When A Nation Turns Her Back on God;
Bad Things Happen
Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Jeremiah 3:21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
Bad things happen, when a nation turns her back on God. It is tragic to see what our country has become, because our nation does not acknowledge God through their injustice and wickedness being done to innocent people. Then we do not appreciate the Word of God as the principles for guidance, and the way of God. Bad things happen when we move away from the Bible. Our politicians do not obey the Word of Lord anymore, they simply go to church to hear what they want to hear, and not what God wants them to hear, and that is why we are having more calamities in the country. Because I can say that there is not a single corner in Nigeria that you will find churches or mosque, but still our country does not regard the God of heaven. People are religious in this country but wickedness is in their hearts. They simply do not let the word of God transform them at all. Many religious leaders in this country are not helping the country, but they are also greedy pastors whose mouths have been stopped because they are feasting with corrupt politicians in the country. Bible must be our final authority of our faith and practices, and every pastor must speak the Bible whether the people want to hear it or not. Many countries who have turned their back on God, and the Bible are paying unbelievable price for it.
God in Heaven is not happy when the innocent blood is shed in this country. There was a time when a lady was preaching early in morning, and she was brutalized and eventually died for preaching God’s Word. Do you think God will fold his hands and not doing something about it, and avenger his people. God will surely avenge his people. God is merciful, gracious, and long suffering, but at the same thing, God is holy. No one messes with God’s people and go free.
Deuteronomy 32:35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Psalm 94:1-4 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
Our nation has committed many abominable works which God despises. Whenever we open our doors to immorality and perverseness in the country, bad things happen. The study case is the United State, they have legalized homosexuality which is abomination to God, and put death penalty to those involved in the act, but instead, they welcomed them with an open hands. There are many more atrocities in the US than any other country in the World, every year, you will hear of mass shootings and killings because a nation turns her back against God.
Few years ago, over 200 girls were abducted by the Islamic terriost group named, Boko Haram, and few of those girls escaped, and some has turned to be their sex slaves, and suicide bombers by these terrorists.
Many people have died in the hands on this group from 2010 to this present moment of this article. It is sad what this country has become. We do not enjoy the security that each citizen of this country should enjoy, and many bad things have been happening till today, and it will continue to happen.
It is not new to see another killing spree going on in this country again by Fulani Herdmen all over the country, and this will continue to happen and innocent people will continue to get killed if this country does not get on her knees and beg for God’s mercy. I do not see anything wrong with government trying their best to defend the civilans, but until we seek God’s face, people will always get hurt.
Who is at fault?
Everyone is at fault. The people of this country, politicians, and pastors(prophets) are all at the fault in the disability of this nation because we have turned away from God to the world.
We all are involved in one way or the other. The sin of this country is great before God. Let’s see how Nehemiah prayed, and many more other great men of God for their nation.
They were not just asking God’s blessing upon their country, they were begging God to forgive the sin of their country. How do you pray for Nigeria?
This is the prayer of Nehemiah for Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 1:2-11
That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
Nehemiah’s Prayer
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.
We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
He heard about the ruin of this city, and he was not happy about the condition of his city, and he needed something to be done about it. Every citizen of this country should always be on their faces before begging to spare and forgive this nation. If we are not going to stand up in the gap especially Christians, the freedom we have will be taken away from us by the government. I read recently that one of the pastors that spoke against the killing of innocent civillians was almost apprehended by the DSS. You can see that they are trying oppress the Christians not to speak against the injustice, and that is why you and I need to pray for this country.
Another prayer is of Daniel, he also praying for his country, and I want you to take a look at how they interceede to God on behalf of their country.
Dan 9:4-19 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
There are some things we can do as nation to turn God’s anger away from us.
1. Confession is important
Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Every time God’s people gather together, first of all, they need to confess the sins before God. Nehemiah confessed the sins of his fathers, and he told God how they had gone astray from his law and precepts. You do not ask for God’s blessings upon your country while there are sins in the lives of God’s people, politicians, pastors(prophets). Confession plays an important role in our intimacy with Christ, so for us to have sweet communion with Christ in prayer; we need to confess our sins.
Leviticus 26:40-41 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Everybody in this country needs to confess the sin of our leaders, and intercede to God on their behalf, while also confessing our own sin. It is important to our closeness to God. A nation that covers sins shall not prosper, and also a country that works wickedness shall not stand.
2. Humbleness is Needed
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Psalm 10:12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
If God’s people would humble themselves, and seek God’s face then the Lord will turn His face upon us and heal our land from barren, and bring about revival to our dear country. God hears the prayers of people who humble themselves. When the Lord pronounced evil against the land of Judah, and immediately Josiah, king of Judah heard it, he lifted up his heart, and humbled himself before, and the Lord heard him. God is interested in your heart being humbled before him, and not your clothes being render.
Many of our leaders are proud, thinking that every thing that they got is through their strength and power, and not knowing that the most High rules in the affairs of men, and gives it to whomsoever he wills.
Pride sent King Nebuchadnezzar to the wilderness to go and learn how to humble himself. Pride in heart will not seek God nor accept his wrong doings.
When a nation turned away from God to seek another god, it will always bring problems and calamities upon the nations.
God desires a broken heart that confesses sins before God, and when we deal with sins, God is always gracious to forgives. Remember this, cleaness in our spiritual life is next to closeness to God.
James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.