You’ve heard the clarion call over and over again: life should not primarily centre upon your own wants. We know, we know – life isn’t perfect, and you have a lot of needs, and this is completely true. You have to eat, drink and shelter yourself adequately for example. Keeping body and soul together. Deep down, you know that you are meant for more than this and that you should have some kind of contribution to society, but you think you cannot do that right now. You want things to get perfect first, you want to get rich first, because right now, you don’t have everything you think you need. This mindset is wrong. 

People don’t give, take on responsibility or step up to serve in a leadership role because their lives are perfect, and they have it all figured out. There is nobody out there that has everything they think they need. The same way you mope about, complaining about your poverty, and lack, they could also choose to do the same. There are enough pity stories to go round. The idea that you would become a better giver or be more open to serve others in the future is not entirely correct. Becoming more selfless and more willing to share is a decision, becoming a leader is a decision. 

We do not find fulfilment in the things we get, but the things we give. There is no quantity of money, food, clothing, shelter etc that would bring you long-lasting fulfilment. It is simply human nature. An unhealthy obsession with yourself will only sink you lower into the depths of dissatisfaction, as you will consistently identify needs and your inability to fill them. Stop moping around and get useful, become the change in the world you pray about. It is up to you to decide to mature, grow up and become less selfish.

One of the more popular parable of Jesus is the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14 – 30). So, here’s a plot twist: they are all stewards. The master and the three servants are all stewards, operating at different levels of accountability. The first servant had to account for five talents, the second servant had to account for two talents, while the third man had to account for a single talent. The master, however, had to account for all eight talents. It is easy for us to lose this important perspective, however as a watchman, you must retain this principle in your spirit at all times: I AM BUT A SERVANT.

This parable makes it clear that the talents were distributed “to each according to his ability”. In other words, the servant receiving five talents today must have proven their ability to govern and effectively manage at that level. The person that received a single talent had not yet been tested, and this was probably their first project for the master. The master did not hand over a single talent because he hated the servant or wanted them to fail. On the contrary, we should understand that the master was showing faith by investing into this servant despite the fact that this servant had no track record. When you understand this principle, you will stop complaining and grumbling about your lack of power or resources.

All you have right now are all you can govern and manage effectively. You don’t put a novice in an office (1 Timothy 3:6). When you maximize your productivity with the currently available resources, God (the LORD of Lords, the MASTER of all Masters) will make more resources available. At all times, whether you have been apportioned a single talent or five, understand your accountability and that if you do well, someday, you might have eight talents available to distribute amongst three subordinates. The master has to account for all eight talents to a higher authority as a steward himself.

The Watchman must understand accountability to God, and service as a leader amongst people. I AM BUT A SERVANT.

Prayer is a spiritual practice that will help you move from total spiritual darkness to complete enlightenment. Prayer is not just about drawing comfort and strength to face the battles of life, a critical effect of prayer is that it helps you awaken your mental faculties and a spiritual desire to improve. If you search deeply and intently, you would realize that spirituality is what drove creativity and productivity all over the world. From one continent to another, from one race to another, as the people embraced true spirituality, we see clearly how it instigated creativity, productivity and an insatiable appetite for excellence in the hearts of people. This is still possible and attainable today as long as one prays properly as taught in the scriptures. 

Prayer is able to achieve this because in the prayer room, you are exposed to the unlimited power of God and can begin to obtain better perspectives on things. Prayer is not exclusively about what God can give within the context of physical possessions, but also about a transformative experience. As one prays, meditates and contemplates the Word of God and life’s issues, you see divine providence at work and learn to trust some more. When you stop praying as a religious obligation and begin to pray result oriented prayers bound within the will of God, you will begin to feel the need to add knowledge, reason, and rationality to your devotion and faith in God. 

The beauty of prayer drives the spiritually minded person to pray more. Prayer is not some dull and menial activity, but rather an exciting and active affair they truly find productive. The effective watchman does not pray out of religious obligation, but sincerely understands that prayer is a productive endeavour that really helps to shine the light of heaven upon issues. Religious prayers on the other hand are drudgery and weary the mind over time. You must be ready to believe that there is no problem that cannot be resolved in the prayer room. And as you consistently pray, meditate and contemplate about the matters at hand, you will shift gradually from cluelessness and darkness into enlightenment and as you engage your reasoning faculties, you figure things out.

The Apostle James wrote: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:3 ESV) In other words, selfishness is a major hindrance to effective prayers. When your prayers are seemingly centred upon what you think you want, you deviate outside the true purpose of prayers. For a prayer to be truly spiritual, it has to go glove in hand with purity of soul, and no matter how noble your intentions might seem, selfishness will eventually lead you to sin. Prayer is not to be simplified into meaning a way to get what we want. God is not some wish-granting Genie.

