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Catholicism Versus The Word Of God.

Traditions Of Men And What Saith The Lord.

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Monday, January 16, 2012

Prayer- Who To Pray To


Bible Questions Answered:
“...I pray to St. Christopher for his safety and protection....and I know these prayers will keep us...”
Anna/ Santa Rosa, California

Bible Answer:
Here is a great spiritual rule, and “who,” is there that would dare disagree with it?

Oh God:
If Jesus taught us to do so, thank you for your strength to do it!
If Jesus taught us not to do so, thank you for your strength not to do it!
Whatever we do or not do, may it all be according to your word alone!
Amen

Please print this simple three line prayer out, and place it in your Sunday School room, and church sanctuary.

Believing this as every Christian “must,” let us then see what the Word of God says regarding the subject of prayer.

Who should we pray to?  That is according to the Word of God, and Jesus Christ, God's Son.

Matthew 6:9-13 KJV (Jesus Christ)
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Who did Jesus Christ, God's Son, tell us to pray to?
To “our Father,” which art in heaven.

Not to saints, not to angels, nor anyone else! Well, just where does this teaching come from? It does “not,” come from the Word of God, it comes from something called “The Traditions* of Men.”

The Traditions of men:
*Tradition: Handed down, oral beliefs, customs from generation to generation.
(New World Dictionary)

 Mark 7:8 KJV Jesus Christ
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men..."

Colossians 2:8 KJV Apostle Paul
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Matthew 15:9 KJV
But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Mark 7:7 KJV
Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.


If we as Christian people are truly following the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts, than the time must come when we face the question, “Will I follow, Thus Saith The Lord,” or will I hold to the unbiblical “Traditions of men?”

 Isaiah 48:11 KJV God told Israel (Read the whole chapter.)
"... I will not give My glory unto another."

Exodus 20:1-6 KJV
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.

Homily:
Some time ago, someone gave me a recording from a religious college, where the professor got up to address the students, and when he did he said these words. “Students you must realize that 80% of what you will be taught here are the traditions of our fathers.”

No doubt this revelation was to ward off any inquisitiveness later.
Questions such as, “is this in the Bible?”

Oh, how important it is to read and to know the Word of God!
Read it daily and memorize it.

Psalm 119:11 KJV
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.


Psalm 19:14 KJV
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.


Friends, if you and I do not read and know the Word of God, for ourselves, we will end up sinning against God, that is for sure!

We cannot abrogate our personal responsibility to another.
To do so, means we do not wish to be bothered with the spiritual safety of our eternal souls.
“Let someone else worry about that.”
If this our motto be, surely we shall reap a “careless” eternal reward.

Our Saviour taught that the Word of God was to be our spiritual daily nourishment.

Matthew 4:4 KJV
But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Luke 4:4 KJV
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

John 6:35,48,63 KJV
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.
48 I am that Bread of Life.
63 It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life.

Why do we pray to our Father, and not to anything or anyone else?
We do because at His right hand (not hanging dead on a cross) is the resurrected Lord of glory, the one who intercedes for the people of God.

Romans 8:34 NLT
Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Hebrews 7:24-27 KJV
24 But this Man (Son of Man, Jesus Christ), because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable Priesthood.
25 Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26 For such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself.

And when we pray to the Father, we always ask in Jesus name, ...because He told us to.

John 14:13,14 KJV
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it.

John 16:23, 24 KJV
23 And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Ephesians 2:18 KJV
For through Him (Jesus Christ) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Ephesians 5:20 KJV
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

God hears and always answers prayer, may we always spend time in His word, and in conversation with Him.

Be sure to read the other blog postings regarding the subject of prayer.