Should We Pray the Rosary?

 

Praying the Rosary has never been an issue with me because this is what Catholics do. And I am not a Catholic. Maybe some of you were Catholic and still pray the rosary. I have a relative that did for years after she got born again. However, are there any scriptures that those that left their Catholic religion can still pray with the rosary? 

Its an interesting question that perhaps you may want to know. So, I go again to gotquestions.org for their answer. Please read on:

Is praying the rosary scriptural?

Praying the rosary is promoted within the Catholic Church as a means of strengthening one’s faith, resisting evil, growing spiritually, and generally benefiting society. While some of the prayer of the rosary is scriptural, the whole second half of the “Hail Mary” and portions of the “Hail, Holy Queen” are blatantly unbiblical. While the first part of the Hail Mary is almost a direct quotation from Luke 1:28, there is no scriptural basis for (1) praying to Mary, (2) addressing her as “holy,” or (3) calling her “our life” and “our hope.”

Praying the rosary involves giving attributes to Mary that the Bible never gives her. To call Mary “holy”—the Catholic Church teaches that Mary never sinned or had any taint of original sin—is not biblical. The Bible calls all believers “saints,” which can be interpreted as “holy ones,” but Scripture says that the righteousness believers have is the imputed righteousness from Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). In this life, no one is yet sanctified from sin in practice (1 John 1:9—2:1). Jesus is called our Savior repeatedly in Scripture because He saved us from our sin. In Luke 1:47, Mary calls God her “Savior.” Savior from what? A sinless person does not need a Savior. Sinners need a Savior. Mary acknowledged that God was her Savior. Therefore, Mary acknowledged that she was a sinner.

Jesus came to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21). The Roman Catholic Church claims that Mary was saved from sin differently from everyone else—that she was saved from sin through the immaculate conception (her being conceived free of sin). But is this teaching scriptural? The Roman Catholic Church openly admits that this doctrine is not found in Scripture. When a young man addressed Jesus as “good Master” (Matthew 19:16–17), Jesus asked why he called Him “good” since there is none good but one, God. Jesus was trying to make the young man aware that he was using the term good too loosely. In praying the rosary, Catholics use the term holy too loosely. No one, including Mary, is holy but God. This ties in with Romans 3:10–23, Romans 5:12, and countless other passages that stress the fact that in God’s eyes no one measures up. Never is Mary excluded from such all-encompassing statements.

But praying the rosary has an even more basic problem, namely, that much of the prayer is directed to Mary, not to God. We are never told in the Bible whether anyone else in heaven can even hear us. God alone is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to address their prayers to God the Father. Every example of prayer in the Bible is addressed to God alone. There is never a single example of someone praying to any “saint” or angel or anyone else (besides prayers to false gods). Further, any time that a pious person prostrates himself (in a religious setting) to honor someone else besides God (chiefly to the apostles or angels), he is told to get up, to stop it (Acts 10:25–26; 14:13–16; Matthew 4:10; Revelation 19:10; 22:8–9). The Roman Catholic Church states that it worships God alone but “venerates” Mary and the saints. What is the difference? A person praying the rosary spends more time calling out to Mary than to God. For every one praise of God in the rosary, there are ten praises of Mary!

Praying the rosary also assigns a task to Mary that the Bible never assigns her. Jesus is our Redeemer (Galatians 3:13; 4:4–5; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:18–19; Revelation 5:9), our heavenly Advocate (1 John 2:1), and our one and only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). The “Hail, Holy Queen” portion of the rosary prayer calls Mary our “most gracious advocate.” This is a direct contradiction of the clear biblical teaching that only Jesus is our go-between.

Praying the rosary requires Catholics to call upon Mary as the “holy Queen.” The only time in Scripture that the title “Queen of Heaven” is found, the term is used in a negative way (Jeremiah 7:17–19; 44:16–27). The Bible never pictures Mary as a queen; rather, she calls herself “the Lord’s servant” (Luke 1:38). She is never given a crown or authority over heaven and earth. Likewise, is it appropriate, while praying the rosary, to call Mary our “life” and “hope”? Again, these are terms that are used of God alone in Scripture (John 1:1–14; Colossians 3:4; 1 Timothy 1:1; Ephesians 2:12; Titus 2:13).

The practice of saying the rosary runs contrary to Scripture in a number of ways. Only God can hear our prayers. Only God can answer our prayers. We have one intermediary (Jesus), and it is in His name we pray, not Mary’s.

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So, there you are, Friends.

Mary has no authority to answer our prayers. She is not to be worshipped. God did give her the awesome privilege to be the mother of Jesus. But He was not only her Son, He was her Lord. Just as He is our Lord. 

