Chabvondoka: Zimbabwe in political tailspin because of outside interference – Bishop Dave Chikosi
By Bishop Dave Chikosi
In a debate in the US Congress, Benjamin Franklin was losing an argument. “Gentlemen” he said, “I move that we pause for a moment of prayer.”
Alexander Hamilton, whose side was winning, responded, “Gentlemen, I move that we don’t bring in any outside interference.”
Both American founding fathers understood the power of prayer to shift momentum in a time of conflict or crisis.
Fortunately for Zimbabwe we have a Church that understands the power of prayer. This same Body of Christ has been asking for “outside interference” into our body politic for quite some time now and it looks like finally we are getting it.
A very long night of very long knives
I mean just look at the chaos and entropy in our politics lately. Most of us have never seen anything like it. A whole Vice President is dressed down in public, twice in a row, and then fired shortly after for insubordination, incompetence etc.
Party hacks and stalwarts are similarly fired or suspended left, right and center. It’s truly been a very long night of very long knives indeed.
In the meantime bread and butter issues that the masses care about are put on the back burner even as the economy continues getting hammered. One just wonders how much more of a lickin’ the economy can take before it stops tickin’?
It is precisely against this backdrop that the Church has been asking for outside interference. And it appears the Great Interferer has acceded to the request and hence all this confusion we now see.
Oh yes, sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. The Lord sometimes allows a sick Lazarus to kick the bucket before performing a resurrection.
The Great Interferer once told a prophet that sometimes it’s necessary to “uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow” before there can be any fresh building and planting (Jeremiah 1:10).
“Then they turned against each other”
What is currently happening in our body politic is no happenstance. It’s the fruitage of years of fervent intercession on behalf of a spiritually beleaguered nation.
We are told of Israel that: “As soon as they began singing the Lord confused the enemy camp . . . Then THEY TURNED AGAINST EACH OTHER and fought until the entire camp was wiped out” (2 Chronicles 20:22-23).
What caused Israel’s enemies to turn against each other? Worship. Prayer. That will do it folks! Not theology but knee-ology. Prayer has a scattering and discombobulating effect that the Church has yet to learn.
And then other times God deals with human intransigence by allowing the devil to foment discord and division within a group. This is because “a house divided against itself cannot stand” (Matthew 3:25).
To put it another way (and in the words of Prometheus): “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.”
The Sons of Issachar understand the times
All of the above is why it is crucial for the Church to be like the sons of Issachar, “which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).
This is not the time for the Body of Christ to go before God with incoherent waffling. It is a season to enter the Throne Room boldly and without equivocation to offer clear and precise petitions that detail the type of leadership this great country truly deserves.
Groups like EFZ and others could come up with a prayer list of qualifications that the next CEO of Zimbabwe must have. This then becomes the prayer list that church conferences use to approach the Throne of Grace.
That list must begin with spiritual and moral qualifications, and must include leadership ability and some business experience. God does not traffic in generalities or generic prayers. That is why Jesus asked blind Bartimaeaus, “What do you want me to do for you?”
We just can’t afford to fumble the national ball this time around. We must move the country from Stone Age status to Second or First World nation by praying for righteous and competent government.
Updating our theology of prayer
Aside from understanding the times, many in the church need to update their theology of prayer. Some are begging and/or bugging God and calling that prayer.
Others are “storming the gates of heaven” when they really should be stomping out the darkness that threatens to completely engulf the nation.
We seem to have failed to grasp the truth of what John Wesley articulated so well vis-à-vis prayer i.e. “Without God, man cannot. And without man, God will not.”
In other words, God needs the Church to pray and to execute divine mandates. He won’t do what we are responsible to do. In any case the Almighty is Spirit and therefore requires a corporeal body to legally function on this planet.
Disembodied spirits cannot legally transact business on earth.
And so when the Church prays, the church gives God permission to interfere in the affairs of our nation. Prayer thus becomes the earthly license for Heavenly interference.
God rules nations via the Church. He “sends forth from Zion His mighty scepter, saying: Rule thou in the midst of your enemies!” (Psalm 110:2).
This is the correct way to look at prayer. Not as a tedious religious duty, but as a legal activity or legislative action.
The Church must therefore renew her belief in the efficacy of prayer and then watch as the Great Interferer Himself continues to uproot and tear down, before He begins to build and plant in Zimbabwe politically and otherwise.
And as one legendary songwriter prophetically sang:
Come gather around people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics, who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon, for the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
(Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-changin’)
