By Dr. Neals J. Chitan
As a boy growing up in a Christian home, I was always encouraged by my parents and church to pray about the issues that I had to deal with in my young life. Deep issues of sibling hurt, bullying, unfair blame and favouritism were met with the “just pray about it,” antidote, which brought temporary comfort for the moment but vanished into thin air as the abuse cycle started again soon thereafter.
Many times, I found my juvenile mind thinking that these pastors and elders are just using the term “just pray about it” as a quick fix mechanism to help people feel better about their situation and give them hope that things will get better. And by the way, let me emphatically declare here, that it is not my intention to diminish the divine power that is released to humans through prayer, but to advocate for the science of uniting human willingness and effort with that divine power source to bring about rehabilitation and behavioral victory.
There is no doubt that 21st. century constant-connectivity-living has given us the incredible ability to interact with cultures, fashions, businesses and schools from any corner of the globe in real time. And although these connections can be an awesome blessing if used well, they also come with the awful experiences of crime, sexual perversions, family crisis and other social ills downloaded straight into our existence, complicating our relationships and causing fractured and broken lives.
It is important to note that the same Heavenly Father who answers our prayers has also gifted his children with the knowledge, abilities and skills, whether innate or acquired, laymen or professionals to help their fellowmen navigate their way around some of these social issues that frequently trip them over or even shackle them in the prison of addiction and compulsion.
The “let’s pray about it” approach must not be sidelined if favor of an all social intervention approach either, but there must be a fine balance of both approaches if we intend to bring hope, and help individuals deal with the social “demons” that haunt them and cause recurring failure, hopelessness and disaster in their lives.
You see, it would take a rationale process of untangling the web of social dysfunctions and personal trauma with the intentions of identifying the issues and events that contributed to the situation, along with a mapped-out action plan for dealing with it, combined with the awesome power of prayer to help someone move from where they are into successful and victorious living.
Although a social skill scientist and consultant, I have been frequently asked to speak in churches to help congregations deal with many of the prevalent “Social Demons” of post-modern living. Recently, after one of my presentations, I was approached by a sad teary-eyed lady who painfully related her story of a broken relationship where her husband, a church goer, who is hooked on pornography has abandoned her and her sick child for the thrills of extramarital affairs, with no hope of returning.
I asked her if she had sought help, and she answered that she had spoken to her former pastor who prayed with her and told her to keep praying about it. And again, let me be careful to indicate that I am not at all saying that God cannot answer that pray and intervene. Because to say that will make Him less than God.
However, what the lady needed was someone who can help her untangle the emotional see-saw created by the situation and get to the point of understanding and accepting the issues she is dealing with. Then after mapping out a coping strategy and a clearly defined way forward, go into petitioning God’s power through prayer to help her stay focused, handle the emotions and walk the mapped-out path into victory.
Indeed, this experience has only cause me to reminisce on other cases I have met in churches across the globe which involved;
*Drug addiction
*Sex trade
*Domestic violence
*Sexual grooming
*Anger management issues
*Theft
*Habitual lying
*Cheating
*Revenge, and the list goes on, and on!
As these negative influences invade our homes and places of worship, members come on a weekly basis looking for help and relief. It is critically important that some of these issues be addressed from the rostrum, discussion groups or better still, on a one-on-one basis by caring clergies if they are so equipped or through referrals to credible professionals who can help deal with these issues.
The days of “just pray about it” and sending people back to their seats and situations are over!! Folks are looking for answers to their problems and they will gravitate to any “fold” that will scratch where it’s badly itching them, despite the doctrines.
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity of having a heart to heart sit down with Pastor Levi Johnson, the visionary president of the Central Jamaica Conference of SDA who leads a church membership of over 82, 000 in over 200 sites. I was extremely impressed to hear him verbalize his deep concern for the social empowerment of his people and their communities and his plans for social skill programming that will bring solutions and strategies to deal with the prevalent social issues facing his membership and nation.
“We must not only pray, but we must get involved with their issues” were the words of this great leader and I promised my full professional support and partnering to make this a reality.
So, come on!! Let’s get the formula right; social intervention plus the power of prayer equals mountain-moving resolve that will keep our people steadily marching forward despite the social ills around.
