Seeking divine intervention for Eagles

I pledge to Nigeria my country to be faithful, loyal and honest

To serve Nigeria with all my strength...

To everything there is a season

A time for every purpose under heaven

Therefore a time for every purpose on this earth

A time to gain and a time to lose

A time to love and a time to hate

I believe this is one period that calls for all Nigerians to come together as a nation. This is the time for Nigerians to be faithful, loyal and honest. This is the time for Nigerians to serve (pray) with all our strength. This is not the time the Super Eagles of this great country can afford not to be super. This is the time for them to manifest the attributes of Eagles. Eagles are known to soar far above any form of storm. No matter how devastating the storm can be, Eagles have been naturally endowed by the Lord God Almighty, with wings that need only open up, so that the wind, created by the storm below, will lift the Eagle up. This is the time for Nigerians to love, to forgive members of the Super Eagles, coach Shuaibu Amodu, members of the Nigerian Football federation (NFF) board and all those responsible for the administration and management of football in Nigeria. This is the time for us to chase the proverbial "foxes" (Kenya and Tunisia) away and then come back to the chicken - as our elders would say.

Can we qualify?

But is it truly possible for Nigeria to qualify for the FIFA 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa? The answer is YES. "As a man thinketh, so he is." Same for a woman and, I dare say, same for a nation. Let me share something very interesting and encouraging I came across in some editions of the FIFA monthly magazine about two years ago. It is an advert that says: "impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men, who find it easier to live in the world they have been given, than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact, it is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration, it is a dare. Impossible is potential, impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

Link this up with the scripture that says - "with God, nothing shall be impossible," and I believe you are beginning to see the picture I am trying to paint.

What has God to do with it?

God? What has God got to do with an issue as mundane or as trivial as Nigeria's qualification for a mere football competition? The answers are very simple. I have said in this column severally, that God is the greatest sportsman in heaven and on earth. Thank God nobody has disputed this statement, but in case anyone is in doubt, please - as we say in the game of rugby - "touch base with me." The second answer is that the earthly headquarters of God Almighty is here in Nigeria. Period.

This is therefore the time for all those who claim to be children of God, all those who genuinely believe in the Lord God Almighty, to fast and pray for the success of the Super Eagles in Nairobi, Kenya, this weekend. Are the Kenyans, Tunisians and Mozambicans not praying? Of course they are praying. It is even likely that there are paid marabouts, who will not stop praying until it is absolutely certain that Nigeria will not be in South Africa 2010. But we know we have a miracle - working God, who has never put us to shame. Well, what if we pray and our footballers or coaches or administrators fail to perform? I make bold to say, that it is the reason we need to commit them into the hands of the most high God. This is because "it is not of him that wills or of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." God himself assures us in His word that He will be gracious to whom He will be gracious and be compassionate to whom he will have compassion. His word also assures us that "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong... but time and chance happen to them all."

Away with tricks and strategies

In other words, whatever tricks the Kenyans have in store for the Super Eagles do not matter. Whatever strategies the Tunisias are fine-tuning in order to defeat Mozambique does not matter. What matters now is the mercy, the tender mercies, of God Almighty and this is what we must pray for.

Yes, Kenya is calling up some of their best professionals and Tunisia parades some of the best footballers in Africa, who play as a very solid team, but we know and believe that the competition is not for the swift. It is no longer how good the footballers are, but the special grace of God, that will prevail.

So, arise football-loving compatriots, and obey this passionate call, "to serve our Fatherland, with love and strength and faith." This is the moment faithful Nigerians are needed to exercise the faith (the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen) they have in God. The word of God assures us that if two of us (Nigerians) agree on earth concerning anything that we ask, it shall be done for us by God who is in heaven.

How then do we pray so that we don't pray amiss? Very simple:

1. Let us thank God for bringing us thus far. Praise and worship Him. Appreciate Him because it could have been worse. God has been so gracious to this nation.

2. Pray for His multitude of tender mercies. Ask for unlimited amount of His grace as we prepare for the match coming up on Saturday.

3. Pray that God should deal with all the enemies of Nigerian football, so that all the weapons fashioned against Nigerian's Super Eagles will not prosper.

Please let me make myself very clear. I do not claim to be a prophet and I am not saying that God has told me anything. The truth is that I believe and testify to the efficacy of prayer - especially at times like this. If only about 1,000 faithful Nigerians will fast and pray for this great nation from Thursday through Saturday when the match will be played. If only faithful Nigerians will believe. If only faithful Nigerians can deny themselves of sleep and seek the face of the Lord via vigils. If only!!!