‘What God cannot do does not exist. ’ This became a popular refrain among charismatic Christians when Nigerian miracle and testimony preacher, Jerry Eze commenced his New Season Prophetic prayers.
Soon, Ghanaians latched onto the television and social media networks of the prayer movement, where mostly young Christians and miracle-hungry pentecostals, stayed awake deep into the night, praying before their laptops and smartphones. Meanwhile in Nigeria, some pastors had started questioning the hermeneutic veracity (analytical interpretation) of the catchy refrain.
Dr. Abel Damina, known for his sharp critique of biblical text, challenged Eze’s theory, and produced a tall list of things God cannot do.
He called it a fraud and warned that Christians cannot hold God to what he never promised.
The curriculum vitae of God
Can God fix Dumsor? It would be easier if we had some evidence of God fixing similar problems in the past.
If God had fixed NEPA, the power crises in Nigeria where Jerry Eze lives and preaches, or terrorism and insurgency in Traore’s Burkina Faso, or even intervened in the Bawku crisis, then critical minds like Kwaku Sintim Misa (KSM), will be happy to join national prayers to fix the looming Dumsor threat.
We have been on these turfs before when we prayed for the falling Ghana Cedi to arise and tame the American dollar.
We have prayed on galamsey sites for the Holy Spirit to banish the spirit of illegal mining from greedy Ghanaians, and at the Akosombo Dam, where people of faith knelt to pray for God to send forth water to fill the dam, like Elijah did fire. We are a praying nation, or so we seem.
Often, charismatic Christians do not realise that when they project God as an easy fixer who is happy to abandon his divine duties to fix mundane challenges down here, we only expose him as a candidate in an exam room who answered the wrong questions because he simply did not read the instructions. Wouldn’t God question what He gave us brains for and the place of wisdom in our lives?
If God interviewed for a job at Sapphire Ghana Ltd., where KSM is MD, he might not get the job if He presented the CV of a chronic non-fixer, even if God had come in His tripartite regalia, with His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, in tow.
In other companies where God is alpha and omega of their mission statement, they fill up when their electricity credit runs out; they do not pray for divine electric favour from ECG.
Dumsor prayer
Presently, Dumsor is threatening to make a second coming, and homes and businesses are dreading the experience. Ghana’s energy minister has assured that the Government is putting in measures to avert any appearance of Dumsor.
However, the faith community in Ghana has better ideas. Aglow International Ghana, a women-led prayer and empowerment network, believes that Ghana could pray to fix dumsor.
Last week, the women gathered to pray, beseeching God to keep the lights on. Many of us cheered the prayerful women for standing in the gap for our dear country.
But satirist and television show host, KSM, thinks the women are praying amiss. KSM believes good policy and strategy are what we need.
Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie is the national prayer director of Aglow Ghana.
The first time I met Auntie Gifty, I stood transfixed in the presence of a woman I had admired for nearly two decades.
We had both been picked to present awards at a GJA event, where my organisation had sponsored a category in the annual awards.
In the backroom where we were given some preps before stepping on stage to do the presentation, I wanted to tell Auntie Gifty that I used to cut her photos from newspapers for my album when I was a young man.
But I resisted the temptation to ingratiate myself with the venerable stateswoman who is also a respected Godwoman; I needed to keep things professional and decent.
I would fess up that I admired Auntie Gifty for her accomplished journalism career.
She might be one of the reasons I went to journalism school.
Years later, I followed her marked involvement with the Aglow movement, and that may have increased my admiration for her. Nicknamed Adwoa Ghana, Auntie Gifty leads her women to gather at symbolic national venues, to raise intercessory prayer for Ghana.
Under the leadership of Dr. Dorothy Danso, Aglow has gained some national recognition as an influential body respected for their presence on Ghana’s faith landscape.
Mensa Otabil’s fears
Aye, we have an interesting faith landscape in Ghana and most parts of Africa, and some Christians, including Dr. Mensa Anamuah Otabil, have warned that we might run into ‘imminent danger’ if we do not change a few things, especially in the charismatic stream, where Aglow belongs.
From false prophecies to strange visions, many impressionable people of faith have been duped and fooled by self-styled prophets to sow seeds of faith for miracles, instead of working hard for results.
Where job seekers need to rework their CVs, they have been lured to pay to the Holy Spirit for divine direction. Where single girls looking for husbands need to be encouraged to expand their social networks, they have simply been told to pray.
The danger is that even critical minds like KSM are not totally absolved from the collective damage that these faith schemes portend.
On our television screens, we see our political class bow to prophets who speak in their favour.
Strangely, we have also seen the prophets speak the mind of God against politicians when they fail to honor their promises to them. Dumsor must be one of the easiest things God could fix if our most brilliant minds are often the most corrupt.
Like KSM, I am the son of a preacher, so I believe in divine grace and the force of prayer.
We may just have to grow our faith to believe that what God cannot do does not exist, including Dumsor.
Kwesi Tawiah-Benjamin
Ottawa, Canada
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