Call to Prayer

It is interesting how fervent we are in prayer when we are faced with a crisis. We will even fast to add to our prayer when we are facing an interviewing panel. But look at us when we get the job or promotion! You might think we are daring God to deny us that job. Look at the great lengths we go to when we are looking for a spouse, especially when our clocks are ticking dangerously. What happens when God gets us that partner? Many times we will pay occasional homage to the church that had become our second home in our search.

Reminds me of a story I heard long ago.

Hyena was starving to death and realized that unless God performed a miracle he had no energy to pursue even a lame animal. He had to find immobile food to live.

He therefore resorted to prayer, pleading with God to spare his life by giving him food so that he continued living.

As he was limping along he was shocked to find a tethered calf. That was the food he could have given anything to find. It was soft and tender, a treat of a lifetime. He could eat it all considering how hungry he was feeling.

‘Well God, I have finally found food. If you are the one who gave me this calf, take it now’. He was convinced that God could not tether or untether anything.

Then he found something even better. The rope tethering it was made of hide.

He reasoned that it was better to start with the hard rope so that he will later get to the tender parts of the calf, which is how most of us reason.

As he started gnawing on the rope the tether of course broke and the calf fled, leaving the hyena with the very short part of the rope.

‘I was only joking, God. Please save my life. You are the one who ….’ But the case had already been closed and he starved to death.

Hands up if this story connects with someone you know. Could it be you? What do you do when God answers your prayers?

I felt the urgency to share this message because I sense a similar sentiment in Kenya. Since last year we were so prayerful especially as we neared the elections. The reason was the chaos we experienced during the last elections and the resulting hardship. Everybody prayed peace and preached peace. Even the famed Kenyan media which is known to enjoy spewing our dirt to the world was very responsible. Nobody wanted Kenya to burn. It was the international media that tried to report sensational issues to fan whatever they wanted because they had a stake in the chaos should they occur. But Kenyans were focused. No war at any cost. We prayed. We prepared. We preached. We voted. Peace was the enduring message.

Have we forgotten so quickly? Or like the hyena are we thinking it was all due to us that our land is peaceful? Do we acknowledge God in our affairs or do we seek Him when our situation looks risky? Do we pray for protection only when we are walking in risky environs yet forget He is our security even when things are fine? Do we realize that He is the reason we are safe even in safe locations?

Are we praying as a matter of course or do we pray as if we believe that God is the centre of all we are?

When our leaders were being inaugurated, they knelt before God in acknowledgment that it was God who gave them that trust and that it was only through Him that they will fulfill it. I have heard some people say that it was a PR exercise. Who are you to gauge the sincerity of someone’s confession?

In any case why don’t you start being as genuine as you wanted them to be and kneel genuinely and humbly before God? Why don’t you pray them into genuineness, since you know what genuineness looks like?

But the main reason I write is to challenge us to remember how passionate we were as we were praying for peace as I believe that this time round people were more concerned for peace that about the person who would be president as we knew that as the reason leaders used to incite people to kill and displace others so that they could share the ‘bread’.

Are we as passionate when we are praying about the challenges our government is facing with security or terrorism? Are we as passionate when we are praying about the MPs seeking to increase their salaries? Do we even pray or are we more concerned about protests? Are we as passionate when praying for wisdom for our leaders as they serve us? Are we as passionate as we pray about joblessness?

You see the fact that your preferred candidate did not win is no reason to think God did not answer your prayers because I think deep down you know that was a secondary request. In any case who gives leaders? If God said that He is the one who raised Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, who are we to believe that He could not do it for Kenya?

Since we were so committed to organize ‘keshas’ and fasts to pray for peace during elections, why don’t we do the same about other pressing needs our nation faces?

May we be found ready to know what God has in store for us so that we can play the part He has for us to fulfil His purpose for this great nation.

God bless you