The following are the views expressed by Olufemi Oguntokun in the June 5, 2026 episode of the On the Lord’s Side Podcast — Christian perspectives on news and current events.
ON THE NIGERIAN WAY OF PRAYING AND THE BASIC MINIMUMS OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER
The Linda Ikeji Blog posted something on X that genuinely made me laugh — and then made me think. The caption read: “The Nigerian way of praying has gone global” — with a laughter emoji. It was captioned to a video, obviously from a conference held somewhere outside Nigeria, where a gentleman was making a point about spiritual warfare. He said that spiritual warfare does not necessarily have to look like Nigerian prayer. And right at that point, the moderator asked him: is there a Nigerian way of praying? He then went into a full dramatization — Satan, wherever you may be hiding, let the earth open up and swallow them. Every witch and wizard, if you are standing on my destiny… — and the largely Caucasian audience erupted in laughter.
Now, I want to be fair to this man. We only had a thirty-seven second clip of the audio, so context was lacking. But from what you can hear from the beginning of the clip, he was not really targeting Nigerian Christians specifically — he was making a broader point about spiritual warfare, and he used it as an illustration. When the moderator pressed him, he dramatized it, and it landed with the audience as comedy. But the truth is, it is not far from the truth, is it? If you have worshipped in a Nigerian church, if you have prayed alongside Nigerian Christians, you will have experienced exactly this kind of prayer. Not every Nigerian Christian prays that way, but you find it more often than not. We cannot deny it.
And so this thirty-seven second clip, short as it is, gives us a genuine opportunity to reflect on something important: the basic minimums of Christian prayer. Because the man’s original point — that spiritual warfare does not have to look like the Nigerian style — was actually quite an important one. He was essentially saying: it is not the style that wins the battle.
I have always said this. The style does not matter. The place does not matter. The volume does not matter. Neither does the posture. And these are truths already settled in Scripture. I always have reservations when I see church posters and billboards that say, Come to our church and God will answer your prayer. That is not an accurate representation of God or of His Spirit. The question of where to pray was settled by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself when He met the Samaritan woman at the well. She asked Him: our fathers say we should worship here, but your fathers say you go to Jerusalem — where is the right place? And He answered: God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The matter is closed.
The question of volume was also settled by Christ in Matthew 6, where He said prayer is a private affair — go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. The King James says enter into thy closet, which is not merely your room but the inner recess of your room. The emphasis is on privacy. Prayer is primarily a private affair, not a public performance. And He said, do not babble on and on as the pagans do — and I always remind people here: remember that the pagans pray too. The worshippers of the devil, they also pray. That is why Jesus said, do not be like them. They think that the effectiveness of prayer is determined by how physically engaged you are in the act. That is why the prophets of Baal, when they joined issues with Elijah, were shouting and cutting themselves — thinking that prayers are heard according to how physically demonstrative you are. That is a pagan concept, not a biblical one.
So what are the basic minimums of a Christian prayer? Looking through Scripture, I have identified five.
Number one: it must be directed to God, in the name of Jesus. A Christian prayer must be directed to God — not to the universe, not to any other entity. For obvious reasons, the devil always wants to push our attention away from the Father. And it must be offered in the name of Jesus, because Jesus is the only mediator between man and God. We have no standing before God unless we come through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. John 14: Whatsoever you ask in my name, that will I do. John 16: Whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you. 1 Timothy 2:5: There is one God, and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. Praying in Jesus’ name means coming on the basis of His authority and the work He accomplished on the cross. That is the most fundamental minimum.
Number two: it must be sincere — not hypocritical, not for show. The hymn writer wrote that prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed. You may not even utter it aloud. Remember Hannah, the mother of Samuel — when she went into the temple, she was not even uttering her prayers aloud. She was just moving her lips. It was from the heart to the Lord. Not from the lips to God’s ears — from the heart to God. The sincerity is everything.
Why? Because of what 1 Chronicles 28:9 says — and this is one of the passages I regard as personally given to me by God. It is David speaking to his son Solomon, and he says: Know the God of your father and serve him with a loyal heart and a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. Think about what that means. He does not merely know your thoughts. It is one thing to know a thought, another thing entirely to understand it. And He does not simply understand the thought — He understands all the intent of the thought. The why behind the why. You cannot hide anything from Him. As Psalm 139 says: Before a word is on my tongue, You, Lord, know it already. The psalmist himself said: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. I cannot comprehend it.
That is why my father — God bless his memory — gave me one of the most important spiritual lessons of my life. He said: Femi, if you want to walk with God, you have to be naked before Him. Stark naked. Not physical nakedness, but laying all your cards on the table. These are my thoughts. These are my temptations. These are my failures. These are my fears. This is why I really want this thing. Say to Him what you really want, and the reasons why you want it, and then leave it to Him to decide. The process of being naked before Him will also purify you. Because the moment you begin to talk to Him honestly about the why behind your requests, you may discover that some of your motives are not as pure as you thought. But God loves when we are sincere before Him.
