Praying and fasting cannot get you out of poverty – Pastor David Ibiyeomie

Florence Uwaeme

Popular Port Harcourt-based Pastor, Pastor David Ibiyeomie of Salvation Ministries, has told Christians who only rely on praying and fasting to get out of poverty to stop wasting their time as only praying and fasting cannot lift anyone out of poverty.

He rather advised his congregants to indulge in critical thinking that will yield results to problems.

According to him, prayer and fasting would not take them out of poverty, but that they should develop their minds towards offering solutions from thinking of ways to solve their problems.

The preacher who spoke at the church’s convention said that the mind could analyze things, store information. He added that reasoning is a function of the mind, which was why God said “come let us reason together”.

“You have my kind of mind, put it to use and prisons will end. I pray that as you use your mind, it will make you come out of every prison of life in the name of Jesus.

He admonished Christians to develop the mind and not neglect it as an undeveloped mind is a disaster.

“The mind is that powerful for you to have an Upsurge and people neglect it. People fast, people pray, people rub good creams but they don’t develop their minds. An undeveloped mind is a disaster.”

Pastor Ibiyeomie went on to say that “God is a thinker, until you are a thinker, life will not be thick. If you are sinking, watch what you are thinking. Many of us want an upsurge but we keep thinking negative things.

He also cited the example of the prodigal son in the Bible whom he said was only able to come out of poverty by critically thinking about his life.

“The mind is for thinking, the elasticity of the mind is determined by the rigorous mental exercise you subject it to. Your mind will never develop if you don’t think. The prodigal son came out of poverty, not through prayer, not through fasting, but through his mental capacity of thinking.

“You can’t come out of poverty by prayer and fasting, you only come out of poverty by thinking. You must engage in solution-driven thinking. Not thinking problems, thinking solutions.”