Is there a wrong way to pray?

Natsumi Lam said:

What about going to the elders for healing and them praying as a group? How many is 1 too many elders?

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I think that's such wonderful advice, to ask others to pray for oneself as needed.

Natsumi Lam said:

Hi Family,

In another thread a poster said to pray like the Lord's prayer but to not repeat it. Do you agree or is it religiosity creeping in?

He said he doesnt pray during Church prayer time.

What about public tongues?

Is there a wrong way to approach the Father? Or is that religiosity?

What about when we are sad, happy, weeping or mad?

What about praying like David...a man after God's own heart?

What about prayers of praise?

~Natsumi Lam~

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Can prayers be sinful? I don't know that you were asking that, either way, I would say yes prayers can be sinful. First of all, we are to pray to God, the Almighty only. Praying to man, dead or alive, would be wrong. Prayers can also be offered in an inappropriate manner, for example to be seen of by man...to appear holy. That too can be sinful. God's word makes mention of "vain repetitions" being unacceptable to Him. We should always pray that God's will be done and not "our" will. We can go to God boldly in prayer but we should always be humble and know we are approaching THE supreme Being. I feel we should always offer thanks to Him for all that He provides and has provided before we ask for anything more (again that is my preference). We should offer our prayers in the name of Jesus, His Son. Sometimes we are unable to find the appropriate words for what we are feeling and that's okay for the Spirit will make intercession for us in that situation. Lastly, I will leave you with these verses that tell us God does not hear "ALL" prayers.

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
1 Peter 3:12

Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
John 9:31
In Him

Natsumi Lam said:

Hi Family,

In another thread a poster said to pray like the Lord's prayer but to not repeat it. Do you agree or is it religiosity creeping in?

He said he doesnt pray during Church prayer time.

What about public tongues?

Is there a wrong way to approach the Father? Or is that religiosity?

What about when we are sad, happy, weeping or mad?

What about praying like David...a man after God's own heart?

What about prayers of praise?

~Natsumi Lam~

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You have to be in an attitude of praise, after all that is the pattern in the Lord's Prayer - praise is first. "For God inhabits the praises of His people." So when I'm about my day I always "stop and smell the roses." And everything I find that is good, I honestly thank God for it. Sunsets, blue skies, rain, snow, whatever is beautiful in nature, even parking spaces. And that's all I do all day. Then when there does come a time when I have a need, I just wait and listen. God then tells me exactly what to pray for, I repeat what He says, and it is answered immediately. It is always His will, and He always answers. His people must develop a personal relationship with Him. He loves the small stuff too. There were many times when the last of my four cats was outside and I needed to go to bed. I'd call her and call her, then start walking around my huge acre yard and cross over to my neighbor's yard and after about 45 minutes, God will just whisper "I know where she is," then silence. I'd slap myself in the head and say, Of course you know where she is, please send her home. And by the time I walked in the door, the cat was hot on my heels.

SkyWriting said:

Scripture is correct:

19 Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather together in My name,there am I with them.”

I've been in such groups scores of times. I do not pray with them.
I only pray in secret. That's my correct way to do things.

6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

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Yeah..thats why Groups of believers have prayer meetings ..away from the public eye.
One cannot say amen to your secret prayer.. Unless they can hear what it is you just prayed.

Otherwise you may as well be speaking another language..a silent one.

Alithis said:

Yeah..thats why Groups of believers have prayer meetings ..away from the public eye.
One cannot say amen to your secret prayer.. Unless they can hear what it is you just prayed.

Otherwise you may as well be speaking another language..a silent one.

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That's the one I use. A friend of mine had multiple brain operations resulting in her being mute. So I take the disabled into account when I consider how people should act as Christians. My advice is for deaf, mutes, or even new babies.

6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Then there are prayers where believers tend to focus on praying over homes, praying over generational curses, pray over past things that you may have been involved with that were dark, etc. As a believer, I see it is good to pray for protection from God both physically and spiritually; But to invent something that we do not specifically see in the Bible like house blessings, etc. is also another concern I have. Why give the enemy more power than he really does not have? We have a Bible for a reason. His Word is where we get our faith from. If we are not aligning our lives EXACTLY according to His Word, then that is where we start to stray away from God and seek to go our own way, and not God's way.

Jason0047 said:

Then there are prayers where believers tend to focus on praying over homes, praying over generational curses, pray over past things that you may have been involved with that were dark, etc. As a believer, I see it is good to pray for protection from God both physically and spiritually; But to invent something that we do not specifically see in the Bible like house blessings, etc. is also another concern I have. Why give the enemy more power than he really does not have? We have a Bible for a reason. His Word is where we get our faith from. If we are not aligning our lives EXACTLY according to His Word, then that is where we start to stray away from God and seek to go our own way, and not God's way.

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Hi Jason,

Speaking of protection of houses...this is long, but well worth the read. Enjoy!

When it all came out that my husband was having an affair with the wife of his best friend and he wanted a divorce and buy me out of the house, I knew I would have to move to a less expensive part of the country. I wanted nothing to do with the divorce so I never signed anything, nor went to court. It went through by default. I just let my husband do all the sinning.

