Prayer That is Acceptable to God

Prayer (Sanskrit: प्रार्थना, romanized: prārthanā) is considered to be an integral part of the Hindu religion; it is practiced during Hindu worship (puja) and is an expression of devotion (Bhakti). The chanting of mantras is the most popular form of worship in Hinduism. The Vedas are liturgical texts (mantras and hymns). Stuti is an umbrella term for religious literary creations, but it literally means "praise."

The Hindu devotional Bhakti traditions place a focus on repetitive prayer, known as japa. Prayer is centred on the personal forms of gods and goddesses, such as Vishnu's avatars, most notably Rama and Krishna, Shiva, or Shiva's sons such as Kartikeya and Ganesha, as well as Mahadevi, the supreme goddess, and her forms, such as Lakshmi or Kali.


If I have an acquaintance who is Hindu, and they want to pray with me to Vishnu. Is is acceptable for me as a Christian to pray with them? Would this prayer be acceptable to God?

Unqualified said:

God is not Vishnu, that is a false God. God has other qualities as well, not only supreme good. This only one side of God. Pray to G_d. If you are a Christian. He wants no other gods before Him.

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okay said:

I believe that as Christians we are to only pray to our God. I think the bible and church tradition are pretty solid on this.

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I too believe a Christian should pray to God - the father - only. This is what Jesus himself also taught. Matthew 6:6; Matthew 26:39; Mark 11:24, 25; Ephesians 3:14, 15; Colossians 1:3; Proverbs 15:29; Psalm 145:18
So yes, thanks. Praying to anyone, or anything other than God, is not a Christian teaching.

okay said:

However, I would have no problem being present when a friend of a different religion prayed. For example, I have been to a couple of Hindu weddings where this took place.

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Was that not hard for you, and were you not uncomfortable... wondering if God approved?
Did you say Amen?

okay said:

Perhaps that is a compromise you can offer?

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I'm not sure, if you are asking, if this is compromise.
People of all religious faiths get married, and we accept them as legal marriages. However, I am uncomfortable taking part in an actual ceremony of Hindus, Buddhists, etc.
I feel as though I am not only approving their worship, but being a part of it.
It seems to me I would not be worshipping God in spirit and truth. John 4:24

I think back to the examples in the Hebrew scriptures, where the Israelites were commanded not to form any alliance with the nations, or get involved in their worship.
Numbers 25:2-5
2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”

Deuteronomy 11:16, 17
16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

Deuteronomy 12:4, 5; Deuteronomy 12:4, 5Deuteronomy 29:26; 2 Kings 17:29-40; 2 Kings 23:19, 20
A fear inspiring example for me, is when many Israelites lost their life on the border of entering the Promised land, they joined the Moabite women in their festivals. Numbers 25:1-3
Psalm 106:28, 29
28 They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them.

Would that principle not apply today to the people of God?

okay said:

I was just an attendee - we weren’t asked to ‘participate’ in any prayers - just the wedding party and their families did that. In both cases only one half of the couple was Hindu so perhaps the ceremony was different than it might have been otherwise (?).

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okay said:

I thought that was fine. But I would not have prayed a Hindu prayer if we had been asked to.

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okay said:

sure. But I don’t believe that simply being present when someone of a different faith prays is the same as saying the prayer myself.

In the end, you should to follow your conscience.

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What if you are invited to worship with persons who pray to something or someone, other than God, would you go, knowing that such prayers are not acceptable to God?

okay said:

Probably not.

This thread confuses me. In the first post you sound like you aren't sure about stuff, but in subsequent posts you seem very sure. What's up?

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Sorry about that.

I mostly prefer to use questions than statements when sharing thoughts, as they are more effective in stimulating thought processes, and also helps me see how others are thinking.
Hence, I looked for a creative way to start the thread.

I hope you don't only share when you think a person is "lost", since what is posted on public forums also benefit visitors.

I figured though that since the thread is created in the Controversial Christian Theology sub forum, rather than Requests for Christian Advice, that would have alerted viewers.

I wanted to get the different views here, on what prayers are acceptable to God, since there are persons who do pray to other things, besides God.
Some persons pray to dead ancestors, heavenly ones, and so forth.

So, I am glad to have your input as well as the other poster - @Unqualified, sharing the view the scriptures teach... which I too hold... namely - prayer that is acceptable to God, must be directed to God alone.

I asked you about worship, since prayer is worship, and I wanted to see if you agreed that to share in such worship where prayer is not directed to God, would not be in harmony with what God requires.
Thank you.

Your answer seems to suggest that you were either not in a situation like that, or you haven't given thought to it before. Are any of those correct?

Aaron112 said:

No, the prayer and the pray-er , would not are not acceptable to YHVH, the One True Creator.

However , if circumstances are such that you cannot leave the area of false worship of a pagan deity,
remember that one man in Scripture (I don't remember where at this point)
asked for 'permission'/ grace
from a messenger of the One True Creator
or asked 'forgiveness'/tolerance
at the times the man in Scripture was required to be with his boss in a pagan place of worship.

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Thanks Aaron.
Yes. A situation that came to mind, is if you are put in prison with a whole group of...