Prayer For The Learning And Wisdom Of Our Children...

As we walk through the month of August, our elementary to college family and friends will begin a new year of studies. They will hopefully be given a learning of knowledge and wisdom by their teachers that will be important to both their further education and future opportunities. Though secular understanding is not all they need.

Along with parents, Sunday school teachers, and pastors, seasoned Christians should also have a wealth of wisdom from both experience and meditation in the Scriptures through their life of serving God. We must ensure that we give these students godly examples concerning our Christian walk, to help them prove what is right from the Word of God. For, surely they will see a variety of morality and lifestyles in their fellow students, and possibly their teachers, this year.

May we all join in praying for each and every soul, that God would protect them from the evil of this world. Let us not dismiss the idea that from the youngest child to the mature college student, they do in fact face similar types of intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual warfare as we all do. By this, I mean the intellectual battle of their minds to believe or discount the things of God, the emotional battle of peer pressure and fitting in that may often go unknown to us, the physical battle of temptations along with protection from the desire of others to hurt fellow students, and the spiritual battle of doing that which is right even when it isn’t easy. All of these are extremely real, even though they may not be brought to our attention very often.

Should not our desire be that these may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord, bypassing many of the sins and pitfalls we have found ourselves in, that they may have a better Christian testimony and joyous life than we? May it be so.

Let us be mindful and prayerful of one another.

Trying to Silence a Moment of Silence

According to the Dallas Morning News, “An atheist couple whose children attend a Carrollton-Farmers Branch elementary school have filed a complaint in federal district court arguing that the state's mandated moment of silence in public schools is unconstitutional.”

The claim is that one of their children was apparently asked to be silent for a “time for prayer” during the normal morning “moment of silence”.

Apparently the father also claims he doesn’t believe “there is any secular reason for a moment of silence” and that a moment of silence is just a way to allow prayer in school without calling it prayer. He asks the question, “Is there any study showing a moment of silence helps education?” But I would also ask if he has done any research to show that a moment of silence hurts education.

I fail to understand why this couple would like us all to believe that a moment of silence is synonymous with prayer. That is simply not the case. How often do we take moments of silence throughout our daily lives, even Christians, and it is not spent praying but considering what we are to do next, examining something we are working on, or simply just taking a break?

The law apparently states that one is free to “reflect, pray, meditate or engage in any other silent activities” during the moment of silence, but it seems the only requirement is to remain silent to keep from disturbing others that may be taking part in reflecting, praying, meditating, or engaging in any other silent activates.

What I find most interesting is, atheists claim they do not believe God exist and do not believe prayer does a single thing, then why such a fight against a moment of silence whereby the student is free to ponder any thoughts they seem right in their own eyes?

The father, Mr. Croft has apparently said, "I don't want my children exposed to people telling them the supernatural is real." Oh, but it is okay for all other children to be denied a moment of silence and to be told God is not real?

"I completely reject Judeo-Christian monotheism,” says Mr. Croft, and thus the matter is settled: It is clear this has little to do with the Constitution or a moment of silence, and more about his personal rejection of God.

I am glad the one Trying to Silence a Moment of Silence has been silenced: Federal Court Upholds Texas Moment of Silence Law, Allowing Students to Pray or Meditate

Prodigal Prayers

This past Sunday our pastor preached a sermon on the passage of the prodigal son, which he entitled The Prodigal Sons (notice the ‘s’). The sermon referenced the actions of both sons: The son who took his inheritance and left, eventually returning, and the son which stayed with the father, as recorded in Luke 15, notably in verses 11-32.

Today I wanted to give emphasis on the Prodigal Prayers we most often pray as Christians, compared to the Righteous Prayers we should consider more worthy to be offered.

The prodigal prayer goes as follows: “Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.”

Now, what portion of goods did this son mean? Was it not the inheritance in which he would receive upon his father’s death? Therefore, his selfish desires pushed all wisdom aside, giving over to the “I want my way now” attitude, caring not for the wishes of his father.

How often do we, as Christians, selfishly pray and demand that God do that which we voice to Him in prayer? How often are our prayers filled with what we want done, and seldom about the will of God?

