You may know that my wife and I spent 30
years in Nigeria as missionaries. If you want to know the entire story of that
journey, I invite you to read our memoirs at
After various introductory sections, the
memoirs are the first entry: Every Square
Inch: A Missionary Memoir.
You may be surprised at what became a problem
to me for the first half year there. I was so amazed at Nigerian Christian
prayers during church services. Not only
were there long queues of people waiting to offer a prayer, but the way they
prayed just seemed unreal to me at the beginning. They were so real about, so
serious, so persistent and covering many different fronts of life. I had never heard such strong and emotional
prayers. I could not help but kind of
doubt their genuineness.
Looking back on that early period—I’m talking
late ‘60s, some 50 years ago!—I have come to understand that this was culture
shock on my part, a spiritual culture shock. I had never heard such prayers. Of course, this
was the pre-Charismatic breakthrough when really no one prayed that way in any
culture I had ever experienced.
I was a product of Western Christianity, of its
Reformed branch, that was so heavily influenced by the Western worldview that
is so much more influenced by Rationalism with its rational spirituality and
logic, and by secularism, the major “common sense” in the West. All of that
discouraged that kind of prayer outbursts.
Our prayers were genuine all right,
but so rational, reasonable and calm. And we certainly did not form queues of
eager prayer warriors!
I look back on that experience with a sense
of shame and embarrassment. Here I was, a Christian missionary, and I could not
understand the prayer culture of our hosts, let alone appreciate it. I am happy
to report that over time I not only came to understand it, but also accept it
as genuine. I even began to copy that style of prayer, without pretense, but
with sincerity, conviction and meaning. Nigerian Christian spirituality
enriched me and I am grateful for that experience. One of the many blessings I
received during my years of service there. My prayers have never been the same
since, especially not my public prayers.
Today is Sept 3, 2017—21 years since I left
Nigeria, physically at least. An item from Nigeria’s Premium Times appears on my screen. It is a story about Nigeria’s
Super Eagles, the beloved national football team, having beaten their
Cameroonian competition. However, the
report was not about the way the Eagles
played, but how they prayed! Here’s
the report, picture and all.
PREMIUM TIMES Sept 3
2017
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has said that the Super
Eagles’ victory on Friday against the
Indomitable Lions of Cameroon was a “testament” to the power of prayers.
The Eagles whipped their arch rival, the Lions 4-0, in their 2018
FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo,
the Akwa Ibom State capital.
“The victory of Super Eagles today against The Indomitable Lions
of Cameroon is a testament to the fact that whenever we go on our knees and
seek the face of God like we did today during our fasting and prayer session,
God will answer our prayer,” Mr. Emmanuel wrote on Facebook, few hours after
the match. END OF STORY.
This was not some pastor hidden in a church somewhere. This was a politician, a State Governor, a
man with much power and wealth. Most of his colleagues are very corrupt, though
I hope this not to be the case here. But there this man wrote it on one of the
most public and wide-spread podiums in the world without hesitation. Amazing.
And then the story was spread by the news media. This was big stuff. Prayer
saved the day or, at least, the big match. Never mind how they played. They won by prayer. Their strategies did not get any praise. It was prayer that
did it, prayer and fasting. You can’t
get more serious!
As a semi-Nigerian who loves Nigeria and its people more than “semi”--
I am happy our team won, but those earlier questions of Nigerian Christian
prayers came back to me. In a way it was a typically traditional response. When
things go wrong in Nigerian life, people seldom take responsibility but blame
external forces, including enemies, evil spirits, etc. But this time things
went right, at least as far as Nigeria is concerned. So it is refreshing to see the Governor giving
credit for this result to God instead of boasting of the players’ prowess. I
wonder about the Cameroonian reaction!
Whom did they hold responsible for their loss?
At the same time, the above picture does not make one think
immediately of pious players. The front player seems almost angry, certain
aggressive and determined. He’s not about to give anyone a chance! The second player is having fun, an emotion
that does not necessarily exclude spirituality. So, an ambiguous picture.
But my main hesitation is the prayer itself. It is a prayer for a
battle, but not a battle for freedom or liberation. Rather a prayer for myself
and my people against the interest of
another group whose interest is equally valid before God. It is a prayer for my
victory and their defeat. Unless it is a
case of an unjust war, Christians do not generally pray against each other but for
each other. So, I find this prayer difficult to swallow. But they did win. So, perhaps God did hear
it. But what if the Cameroonians prayed
likewise?
Fortunately, this was for God to figure out, not for me. Sometimes
it pays to leave things up to Him!
PS--Sorry that the picture has not appeared. I'm not a techy and don't know how to fix that. But here's the URL. Try to access it yourself-- http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/242214-super-eagles-defeated-cameroon-prayers-gov-emmanuel.html
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