Number three: it must be offered with faith, without doubting. Hebrews 10:22 says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. James 1 says, ask in faith, nothing wavering, because if you waver, you are like someone driven by the waves of the sea — let such a person not think they will receive anything from the Lord. Hebrews 11:6: He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. If you do not believe Him, you are simply wasting your time.
Number four: it must be according to God’s will. 1 John 5: If we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us.The Lord’s Prayer itself — Thy will be done on earth. James 4:3 reminds us that some people ask and do not receive because they ask for things driven by selfish purposes. A godly prayer is never about selfish purposes.
Number five: it must be offered by someone with a right relationship with God — no cherished sin. Psalm 66:18: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. James 5:16: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much — and by implication, the prayer of the unrighteous is an abomination. It is important that the person praying has a right relationship with God. And how do you have a right relationship with God? Not by going before Him saying, Lord, you know I am not like the others, I do this, I do that. But by going and saying, Lord, have mercy upon me for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ. Going in the righteousness of Christ, not our own.
So I will say clearly: I am not saying the Nigerian way of praying is insincere or unacceptable — not at all. If those five minimums are present, whether you are shouting in the Nigerian style, or quiet in your bed, or lying at the bottom of the ocean like Jonah in the belly of the fish — God will hear you. As Psalm 139 says: Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. Even the sickest person in the world, who cannot lift a finger, can communicate with God as long as those minimums are met. I remember my father on his sick bed towards the end of his life. He told me: Femi, I’m praying for all of you. And that was the truth.
It makes for laughter, yes, when the Nigerian way of praying is dramatised on a global stage. It makes for humour. But it also gives us an opportunity to remind ourselves — and each other — that it is not the NSSPD style, it is not the Baptist way, it is not the Anglican way, the Catholic way, or the Celestial way that matters. What matters is whether the prayer is directed to God through Christ, sincerely, not for show, offered in faith without doubt, in alignment with God’s will, and offered by someone walking in a right relationship with Him.
ON FATHER ANTHONY ODIONG AND THE BLASPHEMY THAT FOLLOWS OUR SINS
That reflection on the Nigerian style of prayer and the imperative of sincerity before God transitions naturally into a story that is both sobering and deeply troubling. Romans 2:24 says: God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. That verse serves as both a warning and a mirror, and it came to mind as I read a report published by the National Catholic Reporter on June 4, 2026.
A Catholic priest from Nigeria — Father Anthony Odiong, a priest of the Diocese of Uyo — has been sentenced by a Texas court to life in prison, as well as two concurrent twenty-year prison terms, plus thirty thousand dollars in fines, for sexually abusing several women who were under his spiritual care. This constitutes a felony under Texas state law. Father Odiong had once served in the Diocese of Austin and other dioceses in the United States. After hearing graphic testimony from several witnesses, a jury found the fifty-seven-year-old priest guilty of one charge of sexual assault in the first degree and two in the second degree, in a verdict delivered at the 19th State District Court in Waco, Texas on May 29. The jury recommended its sentence after ninety minutes of deliberation on June 1. He had pleaded not guilty. He also rejected a proposed twenty-year plea deal in December 2024 — a decision that will now define the rest of his life. He cannot seek parole until he has served at least thirty years. DNA evidence cited by prosecutors also revealed that he had fathered at least one child with another woman in Louisiana who had been under his spiritual direction.
We know that Catholic priests take an oath of chastity. He broke that oath, fathered a child, and apparently persisted in a pattern of predatory behaviour over a sustained period. This is not a picture of someone who fell into sin and immediately sought to retrace his steps. This is a picture of someone who was living a licentious, lawless life — and persisting in it. There is a difference, and we should say so plainly. The Bible does say, Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall — meaning anyone can fall into sin. But sometimes you look at a story and you can see that it is someone who slipped, who made a terrible mistake and was horrified by it. And other times, you see a pattern that tells a different story entirely. This appears to be the latter.
This story will, of course, be added to the arsenal of those who point to the church and say: stop revering these men of God, stop treating them as spiritual leaders — look at what they do. People will cite one case and apply it to all. That is a fallacy of overgeneralization, and we must say so. An error in arithmetic does not prove mathematics wrong. But the harm is done, nonetheless. And many people find it increasingly difficult to respect the church as it should be respected.
Let’s not get it twisted, though. It is not everyone who says Lord, Lord, that belongs to Him. Jesus said plainly: On that day, many — not some, many — will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not in your name do this? Did we not in your name do that? And I will say to them, Depart from me, I never knew you. You were workers of iniquity. There are many people doing things in the name of the Lord who are not of the Lord. We make that mistake constantly — assuming that because someone occupies a position in the church, they must be of the flock. Some people were never part of the flock in the first place. Perhaps they were in the church for years. Perhaps they were doing great work externally. But Jesus says: I never knew you.
