JESUS IS EVERYTHING

“Would you mind going to church with me this Sunday?” I asked. The question was directed to my cousin. I did not know whether to call her a Christian or a churchgoer. She never missed Friday All Night Services at any church, but would never go for a Sunday service or any teaching/worship service or program. If it were a prophetic prayer meeting, it was a big plus for whoever invited her. If the focus of the service isn’t prayer, she was not interested. So, asking her to join me for service on a Sunday was not just weird, it was completely off her books.

All she could say was, “Sunday would be a problem, but I wouldn’t mind joining you for any prayer meeting on a weekday, especially Friday All Nights.” Per her understanding, there is a big difference between a prayer meeting and any other church service/program. And surprisingly it is the understanding some "Christians" sadly carry around today.

Unbeknownst to Christians, the church has found a formula to solve every possible problem any Christian can ever think of. As a matter of fact, most church members already know which Psalm or passage in the Bible to read when in trouble, in need, sick, vulnerable, etc. For some bizarre reasons, the spiritual or “Christian” cure to every problem in the 21^st Century Church is PRAYER. If the problem is weighed and found to be weightier than imagined, the next additional drug to complement PRAYER is a three (3) or seven (7) day dry fast with some minutes or hours of worship and praises. For others, some days or weeks or months away from family, friends and loved ones on some mountain without food is the greatest solution. And to show how important these activities – PRAYER, FASTING, RETREAT, etc – play in the lives of Christians, not only do pastors or spiritual leaders preach them as the only solution, but the acclaimed gospel musicians also compose songs to emphasize these teachings as well. One of my favorites was “PRAYER IS THE KEY.”

PRAYER is the Key.

PRAYER is the Key.

PRAYER is the Master Key.

Jesus started with Prayer,

And ended with Prayer.

PRAYER is the Master Key.

Raise that song among zealous prayer warriors and like a wild spark close to a leaking gas you would set the whole room on fire. For the next hour or more, you should be ready for heavy tongues that can make any demon mistake the sound from that meeting space as the sound from the last day trumpet. No witch or wizard in their unstable evil mind would even dare to come anywhere close to the vicinity than to the building where the meeting is taking place. And after whatever number of hours spent in prayers, the men and women in that room would ignorantly trust that their effort and long hours spent in prayers would surely expedite the answer to any prayer request raised during that prayer meeting.

Brothers and Sisters, if PRAYER is the Key or Master Key, who is JESUS? Was JESUS lying when He said He is the way, the truth, and the life? If not, why are we giving more attention to activities in the Kingdom of God instead of Jesus? Why are we looking unto Prayer, Fasting, Worship, Praises, Retreats, etc for solutions instead of Jesus Christ? Why do we think performing activities in the Kingdom is the key to getting anything in the Kingdom of God when God said He has already placed these things in Jesus Christ? Wouldn't it be wise for us to spend more time with the gift keeper to get the gifts than to struggle by ourselves hoping to get it? Are we not twisting the truth? Are we not twisting the way? And are we not twisting the life?

Until we know Jesus, nothing is relevant. And I mean absolutely nothing in the Kingdom of God is relevant. If we do not know the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our numerous activities – the long hours of prayers, fasting, retreats, singing of worship songs, praises, bible studies, etc, are all absolute "rubbish". We are not Christians because we follow laws or principles in the Kingdom or perform some activities; we are Christians because we believe in Jesus Christ.

Please do not get me wrong. I am not saying that prayer, fasting, retreats, worship, praises, bible studies, etc are not relevant. I am saying they are worthless when they are performed outside the knowledge or revelation of Jesus Christ.

I am a spiritual son of a prayer and fasting machine. I am a prayer warrior who used to judge my spirituality and the spirituality of others by the number of kingdom activities I or they perform daily until the Holy Spirit enlightened the eyes of my understanding. The key isn’t the activities, THE KEY IS JESUS. And until we know Jesus, our kingdom activities aren’t different from the rituals a fetish priest/Muslim/Buddhist/Hindu performs daily.

We do not pray to get things, we pray to draw closer to our Lord Jesus and maintain our fellowship.  We do not fast to expedite answers to prayer requests, we fast to draw closer to our Lord Jesus and maintain our fellowship. We do not go on retreats to become God’s favorite child, we go on retreats to draw closer to our Lord Jesus and maintain our fellowship. We do not worship and praise the Lord to trick Him to answer our selfish desires, we worship and praise the Lord to draw closer to our Lord Jesus and maintain our fellowship.
If the focus is not to draw closer to our Lord Jesus and maintain our fellowship but to satisfy our selfish desires, we have totally lost the focus of these kingdom activities; and we are no different from the members of other religions.

JESUS is the Key.

JESUS is the Key.

JESUS is the Master Key.

God started with JESUS,

And will end with JESUS.

JESUS is the Master Key.

Prayer is not the key. Fasting is not the key. A retreat is not the key. Worship is not the key. Praises are not the key. Bible studies are not the key. Church activities are not the key. Stop worshipping activities and start looking unto JESUS. JESUS is the Key. JESUS is the Door. JESUS is the Doorknob. JESUS is the Path. JESUS IS EVERYTHING. 

Remain in the blessings of the Lord as you remain in Christ.

MD.