The NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 9th - Sunday 15th September 2024
THE SILENT CONSTRUCTION SITE
1. A Paradox of Two Sites
When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built (1 Kings 6:7).
This is an amazing account of the construction of the Old Testament temple. In the entire seven years that it took to construct that temple, which at the financial value in 1997 would have cost over $985 billion dollars, (according to Finis Dake), there was no noise. For seven years, the entire construction site was quiet! That was a feat, unmatched by today’s construction companies with all their technological breakthroughs.
“The LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him” (Hab. 2:20).
What accounted for this feat? All the stones used for the construction were pre-cut, pre-sized and prepared at the quarry, far away from the construction site. As each stone arrived at the temple site, it knew its place, accepted it without any struggle, and quietly fitted in. The construction supervisors and workers did not attempt to change any decision made at the quarry.
There was no nepotism, no favouritism, no racism, and no partiality. The stones were not self-seeking or self-willed. The stone cut to be part of the floor did not suddenly desire to be the capstone. The stone cut for the back of the temple did not covet the position in the front. Each stone accepted the decision of the stone cutters.
What was the result of the meek submission? A spiritual house was built without commotion. No wonder the LORD was pleased to come down in glory to inhabit His temple.
Unfortunately, the exact opposite is the case in the construction of the New Testament temple. There is so much noise! Jostling, pushing, shouting, including smiting with tongues of wickedness. Some New Testament stones have turned the spiritual construction site into a street fight, to the ridicule and embarrassment of Heaven.
Who are the stones? “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house …” (1 Pet. 2:5). Ye also…
Some New Testament stones refuse to be broken, cut to size and smoothened, yet they show up at the construction site, desiring to be the capstone. Christ gave His Church the example of servanthood. Many church members and ministers desire to be executives in the Church of Christ. The magnitude of disagreement, indiscipline, and division in the Church of today is scarcely found in any other institution on the face of the earth.
“Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?” (Mal. 2:10).
What is the result of the commotions in the modern temple? It has resulted in loss of credibility and loss of respect for the only institution on earth that God gave His own Son to redeem. In an Evangelical Synod in January 2003 in Germany, the chief speaker lamented that a recent opinion poll revealed that the Church is the least trusted of all the institutions in Germany. If a similar opinion poll should be conducted in Nigeria, the result would most likely be the same. The Body of Christ referred to in 1 Tim. 3:15 as “the pillar and ground of the truth,” has credibility crisis in our generation. (Culled from: Return to the Narrow Path)
2. What Went Wrong?
Developed and well-organized human societies operate on the basis that humans are inherently rebellious and chaotic, if not restrained. Therefore, they build critical institutions to maintain law and order, and ensure that those institutions work without interference. In those organized societies, the same ruler is used to measure the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless. The result is a relatively peaceful society in which everyone calls themselves to order and restrain the promptings of their adamic nature.
Unfortunately in Nigeria and many other African countries, although there are established institutions of law and order, they fail to adopt non-interference. The managers of the institutions apparently do not like the idea of accountability and self-restraint. Consequently, law and order break down frequently in those societies.
There remains yet a critical institution that could have set a good example for the country and its leaders: the Church. Tragically, the managers of the Church appear to be of the same stock as the managers of the country.
In 2015, the National Christian Elders Forum submitted a Strategy Document to the apex body of Christianity in Nigeria, detailing some critical institutions that the Church should establish. The Document outlined action points to prevent wholesale takeover of the country by the jihadists/terrorists, as well as restrain lawlessness in the Body of Christ, whilst making Christians focused on the goals of the Church. After the expiration of the tenure of Pastor Oritsejafor, his successors did not implement the Document. The consequence of a Church fighting an existential battle, without any plan of action, is starring all Christians in the face.
The lack of restraining structures within the Church has now turned Christianity in Nigeria into comedy, as on the social media. The comedians are the church leaders as the world laughs while those who claim to be custodians of righteousness bring ridicule to their God.
In the past few weeks, the social media has been awash with the raging controversy stirred by a pastor in Akwa Ibom State. He has managed to drag another well-known pastor in Abuja into a needless controversy about who established which ministry. It all suggests stones that did not stay at the quarry for proper cutting to size. They have shown up in the temple, demanding to be accorded the position of “fathers of the faith”.
To worsen matters, some other unbroken stones have joined in the cacophony of confusion in the temple, to the embarrassment of Heaven. Any man may claim to be whatever he wants. What matters is what the Lord says. If a man claims to be the “father” of a ministry, let him be. On the day he faces the Lord, he will provide evidence for his claims.
The noise going on in the Nigeria Church is not needful. The controversy over doctrines and methods are uncalled for. The Church faces sufficient challenges in trying to curb corrupt and occult religious leaders. This is no time for needless arguments in the Body of Christ. What should be paramount now is to build structures that will maintain order and decorum in the Church. Fortunately, the Lord has rejuvenated a body determined to restore order and decency to the Church. We can only pray that it succeeds.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Mal. 2:10
Confess before God the needless strife and discord in the Church. Pray for forgiveness and mercy for the Nigeria Church.
2. Matt. 15:13
Pray that those whom God has not called as pastors and ministers of the gospel shall be uprooted by Him from the Nigeria Church.
3. John 10:12–13
Pray that God shall, by His power, dismiss the hirelings in the Church who pretend to be under-shepherds of Jesus Christ, but their god is their belly.
4. Mal. 3:2–3
Pray that God shall purge and purify every altar in the Nigeria Church.
5. John 10:11
Pray that good shepherds like Jesus Christ shall be promoted by God into positions of leadership in the Church.
6. John 17:21–23
Pray for the unity of the saints of God in the Nigeria Church.
7. 1 Cor. 6:2–6
Pray for grace for the Church to build structures that will maintain order and decorum in the Body of Christ.
Amen
