-Pst. Gavin Aleogho
Why would any Christian want to pray by
saying the following words, “The 'God of Pastor Gavin Aleogho’ help me in Jesus
name?”
It is either because of the following
reasons:
1. Either he does not have a personal
relationship with God the Father or
2. He does not know that he has the same
access to God the Father or
3. He does not have faith in the God he
has come to believe, except his Pastor’s God.
4. He sees himself very inferior in the
spirit compares to his Pastor.
Praying such prayer is an act of
ignorance which is prevalent among African Christians. Such phrases in prayer
are not common among Christians in the Western world. Even the apostles who
were direct descendants of Abraham never prayed that “the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob should help them.” This is because they have direct access to God the
Father through Jesus Christ who is greater than Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or
Moses.
Yes, they did refer to the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in passing; that is whenever they were connecting God
to the Person of Jesus. But they never prayed to or invoked “the God of
Abraham” to a situation. Read all through your the New Testament, you won’t find any occasion of such.
WHAT IF IT IS WORKING FOR YOU?
This is the question that has led many
people into error. The fact that something works does not mean that it is the
truth. Like Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) says,
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to
death.
To an armed robber, until he is caught,
the charm he is using is working. The Muslim believes that Allah gives answers
to prayers. Does that make the Muslim right?
The fact that something is working does
not give us the right to stay in error, for doctrinal errors are catastrophic
to the Christian faith, especially for generations after us.
You
may have prayed this way for a long time but that doesn’t make it right. You
may even say it worked for you. It probably didn’t and you thought it did, but
even if it worked, God may have overlooked your ignorance because of His
mercies.
DO YOU REALLY KNOW THE GOD OF YOUR PASTOR?
Come to think of it, how are you sure
that the “God” of the Pastor or Bishop you are calling is the true God?
We are all aware that there are false
preachers who parade themselves as agents of light with physical results and
miracles. Does that validate that they are serving the true and living God?
”For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
A renowned Yoruba gospel singer (I used
to love her songs) once said that she would have been nowhere today if not for
the “God of her Prophet.” In the end, it turned out that “her prophet” was a
strong occultist who was buried by his Ogboni (occultist) colleagues when he
passed on.
Be aware that it is not everyone that
says the name Jesus that is actually referring to our Lord Jesus Christ who
died on the cross of Calvary and rose again to life on the third day.
”For if he that cometh
preacheth ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive ANOTHER
SPIRIT, which ye have not received, or ANOTHER GOSPEL, which ye have not
accepted, ye might well bear with him.” 2 Corinthians 11:4 (emphasis mine)
A REFLECTION ON THE OLD TESTAMENT
In many places in the Bible, God is
referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 50:24; Exodus
3:15; Acts 7:32). This description of God emphasizes the covenant that God made
with Abraham which extends to all Israelites.
Why did God decide to reveal Himself as
the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?”
1. To distinguish Himself from the many
gods in those days.
2. As a way of connecting the Israelites
to the promise He first made to father Abraham, especially that of the Promised
Land and the promise that through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. The latter promise was fulfilled through Jesus Christ from whom
the world receives salvation.
Technically, God was indirectly saying
to us (all through the Bible) that He is the same God that dealt with Abraham;
the same God that we are dealing with in the New Testament in and through the
Person of Jesus Christ.
So, why did God refer to Himself and also
permitted the Israelites to refer to Him as the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob? Or why did Elisha pray, calling on the “God of Elijah”?
The Old Testament saints could not pray
in the name of Jesus, because Jesus Christ has not yet come to earth. But now,
Jesus has been revealed and God has highly exalted the name of Jesus for our
use in prayer.
”Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-10.
So, you can see that praying in the name
of Jesus is enough for us. You don’t need to add the name of your Pastor or the
name of dead Saints to make your prayer effective.
Once Jesus came into the scene, even
before His death He started instructing His disciples to pray in His name. And
that is what the disciples did throughout the New Testament; they never referred
to “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” in their prayer. Rather, they prayed
in “the name of Jesus” or “in the name of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
”In that day you will no
longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever
you ask in my name. Until now you have
not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will
be complete.” (John 16:23-24 NIV).
I love the way the NLT version renders
verse 24, it reads, “You
haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name”.
You can see that Jesus was instituting a
new order on how they should pray; different from what they knew before.
THE EARLY CHURCH DID NOT COMMIT THIS ERROR
Why was there no record where the early
Church prayed that “The God of James, The God of Luke, The God of John the
Baptist, God of Peter” and so on should help them?
Even though the first Apostles did great
miracles and even raised the dead, the early Church never prayed through “the
God of Paul, the God of Peter or the God of John.”
Even though Apostle Paul was younger in
the faith compared to Apostle Peter who had started doing miracles
and raising the dead; Apostle Paul never referred to God as “the God of Peter”.
Rather, in Paul’s Prayers, he referred to God as the “God of my Lord Jesus
Christ” or “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. He didn’t say, “God of Senior
Apostle Peter” or “God of Abraham.”
”I keep asking (praying)
that the GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, the glorious Father, may give you the
Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Ephesian 1:17 NIV (emphasis mine).
“For this reason I bow my knees to THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST,” Ephesians 3:14 (emphasis mine).
WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF
SUCH PRAYERS?
On the surface, praying that that “the
‘God of Pastor XXX’, should help you” looks subtle and faultless, but when you
scrutinized such prayers, you will discover that they have the following
dangers:
1. Such acts lead to the
idolization of men of God, which is not supposed to be in the first place. This act puts men of God as second-in-command to God. This is
wrong; Jesus is in-charge of the Church. Besides, in the Kingdom of God, there
is no second class citizen. You are not inferior to any man of God in God’s
kingdom.
2. Such act leads to
SECTARIANISM, where Church members
(in their subconscious mind), begin to think that “the God of their Pastor” is different and more powerful than
“the God of another Pastor” downtown.
3. You limit your chance
of growth in the Lord. By praying like that,
you are indirectly saying that you will never attain the spiritual height of
your pastor, talk more of attaining a greater height than him.
STAND IN JESUS’ RIGHTEOUSNESS
Even if the God of your Pastor is the genuine
God, how are you sure that your Pastor is in right standing with his God?
Don’t you know that you might be having
a right standing before God higher than some persons with a minister's title?
You are not supposed to stand in another
man’s righteousness to access God but only in the righteousness that is found
in Christ Jesus.
“For he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we (YOU AND YOUR PASTOR) might be made the
righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (emphasis added).
Why would you want to route your prayer
through the God of your pastor whom you are not sure of, whereas you have
direct access to the God of the universe?
Mind you, this is not a call to
dishonour your Pastor. This is only a call not to put any man between you and
your heavenly Father, save the Person of Jesus Christ. The same God is your
direct Father, he does not want you to route your prayer through any man except
in the name of Jesus Christ His Son.
Jesus Christ is the one who paid the
ultimate sacrifice. No pastor or General overseer will die for your sins. I
Pastor Gavin Aleogho cannot and will not die for your sins.
Don’t focus on the messenger (Pastor,
Bishop or Prophet) but on the Message who is Jesus Christ. Set your gaze on
Jesus Christ who forever lives to make intercession for us.
”Who is he who condemns?
It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Romans 8:34.
