The "Circle Maker" - Witchcraft in The Church

DamianWarS

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I'm not an advocate for such books or special methods to "pray better" but what I found interesting in the article is a inscription under a picture of the author that says "Pastor Mark Batterson’s teachings are based on traditions of men." My immediate question was what is the correct way to pray that isn't "based on traditions of men" Is it on our knees? Is it with our hands folded? Perhaps it is with our arms raise in the air or maybe it should always end with "In Jesus' Name".... praying around drawn circles may hint wicca magic but are we that blinded that we don't recognize that probably the way we prefer to pray is also based on the traditions of men?

It is not the method that we pray of course but the heart behind it that matters whatever the form that we use to pray it represents the heart and will be rooted in traditional and cultural practices of some sort... much like drawing a circle could be. I'm not interested in starting such things but Christians have pagan minded approaches too where we relate a specific form with power... like folding ones hands to "pray properly". If we honestly examine ourselves we too will find that we do many things simply because they feel right or feel proper to do them in that way. Not because the bible says so mind you but because that's just how it's done.

Who am I to throw stones at a practice of drawing a circle simply because I think its weird or uncomfortable... it may not be biblical but it also isn't unbiblical. if you are empowered by drawing circles it is misguided to say the circle did it but it is just as misguided to saying the circle needs to be gone for prayer to work. Prayer is prayer and God is God... he will respond to a sincere heart with folded hands, in a circle, or jumping up and down.
 
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LemonAidStand

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The correct way to pray is always and in the spirit.. Don't get caught up with a bunch of useless tradition. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught us how we need to pray... There was never any mention about our physical bodies.. He said that because God the Father is spirit.. We must worship Him in spirit. I am certain that God doesn't care what your hands are doing great. Or whether you are on. Your knees. Don't make the tragic mistake of placing stumbling blocks in your path, or the paths of your brethren.. Trust in the Hy Spirit of God.. He will lead you in paths of righteousness.
 
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dayhiker

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This reminds me of some Christians that stop liking rainbows because the gays used it as their symbol. So now we are going to give up circles because pagans/wiccans use a circle! If one is praying to the true God what they are doing physically doesn't matter in my mind.

Personally, I just talk to God doing what every I'm doing. Some would say I don't show any reverence because I don't stop my activity and totally focus on God. I just say be we all need to be sure we are talking to the Father Son and Holy Spirit.
 
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DamianWarS

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The correct way to pray is always and in the spirit.. Don't get caught up with a bunch of useless tradition. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught us how we need to pray... There was never any mention about our physical bodies.. He said that because God the Father is spirit.. We must worship Him in spirit. I am certain that God doesn't care what your hands are doing great. Or whether you are on. Your knees. Don't make the tragic mistake of placing stumbling blocks in your path, or the paths of your brethren.. Trust in the Hy Spirit of God.. He will lead you in paths of righteousness.

i'm not so quick to discredit traditions... traditions are tools and they can help us enter into the right mindset to approach God... usually they do this without us even knowing it. Certainly we are always able to approach God and the only thing needed is grace but for some reason we have a hard time grasping that and these "unless" forums help us in the areas we lack in this understanding. Most of Christianity is built up on traditions... one of the greatest is the church building which is completely absent in the bible but we are no so quick to call these buildings useless simply because they are post-biblical traditions. In fact most Christians look to the church building as a place of comfort but in reality it is no more special than any other building.

Of course there are limits and a tradition should never be emphasized over what the traditions aids us in doing and they are never over Christ's law. But they can be powerful tools to communicate the gospel.
 
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ViaCrucis

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This reminds me of some Christians that stop liking rainbows because the gays used it as their symbol. So now we are going to give up circles because pagans/wiccans use a circle! If one is praying to the true God what they are doing physically doesn't matter in my mind.

Personally, I just talk to God doing what every I'm doing. Some would say I don't show any reverence because I don't stop my activity and totally focus on God. I just say be we all need to be sure we are talking to the Father Son and Holy Spirit.

It would seem to me the trouble is hardly with circles. Rather, the notion that that if I do X, Y, and/or Z then I can cause affect upon the universe to get what I want.

That's basically what magick is. Not magic, the imaginary Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings stuff, but magick--the idea that we can use our will to affect cosmic change.

It's the root problem of all the "name it and claim it" and "health and wealth" teaching, it's magick. Prayer isn't about claiming, but about submitting ourselves to the will of God. Our prayer is always to be, "Your will be done."

If someone wants to draw circles around important things in Scripture, as a personal reminder or what not, nothing's wrong with that. However, if one imagines that by doing so they can affect change by pure act of will--a form of magick--then that's a legitimate problem. If only because it is a massive distortion of the Christian understanding of prayer, God, and faith.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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