Prayer
What is prayer? How do you pray? Why do you pray? How much do you pray? What does prayer do for us? Does prayer change things for us physically, spiritually, mentally? How? Does prayer change circumstances? If so, how? Do people pray more or less when bad things are going on in life? Why? How much should people pray? Is there different ways to pray, if so what are they? Has prayer helped you? If so, how? Why is it hard for some people to pray?
What do you think?
Share your thoughts.
posted by preacherman @ 9:49:00 AM
23 Comments:
Prayer;
The age old question is; to whom are you going to pray?
To "God"! Which God?
To "Jehovah"; do you think that he is going to listen?
What about "Allah"; does he listen?
Maybe "Buddha" and the "holy Mary" might listen?
If all attempts fail, then try the three-person-gods of the Trinitarians?
Do you really think that any one of those would have ears to hear?
How many times have you prayed and immediately your prayer bounced off the ceiling?
Perhaps it's time for you to pray to the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).
Paul
Paul G said...
Prayer;
The age old question is; to whom are you going to pray?
To "God"! Which God?
Paul, why not take the advice of Jesus.
Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
I received a letter this evening reminding me of my past blogging. And when I stopped by and read through some of my old posts, I remembered your encouragement and how much it meant to me. I hope you are well.
Sometimes it helps me to take time to focus my mind as I pray. To spend time aknowldging God for who He is--"Thank You that You are holy, loving, good, all-powerful..." This puts my heart in the right "mind-set,"--I have taken the time to remember that I am talking to/with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I have found that prayer also takes practice. If I am "out of habit" it may feel strange to me. I need to exercize my prayer muscles.
Sometimes if I am struggling with something specific, it helps me to pray a short scripture over and over again, especially as I am going to sleep. It helps me to keep my mind focused on Christ, rather than my anxiety, anger, or whatever.
Yes Laymond, I certainly take the advice from the Lord Jesus and I listen very careful what He says.
Matthew 6:9 is commonly known as the 'Lords prayer'.
However that is not the Lords prayer, but rather Jesus teaches you, me and all of us how to pray.
Before you pray, you need to know who your Father is who is in heaven.
How can you pray to someone you don't know?
If you pray to the wrong father, then your prayers are useless.
First you need to keep His 'NAME' Holy.
How can you keep His name Holy if you don't know His Name?
If you don't know your Father who is in heaven and His Name, how then can you do His 'WILL'?
And then you ought to give your Father all the 'GLORY'! Again, which Father do you glorify?
Jesus made that clear, if you do not know Him; you will die in your sins.
By the way, the Lords prayer is in John 17.
All that is not rocket science, it is just simply praying, believing and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and in no other.
He will forgive all your transgressions against Him and heal all your wounds and afflictions. He will wash you white as snow, so that you will shine as a beacon-light in this wicked and evil world.
But if you are stiff-necked and constantly refuse to believe only in Jesus Christ as the Lord God Almighty and worship Him only, then the wrath of God will be upon you and you will never see life but abide in death.
Kind regards
Paul
Paul maybe you should read John 17 again, Jesus takes his own advice, the advice he gave the apostles.
But we all have different needs, so our prayers are by need, going to be different. When we pray in church it should concern the church as a whole, unless someone comes forward and asks for a special prayer for their personal needs, then we should as a whole pray for this member, and their need.
We see by Jesus prayer that he prays to the Father. When Jesus teaches the disciples to pray says, "Our Father" who art in Heaven. He address the prayer to His Father. John 17 is a great example of the heart of prayer isn't it? Jesus prays for Himself, His disciples and future believers. Laymond even in Jesus prayer He prays for needs. His and others. Much we can learn. Just from Jesus own prayers.
The Walk,
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your encouragement and glad you stopped by again. I am doing well. Thanks. I hope to visit your blog again soon.
Paul,
i know people who do pray to Mary, St.'s, Allah. Jesus prays to His Father in Heaven. He addresses Him as Father. I think it is more about the type of relationship and dependancy we have with God as Father. Right?
Paul does our prayers bounce off the ceiling because of the attitude and spirit of the prayer? Intent??
Yes Laymond; I agree, that we all have different needs and so our prayers are going to be different as the needs require.
John 17 is very hard to understand and I avoided to commenting on that, because it's lengthy and it can only be understood in the light of 'Melchizedek and the priesthood' so that it makes sense and glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ in the highest degree.
Kinney;
You said; "He addresses Him as Father".
Tell me, who is that "HIM" that Jesus addresses as Father?
