Reverend: Prayer and faith needed

Have faith.

That’s the advice of Revered Philip Drayton, Senior Pastor at the Abundant Life Assembly, who was delivering a sermon yesterday morning during a service which marked the beginning of Public Health Nurses Week 2018.

Under the theme “Never Stop Praying”, Reverend Drayton, while acknowledging that there has been some consternation about the National Social Responsibility Levy and the changes expected in the country come July 1, said the answers will come through prayer, saying “God still has cattle on a thousand hills”. “He still has them and if God needs to, he will sell one or two of that cattle and take care of your needs and take care of my needs. Don’t worry about the gas pump.

“We have been in crises before. We have been in difficult places before. We’ve been in hard places before and, forgive me for saying it, Mia Mottley is not the answer to Barbados’ woes. With all due respect to the BLP, the BLP is not the answer to Barbados’ woes … The only one that has the power to bring this country to a place where it needs to be is Jesus Christ. And the powers that be need to get out of self-righteousness...”

Saying that he did not intend to be political, Reverend Drayton said: “Our faith says, that Christ is the answer. That is what our faith says, and when we as God’s people face crises we look to our God. When your children are going through a hard time they come to daddy, they come to mummy… God is our Father, so if we need a pair of shoes, or money to put gas in the car, or money that is to buy food that is supposed to come down in price. Who do we go to? The Minister of Finance? We go to our Father!”

“We are children of God. He has always been there for us. He is always taking care of us. Why are we so down? We need to express that faith in God and say, ‘God you looked after me when VAT came on…You were there with me when they moved from two per cent to ten per cent. You did not leave me, you did not forsake me. You were there every step of it’... Hasn’t god proven himself to you over and again? So what are we afraid of, what are we worried about?”

Urging the congregation to remember the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 23 when in need, Reverend Drayton reiterated the need to pray by faith. “That is the critical ingredient that must punctuate all of our prayers. So whether I pray for you, or pray for me, or pray for Barbados, or pray for the government, it has got to be by faith. That expectation that God will hear and that he will respond. That God will answer our prayers.

“Even though it may take a little longer than we anticipated or expected or hoped or wished, God will answer our prayers. So we go to Him and we say Father, this is a situation I need help, relief, provision. You can go to God but it must be by faith,"he said, as he also encouraged the public health nurses to pray and be patient with their patients. (JH)