It is not necessarily wrong to pray asking God to heal the sick, to help others, and to help us with wisdom in our emotional, physical, financial, and spiritual needs. We just need to realize that we easily become selfish in our prayers by asking all these things of God, never considering His will, not realizing we have taken the glory from God and given it to what we would like to have done.

Scripture declares: “seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Therefore, we must adhere to the fact that we must first seek the will of God over our own wills concerning our prayer life. Remember Romans 8:28, and recall we are to adhere to the Spirit in prayer, for we know not what to pray for.

Recount the son’s prayer “when he came to himself”: “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

Here we see a couple of things:
1. Confesses he is a sinner and has sinned.
2. Repents by turning from his wicked ways, and returning to that which is right.
3. Requests to be made as a servant, one who is obedient and cares for the will of their master (father) over their own will.
4. Faith exercised in knowing his father had the power and would do so.

Consider your prayer life, and ponder if by chance it is full of merely Prodigal Prayers.

Watch And Listen To Me Pray

I may get slam dunked for this post, but so be it. I am not presenting a limiting or discouragement to Christianity case here, but more posing a question for some Christian input.

On a recent blog there was a good question brought up regarding public prayer. It appears the blog author’s context is “organized school prayer and "prayer protests."”.

The blog author quotes Matthew 6:5-7, which I will also post here:

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

First, we can consider the verses. They are in red in the red-letter edition Bibles, so these are the words of Christ. :) The chapter begins with the context of doing things to be seen of men verses doing things because it is right. He compares the hypocrite that simply gives, prays, fasts, etc. so they can appear holy to men, but that one should do these things because they are right and that God knows what we are doing so there is no need to make sure man sees us perform the acts.

If we only had verse 5 then the argument could easily be made that it is not that we cannot stand in the synagogues (now churches) and on the corners of the streets to pray, but that we are not to pray as the hypocrites to be seen when we do it. Can there be a difference you ask? I believe so. It is all in the motive, intent, desire. If one sets a time before they go to a public protests, etc. saying we will all pray at this time, that may be as the hypocrites, but if while at the protests, etc. one or more feel lead the pray and many follow that is not necessarily the same.

As for verse 7, which some have used against the rosary and such, simply means our prayers should be speaking to God not simply rambling a pre-printed prayer or saying words over and over again thinking our annoyance will demand God act. Vain repetition produces mechanical Christianity. I would include “repeat after me” prayers with this also.

Oh, but verse 6: “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet”. What exactly is Christ saying here? Does He mean that we cannot pray at all unless we are in our own closet or that we can’t pray out loud unless in our own closet, or was He simply speaking in comparisons terms of praying where all can see, for personal glory, or where no one can see, for God’s glory?

I find it difficult to believe that Christ sincerely directly meant that one must only pray from within a closet, for I don’t even find Him doing such. What Christ did was not pray to draw attention to Himself.

We are to pray, there is no Scriptural doubt about that. We are to pray everywhere, pray without ceasing, etc., but this can be done without a large group needing to openly draw worldly attention to themselves.

I was recently introduced to a concept called “prayer walking” which involves walking around churches, schools, business, neighborhoods, etc. and praying. This is done in groups of two or three (are can be done alone) and draws no attention whatsoever. Well, no more attention than if we were simply two people walking a dog or simply exercising. You do it with your eyes open and speak to God audibly (or silently) in prayer for the things He brings to mind while continuing to walk (there is no stopping, kneeling, and bowing ones head). Silent and audible prayers can also be voiced on the way to and from work, while shopping, while doing most any activity including being part of a protest or while at school.

What necessitates the need for an outward display of large groups praying? Is it only so we can make sure that people know we are praying for them or against something they are doing? If one only thinks that God hears or answers prayer that is done so everyone knows it is being done, there is a problem. Also the posture or purpose of prayer is not to have one look at the person or people praying and suddenly feel they should agree or join with them. Conviction is the work of God, not man. We pray for God to work in people.

