What does prayer mean to you? You may have many wonderful definitions of prayer but mine, which I will share to you, may be different. A prayer is a way by which we make our wishes known to God.
Philippians 4:6 (Revised Standard Version)
Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
A prayer is an act of humbling oneself before God! The reason we pray is that we are asking God to do something we cannot do. In prayers we admit before His majesty that we are inferior and helpless! In prayers we thank and praise Him, realizing that what He is doing, He alone can.
Even the Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself before God in prayers!
Hebrews 5:7 (Revised Standard Version)
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.
The impossibility of a human doing things greater than his entire being necessitates the need to pray! In prayers we exalt God; we show our trust in His power and in what He can do. In prayers we thank Him, realizing that He alone can provide even the meanest cravings of our souls.
Psalms 145:16 (Revised Standard Version)
Thou openest thy hand, thou satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
On the 30th of June 2010, a prayer and a wish is expediently necessary!
I Timothy 2:1-2
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
I’m asking all members of the Church of God International to pray and to make a wish, and even to offer thanksgiving to God and make intercessions for the new leaders of the government in the Republic of the Philippines.
June 30th 2010 will mark the end of the reign of a government most offensive and unfair to the Members of the Church of God International; for this, we thank the Lord. This day will also mark the beginning of a new government, who promised to investigate all the scandals that characterized the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, reputed to be the most corrupt of all Philippine presidents, according to a survey conducted by Pulse Asia!
(Source: http://forums.pinoybusiness.org/index.php?topic=1952.0)
The government of Arroyo made the Philippines to be the most corrupt country in Asia!
(Source: http://thepinoy.net/?p=641)
To sigh during Arroyos time is inevitable!
Proverbs 29:2 (The American Standard Version)
When the righteous are increased, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man beareth rule, the people sigh.
Now a sigh of relief!
During Arroyo’s government, I was illegally suspended by the MTRCB, under the Office of the President Arroyo and upon the influence of the Iglesia ni Manalo, (in violation of my basic human and religious rights), to appear in any television for a quarter of a year by Arroyo’s cohort, Ma. Consoliza Laguardia, who was appointed to be the chairperson of the MTRCB through the backing of the Iglesia ni Cristo ni Manalo (INCM). In fact, there was a series of suspensions to favor the slightest initiation of the INCM.
The illegal suspension is clearly evidenced by the recent decision of the Supreme Court, which dispositive portion read as follows –
(Source: G.R. No. 164785, Supreme Court, Republic of the Philippines, Manila)
The MTRCB, to be sure, may prohibit the broadcast of such television programs or cancel permits for exhibition, but it may not suspend television personalities, for such would be beyond its jurisdiction. The MTRCB cannot extend its exercise of regulation beyond what the law provides.
Now, at last, it is over! We pray to God, with a wish, that the new government may, by His divine guidance, execute justice to everyone and be fair in dealing with religious groups regardless of their faith and belief!
Of course there are fallacies in most of the existing religions all over the world!
I John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
There are also extremes even in the Philippines. Judge it for yourself.
The Catholic Church claims that 80% of the Filipinos are Roman Catholics. Muslims have a share of 5-10%. If the Philippine population is 90 million, 80% of it is 72 million. Conservatively giving the Muslims a share of 5% that will give a figure of 4.5 million. Adding 72 million plus 4.5 million, equals 76.5 million. Therefore, 90 million minus 76.5 million will give a result of 14.5 million to be distributed among other religious groups. The INCM claims to have 10 million followers, plus Quiboloy claims to have 6 million members, plus the El Shaddai group claims to have 10 million members, plus the group of Almeda claims to have 7 million members, plus the Jehovah’s Witnesses claims to have about 166,000, plus the Seventh Day Adventist claims to have about 571,653 members, plus the Mormons claims to have about 389,000 members.
The fact and the truth is:
There are only more or less 90 million Filipinos. More or less, 70 million belongs to the Catholic Church. And 5 million, more or less are Muslims. Only 15 million are left to all existing religious groups. If the INCM have 10 million or roughly a block vote of 3 million, why did not Roxas win in the Vice Presidential race being endorsed by the INCM? President Noynoy won not by the support of the INCM but mostly by the Catholic Church. If the votes of the INCM are sufficient to make President Noynoy win, it should be equally sufficient to make Roxas the next Vice President. Do you realize this, my dear countrymen?
Another extreme is the claim of Quiboloy having 6 million members! Do we now have a population of about 150 million Filipinos? Judge it yourself.
After all lies have been said and done by these people, one thing is sure: life will go on among the Filipinos, 70% of which are living below the poverty line! Iron-faced preachers and religious leaders will continue deceiving people and even politicians with their promises of block and winning votes!
Our prayer is for the new President and the entire government to be more compassionate to the poor and to the religious minorities in Philippine society. As the late President Ramon Magsaysay said, “He who has less in life should have more in law.”
May the good Lord bless the new government and the people of the Philippines!
Bro. Eli Soriano