When prayers are offered from an exclusively personal perspective, such prayers are selfish. When we do things (anything at all) without any consideration for God or other members of our community, we are clearly in the wrong. Selfishness corrupts. Selfishness will eventually lead to full-blown lust and greed fuelled by hedonistic pleasures. When you pray from a lust-filled heart, you commune with yourself and such activities will steer you towards exalting yourself above everything and anyone else, including God. This was not your original motivation, but overtime, you might no longer recognize the difference. These things can be subtle, but the sincere person is able to discern. 

So, prayers should be offered from a pure heart untainted by lust, greed or ambitions. It should be offered in faith and moulded by love, selflessness and taking responsibility for others. You have to ensure you are actually reflecting the mind of God in your prayers. And you do that by knowing the will of God. Jesus famously lambasted the religious leaders in his days, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29 ESV) 

The will of God can be understood by reading the Bible. When you read, you get better perspectives on issues and will be able to pray in a manner worthy of a true watchman.

Prayer is a spiritual activity. Prayer is not intellectual or even emotional, it is something spiritual and must be approached spiritually. Please note that “spiritual” does not mean ignorance, on the contrary, spiritual activities should lead to enlightenment. And we all know that without this enlightenment, no learning, creativity or exploits is possible. Prayer is not something you reason out, it is something you express from the hidden man of the heart. You pray effectively when you add knowledge to your faith, yet you do not allow your intellect to lead the conversation. And no matter how you feel about an issue, discard your emotions whenever you engage in prayers. Keep it spiritual. 

If prayer is a spiritual activity, then it is bound by spiritual principles and is greatly enriched when we observe such principles. Three major core values of spirituality are love, selflessness and taking responsibility for others. When you engage in spiritual activities without giving any thought to these nuances, you soon misuse or abuse the activity. Prayer has been cheapened and even bastardized because it has been separated from its true roots as a spiritual activity. Effective prayers require you to maintain a state of mind that is fully devoted to God and a heart that is shaped by spiritual love, selflessness and taking responsibility for others. 

We greatly cheapen and bastardize prayers when we reduce our understanding of it to mean a way to get what we want. This makes prayers an expression of our emotional wants at the moment and not a proper communion with God, the father of all spirits. Prayer as a way to get what you want brings you into communion with yourself and your selfish, greedy wants. When your prayers are driven primarily by your current circumstances, mood or sentiments, you are more likely to drift away from divine counsel and might. You must rise above your emotions and go beyond your intellect when you pray, prayer is spiritual. Keep it spiritual. 

When you get really serious about your assignment as a watchman, you would realise that most of your prayers should centre upon your watch. You need to realise that in order to function effectively as a light of the world, you have to pray for your world. Changing the world is not just about designing and executing projects, prayer is a big part of it. You have to constantly pray, meditate and contemplate about the change you want to see. Your work as a watchman tasked with steering us towards a better future encompasses both spiritual and intellectual activities, you have to cover both bases.

You can have the spiritual power required to change anything. The Amplified Bible phrases James 5:16 this way: “…The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) is able to accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power]”. The next verse (James 5:17) goes on to illustrate this principle using the Prophet Elijah as a case study. His prayers were so powerful that it brought down a severe drought that lasted three years and six months. A watchman can accomplish great things for God if they realise that prayer is one of the greatest weapons available for getting the job done.

Are you really hungry for results? Do you strongly desire a change in your world? Do you want it enough to serve selflessly? Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down their life for their friends. Picking up the baton to watch your world (community, industry, town, or city) requires you to do more than pay lip service to selflessness. Selflessness must truly become your core value and you have to pray more over matters of your watch than you even pray for yourself. So, take up your stand at your watchpost, adopt a proper posture in your heart and mind. Keep a watch.

Whether your interest lies in business, education, technology, media, arts or governance, it makes no difference. You need a serious prayer discipline. Keep a prayer watch over your world.

If you desire to mature unto the deeper side of prayer, the key is to understand that prayer is an outflow of your knowledge and devotion to God. Prayer is not just an activity, it is more like an expression of something deep within your soul. We find some of the most profound prayers in the Book of Psalms, you see the Psalmist giving voice to, and expressing something deep within. You cannot pray effectively or get into the deeper side of prayers if your soul is empty. A merely religious obsession with prayer without giving thought to some of these nuances leads to shallow, powerless, useless and often misleading prayers. 

One of the most important characteristic of deep prayers is that it is driven by deep knowledge. Prayers, meditation and contemplations are not the forte of the ignorant person. There is nothing to pray about because they do not know what to pray about. You cannot pray effectively from a place of ignorance. This is why the disciples famously asked the Master to teach them how to pray; they were clueless as to what to pray for and how to pray for it. The Holy Spirit does help us to pray when we do not have enough knowledge as to understand what to utter, nevertheless, as you pray in the spirit, you would be led into the Word and better knowledge.

