A nation of prayer warriors

By Vernon Khelawan =, vkmoose@gmail.com

As I start this column, I want to ask my few readers a single question. Where do they think our society in Trinidad and Tobago is heading? Because I do not know.

What, with the report of decades ago and another of more recent vintage detailing abuses of our children and realistically nothing being done about them by the authorities.

But that’s not all. When we see people in top positions being accused of bribery, money fraud and land fraud, misbehaviour in public office and of course the rapidly rising murder toll, not to trivialise the troubling situations of numerous incidents of gender abuse to our women.

It is frustrating to say the least. And so many times all these unlawful acts are being committed by people who have taken oaths to obey the country’s laws.

Now you will probably realise why I am in a real quandary. And on top of that, our esteemed acting Commissioner of Police tells us, “Don’t worry” when we are placed sixth in the world regarding crime, a twin island Republic with just a bit more than a million people. Really! Is he from here? Our detection rate is just above 30 per cent. Naturally his other disciples in their own way throw their support behind him.

Although I was shocked by the statement, at the same time I believed it was all part of God’s plan. As a people, we had strayed from the path of righteousness and were heading down a wrong road. Then I remembered that you don’t give up in life. You must have faith as Matthew 9:2 reminds us, “Courage child, your sins are forgiven.”

This led me to believe that all is not lost. Trinbagonians can now become prayer warriors, because it seems the only way to arrest the society from damnation and become one of love. Violence seems to have become the answer to every disagreement, and this is wrong. This has to stop.

Being prayer warriors is not new. According to Claire McGarry, writing in the publication Living Faith, it began years ago with one simple prayer request via email. She said someone her mom knew was struggling and needed prayers. “The handful of us who received the email prayed this person through. Since then, my mother’s prayer warrior list has grown.”

Maybe we can change this a bit and not only for struggling people, but for an entire nation. To pray constantly for a more God-fearing nation. According to McGarry, “When the faithful join forces and petition God on someone’s behalf, the power is immense.”

She continued, “When circumstances paralyse us, it’s the faith and prayers of other believers that lift us up, bring us to God and move His heart to heal ours.” We therefore can all become prayer warriors working for Trinidad and Tobago.

Why we must have faith, plenty of it, we just have to recall Matthew’s Gospel 8: 26-27 which says: “Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, ‘What manner of man is this, whom even the winds and sea obey?’.” That is the kind of faith we in this country must have if we are to see a completely different society.

So, all is not lost, and we can return to a loving and forgiving society by simply moving to the right path using prayer as our main weapon.

Mary Marrocco, writing in the same publication, points out that Jesus shows us God’s power over all created things, they obey Him, not the other way around. Now, putting this verse into perspective we find that when the storm arose, Jesus exercised His power to protect the disciples and reveal Himself to them. In the Church’s sacramental life, Jesus exercises His power to protect us and reveal Himself to us.

It is not impossible therefore to get us back onto the correct way of living in harmony and peace. It just means to make a greater effort to ensure that we live that way. Maybe persuading more people to become prayer warriors is the way to go. How about it!