#Vershima Orkuma Hemen – Page 2

How To Enter Into Your Closet To Pray (2)

Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38

“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed”~Mark 1:35

Your closet can be a place or a time. In the life of Jesus, He rose up very early and prayed in a solitary place in order to practice this truth. He went to a place where He could have a closet kind of environment, where He could have privacy and even there, they sought Him. And when they found Him they said to Him, “All men are looking for you.” That’s why many people don’t pray and don’t succeed in praying.

I want to show you one important principle for a successful prayer hour. The principle is that when you wake up in the morning, change your location and get up from the bed. Many people don’t pray successful because they wake up from the bed and stay on the same bed to pray and they mostly fall back asleep. The devil and your body don’t want you to pray and they will cancel your desire to pray and you will find out that you regularly overslept and are now only ready for work. That’s what Jesus said when He said “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26.41; Mark 14:38).” This means it takes more than a willing spirit to pray. It takes a conquered flesh to pray.

If your home atmosphere does not provide that in the morning, there could be another time. It could be another time in the evening or an all night. In the life of Jesus Christ, you will find out that many times He prayed in the middle of the night, all night long.

LET US PRAY;

Lord, thank you for delivering me from the weakness of my flesh. As I commit to relocating from where I slept in order to pray, I receive the hand of the Lord strong upon me in Jesus name. Amen.

Do We Still Have Elders In Benue?

By Vershima Orkuma Hemen

“Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!”~Ecclesiastes 10:16

There is a very popular saying in Africa which literary means ‘curse does not kill someone that has grandchildren’.

This saying originates from the fact that someone that had grown old enough to have grandchildren should be an elder. And as it is expected of elders, they should have some level of integrity and self-respect, which should keep them away from evil activities that attract curses and insults.

Being an elder back then makes you a fair and unbiased judge, and also it entrusts the reputation of being truthful on the person. I can recall how it was a taboo to speak up against the opinion of an elder in a way that insinuates that the elder is lying. I still have a vivid picture of an incident that transpired in my secondary school days, at the City Comprehensive Secondary School, Bauchi, when the school driver, an elderly man in his late sixties, gave a doctored report about one of my classmates, and the reaction from our principal when I tried to set the records straight.
“Are you saying baba (as he was fondly called), is lying?” He asked me. Out of courtesy, I could not answer ‘yes or no’, but deep inside me, I knew he was lying!

Over time, the decadence in the society is no longer seen only among the younger generations but also displayed by those that were supposed to set the yardstick. With the return to democracy in Nigeria, there has been a steady decline in our morals as every election year takes us lower on the moral scale. Now I fear if there will be any shred of morality left after the next five election years, i.e, in twenty years from now.

The level at which men, old enough to be grandfathers, lie shamelessly and behave in manners youngsters would not behave, is a call for serious concern.

Take the Slurred Benue APC stakeholders Press Release in Abuja and that utter nonsense by Ihyarev APC leaders in Makurdi for example, the shameful display of men, who are leaders and elders in their own right at their various communities, act shamelessly and throw tantrums like children that were poorly trained, speaks so much of the future of morality in the land. It is even more worrisome because their foot soldiers who come on social media to defend these shameful acts are mostly my generation.

This makes it therefore difficult for me to turn a blind eye, as the possibility of their proteges to continue these disgraceful actions, scare the hell out of me, daily.

Going forward, we must learn to tell ourselves the truth. Else we might bring upon us the curse as stated by the preacher when he said; “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning.”
We cannot continue on this path, for the end, therefore, is doom.
We must collectively remind our elders and leaders of what is expected of them.

We can no longer continue to have children as our leaders and elders.

Enough is enough.

How To Enter Into Your Closet To Pray (1)

Vershima Orkuma Hemen

“But thou, When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which is in secret shall reward thee openly.” ~ Matthew 6:6

In the passages we have been considering for the past months, Jesus is teaching principles that should govern your prayer time, else you may not get answer to prayers.

While Jesus described hypocrites in verse 5, He described a child of God coming to the Father in verse 6. When Jesus said “Enter into thy closet,” He was referring to a place where you can be alone and you can pour your heart without fear of somebody eavesdropping or disturbing and distracting you.

In practice and transposing that on our prayer life, your closet will be a place or a time that you are free from distraction strations of life, that you can have privacy with your God and your Father to interact, discuss and share your heart with Him; and hear what He has to say to you without anything restraining you.

Have you been in a church service before where the priest says God is telling him that everybody should make three requests and whatever they ask God will answer? People usually turn away from other people and say things they don’t want any other person to hear. That is, many times when we are praying and people are there, we may be saying things that we don’t really mean- things that we want to say to impress people. And prayer is never for the sake of another person or for impressing another person.

LET US PRAY:

Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to come into your presence; deliver me from wandering thoughts and distractions in the place of prayer in JESUS name. Amen.