I looked at houses on the internet in towns across the country where I already had a friend or relative. Unfortunately Illinois where I grew up had very high property tax rates due to the crime in government, and not much house for the money. (Guess where Obama came from?) I got advice from my old accountant in California that the south has more for you money and low property taxes. I had one friend in Tennessee, my ex-sister-in-law from my first (of two) marriage, I kiddingly called my "outlaw." She lived in Murfreesboro. So I looked at houses in Murfreesboro on the internet. Amazingly, the only job I could find in Arizona where my husband and I lived was WalMart - the only business in the area where I could transfer to Murfreesboro! So I went to the bank and obtained a pre-approved loan and they told me the highest price of house they would approve was $92,000 at 9% interest, the same as my husband's new loan interest. I was going to let God direct my steps. If I couldn't find a house in one area, I'd come back and look elsewhere. I printed off copies of fronts of houses for sale and saw most were with the same realtor. (Note: every time I was on the computer looking at houses I kept seeing a picture in my head of a backyard. It was like a pencil drawing. Large rectangle long yard with large trees at the far back and on each side was bordered with pine trees. It would just pop into my head. I figured it was my "wish.") So when it came about time to move, I called my "outlaw" and told her my plan. She offered to let me stay at her place while I looked for a house. So then I called the realtor and said I needed a two day appt. on Thursday and Friday of the next week (leaving Arizona on Tues. morning and told him the details of my loan allowance.

Tuesday morning came and my husband came into where I was sleeping sometime after 7:00 and said I had a phone call. It was one of my good Christian girlfriends in the area. She said turn on the TV - you can't move! So I turned on the TV in time to see the Twin Towers burning - it was 9/11. I didn't know what to do, but knew God was in control so at 3:00 pm I decided to head across the country driving my van. I figured, God can't steer a parked car.

I arrived at my outlaw's at 2:00 am in the morning Thursday and slept in the van. The realtor would be there in a few hours to look for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath on 1/2 to 1 acre.

The realtor whose name was Mr. Bugg (honest!) showed me a lot of houses, but they were all $98,500 or more. I was using $92,000 as God's ceiling also, to know which house He approved. Sort of as a fleece, and wouldn't budge higher. For two days we searched, looking at a lot of houses to get an idea of what I liked and didn't like, and the different areas of the town. At the end, nothing. It was late Friday evening. I told Mr. Bugg there was one house that doesn't seem to be on the market but I brought a picture of it from the web-site and was always drawn to it. So he took me to see it, and yes, it was in foreclosure but off the market for repairs. I thanked Mr. Bugg for all his help and was sorry I couldn't find God's house. He and I had talked and talked about the Lord, and he scolded me many times for thinking God actually leads us personally, and not just strictly through the Word. I just said, I can't go against this ceiling. So we left that last house, and driving out of the neighborhood, I saw one of his realtor signs on a brick home, and said, oh, look, their's one of your signs. He stopped and stared at the house and said he's never seen it before. He was puzzled and got out to get one of the flyers, and looked back at me, and said, I think this may be your house. It had been on the market for 102 days and no one had even looked, so it was reduced to $95,500, the closest to my ceiling. I could at least put an offer on it. So, we looked at the 3 bedroom, 2 bath, brick home with attached garage on 3/4 of an acre, and I told him to offer $92,000, and he drove me back to my outlaw's, and said he would call me. Saturday morning he called and got a counter offer of (95,000). I thanked him, and said, well I guess I'll have to head back to Arizona. So my outlaw and I went shopping all day and caught up, putting the dream of living there out of my head. We got back to her house and opened the door. I suddenly heard God interrupt my thoughts and clearly said "split the difference." I jumped, and told outlaw. I didn't know where the extra $1,500 was going to come from to secure the loan, but I called Mr. Bugg and told him what happened. So offer $93,500 and tell him I would split the difference. Sunday morning Mr. Bugg called and told me "Congratulations!"

Monday morning I went to the bank, which, of course, had been closed since 9/11, and told them I had found a house and my offer of $93,500 was accepted to see what she could do. She recalculated the loan, now using the new interest rate that had plummeted across America, and said, at the new rate of 6% they could fund the loan, the difference was $1,500. God is in control!!!

A week after I moved in I went out on my back deck and finally had a good look at the view, and it hit me! It was long and rectangle (200 ft of lawn from the back edge of the house, with a natural wooded area with creek behind the lawn, and large trees for 50 feet beyond the lawn. And there were 23 pine trees bordering the property on each side.

One day I got a phone call from my next door neighbor telling me there was a tornado coming so get in an inner bathtub and hope for the best. I thanked her, but told her God gave me this house, I'm going back to bed and am not going to worry about it. The next day there were trees down all over the neighborhood, even at my next door neighbor's, but not a twig down in my yard.

And I still sleep through tornado warnings. He's in control of this house and my life.

By the way, my husband's loan is still at 9%. Even though he married his mistress, he didn't want to refinance and share ownership. It is all his, and so is his sin.

