Close Your Church for Good Archives - Page 34 of 63

So far in this series on prayer, we have looked at a few types of “bad habit” prayers you might have heard: Magic Words prayer, the Let God to the Talking prayer, and the Father God Jesus Christ Glory Hallelujah prayer. We now turn to another shocking type of prayer you might hear in a prayer meeting or from a pulpit.

This type may be the worst because although the person thinks they are talking to God, they actually spend a good portion of the prayer talking to the Devil.

Have you ever heard a prayer like this? You probably have.

Here is an example of a prayer I heard quite recently:

God, we thank you for your many answers to prayer this week, and—Devil! I rebuke you in the name of Jesus—and God, may you guide us and direct us this week according to your will—Satan! I bind you and cast you out with the authority of the name of Jesus!—and God, we especially want to lift up to you today Sister Maynard—Get out Satan! Get out! Leave her alone!—who is struggling with the flu this week—Evil spirit of the flu, get out of her! Leave foul demon!—may you use your power and might to restore her to health…

I’m not sure God likes to share prayers to Him this way. Half of the prayer is a conversation with Him, and the other half is a conversation with the devil. I know that they are praying against the devil, but such a practice is not learned from Scripture (the opposite is actually taught: 2 Peter 2:10-11; Jude 9).

When we pray to God, we should not spend time also talking to the devil.

When you pray, talk to God, focus on God, glorify God, and listen to God. Don’t waste any time or words trying to talk to the devil, rebuke the devil, or cast out the devil. Satan is already defeated. You don’t need to give him a second thought (or even a first).

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Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

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Father God Jesus Christ Glory Hallelujah

By Jeremy Myers

25 Comments

In a previous article we saw how people sometimes repeat God’s name over and over in their prayer. This is not a natural way of praying to God.

Another type of unnatural prayer is the one where two or three words are repeated over and over throughout the entire prayer. Sometimes these words are “Glory to God! Hallelujah!” Other times they are “Father God,” “Holy Jesus,” “Glorify Your Name, Oh Lord” or some combination or variation of these ideas.

Usually, while the person is praying out loud, they will inject these words at the beginning of every sentence, and sometimes right in the middle of a sentence.

In church prayer meetings, we usually don’t think much of this sort of praying because it is so common. And while this sort of praying is not quite as strange as speaking in tongues, when it is carried over into a real-world conversation with another human being, it sounds completely bizarre. Imagine that instead of praying to “Father God” two men, Theo and Andrew are having a conversation where Andrew repeats Theo’s name every few words. Here is how this conversation might sound:

Theo: Hey Andrew! How have you…

Andrew: Oh Theo, I thank you for letting me come into your presence today, Theo, and Theo, I ask that you bless me today, Theo. For I am your servant, Theo, and come before you with nothing but an outstretched hand, oh Theo, hoping that you might, Theo, in your glory, Theo, and out of your grace, Theo, see fit to listen to my needs, Theo, and hear my requests, Theo, and grant them, Theo, according to your mercy, Theo.

Theo: Uhhhh….

Andrew: And Theo, there are many people in this place, Theo, who have many burdens, Theo, and they come before you with many sins, Theo, which you, oh Theo, in your infinite wisdom, Theo, already know about, Theo. And we thank you, Theo, that because of your blood, Theo, shed for us, Theo, we might enter your presence, Theo, with boldness, Theo, before your throne of grace, Theo…

Theo: You can stop saying my name now. I’m not going to forget it.

Andrew: Oh Theo, Theo, Theo, Theo, Theo, Theo, Theo. We love your holy name, oh Theo. For in your name, Theo, there is strength, oh Theo, and power, oh Theo, and might, oh Theo, and glory! In your great name, Theo, we cast out evil spirits, Theo, and bind the enemy, Theo…

Have you ever heard prayers like this? Where “Father God” or “Lord Jesus” is mentioned every third or fourth word? This sort of prayer goes on for a while, and the person praying develops quite a rhythm, and pretty soon, those listening to the prayer start whispering, and even shouting the name of God also.

It’s a great way to pray if you want to drum up some enthusiastic “Amens!” to an eloquent and energetic prayer, but when it comes to having a conversation with God about what is important to Him and to us, I’m not sure that this is the best way to pray. When we talk to God, our goal should be to talk to God … not to get people to shout “Amen.”

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

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What about speaking in tongues during prayer meetings?

By Jeremy Myers

133 Comments

I have never spoken in tongues. And honestly, I have never wanted to. I had some pastor tell me that I didn’t want to speak in tongues because I was proud and didn’t want to look foolish in front of others. Maybe so. But I don’t think that looking foolish in front of others is doing a whole lot of good for the cause of Christ and the advancement of the kingdom. But that is a topic for some other time.

All I want to say is that if you speak in tongues, I am not trying to mock you or your prayer language in the rest of this post. I am only poking fun at the two examples below…

I am introducing my series called “Let Prayer Meetings Cease” by writing about several types of prayer that you might hear in a prayer meeting. (I write more about this in my forthcoming book, Cruciform Pastoral Leadership.) Recently we looked at the “Magic Words” prayer. Today, we look at the prayer where people let God do the talking.

