nonnyno:


Last Monday night I was awakened by the unusual screams and shouts of prayers emanating from a nearby compound. I quickly decided to pay attention to the pattern of the prayers which were somehow strange to me, coming from a catholic background. From my apartment I became an uninvited observer since the noise from the prayer had already ruined my precious sleep.

Throughout the prayer session, I noticed that shouts of ‘Holy Ghost Fire’ Fire, Fire and ‘die by fire’ dominated the prayers. This was repulsive and I thought to myself that it is one of the destructive patterns of prayers being propagated by some new generation churches nowadays. Not long ago I shared my thought with a colleague during an argument on this pattern of prayer especially the wrong use of the Holy Ghost Fire which I not only consider destructive but also dangerous. Coincidentally, I am sharing my thought again on this topic a week after the Pentecost was commemorated in our churches.

I was raised in a catholic family although my parents later converted to Assemblies of God which is also a moderate, not too aggressive or radical church. In Catholic Church we have routine pattern of prayer which we follow religiously and are not used to the destructive and offensive pattern of prayer that is somehow becoming in vogue in our churches that even the charismatic in the Catholic Church have copied it. Catholics are usually gentle and humble in prayers. They appeal and plead to God with great reverence and adulation, like a child seeking favour from his father. It is never in their nature to use coercion to obtain favours from God. That is exactly the way I was raised.

Until late 90s and early 2000, this kind of violent prayer pattern was not very rampant. It rather got sway immediately many prayer houses and new generation churches began to spring up in great numbers. In fact things took a new turn in our primordial prayer pattern once the hunger for spiritual powers and miracles stole the minds of Christians. Since then things have not been the same. Church has become a booming business where both the called and the uncalled compete with one another, each trying to outsmart the other. To reach the pinnacle of the business, some men of God have even gone fetish and brought in strategies that should not be ordinarily acceptable in Christianity religion. That is if churches are being regulated.Call it creativity or deception, but these men of God have a way of manipulating the bible and twisting the interpretations of the verses to bamboozle their followers and also suite their style of worship. They get their members spellbound that they forget themselves and start worshipping their pastors and not God. In some cases the pastors tame and hypnotize their followers that they lose their common sense and become incapable of deciphering the good spirit from the bad spirit. Remember that the bible says that every spirit must be put to test but this is no longer adhered to. Christians are gradually losing their inner spiritual eyes as they are busy running after miracle workers and prophets who now decide their fates.

In their uncanny ways, some of these new generation pastors have come up with an aggressive pattern of prayer whereby members shout, scream, wail and issue threats to the devil and their enemies all in the name of prayer. I would not mention names of churches that operate in this way for security reasons but they are numerous, some very notable with large congregation. In these churches, prayer has now assumed a new dimension where we can issue commands and orders to God with boldness. They often refer to book of Matthew 11:12 where it says that the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent men take it by force.

Now, to my main concern for writing on this topic which I mentioned earlier – that Holy Ghost fire is being abused and misused. Honestly, I cannot say if it is by mistake, lack of knowledge of the bible or ignorance that has made some Christians tend to misconceive the fire of the Holy Spirit for a destructive fire which can be used to attack and destroy the enemies and evil spirits at will. Holy Ghost fire is also being converted to missiles and other weapons of destructions that we now hear of Holy Ghost missile, Holy Ghost thunder, Holy Ghost arrows, Holy Ghost bullet etc in our churches. This is a very dangerous trend and must be addressed. That there is fire in Holy Ghost does not necessarily signify that it is a consuming fire which burns and hurt like the normal flames we know. The fire of the Holy Ghost is rather holy.

furthermore, in my quest to unearth the basis for which some of my fellow Christians had to adopt this style of prayer, I had to research my bible just to be sure that I am not the one that is ignorant of the teachings of Christ as I am not a wonderful bible student. The first thing that came to my mind during that spiritual exercise was where Jesus promised his disciples that he will send them a comforter, the Holy Spirit in John 16:7. The second was the book of Acts 2:1 – 47 where the Holy Spirit manifested himself to the disciples in a tongues of fire during the Pentecost and they started speaking in tongues. Fortunately, the Pentecost week just ended and the teachings during that period revolved mostly on what Christians should do to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I am not wrong therefore to believe that the Holy Ghost is a helper, a comforter, a guide, a counselor, an advocate. I was more convinced after hearing the message of the pentecost that the Holy Spirit is friendly and not a wicked spirit.

