The General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Ghana, Rev. Dr Stephen Wengam, has reiterated the need for the Church in Ghana to resort to continuous, persistent and intentional prayers to invoke the mighty hand of God upon the nation.
Addressing participants of a four-day interdenominational conference for ministers, dubbed ‘All Ministers Conference’ organised by The Church of Pentecost at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh, near Kasoa on Wednesday, Rev. Dr Wengam reminded the clergy that prayer remains a potent force in the Church, and must not be relegated to the background if the Church desires to operate with supernatural efficacy.
“When prayer becomes the resource of the righteous, nothing is impossible,” he posited.
Quoting copiously from the book of Nehemiah, Rev. Dr Wengam stated that when a nation consistently hears unpleasant news about the economy in distress, tribalism, disunity, security crisis, uncompromising leadership, immorality, disorder and indiscipline on the ascendency, then the time for a prayer army to arise was long past.
He said during the time of Nehemiah, when he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were in shambles, there were many options open to him, but he believed prayer could change the hearts of kings and chose that option.
“Our walls have broken; our leaders cannot converge at a point to work together, migration has become the order of the day, and the infiltration of bad values uncontrollably seems to destroy the moral fibre of our nation,” he said, adding, “It is time for the Church to lift up prayer.”
The General Superintendent called for a prayer of repentance as a Church and nation, prayer of confession of sins of commission and omission, prayer of adoration and thanksgiving, and prayer of dedication, among others.
He said the Church is at war with spiritual forces, and physical institutions are determined to destroy the Church, but a prayer of warfare will turn the tides. He revealed that warfare prayer must begin with adoration and worship of God in His holiness. He stressed the need to pay homage to God and be thankful to Him as a nation.
“Thanksgiving is not only about what the Lord has done for us. We murmur too much in this country when we should be grateful,” he lamented.
Drawing from the positive results of Nehemiah’s consistent prayer for the nation, Rev. Dr Wengam mentioned that when the Church prays, God grants favour to rebuild and transform nations.
He said not only did a pagan Persian king permit Nehemiah to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but he also gave him security and released resources for the task. He added that opposition to the nation’s transformation is overcome, and the transformation is speedy when prayer is lifted.
“Other significant results of prayer for the nation are all-round national development and moral integrity, revival in the Church and patriotism for the nation, and abundant release of grace to rebuild the nation’s moral fibre,” he indicated.
He identified sin as the root of all the troubles of the nation and the world and regretted that the Church had failed to be the salt of the earth and light of the world.
He advocated a national prayer meeting of churches in Ghana as a starting point for transforming the heart of the Church and influencing the nation.
He, however, cautioned that such prayer meetings should not be platforms for long talk, saying, “Let prayer meetings be prayer meetings, not talk. We don’t teach prayer by talking; we teach prayer by praying.”
PENTECOST NEWS