Thanks for coming by today. I have been having problems with my pc so I had to transfer everything over to a new one.

Thank you for your patience.

Have a wonderful and blessed evening or whatever time it is

where you are.

Is Prayer Wasted on Some People?

 

Do you ever feel like giving up praying for those you love or care about just because they do not seem to change even though you've prayed for them for years? 

Really, does prayer for some people just hit the ceiling and do not reach the throne of God?

And what does the Bible say about praying for loved ones? Or does it say anything?

Gotquestions.org may answer some of those questions for you, and I am sharing them with you on today's post. Please read ahead:

Is there any scriptural basis for praying on behalf of the unsaved?

Christians are people of prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and some of our prayer requests are in regards to the spiritual condition of our unsaved friends and relatives. We want them to be saved, and we pray to that end. In this we agree with Charles Spurgeon, who said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

We should be praying for the unsaved. Our Savior came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and a principal theme of Luke’s gospel is Christ’s compassion for those often regarded as outcasts in Israel. Our Savior “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), so when we pray for the salvation of an unsaved person, we are simply sharing in the stated desire of Jesus.

We should pray for the unsaved because, the truth is, it’s not possible for us mere mortals to know who God’s elect are before they become saved (think of Saul of Tarsus). Spurgeon once quipped that it would be nice if the elect had a big E stamped on their back, but, of course, they do not. We do know that all of God’s elect will indeed be saved at some time during their earthly sojourn (see John 6:37, 39), but that may not happen until the day they’re called home to be with the Lord (e.g., the thief on the cross). It is through people with “beautiful feet” who bring the gospel that God uses as the means of reaching His elect (Isaiah 52:7).

We all have people in our sphere of influence who are unsaved, and we should be praying for them because we care deeply about them and because we know that God cares for them and wants none of them to perish—His desire is for all of them to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). It is natural to pray for those we care about. Consider the compassion the young servant girl showed to her Syrian captor: “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy!” (2 Kings 5:3). Assuming that she prayed for Naaman, her prayer was on behalf of the unsaved. Consider the compassion Paul felt for his lost Jewish brothers: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people” (Romans 9:2–3). Another devout servant of God’s—Moses—was, like Paul, ready to give his life for the sake of his people (see Exodus 32:32).

Jesus instructed us to pray for the unsaved in this manner: “Ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2). This prayer concerns the “harvest field” of evangelism in the world. It is a prayer that people will be saved and God will be glorified.

We have another biblical command to pray for the unsaved: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. . . . This is good, and pleases God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:1, 3). The Ephesian church (where Timothy pastored) had apparently stopped praying for the unsaved, and Paul was encouraging Timothy to make it a priority again. His desire was for the Ephesian Christians to have compassion for the lost. Once again, we have no way of knowing who the elect are until they respond. And as John MacArthur aptly points out, “The scope of God’s evangelistic efforts is broader than election” (Matthew 22:14).

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16), and “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12; cf. Psalm 34:15). God indeed hears the cries of His children. We know what happens to those who die in their sins, and that knowledge alone should prompt us to pray incessantly for our unsaved acquaintances in the hope that they, too, will respond to God’s call and join us in heaven.

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Truly, we should be praying for those that do not know Jesus. For it's their very eternity that is in the balance should they die without Him.

This question reminded me of my early marriage.

It wasn't long into it that it was evident that my husband was becoming an alcoholic. Those first years had been so hard. But sometime in about the 12th year, I got serious and started praying for him. God did not answer it right away. In fact, it was a couple more years or so down the road that my husband ended up in the hospital one day and had been admitted into the alcoholic's unit. That ended his drinking career and he lived for many years never taking another drink.

In the meantime, as he got sober, he also got saved and we started going to church. God had been so gracious to us during those years that followed and I will always be thankful for them and the man that I married. Because there were times beforehand that I had not been so thankful. 

I had not given up though once I started praying, even though it didn't happen when I wanted it to. Still God was faithful and it happened in His time, and not mine.

So, if you are praying for someone and not seeing positive results, don't give up. God knows what you need even before you do. And He hears every word you whisper on behalf of those you love.

Thanks for letting me share with you today.

God is good all the time.

And all the time God is good.

Have a blessed day.

What is a Prayer Chain

 

I think that most of us already know what a prayer chain is. However, just in case you are a new Christiaan and do not know what it is, I think it is a good question to answer. As in many questions, I went t gotquestions.org to get a good answer for this, so please read on

What is a prayer chain?

A prayer chain is a group of people, usually associated with a church, who share prayer requests and commit to pray for needs as they arise. It’s called a “prayer chain” because the individual members are “linked” by prayer, and requests make their way from one person to another, following the “chain.” In a prayer chain, each link represents one person committed to pray for the needs of others. The more “links” in the chain, the more people are praying for the needs or struggles of others. The imagery of a chain also underscores the strength of God’s people who are united in prayer.

