Prayers for Sale

Regular travelers in Nigeria can relate to the fact that "Prayers For Sale" is a common trend in motor parks where people travel to different states within the nation. Personally, I have experienced this phenomenon several times as mostly, I realize that, when the vehicle is about to leave the garage, someone usually, middle-aged or elderly comes up and starts either reading the Bible, sharing tracts/pamphlets and praying for the passengers about to embark on the journey.

At the end of the sermon and prayers session, they expect the passengers to give them a token-like an offering or something not easily understood; some of these prayer warriors even share envelopes along with these pamphlets to woo people into giving them money for "The Lord". lol

In Nigeria today, prayers have become a commodity. Prayer is defined as a supplication to the almighty God especially in religious settings; it is an old practice of many religions across the world. So many people believe in prayers to the extent that most formal and informal meetings, school classes, and even hospital visits perform prayers before and/or after the events.

Prayers form a strong part of our lives as Muslims, Christians, and/or many other religions and cultures too. Belief systems have been incorporated into our daily lives to the extent that unbelief is seen as odd and abnormal to the extent that other people ridicule or threaten the unbeliever with stories of Hellfire and condemnation forever.

Recently, I was traveling within Nigeria and when the car was almost ready to take off, the usual sermon given by an elderly man started with reading passages from the Bible and praying for journey mercies. I was absent-minded and to make things worse, I picked a phone call while the preacher was taking the centre stage. I watched as he shared tracts and envelopes to other passengers in the vehicle but he skipped me.

Let's imagine I wasn't a Christian, I'd feel like the Christian God didn't like me and wouldn't grant me a safe journey. Indeed, I was happy to be exempted because I understood and my little change had been spared at least.

Prayer is a supplication or solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to a supreme being, God or another deity. Basically, prayer is an earnest hope or wish, ultimately prayer is a feeling, you don't just request but you actually feel in order to attract what you want not forgetting that gratitude is a must. As humans we're part of a whole system made up of energies and the moment we understand how to send out the right vibes, we become more in sync with the universe, God, and any other deity we pray to. We also realize the there's no need to buy prayers because all that we seek is within and we are powerful.

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