The Gift I Once Tried to Pray Away

I remember that season very clearly.

I was still in secondary school when I went to meet my spiritual father, not for prayers of promotion, not for success, not even for protection. I went with one strange request.

I wanted him to pray for me to stop giving.

I told him plainly, “Sir, I can’t say no.”
If I had my last provision and someone needed it, I would give it out without thinking twice. It was not discipline or strategy. It was just how I was.

In the boys’ hostel, it even became a saying.

“If I don’t get anything from anyone in this hostel, once I get to Pastor’s place, I will get it.”

Pastor was my nickname in school.

At first, it sounded funny. Later, it started to hurt.

Because slowly, I began to feel it. The feeling that people were no longer asking out of need, but out of expectation. The feeling of being drained, stretched, and sometimes used.

Even my classmates noticed. They pulled me aside one day and said, “You need to stop this thing. People are taking advantage of you.”

And honestly, they were not wrong.

That was why I went to my pastor. I was hoping for a simple prayer, one that would toughen me up, one that would help me hold back, one that would finally make no easy.

But instead of praying, he sat me down and spoke to me.

He told me that giving is a gift, a gift many people are praying for but may never receive. He said I was blessed with it and should never take it for granted. Then he added something that stayed with me. I should apply wisdom.

There was no shouting. No dramatic prayer. Just truth.

At the time, I did not fully understand it. I only carried the words and moved on with life.

Years later, everything came rushing back.

I had just concluded the twelfth outreach in the eleventh year of the Catch Them Young Bible Club. I was sitting with my wife, telling her that old secondary school story, when suddenly it made sense.

Clear. Loud. Complete.

All those years, God had been preparing me. The giving. The stretching. The moments that felt unfair. None of them were wasted.

Then I remembered the very first outreach.

I had told my friends Chijioke and Victor about it. Victor, of blessed memory, did something I can never forget. They paid for the canopy and chairs. And on the outreach day, he(Victor) showed up as the DJ.

They did not fully understand what I was doing, but they believed enough to stand with me.

As long as they were around, they came around. Victor never missed an outreach while he was alive. Not one.

That kind of support does not just happen. God sends people when He is serious about an assignment.

Why am I telling this story today?

Because someone reading this feels tired. Tired of giving. Tired of being the dependable one. Tired of wondering why it is always you.

But hear this.

What you are going through today may be training you for a future you cannot yet see.

The Bible says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8 verse 28.

Do not give up.
Do not kill the gift.
Do not step off the path.

Apply wisdom, but stay faithful.

One day, you will look back, just like I did, and realize that every season was preparation.

Prince Leunado is a thoughtful writer, youth mentor, and storyteller with a passion for faith, culture, and everyday truths. With a background in IT and years of experience in writing, podcasting, and media work, he blends clarity with depth,turning real-life moments into meaningful reflections. As the voice behind Reflections with Prince Leunado and Moment of Truth with Leunado, he writes across themes of spirituality, relationships, leadership, and social issues. Grounded in Christian values and Nigerian realities, his work challenges readers to think deeper, live intentionally, and pursue truth with courage,one reflection at a time.