Mr Ogidan, a construction supervisor has the power in his hands to control the quality of buildings erected by his team.
Under his supervision, an eight-floor business complex was constructed. He had the chance to stand against “shabbiness” by the construction workers, he had the power to correct wrongs that were being done, corners that were being cut by these workers.
He could stand against the sub-standard materials that were being purchased and used for construction.
But he could not be bothered, after all, he was just here for his pocket, moreover, the contractors will see a business complex erected in the end.
Mutui will mix ten bags of cement with 20 portion of sand and 20 parts of stone instead of getting the mixture in the ratio of 1:3:3 and Mr Ogidan would see this but make no attempt to correct this.
He just could not be bothered.
Five years down the line, Mr. Ogidan’s daughter graduated from college and it so happened that his daughter got a job with a company who has its office space on the fourth floor of that business complex.
Mr. Ogidan had completely forgotten about his sub-standard supervision of the building of the complex
He is reminded after the collapse of the building a year after his daughter started working at ABC firm. His first daughter was at work the day it happened and she died.
He had the power to stop it, only if he knew better six years ago. He carries this guilt all around till date.
I still have some level of guilt myself. I was about Thirteen years old, it was the 6th day in the month of June 2006. I woke up randomly in the middle of the night and something told me to pray for my neighbor who was sick. I was reluctant, lazy, and I did not pray for her.
Later that day, I heard about her death, It is so painful to remember even as I write this. I wish I knew better, I wish I prayed for her, just maybe I would have attended her wedding, celebrated milestones she would have achieved with her.
I am reminded about this and I am writing about it because I sense and I see that some people are lackadaisical about praying for other people or praying for the body of Christ or praying for the pastorate. Once prayers are raised in this line, I hear, feel, see the volume and intensity go down.
The word of God says Love your neighbors as you love yourself. Matthew 22:39 Therefore as you hard as you pray for yourself, as hard you should pray for people around you too
God also tells to keep praying for His people, it should be a continuous process. Ephesians 6:18
We should also pray for men & women of God who share the word of God with the world, that they may share the mind of God with the world with boldness. Ephesians 6:19
The thing we forget to remember is that the earth is spherical, it rotates, it goes in a circular motion. The prayer you offered to God on behalf of brother Isaac today will work out for him. When he becomes successful, he might be the one to help your grandchild or daughter or even yourself.
Even God told Jeremiah to pray for the country he was on exile, that if things went well with the country, things will also go well with him. Jeremiah 29:7
For my Nigerian brethren, as bad as e bad reach, we should keep praying for Nigeria, keep confessing great things over our land. Because when e better for Naija, e go better for us too.
The same goes for other countries or places you may be reading from.
The essence of my writing today is to encourage us to pray for our friends, neighbors, Church of Christ, Our pastors with as much love as we pray for ourselves
And whenever somebody comes to mind to pray for, just pray for that person immediately. You just never can tell how your prayer is helping the person.
May God help us to love Him, love ourselves and love our neighbors also in Jesus name.
Amen.