I am not interested in extra biblical accounts. I am only interested in biblical support for the practice. For me: If it is not in Scripture, it does not exist.

Jason0047 said:

I am not interested in extra biblical accounts. I am only interested in biblical support for the practice. For me: If it is not in Scripture, it does not exist.

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So I spent an hour writing you a testimony that you wouldn't even read. Got it. My life confirms scripture. It is a living testimony.

1 Corinthians 14:38

1stcenturylady said:

So I spent an hour writing you a testimony that you wouldn't even read. Got it. My life confirms scripture. It is a living testimony.

1 Corinthians 14:38

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Sola Scriptura is not a position of ignorance of the things of God. The Bible is my spiritual authority and not outside extra biblical sources or accounts.

Jason0047 said:

Sola Scriptura is not a position of ignorance of the things of God. The Bible is my spiritual authority and not outside extra biblical sources or accounts.

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Sometimes your lack of Spirit and love astounds me. I hope Jesus knows you. I wonder. It sounds to me like you just read about God, but most of us know you have to have a personal relationship with Him. I do, and I hear His voice. I think the reason you want to discount my personal testimony is you are jealous, and scared to death. And if you're not, you should be. Paul warns us we have to be righteous through the baptism of the Spirit of Christ, not self-righteous. You can have personal testimonies too. God didn't go on vacation, but watches over His word to perform it. It is more than a history book.

Matthew 7:21-23

1stcenturylady said:

Sometimes your lack of Spirit and love astounds me. I hope Jesus knows you. I wonder. It sounds to me like you just read about God, but most of us know you have to have a personal relationship with Him. I do, and I hear His voice. I think the reason you want to discount my personal testimony is you are jealous, and scared to death. Paul warns us we have to be righteous through the baptism of the Spirit of Christ, not self-righteous. You can have personal testimonies too. God didn't go on vacation, but watches over His word to perform it. It is more than a history book.

Matthew 7:21-23

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Ad hominems is not biblical proof of what you say is true. The Bible is where I got my faith, and it is how I build my faith. If it is not in the Bible, I strive not to partake of it.

Jason0047 said:

Ad hominems is not biblical proof of what you say is true. The Bible is where I got my faith, and it is how I build my faith. If it is not in the Bible, I strive not to partake of it.

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Jason, I truly feel sorry for you. No one would even know we are friends.

1stcenturylady said:

Jason, I truly feel sorry for you. No one would even know we are friends.

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Let’s please address the topic at hand with Scripture.

Jason0047 said:

Let’s please address the topic at hand with Scripture.

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I live Scripture. My life confirms the Scriptures to be true.

Jason0047 said:

Let’s please address the topic at hand with Scripture.

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John 15:7
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

1 John 5:14-15
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Are your prayers answered 100% of the time? Mine are.

1stcenturylady said:

John 15:7
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

1 John 5:14-15
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Are your prayers answered 100% of the time? Mine are.

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You are boasting publicly about your prayer?

The Bible says,
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:6).

Jason0047 said:

You are boasting publicly about your prayer?

The Bible says,
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (Matthew 6:6).

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I am boasting in the Lord just as Paul did, that His word is true. Unfortunately for some, they can never have these verses true in their lives because you must have ears to hear, which only the Spirit can give you as a gift.

LovebirdsFlying said:

A lot of people think praying in public is wrong because of Matthew 6:5-6. However, they are overlooking John 11:41-42 where Jesus Himself prayed out loud in front of other people, AND did it for their benefit. Even in church, where one person leads prayer and the others silently bow their heads, only God knows who is really praying along and who is thinking about what to have for dinner. Only God knows whether the person praying out loud really means it or is only parroting words. So it's still between that person and God.

If there is a wrong way to pray, I believe it is when your prayer blasphemes God rather than praising Him. It *is* OK to tell Him how outraged or scared or baffled you are about the circumstance you're in. Go ahead and beat your fists against His chest. He's big enough to take it. Your emotions aren't going to surprise Him, so He's the one to dump it all onto. But don't blaspheme Him in the process. No matter what happened, even if it makes no doggone sense at all, He is still good, He is still on the throne, and He is still worthy of praise. So any prayer that takes the attitude of "God, this is what I wanted to happen, and You didn't make it happen, so (insert statement of rejection here)," I would say that's a wrong prayer. "God, this doesn't make sense to me, I feel like I'm going to lose my mind, but it's in Your hands and I'm trusting You to work it out according to Your will." That would be the proper attitude.

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I believe that Jesus is an exception to the rule. For Jesus is God. He said it for the benefit so that those around Him might believe. Jesus would know that His prayer would benefit them because He is God. So that is why He prayed in the way that He did. We cannot know if our prayer would benefit those around us (if we were to pray openly). We cannot know men's hearts and thoughts like Jesus. Jesus was also worshiped, but that does not mean we are to have others worship us (of which I am sure you would agree). I believe Christians can pray together, but this is not the same thing as praying in front of a large crowd or boasting in one's prayer. If this was not the case, then Jesus' teaching in praying in private would not mean anything.