Why not just pray directly to god?

[O mountains]

Why not just pray to him directly to light the right path? What's the point of all millenia long religious debates when you could just pray directly to god, ask him to show you the right path and just be done with it? And if jesus is god then then he should recieve the prayer too. I just don't understand why if someone earnestly seeks god, he won't just show them way rather than get them caught up in all these messes. From Athiesm to Zorastrianism.

 

[Arthra]

Well I think we can pray directly to God... It's also possible to pray through an Intercessor as many have difficulty conceiving of God so an Intermediary is sometimes sought.

Zoroastrianism and atheism are in my view historical and have a place in our overall spiritual developement...

 

[Zoness]

I think this makes the religious leaders upset lol.

 

[LittleQin]

God guides whom he wills.
Man tends to overcomplicate things.
Reading scripture, and learning religion helps learn of God, but ultimately it is the desire for God that leads to the path righteousness.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Just pray to God with a mental blank about which God (or Goddess) you are addressing?

I suspect that people usually need to have some idea of who and what they are addressing -- some mental context so they understand why they are even praying at all, because not all deities answer prayers.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[ananda]

Some religions don't even believe that any specific god is the ultimate goal (like Buddhism & it's concept of nibbana).

 

[MehGuy]

Perhaps there is nothing to guide you..

 

[Zstar]

Why not just pray to him directly to light the right path? What's the point of all millenia long religious debates when you could just pray directly to god, ask him to show you the right path and just be done with it? And if jesus is god then then he should recieve the prayer too. I just don't understand why if someone earnestly seeks god, he won't just show them way rather than get them caught up in all these messes. From Athiesm to Zorastrianism.

Sounds like your on the right path! When I was confused about it all I wrote my prayer to ‘God’ on paper, little did I know I would ‘fit’ into Zoroastrianism (lol, the word processor doesn't even recognize the term).

I did it so you can too, maybe it might lead to a similar or a very different path – no-one is right to tell you that you can’t seek God directly, that’s where your spirit came from anyway. Your Source will draw you like a magnet to HER HIM IT and respond to those words you wrote on paper too.

The church or persons might tell you how, although it might make sense to them doctrinally it might not to you – so better to write it in your words.

The ‘Lords Prayer’ might be a good example by the way and it is translated in various forms. During my research I found many translations but found the ‘Christian Witches’ and the ‘Gnostics’ (although I adhere to Jesus Christ was born from Astrology) – was different and made sense.

Not that you need to verve that way for your prayers to God, I would say just keep putting it on paper and God will know.

 

[n2thelight]

Why not just pray to him directly to light the right path? What's the point of all millenia long religious debates when you could just pray directly to god, ask him to show you the right path and just be done with it? And if jesus is god then then he should recieve the prayer too. I just don't understand why if someone earnestly seeks god, he won't just show them way rather than get them caught up in all these messes. From Athiesm to Zorastrianism.

That's the only way one should pray....You should not even pray to Christ,however it must be in His name


Mark 15:38 "And the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."


This was the sacrifice hour, the ninth hour of the day when the chief priest would go into the holy of holies and make sacrifice for the sins of the people. It was a forbidden place for the people to enter and look upon, and now with this veil of the Temple rent in two, the people now had access to look into and approach the very throne of God. This was the daily oblation or sacrifice that offered a lamb, and now here the Lamb of God was offered for one and all times for all those that by faith would believe on Christ, and repent to the Father in "Jesus name". Jesus name became our credentials to approach the throne of God in repentance, and the blood of Christ made it all possible. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for one and all times.

Do you know what was meant in the term "the veil was rent in twain"? The Holy of holies was covered by the law, and it stated that one time each year, one individual, the High Priest, could penetrate the holy of Holies. That means that he could go into the presence of God Himself. That veil was very think and it was not a small thing that this curtain was rent in two from the top to the bottom. This meant that it was a divine supplication, letting us know that it was God that did it.

Now in Christ even you and I can go in and approach the throne of God. Even though you are a sinner, God loved you enough that He paid the price allows that barrier to be removed. It was an awesome price that Christ paid, and that is why when you say, salvation is fee, it is only free because the price has already been paid. Now you can come to the Father at any time and say, Father, I love you. That pleases Him, and with His love for you, come His blessings for you. You now have the right to say directly to Him, Help me Lord, I am a poor sinner." and He will.


The thought that some pray to dead people for intercession is unbelievable to me...Yes I can say a prayer for my family and friends,however that is totally different than me asking my grandmother who has passed on to talk to God for me....

Christ paid an awsome price for my right to come to the Father directly.........

 

[com7fy8]

Why not just pray to him directly to light the right path? What's the point of all millenia long religious debates when you could just pray directly to god, ask him to show you the right path and just be done with it? And if jesus is god then then he should recieve the prayer too. I just don't understand why if someone earnestly seeks god, he won't just show them way rather than get them caught up in all these messes. From Athiesm to Zorastrianism.

