The NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR

MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 23rd – Sunday 29th June 2025

RENEGOTIATE CHRISTIANITY IN NIGERIA

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful (1 Cor. 4:2).

While it is admitted that there is urgent need to RENEGOTIATE NIGERIA, the critical prerequisite is the need to renegotiate Christianity in the country. If there is going to be a new Nigeria, there must be a new Church, and if there is going to be a new Church, there must be new Christian character. Whereas there is widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the Church in Nigeria, the truth of the matter is that individual Christians make up the Church. Therefore, if the Church is badly perceived, the logical conclusion is that most of those who profess Christianity are unconverted and unrepentant human beings.

Undeniably, doctrinal errors and the loss of gospel focus from many pulpits have eroded Christian values and adversely affected many Christians. However, this explanation is not tenable before the Lord, because Christians have access to the word of God and to the in-dwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit.  Like all men, they also have a God-given conscience. Many Christians swayed by errors from compromised pulpits succumbed because, intrinsically, they were unstable in character. Men and women of firm righteous conviction would have walked away from those pulpits. 

If there is going to be a new Nigeria, the Church must produce people of character and integrity. This is a daunting task when one bears in mind that many church leaders are morally challenged. Much of the credibility crisis that assails the Church is due to acts of immorality, duplicity, and unbridled greed by some of them. Despite these shortcomings, the commitment to raising men and women of character in the Body of Christ must not dwindle. On the contrary, there should be renewed vigour to ensure that the “Christianity” connotes trust and integrity, as it used to be in the country a few years ago.

During the 2nd 2025 quarterly prayer conference of the National Prayer Altar in June 2025, one of the guest speakers, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, strongly emphasized the place of character in building the new Nigeria. He admonished Christians to return to the principle of God, because no end justifies an evil means.  In Psalm 15:4, the Psalmist advises that anyone who would be in the Presence of God neither changes their word nor conviction, even in the face of personal loss. A man of character places commitment to moral and ethical values above compromise. In our generation, many professing Christians place charisma above character, and they end up disappointing those who trust in them.

The challenge facing the Body of Christ is how to raise men and women of character. The starting point is to change the mindset of Christians. There is a character-debilitating mindset prevalent in the Church, essentialy that earthly wealth and earthly success are the marks of divine approval. This mindset, promoted by prosperity preachers, runs counter to the gospel of the cross, which advocates self-denial. The mindset of an individual is forged by that individual’s worldview. Every human has a worldview. These are sets of values and conditions upon which decision-making rests. Humans are not creatures of instinct, like animals. Humans are rational beings who have been trained to think before they act. That process of thinking is shaped by their worldview, the lens through which they see their world and the values they attach to it.

According to Alison Gray, “a worldview is a collection of attitudes, values, stories and expectations about the world around us, which inform our every thought and action” (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6735033/#:text=A%20worldview%20is%20a%20collection,on%20(Sire%2C%202004).    Another definition states that “a worldview is what individuals use to interpret the world around them that reflects their values, beliefs and principles regarding the world and their place in it” (https://www.studocu.com/en-nz/messages/question/5946747/choose-1-which-of-these-statements-best-defines-what-a-worldview-is-none-of-these-defines-a#:~:text=given%20options%20is%3A-,A%20worldview%20is%20what%20individuals%20use%20to%20interpret%20the%20world,perceive%20and%20interpret%20the%20world).
 
There are various worldviews, ideological, philosophical, cultural, secular, scientific, materialistic, etc. There are also worldviews defined by religious faith, for example, a Biblical or Islamic worldview. Muslims with Koranic worldview follow strict compliance with the Koran, and the world refers to them as “radical” or “Islamic extremists.”

A Christian is meant to possess a Biblical worldview, which simply means seeing the world through the pages of the Bible.  It is adherence to the values of the New Testament that produces Christlikeness. The development of a Scriptural worldview is what God had in mind when He commanded Joshua: “this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein …” (Joshua 1:8). 

