We must not approach God on a quick fix mentality – Pastor Charles

Churches of various denominations gathered yesterday to commemorate the National Day of Prayer in the form of a rally under the theme “Men ought to always pray”.{{more}}

During the proceedings, held at Heritage Square in Kingstown, Pastor Caldon Charles of the Rillan Hill Church of Nazarene delivered a powerful sermon in which he urged the audience not to be “off duty as Christians”.

“We must not approach God on a quick fix mentality,” Charles said. “We must approach him always in prayer”.

Drawing from the theme of the commemoration, which comes from Luke 18:1, Charles declared that one day of prayer is not enough.

“One day of prayer, while it is good, it is not enough, because the scripture calls us to always pray. So, we should not look at this as a one-off event, that when we are finished we just go back to the old things that we like to do,” the passionate pastor said. “Men always ought to pray and not lose heart”.

Persons in the audience shouted and applauded in agreement with Charles, as he delivered his sermon.

“We are to keep our weapon of prayer always, knowing that…we must pray for the nation always,” Charles said, as his voice began to break. “If we are to experience true revival…we need to get back…to the creator of heaven and earth”.

Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs Maxwell Charles also spoke at the rally.

He urged persons to speak with God as if they were speaking with their friends.

“There should be a realness of prayer, that link between God and man. Let us not destroy that link,” the minister said.

Additionally, Charles noted that prayer should be a daily routine in the homes and in the workplace.

“We need to start the day with prayer,” he said.

“Make prayer…an indispensable necessity, knowing that God is the God of this nation and we are simply stewards to carry out his bidding”.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves seemed to share Charles’ view, as he called upon students in the audience who admitted to not praying in the morning, and proceeded to say the “Our Father” prayer with them.

Gonsalves stated that citizens of the country are free to believe or not believe in God. However, he stressed that persons must not discriminate, regardless of an individual’s belief.

“We have a competitive society. People compete for jobs…churches compete for souls and politicians compete for political power,” Gonsalves said.

Referring to his relationship with Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace, Gonsalves noted that “despite all this competition, it is important for us to be united and be tolerant of each other and each other’s beliefs and ideas”.

In his short address, Eustace stated that this was “not the best we can do for God”.

“It has always struck me that this ceremony is too low-key. I think we need to spend more time in developing the programmes for this national day of prayer to allow for a greater participation of members of the public,” Eustace said.

“I really would like to see many more persons participating.”

He urged the organizers to put more thought into the preparation of the rally so that more participation can be achieved.

In reply, Gonsalves suggested that there be a gospel concert on the evening of National Prayer Day, which he notes, falls on the second Monday in June, every year.

The rally, which appeared to be well received by attendees, also included a worship team and a series of prayers done by clergymen of various denominations.