Many of the issues being faced worldwide throughout the various nations are the result of selfishness - putting 'self' first in very key areas when it ought not to be so.
Many times, people try to blame others for problems they created and allowed in the first instance - crime, violence - but they continually ignore their role in making it happen.
People solely blame those who carry the guns but ignore the serious destruction and damage done by those with the pen! Those with the pen make covenants and sign contracts - contracts to kill others, contracts to do serious damage of great significance!
There are many in positions of influence who pay some to put pen to paper to the ruin of many others. There is a movie called House of Cards that truly reveals such inner workings!
Persons may not physically hold the gun and pull the trigger, but as they use the pen to approve actions, tell lies and distort facts, they are just as guilty of murder, if not more, than those who do the deed!
Furthermore, those who pass laws and write or sign approve statements, write songs, movies that exploit our children and their fragile bodies are just as guilty as those who literally defile, abuse, or rape them.
Many of us want to see crime and violence reduced, but what about the intangible damage being done that cannot be easily fixed or remedied?
Many will criticise prayer and make efforts to expel it from society. Others will try to inject everything except prayer to the True and Living God into our daily lives. But what we must recognise is that as we pray, prayer reveals our hearts and our motives to us, and we need that if we are going to improve and grow personally and if we are going to bring solutions to the table!
Prayer does not help God. It helps us and it changes us for the better if we are willing to yield. Prayer opens our eyes to discern truth, light, and darkness. Prayer renews our minds to see things differently and to see the way God wants us to see.
The world is more interested in treating symptoms than curing the root issue because treating brings greater profit. They don't care if a few people die in the process! Every man has a God-given, kingly path within him, so it is inherent within him to have dominion. However, to dominate and conquer without divine direction is the order of the day and to our detriment. We must walk in dominion, but it must be done God's way!
In addition to this, everyone wants to be upfront; no one wants to be in the middle or at the back. We continue to research, talk philosophies in an effort to determine why people engage in crime and violence, without realising that the answer to that elusive question has already been documented in the Bible (Jeremiah 17: 9; Matthew 15: 18 - 19). Why waste money reinventing the wheel?
Every New Year, people make New Year's resolutions about making changes so that they may see change, but they refuse to change or are not consistent in their actions, and as a result there are no real changes.
Sometimes, God allows change to come through the introduction of harsh economic measures, famine, and so on, and when the people realise and cry out, then will God send a deliverer. So regardless of the political leaders elected to office, the cycle remains the same until they change.
Interestingly, man always tries to avoid the things that always bring the right changes for him. The Bible brings positive change; man avoids it! Prayer brings change; man bans it! All the enemy does is rebrand and repackage inferior products and call it transformation.
Recognise that prayer allows God's will to take place in your life, family, and your nation, and it allows Heaven and Earth to align in agreement. It keeps us from falling into temptation; it allows us to hear God's voice.
If leaders were praying and listening to God's voice before making decisions, can you imagine how different things would be right now?
Luke 18: 1 says: "Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart."
Furthermore, and finally, Philippians 4: 6 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God ..."
- Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including 'End Time Finance' and 'The New Millionaire'.