By SYLVESTER MWALE –

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Central Committee member Father Frank Bwalya has said President Edgar Lungu has demonstrated biblical wisdom by building a National House of Prayer after discarding his entitlement to build him a house as part of his pension.
Fr Bwalya called on Zambians to commend the Head of State for the timely plan of building the house of prayer soon after proposing to forfeit a house which is part of the pension of a former president.
President Lungu laid the foundation stone for the construction of the inter-denominational National House of Prayer in Lusaka on Sunday.
The launch came barely weeks after Mr Lungu proposed to Parliament last month that the requirement of building a house for every former president should stop starting with him.
Fr Bwalya cited King David in the Bible who desired to build a house of the Lord, but failed to do so earlier due to lack of peace on the borders of his kingdom as well as internal power struggles.
“Many people, including those not conversant with the Bible know that King David always desired to build a house for the Lord, but failed to do so earlier due to lack of peace on the borders of his kingdom as well as internal power struggle.
“Hence, when his kingdom enjoyed relative peace and stability he decided to prioritise the building of the house of God, the temple,” Fr Bwalya said.
However, King David died without fulfilling his desire and his son, King Solomon was the one who fulfilled the desire of building the temple.
Similarly, late President Dr Frederick Chiluba would have liked to build a national cathedral as a way of consummating the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation but he left power and later died without doing it.
“Hence the plan by President Lungu to build the national prayer house should be understood as the fulfillment of a long standing desire to have in our country an inter-denominational house of prayer to signify our faith in God,” he said.
Fr Bwalya noted that the House of Prayer would serve as the national cathedral that would be a sign that God dwelled among the people.
He said Zambians should also continue to pray for Mr Lungu so that he could remain faithful and continue to govern Zambia in line with Christian teachings.