"You know, there are spiders that keep spinning their webs to get you stuck so they can suck you for all you've got."

So, I can see your point, how it could be easier and more simple to just pray to God and not be involved with people's religious set-ups which can tangle and mangle.

But God has Jesus for us. Jesus is God's Son, and so He expects us to want Jesus if we want Him And we have trusted Jesus to get us to God. God is our Father and Jesus is His Son. So, God is about family. And this includes having His people . . . a family of people, not only a "family" of beliefs and practices. So, being with God includes learning how to love in His family.

"'Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'" (Matthew 11:28-29)

So, getting to God is not on my own.

 

[AskTheFamily]

Why don't you tell that to children, not to listen to their parents and just ask God.

 

[O mountains]

"You know, there are spiders that keep spinning their webs to get you stuck so they can suck you for all you've got."

So, I can see your point, how it could be easier and more simple to just pray to God and not be involved with people's religious set-ups which can tangle and mangle.

But God has Jesus for us. Jesus is God's Son, and so He expects us to want Jesus if we want Him And we have trusted Jesus to get us to God. God is our Father and Jesus is His Son. So, God is about family. And this includes having His people . . . a family of people, not only a "family" of beliefs and practices. So, being with God includes learning how to love in His family.

"'Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'" (Matthew 11:28-29)

So, getting to God is not on my own.

That's the only way one should pray....You should not even pray to Christ,however it must be in His name


Mark 15:38 "And the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."


This was the sacrifice hour, the ninth hour of the day when the chief priest would go into the holy of holies and make sacrifice for the sins of the people. It was a forbidden place for the people to enter and look upon, and now with this veil of the Temple rent in two, the people now had access to look into and approach the very throne of God. This was the daily oblation or sacrifice that offered a lamb, and now here the Lamb of God was offered for one and all times for all those that by faith would believe on Christ, and repent to the Father in "Jesus name". Jesus name became our credentials to approach the throne of God in repentance, and the blood of Christ made it all possible. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for one and all times.

Do you know what was meant in the term "the veil was rent in twain"? The Holy of holies was covered by the law, and it stated that one time each year, one individual, the High Priest, could penetrate the holy of Holies. That means that he could go into the presence of God Himself. That veil was very think and it was not a small thing that this curtain was rent in two from the top to the bottom. This meant that it was a divine supplication, letting us know that it was God that did it.

Now in Christ even you and I can go in and approach the throne of God. Even though you are a sinner, God loved you enough that He paid the price allows that barrier to be removed. It was an awesome price that Christ paid, and that is why when you say, salvation is fee, it is only free because the price has already been paid. Now you can come to the Father at any time and say, Father, I love you. That pleases Him, and with His love for you, come His blessings for you. You now have the right to say directly to Him, Help me Lord, I am a poor sinner." and He will.


The thought that some pray to dead people for intercession is unbelievable to me...Yes I can say a prayer for my family and friends,however that is totally different than me asking my grandmother who has passed on to talk to God for me....

Christ paid an awsome price for my right to come to the Father directly.........

in the bible it says "seek an ye shall find" and "the kingdom of heaven is within you", Ironically it's worth noting that the bible also says that many will seek to enter the kingdom but not many will, although they could've been referring to the other religions. I know many people who were drawn to a certain religion out of the blue, some to christianity, others to islam, etc. One friend told me that he was a hardcore practicing hindu, and didn't even know about christianity and all of a sudden he said he felt the true to god and knew jesus was the way, he wasn't seeking or praying at all. So don't tell me that I have to throw away all skepticism towards and accept a certain religion with no proof because you don't have the proper knowledge to answer.

Tbh, I am leaning towards jesus though. Not the religion, but jesus. But, I'm also researching islam, and boy I tell you, this is some pretty complicated stuff. It's better to just let go of my ego, and pray to true god, whomever that may be and have his input.

 

[com7fy8]

Tbh, I am leaning towards jesus though. Not the religion, but jesus. But, I'm also researching islam, and boy I tell you, this is some pretty complicated stuff. It's better to just let go of my ego, and pray to true god, whomever that may be and have his input.

Even if we are with the real God, we need correction so we are not haughty and conceited against others. Jesus is not conceited; He is the greatest; yet, Jesus left Heaven itself and came here and shared personally with people and then He suffered and died like He did for us and our sins. And now He is risen from the dead, and He is ruling from Heaven's throne. This also is humble of Jesus, how He cares about us enough to rule us > He cares about us and what we do, here ! ! !

And Jesus wants us, also, to care about others, in prayer. So, caring in prayer for others is included in being with God through His Son Jesus. Love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7); with God, we have hope for any and all people.

But I have been one to criticize, and still I need to be delivered from nasty rotten stuff of holding things against others. Instead, Jesus has us have hope in prayer for any person, at all.

"And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

"So, it's not just who, but how."

God bless you and thank you for sharing your personal adventure with us

 

[WorkingForChrist]

If you pray to Jesus you are praying to God as they are both one, "I and my Father are One" - John 10:30, "The Father is in Me and I in him" - John 10:38.

