On prayer (Pt II)
This is a continuation of my black sheep post below. I promise I'll post a few more black sheep traits "soon" - if not for anything else, a mini confessional >:)
Back to prayer: Let's take a peek a Job's prayer, as sort of an "arrow shooting" prayer right to God.
Job 42:1-6
1 Then Job replied to the LORD :
2 "I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.'
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."
That's pretty straight forward to me. No flowery praises, other than a quick one at v. 2, but even that is more a direct response to God's lecture to him. Vv. 3-4 are a repeat of God's challenge, and then all Job's respose comes down to Vv. 5-6. His entire petition is wrapped up in about 5 seconds.
I like that.
A lot.
posted by DD3123 @ 9:17 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Love it!
If you're really feeling black sheepish, you'd probably like the "Mr. Deity" videos on YouTube. Episode #4 deals with prayer.
Good post - I think if Jesus were to see 1/2 the things churches do with 'fancy prayer' in their services as of this day - not sure of he'd laugh or cry...it just seems people are saying 'long prayers' in order to be heard so they can look 'holy'...when in fact - it shows next to nothing.
Matthew 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full."
I think Jesus is pretty clear here on the long prayers. It just annoys me to great length how often they are still done.
I suppose the trick is to separate the hypocrites (as above) from the people who actually prefer it.
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