“You’d Better Pray First,” Ensign, July 2012, 71
You’d Better Pray First
Martins Enyiche, Nigeria
I almost left the Church over a disagreement with my stake president. I felt he had done something that was not right. His actions did not reflect the way I thought things should happen, so I stopped going to church.
My wife told me, “You can’t make a decision like that without some serious prayer and fasting.”
She was right. After I had prayed for some time, the following words came to me clearly and directly: “The servant of God is called of God.”
That night I had a dream. In my dream my grandfather rebuked me for fighting against my leader. I then woke up from my dream and could not sleep for the rest of the night. After a long night of deep pondering, I knew what I needed to do. I went to my stake president and apologized. He happily accepted my apology, and we prayed together.
Immediately I returned to church. Two weeks later my company transferred me to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Baffled, I wondered why I was being pulled out of the stake after my efforts to reconcile myself.
I soon learned that the Lord was preparing me. During my second month in Abuja, I was called as a branch president.
I’m sure that Heavenly Father wanted to teach me the importance of sustaining Church leaders before He called me to be a leader. This experience strengthened my testimony. Now I try my hardest to listen to the counsel of my leaders because I know they are called of God. And anyone He calls, He qualifies.1
Our leaders are human beings. Though they are inspired, they are not perfect. I learned that if we disagree with them, we need to support, encourage, and pray for them and for ourselves so that we may trust God and the servants He has chosen.