CAUSES FOR THE UPSURGE OF IMPRECATORY PRAYER IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

Abstract

Prayer is a conversation with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or

meditation, but in direct address to him. It is „beseeching the Lord‟ (Ex 32:11); „pouring out the

soul before the Lord‟ (1Sa 1:15); „praying and crying to heaven‟ (2Ch 32:20); „seeking unto God

and making supplication‟ (Job 8:5); „drawing near to God‟ (Ps 73:28). Prayer presupposes a

belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold intercourse with us, his

personal control of all things and of all his creatures and all their actions.

As part of forms of prayer, came imprecatory prayer. Imprecatory prayer has become one

of the forms of prayer in African Christian Churches. Though this type of prayers is found in the

Bible especially the Old Testament, the practice is not in consonant with Jesus‟ statement, “You

have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). This paper in this regard,

seeks to bring to light the meaning of imprecatory prayer, the theological foundation for

imprecatory prayer, state some of the factors that have led to the upsurge of imprecatory prayer

in Africa and finally, examine the named factors in the light of the New Testament. For the sake

of my knowledge in some Akan culture and traditions especially that of the Ashanti region of

Ghana, I will use some of them to elaborate some of the points.