Starting a year with prayer and fasting does not guarantee the best of the year.
Looking at this week’s #realtalk prompt, I did nothing but ponder on it and also submit my take on the topic.
I am not in any way against fasting and prayer, nor am I discouraging people from doing so; it’s just the lesson that previous years have taught me. Looking back at my life five years ago, and comparing it to the life I am living now, I can attest to the fact that prayers and fasting at the beginning of each year do not guarantee the success of the year. Years ago, I was so dedicated to 20 days of fasting and prayers, sometimes, 30 days, but the years would seem devastating and ugly for me. As if I had not committed the year to God.
Two years ago, I decided to do something different. I deliberately decided not to attend any fasting or prayers whatsoever. I lived my normal life. Doing what I love doing. For the years of not praying and fasting, everything seems to run smoothly. My business and my life began to glow. So this made me ask certain questions like: Does prayer truly work? Or does it mean that prayer doesn’t guarantee success?
This is a lifetime lesson to me. Instead of spending my time in church praying and fasting, I would rather use that time to study and do more research about my area of specialisation. What I have realised is this, prayer and fasting have little or no effect on a physical aspect of life, rather it has great effect in the spiritual. No matter how you pray and fast, if you do not work, you will still be poor. No matter how you pray, without a contemporary skill and connections, you will remain irrelevant in society. Therefore, if one must pray and fast, one must be ready to work hard and not necessarily depend on a miracle.
I didn’t understand better when a friend of mine told me how he sinned into the year but still had the best year. Well, sinning or not sinning has nothing to do with how they turn out for a person. With proper planning and the right investment, one can have a successful year without hiccups. This is a great lesson for me.
