Not long after we were Baptized, there was a situation where I had to walk away from repetitive praying. Many looked down upon us and we could hear the talking behind our backs without being present! Of course we got slack a little after, but I knew they just did not understand.
I knew this upset some, but I knew God was watching us every step we took and every word we said. I never mean to hurt people, but I understood that I was going to be judged by God as everyone else will be and I had to follow my conscience of the Holy Spirit whispering to do what was right for me.
If you have been following My Life Story, you would understand where I am coming from. God said to not pray repetitiously and my emotions toward God we’re adamant that I follow Him as He wanted! He says to be firm and stand strong and if we go along with something wrong we become just as guilty.
In Hebrews where He explains that the Old Testament was replaced with the New, He also makes it clear that the Old Testament is still being used as a path for others to find the New. I understood that our paths are not on the same point and understood their not understanding why we walked away.
When we pray, we are only to go through Jesus because He is the ONE and ONLY Mediator. For those that have reached the level of finding from seeking, it is understood. For those, the old ways of going through a priest was done away with. If anyone does not understand this, I am going to suggest reading the Book of Hebrews!
Not only is repetitious prayer not what God expects, He also said that those who add to or change His Word is eternally condemned. I take this very seriously! No where is His Word does He refer Mary, His mother, as the mother of God.
Jesus Himself referred to his mother as His mother yes, but He also referred to God as His Father. The “Trinity” of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are a given, but no where in His a Word does it refer to Mary as being on the same level as God. She was found favorable to bring God’s only Son to an earthly being, but to pray to her goes against what He says in that He is the Only Mediator and in John 14:6 where He says no one goes to the Father except for through Him.
No where in Scripture does it say Mary was assumed into Heaven. I have read several Bible versions and really picked through the Catholic Bible and no where does it say to pray to Mary or she was taken up. Yes, she was regarded as pure and worthy to be the earthly mother to Jesus and we appreciate that and understand her position, but we are never told to go through her to get to either God or Christ. That would be considering her as their equal.
And, calling her a virgin is not Biblical either. She was a virgin before she was blessed with the baby Jesus, but afterwards she had other children. They are listed by name in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 as James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, the half brothers of Jesus born after Him.
I do not know a single married couple who does not have sex. She was a virgin but not after Jesus was born. The Bible also refers to His siblings when He went to preach in Him home town and His siblings rejected Him. Remember when the people told Him in another verse that His brothers and sisters were outside waiting for Him? I asked a nun about this after reading the Bible and she was stern on Mary still being a virgin. The Word spoke for itself.
I explained in a previous Story that The Our Father prayer was just an example on HOW to pray and His instructions on how to pray was more to go in quiet and pray and to not pray like the heathens in the street who pray repetitiously (Matthew 6:5.) The words In Matthew 6:19 on say to pray LIKE this.
He just told them not to pray repetitiously, and then instructs them how. LIKE is the game changer word. He was giving an example. You pray to our Heavenly God whose name is holy as holy that you recognize one day His new Kingdom will come and that it is His will not our own in everything that happens. We ask Him for His blessings. We talk to Him from our hearts. It’s that simple.
Christ expects our best and wants us to go to Him in every thought, request, or praise. Many, as I used to do, say prayers over and over the same way and when you’re done, it was just the motions. He wants your heart because He says He already knows your wants and needs but has expectations for you to come to Him. If He tells you to pray with a Him knowing already, do you think He really wants to hear the same prayer over and over?
