Prayer has to be the single subject that's talked about and advocated the most amongst Christian and other religious circles. But what exactly is prayer??? I know our many theories about the subject, but do we really and truly know HOW to pray to get RESULTS everytime? Andrew Womack did a radical teaching on the subject of prayer and suggested that much of the way christians have been taught to pray is wrong.
I personally feel that the greatest tragedy that could ever happen in the omniverse is wasted time. If it's just a second of wasted time, that is a tragedy. This may sound far-fetched, but I believe that if the film of this dimension was taken completely off of our eyes, to where we could really see into the spirit world at everything that's going on, we would see how valuable one second is!
Yet, it seems that so many of us pray incorrectly, because we "pray", a'wishing and a'hoping that somebody heard us? I know we say we have faith, but what happens when that faith is really put to the test? Most of us would fall apart. We have mastered the ART of prayer down to a science, but do we really have the tehnicalities (foundation) down to the tee? Honestly? Can we honestly and truthfully say that we know for sure that our prayers have been heard (and I'm not talking about wishful thinking).
I didn't grow up in the Holiness denomination, I grew up pentecostal. But I have heard many of the older croud talk about their experience in the sanctified church, where prayer was strongly enforced, along with H-ly Ghost baptism and water baptism. When you came to the altar to receive the Holy Ghost, you were told you had to wait for Him until it fell. But not a passive waiting--you had to work for it (I'm using Him and It interchangeably). The way you worked was by calling clapping your hands and calling the name "Jesus" constantly, as fast as you could until you started foaming at the mouth, while two altar workers stood on both sides of you--one telling you to "hold on!" and the other telling you to "let go!"..."Keep calling Him!" You were supposed to do this until you lost your voice and the only thing that could come out of your mouth was an unknown tongue or language.
I don't know if any of you have read a book titled "Decieved: By The New Age" by Will Baron. But one of the things he pointed out was the popular method(s) of prayer that were used in many churches that people thought was of G-d but were really a sneaky satanic tool that had been used by the enemy to creep in and further his "new age" agenda. He gave his testimony, in the book, about how he received a "false Holy Spirit" at the altar of a Holiness (if I'm not mistaken on the denomination) church. He had the same experience as described above, until he received his prayer language. Later on, after receiving the authentic HS, he claims, he realized that he had been possessed by a demonic spirit...and would have never known it, had not some of his family members been interceding for him... Even Bob Larson (the Exorcist) did a teaching on the new age and demonic spirits and said something to the effect that you can chant the name "Jesus" over and over and receive a demon.
So, I'm wondering, what does this also say about "Oh God!" prayers? I heard Perry Stone tell of one great evangelist that he knew who prayed for about 3 hours, much of his prayer consisting of "Ooooooh God", "Ooooooh God"..... and he had amazing results in his ministry. I'm wondering if what he was doing was a form of chanting. The bible does say something, which Will Baron also pointed out, about not having vain repition in prayer.
I personally feel that the greatest tragedy that could ever happen in the omniverse is wasted time. If it's just a second of wasted time, that is a tragedy. This may sound far-fetched, but I believe that if the film of this dimension was taken completely off of our eyes, to where we could really see into the spirit world at everything that's going on, we would see how valuable one second is!
Yet, it seems that so many of us pray incorrectly, because we "pray", a'wishing and a'hoping that somebody heard us? I know we say we have faith, but what happens when that faith is really put to the test? Most of us would fall apart. We have mastered the ART of prayer down to a science, but do we really have the tehnicalities (foundation) down to the tee? Honestly? Can we honestly and truthfully say that we know for sure that our prayers have been heard (and I'm not talking about wishful thinking).
I didn't grow up in the Holiness denomination, I grew up pentecostal. But I have heard many of the older croud talk about their experience in the sanctified church, where prayer was strongly enforced, along with H-ly Ghost baptism and water baptism. When you came to the altar to receive the Holy Ghost, you were told you had to wait for Him until it fell. But not a passive waiting--you had to work for it (I'm using Him and It interchangeably). The way you worked was by calling clapping your hands and calling the name "Jesus" constantly, as fast as you could until you started foaming at the mouth, while two altar workers stood on both sides of you--one telling you to "hold on!" and the other telling you to "let go!"..."Keep calling Him!" You were supposed to do this until you lost your voice and the only thing that could come out of your mouth was an unknown tongue or language.
I don't know if any of you have read a book titled "Decieved: By The New Age" by Will Baron. But one of the things he pointed out was the popular method(s) of prayer that were used in many churches that people thought was of G-d but were really a sneaky satanic tool that had been used by the enemy to creep in and further his "new age" agenda. He gave his testimony, in the book, about how he received a "false Holy Spirit" at the altar of a Holiness (if I'm not mistaken on the denomination) church. He had the same experience as described above, until he received his prayer language. Later on, after receiving the authentic HS, he claims, he realized that he had been possessed by a demonic spirit...and would have never known it, had not some of his family members been interceding for him... Even Bob Larson (the Exorcist) did a teaching on the new age and demonic spirits and said something to the effect that you can chant the name "Jesus" over and over and receive a demon.
So, I'm wondering, what does this also say about "Oh God!" prayers? I heard Perry Stone tell of one great evangelist that he knew who prayed for about 3 hours, much of his prayer consisting of "Ooooooh God", "Ooooooh God"..... and he had amazing results in his ministry. I'm wondering if what he was doing was a form of chanting. The bible does say something, which Will Baron also pointed out, about not having vain repition in prayer.
ray-U:until-S:something-H:happens! Your prayer is apart of my defence and affence against the enemy!:)
