The Head Pastor of the MendHouse Chapel International in Accra, Apostle Kennedy Omane, has urged Christians not to idolise the use of salt and anointing oil as the only ways to receive God’s healing.
He said God is dynamic and uses different ways to heal people.
In a chat with The Mirror on Sunday, April 9, he said it was good to use salt or anointing oil during prayers but some people believe that without these things, they cannot pray.
The Apostle was having an interaction with The Mirror concerning the use of altars, spiritual horns, salt and anointing oil, particularly in the “Holy” week of Easter, which were very dominant religious practices in some prayer retreat centres in the country.
Mend House Chapel
The MendHouse Chapel Int. has a mission to project Jesus Christ as the only solution to all the problems and crises of the world, by preaching, teaching, and demonstrating the unadulterated Word of God with power to raise, train, encourage and establish people from all walks of life in the fear of God for the fulfillment of their individual purposes on earth as long as Jesus tarries.
Salt and anointing oil
He explained that every natural resource had some physical and spiritual component and because of the natural component of anointing oil which was extracted from olive oil, it had some spiritual essence.
“If you compare salt with anointing oil, you will find out that anointing oil was used many times in the Bible. A lot of people believe that if they do not have salt or oil, they can’t pray.
“As long as your faith does not allow you to see miracles happening without salt or oil, it will happen like that. So we need to teach people that these are all spiritual tokens that must not be idolised.”
For instance, he said God, through His servant Elisha, healed Naaman by telling him to go into the river Jordan to wash seven times, “some of these spiritual tokens are necessary but we don’t have to bind God to them. God can use different methods to heal you.”
Religious practices
During a visit to the Atweaa Mountain in the Ashanti Region in January 2023, this reporter observed that altars had been built at every corner with a seed box.
There was a market where spiritual horns were sold between GH¢70 and GH¢120 as well as salt and all kinds of anointing oils.
Some worshippers told The Mirror they had built a prayer altar at home where they engaged God on a daily basis and there was another group who explained to The Mirror that the use of spiritual horns could make one great in their fields of endeavour.
All one needed to do was to purchase a horn and let their spiritual fathers anoint it.
Christian books and a Bible are requirement for a home prayer altar
Altars at home
Responding to the issue of building an altar at home, Apostle Omane said it was important for Christians to have one at home because some ‘evil altars’ have manipulated the lives of family members and the only way to destroy them was to introduce a higher altar which is built on the foundation of God.
“When you revere God to the point where you have a meeting place where you engage Him at home, you have a discussion about your life, finances, marriage, children, business and destiny, then God begins to see the seriousness in your life”.
“Altars are powerful.If you don’t have an altar but pray every day, it is good but it is not solid enough,” he said.
He said anybody who was doing extremely well had a prayer altar, “there is an altar behind every exploit, nothing happens by chance. Without the engagement of certain higher altars, you can never get there. You may pray in church, those are beautiful things”.
“God will speak to you and you will hear Him but there are certain dimensions you must get to.”
Essentials for a home prayer altar
Touching on how to create a prayer altar at home, he said it required certain essential things such as a special space where one does not go to sleep or go to browse the internet but to meet God at a specific time.
He said it was important to master the word of God once you create an altar, adding that it should not be idolised.
However, a prayer altar, he said, must be laid on the word of God, mastery of the word, as well as meditating on the word.
The Apostle said Christian books and a Bible were requirements for a home prayer altar.
Altars are powerful
“The Bible said and God spoke to Moses and He said come to the mountain and I will speak to you.
“God was the one who spoke to him so why didn’t He say everything when He was speaking to him, why did God want him to come to the mountain and that’s because there is an altar”.
“It was in that element Moses was engaged in for 40 days 40 nights with no food, it was the presence of God that sustained him and the Bible said and when he came down, his countenance could not be contained by the Israelites. Altars are powerful,” he explained.
Spiritual horns
Apostle Omane said it was necessary for Christians not to copy blindly but to understand the use of spiritual horns before buying one.
Although the use of spiritual horns was still essential in leadership, he said it was only spiritual leaders of higher authority, someone who had been in ministry for years and had impacted lives could anoint and offer a believer, a horn and not any ordinary person.
“Maybe, you can buy for that higher authority to pray over it but you must understand its spiritual implication. We copy things blindly; we don’t research things”.
“Because you saw a higher authority with a horn, you also want to own one? Let those in high authority use it, when you get there, you will understand,” he stated.