What about you who do not pray, who that are not a Christian, why does public prayer bother you so much? Do you get just as offended or upset with other displays from groups in society? Could you not turn away as people would prefer Christians do when you see something you do not like or wish to take part in? Why use a verse from a Book you do not believe, from a Savior you do not trust, to condemn a people or act you dislike?

Prayer In School

In the wake of the Virginia Tech incident and for years hearing the claim that by taking prayer out of school we have taken God out of school, I would like to ponder this topic today.

Has taken prayer out of school caused such incidents as that at Virginia Tech and the lack of morality we see across America today?

Honestly, I am not convinced of such. We have Christian schools and colleges that have prayer, preaching, Bible classes, teaching, and studying and ashamedly find that we have most things in common with public schools and colleges that do not have prayer and Bible in them.

For one, we should not expect the school system to be the ones to teach our children how to pray or to teach them the importance of prayer. According to scripture, this is the responsibility first to the parent [Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 11:19], second to the church [Ephesians 4:11-12].

Although a person may be told that they cannot pray out loud where the entire school must pause for a moment of silence, they have not told the student they cannot pray at all. Does prayer actually have to be done out loud for God to hear it?

My point is not to be in favor of no prayer in school, but to point out that is not why there is a moral decline in America. Christian morality is digressing, not progressing and for this cause we are seeing a swing into an anti-God era. The more Christians preach to the lost to change while we show no change in ourselves, society will continue to decline – even if prayer were still aloud in all the schools.

Are you teaching your child how and why to pray? If not, then don’t be mad at the school system. If you are, then make sure they know that it doesn’t have to be out loud for all to see.

Remember God said it begins with His people [2 Chronicles 7:14], not the world. Do your job as a godly parent and don’t rely on the school system.

Pray This Prayer And...

I recently read a missionary’s prayer letter and they were speaking about the church knocking doors and street meetings. He tells of a lady that he handed a tract and asked whether she knew if she had forgiveness of sins or not. She replied that she did not. He shared 1 John with her. Then he writes, “the woman understood clearly what she read, yet she would not pray and ask the Lord to save her”. [emphasis mine]

The missionary will go unnamed because [1] I am not signaling out this missionary or judging their character or witness for Christ, and [2] this is but a small example of what it seems like I am seeing all over within the Baptist camp.

The last few Baptist websites I have visited all have a similar page. The reader of the page is told, if they would like to accept Christ as their Savior or if they would like to be saved, please “pray this prayer” or “pray something like this”. They may even add, “If you feel this way in your heart”. I have also heard similar things from pulpits and others that go door to door witnessing. [This is not a personal attack on anyone reading this, but a general personal thought.]

We [Baptist] believe that the Catholics, Church of Christ, and Pentecostals are wrong concerning salvation because we believe that they include [or add] works for salvation. In my opinion it appears that the Baptists are beginning to do [or have been doing] the same thing with prayer.

If someone must pray and ask the Lord to forgive them of their sin to be saved, is that person saved at “Dear Lord”, “Amen”, or at the moment they say “forgive me”? I realize that this may sound silly, because honestly I don’t think there has been much thought put in to what is being said. If someone asks me, “What must I do to be saved” and I say, “Pray and ask God to forgive you for your sin”, am I not telling the person to work [pray] for their salvation?

I realize that scripture declares, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9], but I also remember when Paul and Silas were asked, “What must I do to be saved” they responded with “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” [Acts 16:31, 32]. John 3:18 says, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” I don’t find “pray this prayer” or “pray something like this” in scripture.

Am I wrong to think this? I will tell the Catholic, Church of Christ, and Pentecostal that they are unscriptural to tell someone they must be baptized to be saved because they are teaching works for salvation, but do I not do the same thing if I tell someone they must pray a prayer to be saved?

Can we find scriptural support or an example in scripture for when someone asks us “What must I do to be saved” that we can tell them “Pray this prayer”, “Pray something like this”, “Ask Jesus to forgive your sin and come in your heart”?

Surely no one believes that merely saying these words will save anyone, so why do we tell people it will?

Can I get saved without praying? If so, why are we telling people they need to do it?