In a nation where politics has become a theatre of masked intentions and religion is often wielded as a talisman for personal gain, the prayer that God would not grant the desires of the wicked is no mere pious wish—it is a national necessity. Nigeria today is a landscape where the wicked often sit at banquet tables laden with influence, power, and wealth, while the righteous are pushed to the margins. It is in such a climate that the psalmist’s ancient plea becomes hauntingly relevant: “Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; further not their wicked devices, lest they exalt themselves” (Psalm 140:8, KJV).
The tragedy of Nigeria is not merely that wicked men and women exist, but that their petitions—whether to God or to their dark systems—are often answered by the complicity of silence. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome once remarked, “The greatest victory of evil is not its power to act, but the passivity of those who could stop it.” This passivity has birthed a moral inversion where the corrupt ask for longevity in office, the oppressor prays for uninterrupted reign, and the thief kneels in church to seek divine covering for stolen wealth.
The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, warned that in the last days, men would be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive… having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2,5). This is not a vague prophecy—it reads like a morning news bulletin in Nigeria. The wicked, draped in religious titles, pray for the preservation of their power while their governance keeps the poor in generational chains.
Bishop David Oyedepo once observed, “When wicked men pray for success, they are only praying for the multiplication of destruction.” Nigeria has seen this prayer answered too often—manifesting in electoral fraud, policy sabotage, and the weaponisation of poverty to subdue entire populations. The result is a spiritual irony: those whose lives offend heaven are the loudest in the corridors of prayer.
It is here that divine justice must intervene. God is not an impartial dispenser of blessings to all supplicants; He is a moral Judge whose blessings are aligned with righteousness. Proverbs 10:24 declares, “The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.” The inverse is true: the desire of the wicked shall be denied. The stability of a nation, especially one as spiritually volatile as Nigeria, depends on heaven’s refusal to endorse wicked petitions.
Catherine Booth, co-founder of The Salvation Army, once said, “It will be a happy day for the Church when she stops trying to please the world.” Nigeria’s church, if it is to be prophetic, must stop blessing the ambitions of the wicked under the guise of neutrality. Prayers in Nigeria’s pulpits must shift from merely asking God to bless leaders to asking Him to expose, uproot, and nullify every device of the wicked—be they politicians, profiteers, or pulpit pretenders.
The lesson is simple yet urgent: to pray for the fulfilment of the wicked’s desires is to conspire against the destiny of the innocent. And to remain silent while such prayers are offered is to sit at the table of Judas and call it fellowship. Nigeria’s hope lies not merely in electing righteous leaders, but in ensuring that the Almighty Himself becomes the final veto against the petitions of the unrighteous.
For in the end, the prayer of the psalmist must become our collective cry: “Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; further not his wicked device”—for the fate of nations often hangs on the prayers God refuses to answer.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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