Nigeria’s situation is not beyond prayers

ALSO READ: We are the problem with Nigeria

No doubt, Nigeria is probably in the worst shape it has been in all my adult life but it is my strong belief that nothing is beyond the power of prayer to God, the Controller-General of the entire universe.

I am not sure how I feel when I hear people; sometimes even Christians say we should ‘leave God or prayer out of Nigeria’s problems’.

Is that even possible? How do you leave God out of anything? He reigns over everything!

Such people believe that what Nigeria needs is good governance and death to corruption and greed. I agree because we have a human problem in this country.

Such people believe that we should ‘leave spiritual things out of this matter’. I don’t agree because we also have a spiritual problem in this country.

Why do I say so? Because each human being you see is actually a soul; brought to life by a spirit; living in a fearfully and wonderful made body.

I love the way Watchman Nee explains it. Think of dye and water. The two mixed together will give you a third substance: ink.

In the same way, it is the spirit plus the body that makes a living soul (man). The spirit is the life-force, if you will, of the man. Engage and connect with the spirit of a man; you will control him.

Can laws, policies, rules, sanctions, legislative bills, seminars, sermons, good intentions, inspirational and motivational talks have any lasting impact on the living soul (the man; his intellect and emotions) without going through the channel of his spirit? I don’t think so.

The ultimate way to control bad behaviour isn’t by more laws or better governance. These and all I mentioned earlier are important and needful but if we want real change, we must change the hearts of people, one at a time and only God can do that by touching the spirits of men.

I have also heard people ask how countries like the USA, China and Japan continue to thrive even though they do not pray or serve God like Nigerians.

First of all, can I just say that while these countries may be doing better than us economically, they too have some serious problems?

I will not lie, I don’t know how come Nigeria too cannot thrive economically and pay for our greed and sin some other way.

But then again, can Nigeria cope with hurricanes, wild fires or earthquakes? See, the wages of sin is death and it comes to all nations; just in different ways.

Anyway, the bottom line is that we, people of faith, have got to change. The key to Nigeria’s deliverance rests in our hands.

Our spirits must give way to God’s until a revival bubbles up in our bellies! Yes, Nigeria needs a spiritual revival. Prayer is not dead. Neither is God.

We are, spiritually. So I will continue to pray for Nigeria; for her leaders and for her people. We need a spiritual awakening!

Permit me to end with this this quote:“..Behind the seen realm is the unseen realm. Behind the forces we are familiar with and all that we read in the newspapers daily – social situations, economic situations, political situations, international situations, and so forth – behind all these circumstances, dominating them, controlling them and directing them are unseen spiritual forces.

“Clearly, they are directing them all towards evil, toward rebellion against God and towards destruction. Yet it is your privilege and mine, your responsibility and mine, to intervene and change this situation.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, my co-Bloggers and dear Pulse.ng readers, I hope that with these few points I have been able to convince you (and not confuse you) that our dear Nigeria needs all the prayers it can get.

For those who are not convinced, no worries; please keep fighting the battle in the physical. We, who believe, will continue our battle in the unseen realm. Where battles are really won.____________________________Salt Essien-Nelson is a blogger/author based in Lagos, Nigeria. You can connect with her via her blog - on Blogger where she is ‘seasoning’ the world around her one salt blog at a time or send her an e-mail via .