How does Nigeria have us beat? Prayer

Recently, I returned from a mission trip to Lagos, Nigeria. It is always amazing when the Lord send me on these trips. I have learned to know that it is time to do another great work in me. Yes, I go to preach and teach the gospel, but I always receive so much more than what I give. This trip was no different.I literally love the mission field, not for the basic things that I do without while there, but for all of the spiritual gifts the Lord imparts to people who lack those physical things. For example, in Lagos the average person will only have electricity available to them between 30 minutes and three hours daily. That alone will cause a real death to take place in your flesh, especially when the temperatures are in the high 90s or higher. If you do not have a generator and can afford gas, you suffer through the days and the nights in a miserable way — especially if your body is not climatized to the weather.I was blessed to have two local pastors accompany me on this missionary journey. This was their first trip to Nigeria.The first Sunday, I was scheduled to preach three times. I had forgotten what it was like to preach in this type of heat and eat bugs at the same time. The first church was a church of at least 7,000 members. After preaching on Sunday, the pastor invited me to 7 a.m. prayer the next day. I love to pray, so I accepted the invitation.I was in shock when I walked into the church to see a capacity-filled church. The downstairs, the balcony and on both sides of the outside of the church, people were praying. Just the sound of that many people praying made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This was the first time in my life I had witnessed that many warriors gathered together, praying in unity. I was amazed to see children 3 and 4 years old, walking and doing warfare.I gasped as I witnessed these phenomena for the first time. I was also grieved as my mind went back to the United States. I was trying to remember if I had seen anything like this before. Of course I hadn’t. The closest is the National Day of Prayer — an annual event. Every Monday morning in Lagos, Nigeria, this prayer is going on. No wonder they see so many miracles on a daily basis. No wonder revival is going forth in Nigeria.I also knew that many of these people had to walk some distances to that prayer. Why is there such a commitment to prayer in Nigeria and not in the United States? Would you believe that 50 percent of Nigerians are born-again believers, more than the United States of America? I spoke to the pastor, “You put my country to shame with this prayer and with the amount of born-again believers in your country.”We have allowed prayer to be taken out of our schools, events, government. No wonder our country is in the state of chaos. We have removed God from our midst. The Bible says, “Righteousness exalts a nation.” (Proverbs 13:34).Early in the trip we were honored to be invited to meet His Royal Highness Igwe Anthony Chigbo Elui, who is a king of an African tribe called Ebo. Such a humble man he is, which is the secret to walking in great power and authority with God. In speaking with the king we discovered this Ebo tribe is said to be one of the lost tribes of Israel. I was so excited. I was presented a string of orange beads. The beads are a special stone that is representative of the Ebo people and is worn by kings and chiefs. To my surprise, I was also presented a monetary gift for the ministry from King Igwe and the Ebo tribe.Continuing our journey, we were honored to meet an awesome man of God who travels the world with great miracles following him. Bishop Chima walks in great power. People with AIDS are healed, blinded eyes are opened, legs are healed and more. I was so impressed with this man of God.Chima has a great church of about 8,000 members. It is a simple structure, with a tin roof and plastic chairs, but it’s full of signs, wonders and miracles. He shared a little about his ministry with us and prayed for us. Then I was asked to pray. When I did, the glory of God fell on that room and me. Such a great power came over me and even lifted me off the ground. I had never experienced the power of God in this magnitude. It was like fire, so wonderful, so powerful.I had received something so wonderful from this man of God — something I must learn to walk in — humility. All glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ.If you would like to communicate with me please do so at 419-222-3966, shar8jffrs3@aol.com or www.sharonjefferson.org.