I do pray that the Holy Spirit will use this episode to call this man back to God — if indeed he was ever truly in the Lord. And if he was ever genuinely part of the flock, he must have received warnings from the Holy Spirit that he repeatedly ignored until the proverbial cup became full. As the psalmist wrote in Psalm 32: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. Notice — that man is not a man without iniquity. He is the one to whom the Lord does not impute it. I pray the Lord grants us the grace of forgiveness, and that when He calls us to repentance, we hear Him and respond before the cup becomes full.
Above all, this is the prayer I pray for myself and for all of us: that on our account, the name of God will not be blasphemed among the Gentiles.
ON THE KIDNAPPED STUDENTS OF OBOMOŞO AND THE DEMANDS OF TERROR
I want to close today by returning to the dire and deeply troubling security situation in Nigeria — specifically the circumstance of the students and teachers kidnapped in the Ogbomosho area of Oyo State in Southwest Nigeria, who remain in the captivity of terrorists while the government appears helpless.
We now understand that the government is not contemplating military action, and here is the reason: one of the kidnapped teachers released a video pleading with the government not to embark on any military intervention. As these things happen, the terrorists must have warned their captives that any military action would result in all of them being killed. And this places the government, let us be charitable enough to say, in a genuine conundrum — between a rock and a hard place. They do not want these students and teachers to be killed. That outcome would be a stain on the record of any government, and in other countries would lead to the fall of that government. At the same time, no government that takes itself seriously would want to be seen surrendering to every demand a terrorist makes, because doing so simply becomes an incentive for other terrorists to do the same thing. And then you ask: where does it end?
This is why many governments, the United States being the most prominent example, have a stated policy of not negotiating with terrorists. And in practice, what you often see is negotiations running in parallel with a clandestine military strategy — and then a surprise deployment. If you have never read about the Raid on Entebbe in 1976, I encourage you to do so — there is also a film on it. An Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by Palestinian and German militants during a stopover in Athens. The plane was diverted first to Libya and then to Uganda, which was then an outlaw state under the dictatorship of Idi Amin Dada — a Muslim who had sympathies with the Palestinian cause. While negotiations were ongoing publicly, the Israelis secretly planned Operation Thunderbolt. They landed in Uganda by surprise, freed the hostages, and brought them home. Some people died in the operation, including the brother of the current Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. But the hostages were freed. That is the kind of outcome we are praying for in Nigeria.
Now, information has begun to emerge about the specific demands of the terrorists in this case, and it is deeply concerning. The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly made statements — without giving full details — that have caused many people to read very carefully between the lines. From what he indicated, the demands reportedly include not only cash but also guarantees about how future laws of the state will be made. And that last part is what has set many people’s alarm bells ringing.
What could they possibly be asking for as a guarantee about future legislation? Are they demanding assurances of unrestricted grazing rights? Are they demanding the accommodation of Sharia law in the southwest? Are they demanding reduced penalties for banditry and kidnapping? These are not idle speculations — these are the questions Nigerians are now asking, because the framing of the demand points precisely in that direction. And this connects to a concern that was dismissed as mere conspiracy theory not too long ago — that there are elements in this country determined to impose full-blown Sharia law even in the predominantly Christian southwest of Nigeria. Not through the democratic process, but through terror. Because that is what terrorism is: compelling you to do something by threatening to kill people if you refuse.
It is also disturbing, and I will say this plainly, that the leading Islamic clerics in Nigeria have not been out there condemning what has happened in the most absolute and unambiguous terms. There is no reason whatsoever why this should not be condemned unreservedly by every voice of moral authority in this country — Muslim or Christian.
Now, I acknowledge the emotional dimension of all of this. Those of us who do not have children or loved ones among the captives can speak in principled terms about concessions that must not be made. But the parents, spouses, and families of those students and teachers are in anguish. If someone says to them, Make whatever concessions are necessary and bring my child back to me, we are not going to begrudge them for feeling that. That is human. That is love. But for those who are in government and must make the decisions, this is where the weight of the responsibility lies — and where we must pray without ceasing that God grants them both courage and wisdom in the name of Jesus.
There are certain concessions that must not be made. The security, constitutional integrity, and future of a nation cannot be surrendered to terrorists as the price of releasing captives. But may God give our government the grace, the strategy, and the divine intervention they need — so that like the Israeli commandos at Entebbe, a rescue can be achieved that brings everyone home.
That is our prayer. Whatever happens in the corridors of government, whatever negotiations are underway, whatever we cannot see — we pray for the captives, we pray for their families, and we pray for a Nigeria where this kind of evil will no longer find a foothold.
Whatever you do today, please remain firmly on the Lord’s side. God bless you. You are listening to GospelBellsRadio.com — the Christian internet radio with a mission to engage the culture with the mind of Christ.