The “I Don’t Know What I’m Saying, So God Will Say it For Me” Prayer

I have sometimes been in prayer meetings where people clearly lose their train of thought, or they don’t really know how to pray for the issue at hand, and so rather than pause, or stumble around for the right words, or simply pray wrongly and let God sort it out (He doesn’t mind), the person instead starts to “speak in tongues,” thus trying to impress everybody with their spirituality.

And rather than type what it sounds like, I will give you an example from YouTube. Of course, this guy is preaching a sermon, but just imagine he is praying instead. You’ll get the idea. I actually feel bad for this poor pastor. It appears that he was told that the Holy Spirit would take over and start preaching through him, but for some reason, the Holy Spirit power never really “kicks in” …unless 90% of a Holy Spirit Sermon consists of the words “Glory to God! Hallelujah!”

Oh, and I know this video is old. It looks like it’s from the 1980’s. But these kinds of sermons are still preached in countless pulpits across America today. In the religious environment in which I work, I hear sermons like this almost every week.

Speaking in Tongues Videos

The first is by Brother Barry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=askNweeETVM

And then there is this classic from Televangelist Robert Tilton:

I don’t know if you have ever been in prayer meetings where people do this sort of thing. It has always made me uncomfortable, and I often doubt that this is really what speaking in tongues was all about in Acts 2 and elsewhere in the New Testament. You can disagree, but I think it is always better to pray with words that both you and others understand.

Eventually I plan to write a book about speaking in tongues and what the Bible teaches about it (Join my discipleship group to be notified when it is published), but for now, I just encourage you to stay away from this practice in public prayer settings, especially when it is used as a means to make yourself look more spiritual and sound more holy. This is not what prayer is for.

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

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Let Prayer Meetings Cease

By Jeremy Myers

4 Comments

Chapter 10 in my book, Close Your Church for Good, is called “Let Prayer Meetings Cease.”

In it, I explore the idea that prayer meetings, as beneficial and important as they are, might actually hinder the church from fulling the Great Commission and accomplishing our task of advancing God’s purposes on earth. To live and practice the way of love as modeled by Jesus, one step we can take is to reduce the number and frequency of our prayer meetings.

Note that I am not talking about praying less, but only about the official “prayer meetings” at church, which often become a substitute for action. This idea will be filled out in more detail through the various posts.

Please note that due to some of the feedback I receive on these posts, this chapter might be radically revised for the final edition of the book. These changes will only be available in the print or eBook version when it comes out.
[Read more…]

Don’t treat the Lord’s Prayer like a Magical Incantation

By Jeremy Myers

17 Comments

If you have been to prayer meetings, you have probably heard various types of prayer. Sometimes you might hear what I call “Magic Spell prayers.”

Praying with Magic Words

There are some prayers that people memorize and then say as quickly as possible, as if it is only the words that matter. The Lord’s Prayer is one example. While memorized and recited prayers can be meaningful and helpful, they sometimes degenerate into jumbled string of words where the person praying simply tries to get through as fast as possible.

It sounds something like this:

Ourfatherwhoartinheaven
hallowedbythynamethykingdomcome
thywillbedoneonearthasitisinheaven
giveusthisdayourdailybread
andforgiveusourtresspassesasweforgivethose
whotresspassagainstus
forthineisthekingdomandthepower
andthegloryforeverandeveramen.

Such prayers are more often found in the liturgical settings where prayers are read out of a book or memorized and recited. The goal in such praying seems to be to get the words out as fast as possible. It doesn’t really matter if others understand you or not, of if you really mean the words or not. All that matters, apparently, are the words themselves.

In such cases, I sometimes imagine God saying to such people, “Whoa there! Slow down! Take a breath! I like that prayer, but I can’t understand a word of what you’re saying!”

God understands what is being said, of course, but He doesn’t care for such prayers because there is no focus on relational communication in praying this way.

Those who pray this way reveal a mindset that believes that prayers are like magic incantations, where the only thing that matters is that you pray with the magic words.

This sort of praying might be what Jesus had in mind when He criticized some people in Matthew 6:7 for babbling their prayers, thinking they will be heard for their many words. It is not the words God cares about, and especially not how fast we can get them out.

When you pray, slow down.

It is better to say five meaningful words to God, then 10,000 words without thought or meaning. God wants a relationship; not recited prayers.

Do you want to pray like never before?

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?

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Hey Pastor! Stop talking to the devil in your prayers!

Do you want to pray like never before?

Father God Jesus Christ Glory Hallelujah

Do you want to pray like never before?

What about speaking in tongues during prayer meetings?

The “I Don’t Know What I’m Saying, So God Will Say it For Me” Prayer

Speaking in Tongues Videos

Do you want to pray like never before?

Let Prayer Meetings Cease

Don’t treat the Lord’s Prayer like a Magical Incantation

Praying with Magic Words

Do you want to pray like never before?

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