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Author Topic: Christ's Ways  (Read 10817 times)

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Olde Tymer

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Re: Christ's Ways
« Reply #377 on: February 06, 2020, 07:14:52 am »
.
Heb 4:15-16

When I was a little boy, just about every night at bedtime I recited the classic "Lay Me Down To Sleep" children's prayer. In my opinion; a rote prayer like that one is okay for getting children started communicating with God.

Jesus' disciples were full-grown men physically. But they were just babies spiritually. A prayer like the "Our Father" is a good place for spiritually immature Christians like Jesus' disciples to begin, but it's not a good place for them to stay.

"When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things." (1Cor 13:11)

Now let's take Jesus for example. There is no record of him ever even once praying the "Our Father". In point of fact, when examining Jesus' prayers, it's readily apparent that he typically prayed in a conversational style instead of reciting rote. Two good examples of his style are located at Matt 11:25-26 and John 17:1-26. Jesus' style is the style that mature Christians are supposed to follow as their role model.

"We should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ" (Eph 4:15)

"And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ" (Eph 4:11-13)

When people have been Christians for some time, and still reciting rote prayers, I'd have to say that their spiritual growth has been stunted, i.e. they're not developing properly because they haven't been getting adequate nourishment.

Christians who've attained "mature manhood" are supposed to pray in accord with the instructions given at Heb 4:15-16 which reads thus:

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."

The Greek word for "confidence" is parrhesia (par-rhay-see'-ah) which means all out-spokenness, i.e. frankness, bluntness, and/or candor.

Reciting the scripted lines of prayers like "Lay Me Down To Sleep", the "Hail Mary", and/or the "Our Father" is not what I call forthright, nor blunt, nor out spoken, nor candid. It's actually not much different than one of those Hindu mystics chanting mantras, or a Jew stuffing pieces of paper in the stone chinks of the so-called Wailing Wall while rocking back and forth like a plastic bobble toy and reciting rote prayers from a siddur.

Does anyone speak to their friends, their associates, their spouse, their domestic partner, their significant other, their doctor, dentist, supermarket cashiers, or the cops with rote chanting? Of course not. They would write us off as one in desperate need of therapy if we did. Then why would anyone speak to God with rote chanting?

Don't you think He looks upon rote chanters as mental cases when they do that? Of course He does; who wouldn't? How would you like it if everybody spoke to you like that? Well, He doesn't like it either. God has a higher IQ than anybody you could possibly name and rote chanters are treating Him like a totem pole. The Bible's God is a king who deserves far more respect than a US President yet people are speaking to Him like a tape recorder rather than the ultimate Sovereign that He is.

Christianity's God is a sentient, sensible person; and we all need to show some respect for His intelligence.
_
« Last Edit: February 06, 2020, 07:17:29 am by Olde Tymer »

 

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