Prayer, yes, but hard work, discipline hold the key to our progress

Worshipping and sincerely seeking the face of God are pivotal and essential in personal matters and national development. This is because nothing of value can accrue to or through you without prayer. 

As Election 2016 draws nearer and nearer to the D-Day, the need to pray for the well-being and peace of the country has even become more paramount.

It is for this reason that under the auspices of President John Dramani Mahama, a breakfast meeting with the clergy was organised at the Flagstaff House last Thursday to seek God’s guidance for the peace and progress of the country.

The meeting could not have come at a better time when the nation is preparing for a general election in which the stakes are very high.

Although the meeting allowed the President to explain some of the policies and programmes the government is implementing to ensure national development, the central message for the spiritual session was that never should violence enter the corridors of the nation.

Doubtless, Ghana has been a bastion of peace in the sub-region, but that must not be taken for granted. 

However, beyond corporate and individual prayers, we, as a nation, cannot “summon” God to grant our wishes or requests without us doing what is right, proper and pleasing to Him first.

While we can make requests to God in prayer and expect the Creator of the universe to grant our wishes, we equally owe it to ourselves a responsibility to do things right.

In all things, we must be wise in the way we act towards one another and the good of society.

Our day to-day-activities must always be full of Grace and seasoned with salt, so that we may endeavour to work in the collective interest of all.

The regret is that when it comes to national issues, we seem to be careless and indisciplined.

People put in authority are irresponsible and tend to be unaccountable to the people they serve. The act of corruption and its perception seem to be on the rise in our body politic.

Worst of it all, families even are involved in friction, sometimes very intense, because of partisan political considerations. Furthermore, we are losing our sense of patriotism and the ordinary citizen cares less about the good of society. 

We litter at unauthorised places and engage in nefarious activities, including armed robbery and cheating. 

Indiscipline in every aspect of our lives seems to have constrained us in our search for solutions to our national challenges.

All these go a long way to slow down national progress, thereby rendering our prayers ineffective. 

Prayer is for our benefit, not God's. It is in this regard that the Daily Graphic calls on the nation to put our house in order first by ensuring that we are in a proper relationship with God and have the nation and its people at heart. 

It is when we do so that our prayers will be granted and peace and prosperity will be the nation’s portion.