THE NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 25th – Sunday 31st May 2026
“RE” & “PENT”
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Prov. 28:13).
The 400 years between the book of Malachi in the Old Testament and that of Matthew in the New Testament are referred to by Bible scholars as the “400 silent years”. During that entire period, there was no message from God to humanity. For 400 years, God was silent. There was no prophecy, no vision, and no revelation. God broke the silence, after 400 years, with a command: “repent”.
John the Baptist started his ministry by proclaiming in Matt. 3:2 "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus Christ started His ministry in Matt. 4:17 by repeating the exact message of John, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Repentance is the foundation for a successful Christian life. What does repentance mean?
The word “repent” is a combination of two Latin words, re, which means "again," and pent, which means “think”. In effect, to repent means to “think again”. Everything man does is a function of his thought process, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Pro. 23:7). If someone can change their thought process, they will change their character and attitude, because character is the product of the mind. The Yoruba Bible gives a clear understanding of the word “repent” when it translates it as ironupiwada In Yoruba, that means to think deeply and change the character.
The world system into which the descendants of Adam were born has a set of rules and values that people imbibe from childhood. Those value systems become inculcated, and they become culture, a set of character traits that distinguish groups from one another. There are tribal cultures, national cultures, and even corporate cultures. When people think alike and act alike, they create a culture that sets them apart. It is all a process of the mind. After one comes to Christ, the first demand of the Lord is for them to drop their ungodly culture, the thought process of the kingdom of the world, and to adopt the thought process of the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is headed by Jesus, the Lord of lords, while the kingdom of the world is headed by Lucifer the prince of the world. Entrance into both kingdoms is by birth. Man enters the kingdom of the world through physical birth while entrance into the kingdom of God is by spiritual birth, hence the need to be “born again”.
After coming to the Lord, God commands, in Rom. 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." “Conform” and “transform” are two key words to note in that verse. “Conform” comes from] the Greek word suschematizo, which means “to fashion in same way, copy, imitate,” in other words, a pattern, in this case, a pattern of the world. The word “transform” is translated from Greek word metamorphoo, from which the English word “metamorphosis” is derived. It means a change from within. As Christians come to the Lord, they are commanded not to “copy” or “imitate” the patterns of the world, but to “change from within”, through the renewing of their mind. The renewal of the mind transforms the Christian into the image of Christ. The person who achieves this is the one who has “repented”. A mind that no longer functions like that of the world will not indulge in sin. It is not Satan that pushes people into adultery, it is their unregenerated mind. That is the reason God will not hold Satan responsible for the sin of a Christian. All vices, like lies, cheating, pride, arrogance, fornication, malice, selfishness, greed, covetousness, hate, are works of the flesh - products of a mind that is still conformed to the world. The Christian whose mind is transformed will produce the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).
Three Greek words are translated “repentance” in the New Testament. They are: metanoeo, metanoia, and metamelomai.
Metanoeo: Matt. 3:2; 4:17: When Jesus and John the Baptist called out, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand", they meant, forsake sin, and much more, totally change the attitude and love for it. There are instances where someone had stopped committing a certain sin but still retained a nostalgia for it. They probably stopped because the environment was no longer conducive to indulge in it. In a different location, they are likely to return to the sin and blame the devil or the flesh. They never repented, in the first place. Their mind was not closed to that sin. In Matt. 3:2 and Matt. 4:17, Christians are commanded to completely close their minds to sin. The partial tolerance of sin is the sort of repentance that some Christians practise.
Metanoia: Matt. 3:8: "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance". This means to produce evidence of the repentance. That is the repentance God demands from Nigeria Christians. It means not merely forsaking sin, but adopting a total change of attitude towards it and its cause. That sort of repentance does not cover sin for fear of consequences. The one who has so repented would own up for their sins and face the appropriate consequences. What they fear is the sin, not the consequences or social penalties that follow. Those who have this level of repentance can be depended upon not to repeat the sin. Very rarely is this level of repentance seen in the Church.
Metamelomai: Matt. 27:3 "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders." Judas "repented himself" yet God threw him into perdition. Could a person “repent” and yet go to hell? Judas was not grieved for the evil he did; he regretted that it was discovered. What pained him was that his betrayal was exposed. He regretted the consequence of the sin, not the root of it, which was his covetousness. Judas experienced a deep emotional agony and regret over betraying innocent blood, but his response lacked the change of heart that leads to restoration. This is the most common form of repentance in the Church. It is metamelomai, when a Christian quarrels with those who expose his evil deeds. Statements like “you cannot judge me; God has forgiven me” is repentance after the order of Judas. A truly repentant Christian will receive the judgment, because he understands that a Christian who commits sin is like a dog that returns to its vomit (2 Pet. 2:22).
If Christians are taught to understand repentance from the perspective of God, they will be more careful about the choices that they make and the kind of exposure that they subject themselves to. There will be a lot of soberness and carefulness in the Church. The current atmosphere of recklessness and carefree attitude of many Christians is contrary to the New Testament demand of soberness and vigilance (1 Pet. 5:8).
In the past few days, God has been sending strong signals that His wrath is about to be poured upon the land if Christians do not produce evidence of repentance. Fortunately, many Christian groups are picking the signals and the call for repentance is echoing all over the Church. However, the Church must be careful about the type of repentance that it presents before God, because, "God is not mocked." Gal. 6:7
Anyone who manifests annoyance and irritation whenever their misconducts are exposed or rebuked should adopt the right kind of repentance and desist from wrong doings. A profanity such as “Association of APC Pastors” should be immediately dismantled, and all the pastors and bishops involved in it should apologize to the Church as well as ask forgiveness from God. APC has proven since its inception in power in 2015 that it is corrupt and evil. It is a reproach that a child of God is found amidst such evil and bloodshed. It is the secular constitution that guarantees freedom of association, the Bible condemns evil communications that corrupt good manners. It is written, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame" (1 Cor. 15:33-34).
In addition, God commands, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:17-18). A political party under whose watch massive corruption and ruthless bloodshed occurs in Nigeria is an unclean association for a child of God.
Nigeria is standing at the threshold of a breakthrough into the era of righteousness. However, sin within the Church is a major controversy with heaven. God demands genuine repentance from believers, so that deliverance can come upon the nation. God has been warning that if Christians do not produce the evidence of genuine repentance, the situation in the country would get worse. This is the unfortunate situation in the land. It is time for the remnants to arise and cry out to God for forgiveness because of the sins of Nigeria Christians. Once the controversy between God and His people is resolved, all the problems in the Nigeria shall receive solutions.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).
God bless Nigeria.
PRAYER POINTS
1). 1 Jn. 1:8
Confess the sins, transgressions, and iniquities of the Nigeria Church.
2). 2 Chro. 7:14
On behalf of the Nigeria Church, offer humility and repentance to God and ask for the healing of Nigeria.
3). Is. 66:2
Pray for an outpouring of the spirit of penitence and brokenness upon Nigeria Christians.
4). Is. 26:9-11
Pray that God’s judgment shall work deeply in the Nigeria Church and teach Nigeria Christians righteousness.
5). Jer. 3:15
Pray that God will raise in the Nigeria Church a new generation of pastors whose focus will be discipleship and Godly character amongst the saints.
6). Matt. 15:13
Pray that every plant that is not planted by God in the Nigeria Church shall be rooted up.
7). Ps. 51:10-12
Pray for a clean heart and a right spirit for Nigeria Christians. Amen