The tragedy of Christianity in our generation is that several ministers of the gospel impart secular worldviews to their congregants, rather than a Biblical worldview. Consequently, we have many Christians who think like the world. They see nothing wrong with worldly fashion, ambition, or commitments. The only difference between them and the children of the world is that they show up for church service on Sunday, sometimes. 

Very few professing Christians subscribe to a Biblical worldview. Not only are they not taught to develop a Biblical mindset, they also do not study the word of God. This poses a dual problem. While they are not trained to develop a Biblical worldview, they also fail to train themselves with the resources at their fingertip. 

Until Christians can be brought to the point of seeing value in a Biblical mindset, it will be difficult to find believers who manifest the character of Jesus. Phil. 2:5 commands Christians thus: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" 
In effect, think like Jesus. 
If a Christian does not think like Jesus, he cannot speak like Jesus, he cannot live like Jesus, and he cannot respond to situations like Jesus. Of course, if an individual neither speaks like Jesus, lives like Him, nor responds to issues like Him, such an individual cannot be called a Christian. This is the tragedy of Christianity in our generation. Most of those who profess Christianity are secular humanists. Their worldview exposes their true spiritual condition. Very few professing Christians possess a Biblical worldview.

Unfortunately, it is this group of secular humanists that enter politics and engage the marketplace in the name of Christianity. They are men and women whose value systems are not defined by Biblical standards but by secular parameters.

The Church holds the mandate of heaven to provide righteous government for Nigeria, according to Isaiah 9:6. However, the personnel required to do the job, in many instances, require renegotiation as Christians. Consequently, people enter politics and governance as Christians but perform as devils. The problem is the lack of a Biblical worldview.

In view of the foregoing, the few ministers of the gospel who possess Biblical worldviews should accelerate the training of more Christians to develop a Biblical mindset. It is only Christians with a Biblical mindset that can enter governance, like Daniel, and refuse to defile themselves. It would take Christians with deep Biblical convictions to reject the “king’s meat”.

This also implies that Christians should endeavour to get involved in the appointment of officials for critical Christian institutions like CAN, PFN, CCN, and other blocs of the Church. It is Christians with a Biblical worldviews that can resist financial inducements from politicians and the Islamists. Secular-minded Christian leaders will always compromise, because their nature has not changed. They only carry Christianity as a title, not as moral conviction. The greatest help Nigerian Christians can render to the Church and the nation is to ensure that officials of these critical Church institutions are subjected to thorough background checks before they are appointed.

As a rider to the above, Christians should also endeavour to conduct periodic performance assessments of those in leadership positions in the Church, and ensure that they comply with Biblical standards. It is only when Christian leaders are held accountable to the word of God that authentic Christian leadership can be seen again in the Church. The problem of the Church is a lack of authentic spiritual leadership. If this problem can be solved by Christians, Nigeria will have peace.

God bless Nigeria.

PRAYER POINTS

1).    Rom. 2:21-24    Confess the sins of duplicity amongst many Church leaders and Christians in Nigeria. Pray that God will not, on their account, forsake His Church in Nigeria.

2).    Jer. 7:8-12    Pray for an outpouring of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, that wilful sinners in the Body of Christ shall forsake sin and embrace righteousness.

3).    Matt. 21:12-13    Pray that the Lord shall cast out of His Church all unrepentant people who claim to be Christians but are unwilling to forsake a sinful lifestyle.

4).    Acts 5:1-5    Pray that the discipline of the Holy Spirit shall be released upon the Church, so that Christians will fear God.

5).    Luke 9:23-25    Pray that God will place a burden on pastors to teach the cross and self-denial in the church, rather than worldly and self-indulgent messages.

6).    Neh. 5:14-14    Pray that God shall raise men and women of character to provide leadership for the Church as well as for Nigeria.

7).    2 Pet. 2:1-3    Pray that God will shake the leadership of the Church in Nigeria and terrify those who merchandise the saints.

Amen

 

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