Why elevating religious practices to matters of State may not add up

When a distinctive feeling to share my thoughts on the ongoing competition for prayers for the nation first crossed my mind, I thought I was going nuts. I wondered if this was not the Sanballat and Tobiah spirits the President alluded to from Nehemiah 4, in a veiled attack to critiques of his administration's glorified weekly prayers.

Two things troubled me: One, I am a Christian; and two, I absolutely believe and am a witness to the power of prayers.

Having declared my internal conflicts, matters religion is not only very personal, but too emotive in any public forum. Everyone is right in their own way and contrary views are abhorrent. Similar to culture, religious beliefs often lack convergent points of view or basic common sense.

There is no debate that religious practices are personal as they relate to an individuals' relationship with his/her maker. Secondly, there are collective responsibilities and accountability expectations among a group of people that identify with a particular religion or faith.

However, things get complicated when religious practices are elevated to matters of the State in a Constitutional democracy with no State Religion as provided in Article 8 of the Constitution. Not surprisingly, this has opened for a genuine public debate as to the limits in the exercise of power conferred by the Constitution to any individual leader or office.

While the Preamble exclusively acknowledges the Supremacy of the Almighty God, it unambiguously embraces ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. By deed of the Constitution therefore, each one of us is guaranteed the liberty to pray to whomever God one identifies with.

A dilemma arises for the President or other senior public officials who enjoy equal private rights as citizens, but in their official capacity are deemed to be State properties. That explains why they are accorded the entire State machinery to assure their safety and welfare and not the rest of us the lesser mortals.

Given this delicate balance required of an Head of State, any authentic Christian would easily identify with Solomon's prayer to God in 1 Kings 3:9 and 2 Chronicles 1:10. Given the opportunity to ask for whatever he desired from the Lord, he only sought for a Spirit of discernment to govern.

The lingering question is: Is it time for the Hustler duo to retreat to the Mountain of true prayer to seek divine guidance on the means to lead the nation without dramatising and making prayer divisive?

Economics of prayer

I claim no superior authority on matters religion, but my faith instructs me that the true God is a God of order. The Holy Scripture are complete and eternal in there very nature. This means with a discerning spirit like King Solomon prayed for, each one of us shall find a practical relevance and applicability in whatever circumstances one may find themselves in. The Word is ageless and timeless.

In October 2021, I had the honor to give a public lecture on the Triology of Religion, Political Leadership and the Economy in one of the local universities. There exist delicate and interconnected relations among the three within any society.

Religion retains a prophetic role over political institutions and has a custodial responsibility for ethics, values and morality in society. Political institutions dictate public policy, determine developmental priorities, allocate public resources, implement projects, render an account on use of resources and provide oversight.

The economy operates under its own universal rules, but is influenced by political institutions. A functional economy assures society of her socioeconomic welfare.

Put differently, society relies on religion for spiritual nourishment and moral standards. In a democracy, societal members influence political institutions through election of leaders. Ultimately, however, religious institutions and governments rely on the economic activities of the society for resources to support their programmes.

Practical faith

As alluded earlier, I suffered an internal struggle on whether to write this article or not due to my faith. For avoidance of doubt, I made my prayers for discernment before downing my armour to put pen to paper.

A casual google search on the Economics of Prayer one finds interesting literature. World Vision, a renown Christian-affiliated charitable organisation has crafted a powerful philosophy on Economic Empowerment based on the teachings of the book of Matthew 25. According to this philosophy, economic empowerment is not an end in itself, but a tangible expression of God's love that radically improves the lives of children and families.

They therefore undertake programmes that create opportunities for the vulnerable to access knowledge, capital, markets, technology and information to build thriving businesses. Priorities focus on improving household incomes, saving money and individuals taking responsibility in communities to break the cycle of poverty. In an empirical study on rational praying: The Economics of Prayer in January 2009; Timothy Tyler Brown finds patterns of prayer shown to conform to an economic theory of spiritual health.

The model prediction for wages and expected 'price' for participation in religious activity (Tithes for Judaism and Christianity; Zakat in Islam) are confirmed as a negative correlation with frequency of prayer for females and partially for males. Education and environmental factors supportive of prayer correlate positively.

Olubi Johnson in an article on the economics of prayer on May 2017, argues that for God to intervene on earth, He does so through prayers of men releasing sufficient power to overcome the power of Satan. To achieve such potency power however, the prayers must not be contrary to God's word as provided in Numbers 23:19; and Will as prescribed in 1 John 5:14-15. Only then can the power of prayer be physically manifested on the affairs of men on earth.

Benjamin F Soares on Edinburgh Scholarship online, on June 2005 presents on commodification of prayers as an unfortunate twist to the Prayer Economy. Thus, gifts are being exchanged for blessings, prayers and intercession with God. This commodification of prayer has led to personalisation of regious authority.

Paradox

The greatest paradox here is how political leaders appropriate prayers in the running of the affairs of State amidst plunder of state coffers; nepotism and tribalism in allocation of public appointments; perversion of rule of law and established institutional order; and violation of rights of the poor and opponents for selfish pursuits of power.

Zeroing on the ongoing prayers, what would Biblical teachings say about utilisation of public resources for 'national prayers' laced with political undertones? How do we apply the teachings of Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 about a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens?

The realities in the nation presently demands those in authority propose shareable vision, proffer practical and relatable solutions to the socio-economic traps folks are in. While God is not limited in His ways to intervene in our domestic affairs, a discerning spirit instructs that we undertake the right and corrective measures that are within our human abilities as we pray and wait for divine intervention.

The ongoing political charades leaves one wondering whether we are to second guess God's choices, if indeed the leaders we have are anointed of Him. While it is not for me or any other person to judge, but something just does not seem to add up!