So, you should study more than you pray, and to keep an effective watch, you should never pray for less than an hour every day. A watchman that spends time reading, studying and thinking through issues is like a shotgun that is locked and loaded, ready for action.  

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45 (ESV)

Deep, effective prayers are not determined by how much you shout, but by the quality of your mind. You should be ready to mature and grow enough potency within your spirit to spend 2 to 3 hours everyday praying, meditating and contemplating over matters of your watch. 

There is a shallow side of prayer and a deep side of prayer. Prayer works when done correctly. There is no rational reason to turn your back on prayer because one can see the force of prayer in action over the course of human history. It is a good idea to take the time to understand what prayer really is, and how it works. People pray for different reasons and at varying intensity. A watchman must mature and grow into the deeper end of prayer. That place where you go beyond prayer-as-a-religious-obligation and truly begin to draw upon the power of God to help you. The shallow side of prayer might be ineffective, but there is a deeper end you need to grow into. 

There is a need to learn how to pray as a watchman tasked with steering your world towards a better future. Someone who prays at the shallow end of prayer can never understand how it is possible to spend hours in the place of prayer. However, when you begin to observe the crucial role prayers could play in your enterprise and begin to pray with better conviction and understanding, you would get into the experience in no time. You would begin to consciously pray and contemplate the challenges, problems, demons and principalities that stand in your way. If you think none stand in your way, you are probably mistaken. There is always some spiritual warfare to be won before you can record any tangible progress with your work, business or organization. 

Deep prayers require a willingness to totally believe that prayer is a critical activity that when done right could make all the difference. These kinds of prayers require you to build capacity. You generally need to develop capacity to the point whereby you have enough knowledge about the situation, enough knowledge about what the Word of God says about the situation, and you are willing to pray for as long as it takes to get the job done.

The importance of trusted spiritual practices like thanksgiving, prayer and meditation must never be in doubt. There should not be a time when the validity and relevance of such ancient practices are called to question. A critic might be quick to suggest prayers don’t do anything, it is taking practical actions that cause changes. While such a line of thinking might appear reasonable, it is misguided. The spiritual realm is higher than the physical realm, and it is the former that controls the latter. Spiritual practices like prayer open us up to the possibilities that exist and provide the much-needed guidance, spiritual energy and strength required to carry on. 

A true change agent realizes the enormous challenge ahead and understands clearly that, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” At the same time, they understand that changing the world requires careful planning, strategizing and flawless execution. For a true watchman, it is not this or that, it is this and that. If you are truly working on steering the world towards a better future at a scale that matters, you would need to constantly pray. A business or organization that changes the world doesn’t just happen. You pray as if prayer is the only activity required, and then execute your thoughtful plans as if you can make a difference primarily through your efforts.

Thinking that praying is not a “practical action” towards progress is a misguided mode of thought. Prayer is work, hard work. It is the first step in a long line of steps a Watchman needs to complete. There is a need to sensitize people to the need to understand that spiritual activities and prayer is merely the first step on the path to socio-economic transformation. These are the activities that make the grace to get things done available. Grace is as important and tangible as any other asset or resources required to get things done. We need to stop thinking prayer is unnecessary at worst, a religious obligation at best. Nope. Prayer is THE KEY, prayer is the master key.

We can seemingly summarize the religious mind-set as “cast your cares upon your god” and go to sleep. The idea that you simply pray about everything and anything and expect a miracle. A miracle in this case would refer to some important developments that just happened without any human intervention. This mind-set is actually dangerous as it places all the responsibility on God and completely absorbs the person of the need to do anything. The time has come for you to no longer be content to merely pray about issues, but also signal to heaven that you are willing to become empowered in order to deal with it. 

You might have heard the saying: “there is no free lunch in Freetown”. There is nothing that happens on the earth without the need for God to use a person. The Almighty God is not simply some wish granting Genie that exists to give us anything we want, when we and how we want. Prayer is not really about us praying for what we want, it should be more about praying to find out the judgement of God over every matter and then, get into alignment with it. Any serious minded person must understand that part of our prayers should be prayers for wisdom in order to understand how to act. 

You cannot continue to merely pray and sit still doing nothing. That is an unproductive thought that is actually unbiblical. You don’t pray for socio-economic miracles and go to sleep. So, do you really want to watch the world? Do you really want to steer us towards a better future? Are you the light of the world we have been waiting for? Then you have to understand the need to put aside your personal interests first and make the common good of the society your top-most priority. Are you willing to become empowered to cause the change in the society, or are you content to merely pray about it?