How then did we come about this idea of using the Holy Spirit to destroy and attack the enemies of our faith? Could it be from the book of Hebrew 12:29 where it says that our God is a consuming fire? I searched more and deeper into the bible but did not see any verse where neither Jesus Christ nor the early disciples used the fire of the Holy Spirit to destroy things. It was not even used to cast away demons and the evil spirits rather we were instructed by Jesus in the book of Mark 16:17 to cast demons in his name. The much I know of the Holy Ghost fire is that it descends on believers and endow them with gifts which they will use to serve God. In fact, to the best of my understanding I see the Holy Ghost as a very benevolent, replenishing spirit which every Christian needs for renewal and to be equipped for the ultimate mission of propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ.

interestingly, the most striking aspect of this misnomer is the manner at which brethren respond and echo Holy Ghost fire when prayers are being said. I noticed from all the church programmes I have attended recently, that people participate more in prayers at that point where Holy Ghost fire is mentioned. Everybody suddenly gets involved in the prayer even those that had dozed off and where hitherto absent-minded. They would not mind screaming Holy Ghost fire the whole day provided that it is channeled at destroying and burning their enemies. In some ministries, members of the congregation are often asked to stretch their hands toward a certain direction and names will be mentioned while Holy Ghost fire will be echoed. I am guilty of this also but at some point in my Christian life I decided not to swallow every teaching hook, line and sinker without seeking to know if my bible supports it. After all we all have access to the bible.

My understanding is that our manner of praying is a reflection of our kind of persons. We are living in a wicked world full of evil and destructions. These evils are being perpetrated by people and not spirits. The hearts of men are evil and that is why in our prayers and in churches we unwittingly pour out our heart. It is malicious and vicious to wish our enemies dead to the extent of calling on Holy Ghost fire to come down and burn them to ashes. Some churches have even composed songs asking Holy Ghost fire to pursue and burn their enemies, this is wrong. Is it not the bible that says in the book of Matthew 5 verse 44 that we should love and pray for our enemies?I had once imaging what would be our fate should Holy Spirit hearken to these our malicious prayers and respond by fire, probably we will all be dead. God’s way is different from ours, anyway. He is not vindictive, he is not malicious and he is not destructive. He is a merciful God and that was why Jesus Christ forgave those that crucified him. Therefore as Christians, we must learn to forgive.

It is also disappointing that this pattern of prayer is more peculiar to the black Africans especially my Nigerian Christians as the Europeans who brought Christianity to the shores of Africa do not pray in this manner. Why should we Africans always identify with the negativism. The truth is that we often celebrate the travails of others and consciously or unconsciously we reflect it in our religious practices. I suggest we ponder and reflect on some of our actions as Christians to know if they are in consonance with the teachings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us not be hypocrites that pay lip service and parade about with bible. I also doubt if any denomination can have such pattern of prayer entrenched in its doctrines because the bible still remain the basic tool and book of teachings in Christendom.

Whoever brainwashed us in this regard should realize that as Christians, we are expected to emulate the life and teachings of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Therefore abusing and misusing the Holy Ghost fire makes our Christian faith to appear tenuous. I call on our religious leaders, clergies and religious bodies to help us correct this negative trend of using Holy Ghost fire as a weapon of destruction. I also wish to suggest that the ugly trend be looked into and our Christian folks reoriented on the basic tenets of the bible. Churches should also review their theology curriculum and hastily do away with any subject that encourages the aggressive and violent use of Holy Ghost fire as a weapon of destruction. Only those who love violence, pray in violent manner but Christianity does not support violence, after all Jesus Christ taught us humility and virtue, and not violence.

My advice to my fellow Christians is that we should stop following the bandwagon and the foolish majority,rather we should be watchful for there are many false prophets in town seeing visions and performing miracles. Do not be deceived by their antics.

https://chukwunonsoabugublog./2015/05/27/our-dangerous-prayers-using-holy-ghost-fire-as-a-weapon-of-destruction/

nonnyno:


I am not wrong therefore to believe that the Holy Ghost is a helper, a comforter, a guide, a counselor, an advocate.

hopeyemih:
@O.P the whites who brought catholism to us dont have the wicked evil forces we have here in Africa..i just pray you dont get faced with a problem bigger than you.