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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.Eph 2:9 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, November 4, 2021
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Sermon on the Mount - Repetitious Prayer Bible Verse:Matthew 6:7-8 (NKJV) "“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”" Message:
Many people, if not all, have a subconscious conviction that the longer they pray, the better God hears them; that they can, perhaps, batter down God’s door with sheer persistence until He gives in, or that the degree of a person’s piety may be accurately measured by the duration of their prayers.
One would be hard-pressed to pick the winner in a long prayer contest, but certainly the Jews of Jesus’ time played in the major leagues. They had specific prayers to say at sunrise and sunset, and a litany of eighteen prayers to be repeated three times every day, for starters. In addition, there were prescribed prayers for every occasion, and long prayers to be said in synagogue; one, for instance, recites sixteen different adjectives for God.
The practice of such religions as Islam, with set times every day to remember God, is commendable, as it forces them to break out of their worldly frame of mind, remember God, and reset their thinking. The danger is that such prayers may become mindless rote; they will simply slip off the tongue, with no more meaning than dropping a quarter in a parking meter. How many times have you said an automatic blessing before a meal, or recited the Lord’s Prayer, and realized afterward that you had managed to bypass your brain?
Road to Emmaus
Some religions actually stress repetitious prayer that is not really meaningful at all, but a chant designed to induce a mystical trance. There is nothing wrong with this, as a form of relaxing meditation; but you can get the same effect using any word. It is not effective praise of God. The Hare Krishna sects, who will say the same phrase for an entire day, must be a top contender. Muslims will recite the sacred word “HE” for many hours. This is not prayer, but self-hypnotism. It intentionally disengages the conscious mind.
One must associate the practice with paganism, for it is there we find the extremes of repetitious prayer. In 1 Kings 18:26-29, we discover that the priests of Baal would repeat the phrase “O Baal answer us” for half a day. And Paul, when he got into so much trouble in Ephesus, related that the supplicants of Artemis shouted “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” for hours. (Acts 19:34)
The beautiful liturgies of more formalistic churches can be profoundly moving, but the tendency to say them without any real thought or feeling must be avoided. Even though sacramental practices may be central to our life in Christ, Christianity is not primarily a mystical religion. In our prayer, we attempt to engage our consciousness, not lull it into inactivity.
Meditation : Prayer : Lord, pour your love into my heart, that I may love you above all things, and my neighbors as myself. Through Christ our Lord.......Amen |
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