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The Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, has called on Christians to continuously engage in the act of prayer since it has the potency to change situations and circumstances.
He said this in a live televised sermon on Pent TV, the official television station of the church, during a Special Evening Service held on Sunday, March 29, 2020.
Speaking on the topic, “The Relevance Of Prayer,” he underscored that prayer is relevant in all situations.
According to the Chairman, prayer is one of the most central activities of religious life and central to religious activities. He, however, expressed concern about the fact that prayer is under attack because the world today does not appreciate prayer.
“People think that prayer is an irrational activity. This is because philosophy deals with mind trying to uncover the truth through reasoning. However, religion receives truth from the deity so people who reason with the mind cannot understand why we are receiving God from without questioning,” he deplored.
Reading from Luke 11:1, 5:15-16, 6:12, Mark 1:35, Luke 21:34-36, among other texts, Chairman Nyamekye emphasized that Jesus Christ lived prayerful life whilst on earth, saying, “Jesus was and is still a prayer warrior because He is at the right hand of God interceding for believers.”
As a prayer warrior, Apostle Nyamekye explained that Jesus did not just teach His disciples how to pray but how to engage in the act of prayer as well.
He stated: “If Jesus, who is God, could pray like this, then men ought to pray as well because there is something in prayer.” He, therefore, called on Christians to pray without ceasing.
The Chairman defined prayer as communication of a worshipper or supplicant with his or her deity.
Making reference to a quote by Origen, an Egyptian theologian, who once said: “If everything happens in accordance with the will of God and His decrees stand fast and nothing of what He wills can be reversed, then prayer is absurd,” the Chairman explained that, “It is true that the decree of God stands, however, it is also true that the prayer of the saint can cause God to review what He had decreed.”
To buttress his assertion, Apostle Nyamekye cited an instance in Isaiah 38:1-8, when King Hezekiah, on his sickbed, prayed fervently to God and had his life prolonged by fifteen years after God Himself, through Prophet Isaiah had told him to put his house in order because he was going to die and would not recover.
Chairman Nyamekye expounded that, though God decreed and someone also prayed and God changed His mind, averring that, “prayer is that kind of weapon that changes God’s mind and it can always make the difference.”
He further stated that prayer changes the immutable laws, seasons and time and it can also do the impossible and unthinkable (Joshua 10:12-14, 1 Kings 17:1, 18:1, James 5:17-18, Acts 12:1ff). He added that when Christians pray something happens.
Touching on contemporary and scientific worldviews that refute the existence of God and His relationship with mankind, the Chairman read Daniel 4:20-26 and refuted those claims and theories, emphasizing that, “God, the Most High, still rules the kingdom of mankind and mankind cannot live independent of Him.”
Apostle Eric Kwabena Nyamekye concluded by urging Christians to pray because prayer is very relevant in the life of the believer.
“The value of prayer none can measure. Prayer was relevant then and now it is relevant. I want to call the Church to prayer and to pray fervently in these times as never before. Where now are the Elijahs of God? May men of prayer arise, may women of prayer arise. We have to pray as individuals; we have to pray as family, we have to pray as Ghanaians, we have to pray as Christians, we have to pray as Church because prayer works and prayer is relevant.”
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Source: Emmanuel Nana Nsiah