And also give me His Name?
If you have a dependency and a relationship with your Father, then again, who is that Father?
Perhaps you can see that the god you have a relationship with, is an unknowable god.
For this reason the true God will not listen to your prayers.
Jesus does not pray to His Father, because He does not have a Father, He 'IS' the Father.
Since when does God have a Father? That's ridiculous!
Prayers don't bounce of the ceiling because of the type of relationship and dependency we have with the Father.
Prayer is the communication between you and the true God Jesus Christ, but if you pray to another god Jehovah then Jesus will not listen and your prayers surely bounce off your false god Jehovah who has no ears to hear or eyes to see.
About (Mat. 6:9) you said, "That Jesus addresses the prayer to His Father".
Not at all! But rather He tells you how you ought to address your prayers to your Father who is in heaven. He says, v.9 "After this manner therefore pray YE". That "YE" is you! and not Jesus.
Kinney; your problem is that you don't believe in Jesus, you think that there is another god, a greater god somewhere else.
This is today's problem in most Churches; they put Jesus on the backburner and demote Him to a carbon copy of the real God. For this reason those Churches are dead and the Lord of glory refuses to listen to their prayers.
When they pray, they always pray to the BIG God through the little god Jesus, to one person through another person. This is Trinitarian Catholicism, an abomination which has polluted the hearts of many sincere men of God.
But do not think that the Lord of glory is mocked; they can pray as long as they like, and He will never listen to their prayers, but will destroy them in the sight of all.
As for you, listen very carefully what the Lord Jesus is saying and do not believe in those deceived Pastors, Reverend's and brothers who like to be called 'great' in Gods Kingdom.
But enter through the narrow gate (Jesus), that gate is open wide and only few are those who enter; sadly most people prefer religion and a form of godliness.
But the Lord Jesus searches for a heart who is fully His.
Kind regards
Paul
(concerning to whom we pray)
Jhn 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.
(concerning God's name)
Exd 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by [the name of] God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Psa 83:18 That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth.
Isa 12:2 Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation.
Isa 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength:
The Jews did not speak the name od Jehovah for many years because of this misunderstood scripture.
Exd 20:7 ¶ Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
(this certainly did not say speaking the name of God "Jehovah" was taboo, but cursing his name certainly was.
They certainly did not want to suffer the thing brought on by this.
Lev 24:11 And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name [of the LORD], and cursed.
But as we see in Jhn 16:23 Jesus said " Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you."
Therefore "in Jesus' name I pray"
Thanks Laymond; I appreciate your zealous engagement to search the Scripture.
You remind me of the Ethiopian Eunuch, who was an educated man and always read and studied the Scriptures and yet still could not understand them until the Spirit of the Lord Jesus came and put light into him.
The same was with Nicodemus who was a teacher of the Scripture, and when confronted by Jesus did not understand the things of the Spirit until he was born again.
John 16:23 First sentence, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing."
Laymond, tell me; when exactly was "THAT DAY" in which the believers will ask the Lord Jesus 'NOTHING?
Which 'DAY' was that?
This is very important to know! And yes I will explain.
That was the 'DAY' of Pentecost, the place where all the believers who believed in Jesus Christ came together and waited to receive the gift from on high. And then the Holy Spirit fell on all of those who believed in Jesus Christ in great power and demonstration of the Spirit.
That is the only place and 'DAY' in every believers life when they ask the Lord Jesus 'NOTHING', because the promise of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit has made His abode in each one of those who believe, including me, and they have need of no one to teach them because they have received an anointing from the Lord who teaches them all things (1 John 2:27).
I have vaguely explained the first sentence; in fact it is a lot better than that, but if you can not understand that, how then can you understand the second sentence?
("Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you").
Even if you understand all passages of the Scripture, it still doesn't profit you much.
Pentecost is not finished yet, it is only the beginning and I invite you and anyone who is willing to come and ask the Lord Jesus to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, to receive the power which is from above so that you might stand in difficult days.
But you cannot come like mr and mrs big shot; to the contrary, you must come as little children, but believing and trusting in the Lord Jesus only.
And only in that place you can and will ask the Father anything and Jesus will do it for you and nothing will be impossible for you.
Look Laymond, life is too short to play Church and religion; dare and seek the Lord with all your heart while He still is found.
Laymond; concerning the 'Name of God'; I can see that you don't understand the Scriptures you have quoted, and neither do you know His Name.
