I Was Just Thinking About – SPIRITUAL MISCUES.
Taking a serious God condescendingly, flippantly or matter-of-factly is becoming too common-place in a culture that is adrift from spiritual moorings and values. One can hear expressions, usually profane, that make use of the name “Jesus Christ” and “My God” – but they are empty, meaningless and valueless words. In religious settings, one can also hear the name of God and Jesus Christ but too often it is lofty rhetoric. Jesus indicated as much when He stated, Matthew 15:7-9, “You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.”
In today’s A.W. Tozer Devotional, the following verses are quoted: “The LORD said to Joshua: Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant…That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies…because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction" (Joshua 7:10-12). In desperate times, people more steeped in traditions or superstitions will pray to anything or anyone as they hope for relief or deliverance from a situation that is marginal or with which one is incapable of coping. This is a reason why so many world-wide continue to pray to gods of their own making and choosing – idols, martyrs, saints (so-designated). They hope that their repetitious recitations, incantations, and obeisance’s will somehow bring about a desired result. It is not dissimilar to a ‘good-luck’ orientation and practice – four-leaf clovers, rabbit’s feet, beads, medals and/or medallions.
What does Jesus Christ indicate as the correct way to pray for and seek spiritual benefit? John 14:13-14, “I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Additional guidance in this regard is Romans 8:26-27, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
To whom or what do you pray? The manner in which you pray, is it tantamount to a spiritual miscue or is it consistent with Biblical instruction and directive? I Timothy 2:5-6 instructs: “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.” Why not pray to and through Him alone?!
Prayerfully – consider these things with me.
Taking a serious God condescendingly, flippantly or matter-of-factly is becoming too common-place in a culture that is adrift from spiritual moorings and values. One can hear expressions, usually profane, that make use of the name “Jesus Christ” and “My God” – but they are empty, meaningless and valueless words. In religious settings, one can also hear the name of God and Jesus Christ but too often it is lofty rhetoric. Jesus indicated as much when He stated, Matthew 15:7-9, “You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.”
In today’s A.W. Tozer Devotional, the following verses are quoted: “The LORD said to Joshua: Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant…That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies…because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction" (Joshua 7:10-12). In desperate times, people more steeped in traditions or superstitions will pray to anything or anyone as they hope for relief or deliverance from a situation that is marginal or with which one is incapable of coping. This is a reason why so many world-wide continue to pray to gods of their own making and choosing – idols, martyrs, saints (so-designated). They hope that their repetitious recitations, incantations, and obeisance’s will somehow bring about a desired result. It is not dissimilar to a ‘good-luck’ orientation and practice – four-leaf clovers, rabbit’s feet, beads, medals and/or medallions.
What does Jesus Christ indicate as the correct way to pray for and seek spiritual benefit? John 14:13-14, “I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Additional guidance in this regard is Romans 8:26-27, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
To whom or what do you pray? The manner in which you pray, is it tantamount to a spiritual miscue or is it consistent with Biblical instruction and directive? I Timothy 2:5-6 instructs: “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.” Why not pray to and through Him alone?!
Prayerfully – consider these things with me.
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