Deeper Life Christian Ministry National Overseer Pastor John Amoni says the trend among politicians to invite the media whenever they attend prayer meetings is not ideal as it becomes more of a show.

And Pastor Amoni has asked all political players to fully commit and show seriousness to the pending dialogue process without any conditions.

Giving an end of year message at his Church in Lusaka yesterday, Pastor Amoni observed that there had been a growing trend of politicians inviting the media to cover them when they attended church services.

“I am not opposed to the media coming to our prayer meetings but they are not the ones we are praying to. So really, we don’t need to call the media when we are praying because to invite the media to our prayers just for them to publicize that we are praying, for me it defeats the purpose. I am not saying they shouldn’t come…they can come and even tell the nation that we are praying but that kind of prayer if we are not careful, will degenerate into just wanting to make a show and show human beings that we are praying and there is no answer coming from God in the end. So let us get into our closets, if it means fasting, let us fast and call upon God and we have done that before,” Pastor Amoni said.

He encouraged people to continue praying for the wellbeing of the country.

“There were times when there were prophesies that this country will get into turmoil, bloodshed and all kinds of things. We didn’t see any such thing happening and it took prayer. So people have to pray let’s call upon God and seek the face of God. Yes, those who are calling the political parties together should do their part, bring them together and see a negotiated dialogue process taking place but if we only do this as the Church and ignore real, serious and proper prayer, the problem will not be sorted out. We have to call God and he to get involved,” Pastor Amoni said.

And Pastor Amoni also disagreed with those saying dialogue between President Edgar Lungu and opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema was impossible.

“With God, all things are possible and I want to implore the Church to talk less and pray more when it comes to the issue of dialogue between the two parties because if you involve the God of heaven who according to Proverbs 21:1 holds the hearts of Kings and all men in his hands and he can punish wheresoever he will…I have been this country for so many years and in the days of the First president Dr [Kenneth] Kaunda under one party state, no body ever dreamed that there was going to be a peaceful transfer of power after elections but it happened, because the Church prayed. The Church brought all parties together at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross when the tension was so high and everything was diffused because of the involvement of God. So this one we are seeing is not beyond the involvement of God, God is able to change the hearts of human beings. One side is saying ‘we are not going to bow’ and the other side is saying ‘we are not going to agree’. Leave everything before the hands of God and just ask him to do something then the problem will be sorted out,” said Pastor Amoni.

“Dialogue has been much spoken about in this country since the 2016 Presidential elections but now I would like to urge all political players and stakeholders to take the issue of dialogue seriously because any kingdom divided against itself can not stand. So I want to urge all of our political players to take the work of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously and recognise the fact that if we are going to achieve proper and meaningful development in this country, it’s necessary that unity, oneness and dialogue is maintained at all levels.”

Pastor Amoni also observed that: “2017 has not been easy, it has been a challenging year for most us in this nation. We are alive to the reality of moral pervasion in country as demonstrated in the activities that our young people engaged themselves in and with that cry, we still thank God that this nation is not to be compared with some other nations that we know about where young people have been given the license to live morally corrupting lives.”