then need patience (which is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit), and when he says No, it means that one will consequently suffocate in unnecessary patience. This is a church man’s technique to believing God which has today destroyed many homes.

There are people that are not destined to have a child no matter how they pray and fast. If they claim all the biblical promises, it cannot change the will of nature. There are also some that are destined not to marry; if they do they will continue to live in disunity which is still part of their inner destiny in conscious life. Therefore any answered prayer is the one ordained and destined to come through. After all, there are things one doesn’t pray for that comes ones way, why do they come? Nature has ordained them!