TITLE: PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF GHANA

THEME: SPIRITUAL VIGILANCE AND NATIONAL LOYALTY AMIDST ECONOMIC GROWTH

SYNOPSIS: A 2008 call for prayer and national loyalty, warning that Ghana’s oil wealth requires spiritual vigilance to prevent foreign exploitation. 

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; They shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6)

Peace be unto President Kufuor, the Government, the people and the nation of Ghana. God bless Ghana. Amen! Thanks, and praise be to God Almighty who has blessed our land with riches in human and physical resources, the spirit of trust, love and hope in God and a common desire to build a peaceful, united, viable, progressive and prosperous nation and people.

Thanks also to God for redeeming, establishing, and protecting Ghana, making her shine brightly as a beacon of light- an oasis of peace and stability on the African scene and in the developing world. Maintaining this beauty demands a government and a people knowledgeable about God, loyal to the nation, and dedicated to the peace, tranquility and well-being of the people of the country.

It is here that the counsel of God to His people as recorded in Psalm 122 comes to mind:  Pray for the peace of country, they shall prosper that love country. In this article, we appeal to the governments, chiefs, and people to love, pray for, work for and pursue the peace, tranquility, progress and prosperity of the country.  We call on all to be loyal and dedicated to the peace, stability, and security and good of the nation.  This we do also in thanks and honor of God who has blessed the nation with riches and glory.

The Spirit of God reveals that when a people love, pray and work for peace, prosperity shall flourish in households, enterprises, and country. Perhaps there is no more propitious time for loyalty, prayer, and the pursuit of peace, righteousness and dedication to God, country and people as this time in the history of the nation. This is the time of the beginnings of the beauty and glory of Ghana as a nation and people sought out, chosen and blessed by God.

The announcement of the oil discoveries and the prospects for commercial exploitation are signs of positive and accelerated development, growth, and prosperity of the nation. It comes after the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) assistance for agriculture and infrastructure. If agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and sound management receive due and proper attention, the oil and gas industry will fuel geometric strides in the economic prosperity of the country.

This is the time for deep reflection on the part of government, people and all.  The issues at stake pertain not only to ownership, management, and distribution of proceeds but also to industrial linkages, environmental, and social issues. We are persuaded that while we debate the issues of the factual reality, volume, and extraction processes, the nature and channels of distribution of the revenues and the legal, policy and operational framework to make the oil discovery a blessing as God intends it to be, we must also pay serious attention to the peace, stability, and security of the country.

We write this article primarily because of potential threats to the peace, stability, and security of the nation emanating from oil industry.  The “old fox” cannot change its ways, nor the leopard its spots.  We must be conscious about the machinations and pollution of the colonial, imperialist and capitalist exploitative and destructive machines and “vampire” overtures in the world, and particularly the oil industry.

Our chiefs, politicians, and especially the military and business fraternities of the nation must stand up in love, loyalty and good of the country. Members of government, public servants and corporate executives must be dedicated to the peace, stability, progress, and prosperity of nation and the happiness and well-being of their people. The whole nation, present and future generations must be loyal and faithful to the nation.  We humbly plead that the government and security agencies as well as politicians and business community of the land put their “ears firmly on the ground” in the years ahead.

It may be worthwhile mentioning that although we have not heard from the LORD God Jehovah on plans of sabotage, financial and corporate deals and legal arrangements of negative and dire consequences to the nation, we feel nonetheless that the Government and security agencies, politicians, professional, and business personalities of the land must not only be alert but must do all in their power to resist the lure of the wicked and money, riches and power, whatever the source, local or foreign.

In this connection, however well-conducted the deliberations of the ongoing consultative forum, however sound the policy and legal postulations, the evil eye of Satan and the wicked and the lure of riches and power can upset, overturn and disrupt the good intentions and efforts towards the peace, prosperity and good of the nation. May we humbly mention in passing here that it is the Spirit of God who has always prompted us to make observations and declarations such as this.

It is common knowledge in this regard, the leading of the Spirit of God behind the declarations and writings we submit on national affairs from 1976 to date.  The same Lord has prompted declarations and writings on affairs of other nations and the world.  All such declarations have come to pass.

To mention but a few, we have spoken and/or written ahead of time of the fall of apartheid, the fall of President Nixon, the Carter-Reagan scenario, the fall of the Soviet Union, the cleavages of evil against President Clinton, the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone and the will of God concerning and the impact and out turn of the Iraqi war and the end of the Bush Administration. The truth is that omnipresent omniscient God reigns and rules in the affairs of men.  His voice is never lost concerning the evil works of men and spirits.

We humbly plead therefore that government and nation take seriously any signals of threats to the peace and stability of the country and the need for love, loyalty, and dedication to the cause and glory of Ghana.

It is in this respect that we call on all to love, pray, work for and pursue the peace of Ghana. The spirit of God pleads for true knowledge and worship of God, commitment to the laws, statutes and stability of the land. May we mention here that there can be prosperity of the nation when power, wealth, and riches of the land are concentrated in a few hands. But that will not be progress, nor will it augur well for peace and tranquility and the happiness and well-being of all. The Bible declares, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people,” (Proverbs 14: 34), it does not say transparency. Transparency only goes as far as what has been agreed upon.  It need not necessarily seek, nor is it always sincere about, truth, honesty, righteousness, justice, equity, and loyalty.

The prime concern of this article is peace, stability, and security of the nation.  The issues pertaining to revenue generation, distribution, and the developmental impact of the oil industry — important as they are — are but parts of, or factors for, the peace, stability and security of the country. We must work to sustain the good intentions, honor and blessings of God upon the nation and people.  There should be no indigenous, foreign or combined indigenous-foreign sabotage.

Let us love God and country, pray and work for the peace, prosperity and good of Ghana. peace be within walls, prosperity within palaces.

God Bless Ghana.

February 26, 2008