If you have ever believed the following method about praying, you are one of the victims of what a friend of mine would call a 'post-christian culture'.
That is, praying involves the following order;
* Worship & then Praise/Thanksgiving. This is a 'must' starter.
* Seek Forgiveness & Redemption.
* Make Intercessions and Supplications.
* And then make Personal Petitions. These are your personal complaints/wish list/rants.
If you grew up in any Orthodox, Pentecostal or Charismatic church setting, the foregoing was your praying pattern. They were ingrained into us by the institutional church; by tradition. Personally, I grew up in a home where my mother held that pattern to be sacrosanct.
How dare you approach God in prayer without FIRST saying "Thank you"? That "thank you" is your get in card. More like your 'password' into God's presence.
How dare you approach God in prayer without washing your filth with calls for mercy for sins, either of omission or commission? After all, you are a filthy soul before a holy God, and your access code will be denied unless God is satisfied that you won't suffocate Him with your stench. Right?
Where did we get this order or pattern from? From Scripture? From the New Testament Texts? I ask because the system makes us believe that they came from Scripture. Let's examine 'sola scriptura';
Did Abraham, a former Chaldean Idolater and later the Father of Faith, observe the pattern above when He prayed for a son?
Did Jacob, the deceiver and later 'Israel', observe this method when he wrestled with the Angel all night?
Did Joseph, the dreamer, approach God in that order on his way to the palace from prison?
Did Moses, the prince of Egypt and later Prophet, obey this pattern when he encountered God in the wilderness, the burning bush and later parted the Sea of Reeds?
Did Joshua and Judah follow this pattern before collapsing the walls of Jericho? (In fact, they only observed step 1).
Did Elijah observe the method when he commanded fire from heaven on the prophets of Baal?
Did Esther follow this order when she joined Mordecai & the Israelites in praying before approaching the King's court uninvited?
Did Samson observe this method before growing his hair back and decimating the Philistines?
Did Jesus teach His disciples 'how' to pray by observing this method?
Did Jesus heal the sick, raised the dead and multiplied foods by following this pattern?
Did the Apostles of Christ in 1st Century Middle East receive the Holy Spirit and grew the Church by following this praying pattern? Etc.
The clear answer is NO!
Hence, if our current beliefs about how prayer should be done is not founded on scriptural blueprint, where then did they come from? From Man's zeal. From Man's struggle to reach out to God on his own terms. From empty religion. And this is why some folks already think you haven't REALLY PRAYED until you spend an hour in solitude shaking and vibrating, and hyperventilating. Yet, we see no scintilla of evidence that these are embedded in Scripture or First Century Christian Tradition. And this is why I believe that every Christian who doesn't know Church history is potentially lost!
Surely, these beliefs about prayer are vestiges of a post-christian culture. That is, the inventions of man since the rise of Roman Catholicism. This is why 'closing your eyes' when you pray became orthodoxy, yet you would find NOT ONE reference in all of Scripture that says closing of eyes is imperative to an effective prayer.
We have substituted Scripture with the Traditions of Men, just as Jesus stated.
If you are one who still thinks that praying is only effective when it follows a particular order or when it's lengthy, you suffer from this post-christian mindset.
Don't deceive yourself by telling yourself that it's scriptural and divine. No, it's mental conditioning from childhood. It's religiosity. It's traditions of men. It's error. It only massages your conscience.
Written by Olakunle Allison
www.facebook.com/Olakunle.Allison
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