Hello Peeps!
So today, I want to talk about how we ought to pray. When I was younger, I was brought up as a “Catholic” Christian when I was living with my grandparents who were diplomats; and as a Catholic, we prayed repetitive “Hail Mary” type of prayers and we also prayed to “Saints” as it was a custom to Catholic religious practices. This is what my grandparents taught me to do when I was younger because that is what they were taught to do when they were younger.
However, when I moved to Canada at the age of 16 to live with my Mom, I discovered that this type of prayer was all wrong and it always bothered me why we needed to pray directly to “saints” acknowledged by the Catholic church who to me, were dearly departed individuals who weren’t sinless people to begin with.
How were they an intermediary to get our prayers answered if they were not sinless people themselves?
Now, I know that some Catholics will be quite up in arms with what I’m about to say, but the truth is, Biblically speaking, praying to “Saints” is not scriptural, nor is it backed up Biblically speaking. If anything, we ought to be praying directly to the Father (God) as Jesus told us to do in the Bible.
Jesus confirms that we need to pray directly to the Father and tells us how we ought to pray in Matthew 6:5-15:
The Model Prayer
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.[b] 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On 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 do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.[c]14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
I remember having this argument with my Grandfather who was brought up as a Catholic on this issue and when I pointed out this scripture to him found in Matthew 6, he could not refute nor deny what I was stating as Biblical proof of how we ought to pray. Since then, he has started to pray differently and he has seen results through his prayers as he now has received the revelation as to how we ought to pray to God. He also has been referring to Biblical scripture in his prayers rather than relying on Catholic prayer beads (rosaries), Hail Mary’s, saint pins and pictures etc to pray. Relying on such things when praying to God is a form of IDOLATRY. There is no scriptural text to back up why any Christian should use such strange religious paraphernalia in order to pray directly to God to get their prayers heard and answered. If you have been doing this all your life and are wondering why nothing seems to be happening, it’s because such practices are a form of idol worship. You will need to do away of this practice and repent before the Father and learn to pray directly to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit from now on. So my point is, as Christians, we need to model our lives on the basis of Biblical Scripture as our FOUNDATION and not on the basis of religious dogma that cannot support some of the practices that have no scriptural basis for doing the things that they do.
John Baptizes Jesus
Even Jesus was Baptized when he was a young man if you look at the following Scriptures:
As a former-Catholic Christian, I was baptized as a child, but when I grew up, my mom gave me Christian books on spiritual warfare when I was living in China at age 16 that forever changed my life that I literally chose God as my Saviour and went through water Baptism at the age of 17 when I moved to Canada to publicly declare my faith in God with a whole bunch of other saved believers that were around my age and some people were older than me who also gave up their lives to the Lord, Our God, Jesus Christ.
To me, water baptism as a baby is more like a “baby dedication” to the Lord. I think it’s ok to have your baby dedicated to God ceremonially as a baby; however, I also think that when a person actually chooses God as their Saviour when they grow up and have come to the full knowledge of who Christ is to them, and have accepted that they are indeed sinners in need of a Saviour, that is when a believer should truly get baptized by water and then the gifts of the Holy Spirit will ignite in them as they get baptized by the fire of the Holy Spirit once they have affirmed their faith in God and grown in the knowledge of the Truth through meditating on the Word of God (The Bible).
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Image source: jw.org
You can only receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit after you have affirmed your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour through water baptism. I firmly believe that. I’m no longer a “Catholic” Christian as it were because I’m now a non-denominational Christian who believes in living life by Biblical Standards of Truth.
I attend a Bible-believing church and believe in the workings of the Holy Spirit in my life. Praying to “Saints” like the Catholics do, doesn’t increase your spirituality. This maybe hard for a Catholic Christian to gulp down and accept what I’m saying, but I’m stating all this based on Biblical Standards of Truth. You can choose to deny it, but this is what the Bible says, and Jesus Himself tells us how we ought to pray to the Father.
Nowhere in the Bible does it indicate that we should pray to dead people who have passed on…nowhere does the Bible indicate that we should look to those who some people categorize as “saints” as intermediaries to answering our prayers. In some sense, this type of activity is a subtle form of necromancy which is strictly forbidden for any Christian to be doing in the first place, so I urge you Christians of God, to Pray directly to the Father, and you will see Him do miraculous things in your life, Amen! I have posted a song by Hillsongs United called Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) as a ministering song on this topic of Water Baptism. I pray that this song ministers to your spirit today. God Bless You everybody! 😀
Sherline's Watchu Thinkin' Blog 