The NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 4th – Sunday 10th May 2026
DO NOT CURSE THE DARKNESS, SWITCH ON THE LIGHT
Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them (Ez. 34:10).
Some years ago, at Ibi town in present day Taraba State of Nigeria, a miraculous phenomenon occurred. Some Islamic fundamentalists had desecrated the graves of missionaries who had brought the gospel to that area. The dead missionaries could not fight back, but God stepped in for them. Suddenly, fire fell from heaven. The fire was intentional. It targeted the houses of the fundamentalists who had been involved in the desecration. The fire fell upon one house, consumed it, rolled itself into a ball, leapt across the street to the house of the next terrorist, consumed it, and went on burning house after house. After that sign of divine vengeance, none tampered anymore with the graves of the missionaries. That was many years ago. Why is that fire not falling anymore?
Since 2009, Islamist insurgents have been killing, maiming, and displacing Christians in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians have been murdered, thousands of their worship places destroyed, and millions of them driven into IDP camps, yet that fire has not fallen anymore. Where has the fire gone?
Between January and April 2026,
• an estimated 1,400 Christians have been killed in Nigeria by terrorists of different identities
• over 1,800 Christians kidnapped by Islamist insurgents
• more than 80 Christian villages sacked and the people displaced
• over 3,000 Christian structures, including church buildings, schools, and houses, have been destroyed by the same Islamist insurgents in Nigeria.
Despite these many calamities, that fire has not fallen anymore. Has heaven run out fire, or has God changed?
In His dealings with humans, God does not do for them what they can do for themselves. If some information is already available on the earth, God would not broadcast it from heaven. If a solution is available on the earth, God would not be sending another from heaven. Revelation is God telling someone what no one can tell them on the earth.
The apparent silence of God in the face of the vicious attacks from Islamists could be God’s way of telling Nigeria Christians that the solution to the insurgency is up to them. If the plan of action to mitigate the current distress, since approved in 2015, had been implemented by the succeeding leadership of the Nigeria Church, we would not be here. If the answer to the current distress were not available on earth to Nigeria Christians, God might have moved from heaven. While Christians pray, commendable as that is, salutary actions to achieve a solution are not often undertaken. That is faith without works.
The leadership structure of the Church in Nigeria begs a reorganization, so that Christians can engage their enemies at the gate. The terrorists are not spirits; they are flesh and blood. They can be resisted, engaged, and defeated. Unfortunately, the Church cannot do it because that level of engagement requires leadership to harmonize and coordinate a Christian response. Rather than confront the jihadist insurgency, Nigeria’s Christian leadership seems to have preferred a romance with the Islamists, such as supporting the government to deny Christian genocide, joining Muslims to break Ramadan fasts in 2025 and 2026, consulting only with Muslims electoral candidates and not with any Christian candidates during the presidential campaigns in November 2022, and lately, the controversial invitation to the Sultan of Sokoto as royal father at a foundation laying even of a national chapel.
In John 21:15-17, Jesus asked Peter three times if that disciple loved Him, whereupon Peter was charged to feed the flock, the Lord thus impressing upon His followers that His priority is His people. In addition to calling judgment upon terrorists, Christians should also concentrate on re-organizing their leadership structure. Instead of cursing the darkness, they should switch on the light. The Christians in the IDP camps are not criminals. They are decent people who encountered a disaster merely through the misfortune of their geographical locations. If they had been born in a different part of the country, they would not be in those IDP camps.
While we pray against the evils in the land, effort must equally be geared towards building Christian engagement. To date, the Church is neither challenging the Islamists nor engaging them. The problem is no longer the wickedness of the terrorists but the lack of effective leadership in the Church. Instead of cursing the terrorists, let Christians provide the solutions.
God bless Nigeria.
PRAYER POINTS
1) Sam. 2:29-30
Confess and repent on behalf of the Nigeria Church from the sin of hero worship, which honours man more than God.
2) Mal. 3:2-3
Pray that God would purge His sanctuary in the Nigeria Church
3) Acts 2:1-4
Pray for fresh Holy Ghost revival in the Church.
4) Jn 13:34-35
Pray for brotherly love amongst Nigeria Christians.
5) Jn 14:16-18
Pray that the Holy Spirit would raise Christlike counsellors in the Church, to provide direction in this time of crisis.
6) Jn. 10:11-14
The greatest need of the Church in this season is leadership, like Jesus. Pray that the Lord would give the Nigeria Church good shepherds.
7) 1 Pet. 5:5-7
Pray for humility amongst the various categories of leadership in the Church, and unity to find solutions to the campaign of terror against the Church. Amen