Jesus said" I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but by me" - John 14:16, Many take this to mean you should call upon the name of Jesus Christ when you pray, that is what I do, I believe that Jesus is the bridge to God, he died and took our punishment so he is the one I call upon. At the end of the day if you believe God and Jesus are one it doesn't matter who you call upon, the pray still gets to the recipient.

 

[paul becke]

Why not just pray to him directly to light the right path? What's the point of all millenia long religious debates when you could just pray directly to god, ask him to show you the right path and just be done with it? And if jesus is god then then he should recieve the prayer too. I just don't understand why if someone earnestly seeks god, he won't just show them way rather than get them caught up in all these messes. From Athiesm to Zorastrianism.

Because of the Incarnation. Jesus wasn't just a token human being, he was fully human; which meant that he was born into a human family, and consequently, of course an extended family, of whom some of the womenfolk are mentioned as figuring among the women who ministered to the Lord and his Apostles while he was preaching.

We must conclude from this that Jesus/God does not despise us human beings, and there is no way that he would discard his dear old Mum and the rest of his family as surplus to requirements in heaven - having served their purpose on earth.

As Catholics we believe in the Communion of Saints:

' Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him ... and
He is not a God of dead men, but of living, for all live to Him ...'
- Luke 20:38

We don't worship them, though we may praise them, as Jesus stated concerning the Virgin Mary, and indeed as she mentioned in her Magnificat: 'All generations shall call me blessed.'

What we mostly do, however, in their regard, is make petitionary prayers to them, i.e. asking favours of them, often simply their prayers. Just as we might ask favours of much closer family members still with us here on earth. Nothing bizarre about it. As long as we remember that God is all in all, and He is the one person we worship as our Creator and Saviour.

In fact, in liturgical tests, such as the Mass and the Breviary, such prayers to Our lady and the Saints always conclude with some form or other of the words: 'We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.'

In fact, we might seem quite a 'nutty' family to outsiders, at times, as we sometimes ask God to ask his Mother to pray for us! And sometimes it gets even more complicated, with other saints dragooned into service! Quite a 'get together!' As I said in another post, it reminds me a bit of the song-title, If You're Irish, come into the Parlour!

But, as regards simply asking God to show you the path, as to which actual religion to follow, many people in our largely-post-Christian societies have done just that, and I've never read of their being disappointed. But I have read of their sometimes having remarkable mystical experiences, in which they were consoled by Christ.

There is a YouTube video-clip one I have in mind. If I can find it again, I'll post it for you here.

 

[paul becke]

Even if we are with the real God, we need correction so we are not haughty and conceited against others. Jesus is not conceited; He is the greatest; yet, Jesus left Heaven itself and came here and shared personally with people and then He suffered and died like He did for us and our sins. And now He is risen from the dead, and He is ruling from Heaven's throne. This also is humble of Jesus, how He cares about us enough to rule us > He cares about us and what we do, here ! ! !

And Jesus wants us, also, to care about others, in prayer. So, caring in prayer for others is included in being with God through His Son Jesus. Love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7); with God, we have hope for any and all people.

But I have been one to criticize, and still I need to be delivered from nasty rotten stuff of holding things against others. Instead, Jesus has us have hope in prayer for any person, at all.

"And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

"So, it's not just who, but how."

God bless you and thank you for sharing your personal adventure with us

I think, if you watch this YouTube video-clip you might find, as I did, that Islam's attitude to women is shocking. The only woman mentioned in the whole of the Koran is the virgin Mary, but there is a lot else that is unattractive. This is not to say, however, that there are not many 'ordinary Moslems' in our society who are good, devout people. Indeed, there are.

I found this former imam's testimony very fascinating and informative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HblEreC3F8I

 

[com7fy8]

Why not just pray to him directly to light the right path? What's the point of all millenia long religious debates when you could just pray directly to god, ask him to show you the right path and just be done with it? And if jesus is god then then he should recieve the prayer too. I just don't understand why if someone earnestly seeks god, he won't just show them way rather than get them caught up in all these messes. From Athiesm to Zorastrianism.

Another thing > we Christians have Jesus who "makes intercession for us." (in Romans 8:34) And the Holy Spirit "makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:24)

So, our Father does not want us to be on our own, in prayer.

And Jesus is our High Priest > "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)

So, Jesus as our High Priest has gone through things of this life, in order that now He as our Groom can feel for us and help us with His grace which got Him through it all. "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." (in 2 Corinthians 12:9)

And then Jesus wants us also to help one another, to feel for others, out of our own problems, and help them with how God helps us.

This includes what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

So, we in Jesus are all in His priesthood of going through things so we can feel for others and help anyone however God makes us able.

So, if you only pray "directly" to God, and are mainly only concerned about your own self with God . . . Jesus wants us to become family with Him and one another, and not on our own >

"and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:15)

Here is some sharing about our priesthood in Jesus >

our priesthood with Jesus - YouTube