His Name is of great importance, just like a son who really needs to know the name of his father. A man who does not know his father and his name is an illegitimate son.
Regards
Paul
"the Holy Spirit has made His abode in each one of those who believe, including me, and they have need of no one to teach them because they have received an anointing from the Lord who teaches them all things (1 John 2:27)."
Paul, you say you are included in these people who need on teaching, from others, the holy ghost that lives in you teaches you all things. Is it not your job to teach those of us who are not so fortunate,
Paul said; "Laymond; concerning the 'Name of God'; I can see that you don't understand the Scriptures you have quoted,"
you may be right , so please explain. your explanation of those scriptures is what I was asking for. so please be so kind
Paul I have been reading through some of your blogs, and you said that because Jesus said the father and son are one, they cannot be two persons. How about many persons being one, is that impossiable as well?
Jhn 10:30 I and [my] Father are one.
Jhn 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
(does this make the apostles god as well?)
Rom 12:5 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. (how about christians are they Christ, or representatives of Christ?
1Cr 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
(working together to accomplish the same goal)
1Cr 10:17 For we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
1Cr 12:12 ¶ For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.
1Jo 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
(agree as one)
Paul if jesus was the father, how could he have gone to sit on the right hand of the father.?
(concerning God's right hand)
Mar 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Mar 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
Mar 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
(so Paul if Jesus is God, how did he sit to the right of God?)
Right hand of God
(Exo 15:6-7 ESV) 6 Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. 7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury [=wrath]; it consumes them like stubble.
Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Jhn 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Yes Laymond; "including me"!
I would like you to be one of those who have received the anointing from the Lord Jesus.
And no, it is not my job to teach those who are not as fortunate as I am, I am not a teacher.
I am an ambassador of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and His Kingdom.
My job is to represent Christ and His Kingdom and that is what an ambassador ought to do.
Concerning your many questions and assumptions; I'm not sure where to start explaining your verses and passages, the problem is that you don't understand the Scripture.
You and all Trinitarians transgress the basic rule of logic.
The Law of logic;
[A cannot be none A] at any point of time.
In other words; ONE cannot be TWO at any point of time.
The same is the other way around; TWO can never be ONE.
If the Lord God is ONE then He is not TWO! It doesn't matter how you rearrange your words or numbers.
Jesus and the Father are ONE; your assumption is that Jesus and the Father are TWO and those two are one.
Two persons can never be one as you suppose, they ALWAYS will be two at any point of time.
They can be one in union or one in agreement but they always will be two.
Laymond; with your kind of logic, I would not have you to be my Tax accountant.
And if I would have a kingdom, I would not like you to be my ambassador.
Jesus said that you cannot serve two masters Jesus and Jehovah and neither can you be in two kingdoms. Either you are in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ or in Satan's kingdom, and the whole world is hold captive in the kingdom of darkness to do Satan's will (2 Tim.2:26 and 1 John 5:19).
And no one has the power to free themselves from Satan's domination that is in doctrine and in conduct, the ONLY way is JESUS! He said that whosoever calls on the NAME of JESUS shall be saved, transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light.
That's good news, isn't it?
Kind regards
Paul
Paul said, "Laymond; with your kind of logic,"
Paul I don't remember writing any of the scriptures I quoted.
You will have to accuse someone else.
Paul, I have been checking "Puritan Belief" for any new posts but none has been forthcoming.
Yes Laymond; I haven't been posting as much as I should.
It seems that my time is somehow shorter than others.:) I wish that there would be 25 hours a day and 8 days a week.
And I am very glad that you did not write the Scripture, but only quote them.
Perhaps that's where your problem is; your job is to be expounding the Scriptures and not just to quote them.
Everyone can quote Scriptures, and for that no one needs you, because we all have Bibles too.
The sheep of the Lord Jesus need spiritual food, the Manna which is from heaven for their physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Most Churches are full of Shepherd's who have gone astray, they dilute the Scripture for their own advantage, Shepherd's who feed themselves and are unwilling to lift a finger to ease the burden from their flocks. They are clouds with no rain and shallow wells with no water to drink from. They lead their sheep away from the good Shepherd Jesus Christ our Lord to other gods who have no eyes to see or ears to hear and they go from bad to worse and no one holds them back.
But for you Laymond; do not follow them or imitate them but rather correct them so that they might repent of their wicked ways and be saved.
But first you must turn away from that false god Jehovah to the only true God Jesus Christ our Lord who is God over all forever praised (Rom.9:5).
He is altogether lovely, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Paul
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