The Holy Land

[liorpari]

Hi Everyone!
A friend of mine came up with this wild idea. We all live in Oklahoma and we wanted to go to the Holy Land but can't because it's too expensive and we're students. ANYWAYS, we found out that there's a website that sells a candle lighting in 2 places: Jesus's Garden and The Church Of The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in the Holy Land. it's just $20 and it comes with a diploma and everything. I don't know if it is signed by a preist but we get a picture of it anyways. what do you think?! is it worth it?

 

[BereanTodd]

I personally think it would be a waste. I understand wanting to go to the Holy Lands, it was a long-time desire of mine. I finally got to go last summer for 3 weeks, and am going back again this year (I leave in 38 days!), this time as the leader/teacher of the trip.

But what benefit do you get from someone else lighting a candle for you? NO thanks, a waste of $20. Start saving up your $20 here and there, and in a year or two you could take a trip. PM me if you want and I can let you know relative prices and such for one of the best tour companies out there, who can help you have just an AWESOME trip.

 

[liorpari]

well my thought was that I wanted to pray for my cousin who I'm afraid just got cancer, and I felt that a prayer recited in the Holy Land could help more than my regular Sunday prayers at the church...The closer to the Holy Land the closer to Jesus is what my thought was..

 

[Phileoeklogos]

If you are a believer, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, part of a royal priesthood, having access to the Father thru the Son, there is no holier ground on earth than where you are when you cry out to God, sorry to hear about your cousin, I'll remember them in prayer.

 

[BereanTodd]

well my thought was that I wanted to pray for my cousin who I'm afraid just got cancer, and I felt that a prayer recited in the Holy Land could help more than my regular Sunday prayers at the church...The closer to the Holy Land the closer to Jesus is what my thought was..

God hears our prayers wherever we are. Whether it is in the Holy land or not, we have the Holy Spirit living in us as believers, you can't get closer to God than that. Pour your heart out to Him, and He will hear ... He doesn't always answer in our time-frame, and the answer may not always be what we want ... but He will always be there for you, and like I said, you can't get closer to God than the Holy Spirit that is within you.

If it makes you feel better, PM me some details, and I will say some prayers for you while I'm in the Holy Lands in just over a month's time. But the best thing you can do for yourself, is to pray yourself, and to trust and know that He hears you.

 

[FallingWaters]

Hi Everyone!
A friend of mine came up with this wild idea. We all live in Oklahoma and we wanted to go to the Holy Land but can't because it's too expensive and we're students. ANYWAYS, we found out that there's a website that sells a candle lighting in 2 places: Jesus's Garden and The Church Of The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in the Holy Land. it's just $20 and it comes with a diploma and everything. I don't know if it is signed by a preist but we get a picture of it anyways. what do you think?! is it worth it?

I'm not sure, but lighting candles for prayers, and papers signed by priests
sounds like something Catholics or Orthodox folk would be more interested in.
I am not aware of any Baptists -or any protestants really- who believe in such things.
You should probably post your question in a different denominational forum.

It almost seems as though you are just begging for an argument by coming here and asking such a question.

 

[RED that's ME]

God is just as much where you are as he is in Israel.

God hears our prayers as soon as we speak them and he already knows what's on our hearts.


"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15).

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:3).

 

[novcncy]

I'm not sure, but lighting candles for prayers, and papers signed by priests
sounds like something Catholics or Orthodox folk would be more interested in.
I am not aware of any Baptists -or any protestants really- who believe in such things.
You should probably post your question in a different denominational forum.

FallingWaters is right, maybe you accidentally posted this in the wrong place. I don't know of any Baptists who put any stock in lighting candles or see any merit in the associated prayer(s). As for priests, Baptists believe in the individual priesthood of the believer, so I'm quite sure that almost all of us would suggest that you would be wasting your money. However, for free, almost all the Baptists who read this thread can go before the throne of God (a place that REALLY is HOLY!!), and personally ask Him for His direct intervention in your cousin's situtation. Let us know what He does.

 

[MrJim]

If you are a believer, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, part of a royal priesthood, having access to the Father thru the Son, there is no holier ground on earth than where you are when you cry out to God, sorry to hear about your cousin, I'll remember them in prayer.

Great point

That is just one area of the world I've no desire to see-glad we don't have to make pilgrimages like the muslims do.

I don't really travel well, and if I got one chance to go overseas to visit one place it would be Ireland (and I'm not even Irish ).

 

[TwistTim]

well my thought was that I wanted to pray for my cousin who I'm afraid just got cancer, and I felt that a prayer recited in the Holy Land could help more than my regular Sunday prayers at the church...The closer to the Holy Land the closer to Jesus is what my thought was..

19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Jesus Himself said no plot of Ground would be any more sacred than any other plot of ground. If you want to Walk like Jesus, Read your Bible and practice what He Preached.