intricatic
...a dinosaur... or something...
Are you praying to your significant other in the example, or are you praying to God? If to God, there is no problem to resolve or avoid.
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Praying together
- Thread starter Bootstrap
- Start date
I'm sorry you feel like I'm trying to make others believe what I feel convicted about and that I'm being judging. Really, it started out as just giving advice from what I have learned from many other believers whom I respect. Then it turned into a conflict, it's just advice, and once again, Proverbs couldn't be more clear about the importance of taking advice to heart.
Here's another thought, the Bible doesn't say anything specifically about an unmarried couple living together but in our culture Christians see this as inappropriate still, just because the Bible doesn't say this specific thing should we be ok with it? I'm just trying to say that yes the Bible is an amazing Book and should always be the first resource when dealing with an issue, but our culture is different and not everything in the Bible is spelled out clearly for how to handle every little issue. It tells you how to get an answer.
Here's another thought, the Bible doesn't say anything specifically about an unmarried couple living together but in our culture Christians see this as inappropriate still, just because the Bible doesn't say this specific thing should we be ok with it? I'm just trying to say that yes the Bible is an amazing Book and should always be the first resource when dealing with an issue, but our culture is different and not everything in the Bible is spelled out clearly for how to handle every little issue. It tells you how to get an answer.
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intricatic
...a dinosaur... or something...
The Bible does spell out everything we should or shouldn't do - sin isn't cultural, it's defined strictly. Doing something that might lead you to sin is a bad thing that should be avoided, but praying together, if that prayer is not directed at eachother (using it as a tool to become more intimate with eachother), but to God (communicating with God), is not within that context.
If sin is purely cultural, you have to cede that some things that might have been seen as sinful even after Christ aren't now sinful because our culture panders to those things. Take: homosexuality, polygamy, lying, thievery, hatred, usury, etc...
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I'm not sure what verses specifically you're referring to, but i know of none that say i have to take any advice as gospel truth. If the advice is about how to live my life as Christian then i need more than an opinion. Its nothing personal, but you are making some serious claims by saying that praying together is dangerous and if that is in fact the case that needs to be backed up by more than an opinion.
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Could you do me a favor and just talk to your pastor about it and see what he says because I'm honest when I tell you that I have never heard anyone recommend praying intimately with their boyfriend or girlfriend.
It wasn't my idea, these claims were handed down to me by people I consider wise. You don't have to take my word, you don't know me so why would/should you, just talk it over with some people you consider to be mature in their faith and see what they say. I'm married so it's not an issue for me, I was just adding to the discussion my thoughts...We'll have to agree to disagree.
It wasn't my idea, these claims were handed down to me by people I consider wise. You don't have to take my word, you don't know me so why would/should you, just talk it over with some people you consider to be mature in their faith and see what they say. I'm married so it's not an issue for me, I was just adding to the discussion my thoughts...We'll have to agree to disagree.
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intricatic
...a dinosaur... or something...
You don't pray intimately with your partner, you pray intimately with God. If it's meant to be intimate with your partner, you're probably doing it wrong.
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I think this is an experience that some Christians have certainly had, but it is not a law, nor is it universal. And it's not stated in the Bible.
I also think it's important to have some ways of getting close, emotionally and spiritually, to see how we handle intimacy together. There are definitely marriages where people don't ever learn how to be intimate. So learning to be intimate together, and seeing how it goes, seems like a really good idea to me.
Jonathan
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Careful here.
Does anyone in your church eat food offered to idols? Do you have any idea who in your church is circumcised? When your church has communion, do you exclude the poor while you gorge yourselves? A lot of the issues discussed in the Bible have little direct relevance today. However, the principles behind them, the things that mattered, do matter - including people who come from different backgrounds than ours, avoiding legalistic approaches to deciding who we want to deal with, caring for the poor and treating them with equal value, being considerate and caring to all in the body.
Courtship practices changes dramatically even within the time span of the Bible. To apply it today, we really need to look carefully at the original context, but also at changes in our culture. I'm not sure where you stand on polygamy or Levirite marriage, for instance - they were not considered sin in the Old Testament, but are probably rather inappropriate today in our culture. I'd be careful about judging people living in a different culture on these things, though.
Of course sin is not purely cultural, but the way we express and experience sin is strongly cultural.
At least a handful of people who are called blessed of God and righteous in the Old Testament practiced polygamy, and there's little indication that God saw this as wrong, though it is not the ideal shown in the Creation accounts in Genesis.
To me, it's important to take time to understand what a text meant to the people at the time, see what values lie behind it, and ask God to show us how to apply that today.
Jonathan
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Thank you for putting that so clearly Bootstrap, I agree with most of your post, a little sketchy on the part saying polygymy was ok in the OT, but will have to look that up more.
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