A prayer chain is not to be confused with a chain letter, which is a communication passed along to an ever-growing number of people, promising some benefit or the avoidance of some curse. Such letters (or emails) are hoaxes and have nothing to do with a prayer chain, which simply alerts the people in a set group that it is time to pray.

Those who participate in a prayer chain commit to pray for whatever need arises, when it arises. There is no reward promised; those who pray do so out of concern for others’ needs. They know they are entreating a God who hears them if they ask according to His will (1 John 5:14).

Many churches started their prayer chains with telephone calls: when one person received a phone call relaying a prayer request, he or she had the responsibility to call a predetermined set of other people to relay the message. In that way, the prayer information was disseminated quickly and efficiently. One person did not have to call all the people in the church; every person called a few. More recently, most churches have gone to an email or text-based prayer chain. In this system, a prayer request is channeled to one person who has the database, and that person will send a group text or email asking for immediate prayer. God’s people pray, and the Spirit makes intercession according to His will (see Romans 8:26–27). Other churches also utilize a website or a closed or private social media page as an online prayer chain.

In Scripture, we are commanded to pray, making our requests known to God with thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Colossians 4:2, Philippians 4:6–7). Jesus gave His disciples instructions about prayer, including a model prayer (Matthew 5:5–13). God wants to hear from His people. A well-organized prayer chain helps to inform God’s people concerning matters of prayer and also prompts them to pray.

James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” The concept of a prayer chain relates directly to that verse. We should confess our sins (and struggles) to one another and pray for one another. If God wills, our multitude of fervent prayers can avail much. We are not responsible for the outcome of the prayers, but we are commanded to pray, leaving us with peace that whatever matter we take to the Lord is in the best possible hands (see Philippians 4:6–7).

In short, a prayer chain is a group of people who have volunteered to pray for one another and encourage others to pray. They are the “minutemen” of prayer, ready at a moment’s notice to pray for whatever need develops. Their commitment creates a chain, long and strong, of praying saints. Our prayers are made in the confidence that things will always work out according to God’s will. When we see answers to prayer, the prayer chain then becomes a “praise chain,” and that’s a beautiful thing to see.

(source: gotquestions.org)

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This method of praying for each other, is a great way to pass on the needs of those partisipating in the chain.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends.

Have a great day and be blessed in Jesus!

Social Media Prayer Requests?

Here are a couple interesting questions for you?

Have you ever asked for prayer on any Social Media platform?

Do you think it is wrong to do so?

To be honest, I have never considered this. However, if my memory services me, I think I did request prayer on Facebook several years ago when we were traveling south on a trip.

But I think those are good questions, so I looked for answers on gotquestions.org to see what they said about it.

Here is what I found:

Should Christians post prayers on social media?

Of course, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are not mentioned in the Bible. But some people are concerned that Jesus says something in the Sermon on the Mount that might prohibit Christians from posting prayers on social networking sites.

Here is Jesus’ command: “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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” Is tweeting a prayer or posting one as a status update a violation of this command?

We know that Jesus’ words cannot be a prohibition against all public prayer, because Jesus Himself prayed publicly (Matthew 14:19; 26:26–27; Mark 8:6; Luke 23:34). Also, Jesus taught others to pray publicly (Matthew 6:9–13), and the early church prayed publicly (Acts 1:24-25; 4:31). Rather, Jesus’ words should be taken as a command against hypocritical public prayer spoken to attract attention. Jesus was condemning the self-serving practice of offering public performance prayers, show-offish prayers designed to make the people praying look spiritual in the eyes of those who heard them pray.

Prayer should be about communicating to God sincere confession, repentance, thanksgiving, worship, adoration, intercession, and petitions for guidance and/or other help. If prayer becomes a religious recital, not really even addressed to God but just spoken (or written) for the sake of the hearers (or readers), it is not truly prayer.

A prayer posted on Facebook or sent out on Twitter is public, but it need not be hypocritical. Jesus’ apostles not only prayed publicly (Acts 27:35), but also wrote down prayers for others to read (see Ephesians 3:14–19). Just as Paul wrote out a prayer for his Ephesian brothers and sisters in Christ, a sincere prayer of praise, thanks, or intercession on a friend's Facebook page can also be appropriate. If a tweeted prayer is wrong simply because the public can view it, then we should expect there to be no prayers in the New Testament. The truth is that the New Testament contains many prayers (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 15:5; Hebrews 13:20; Revelation 22:20).

Are some prayers on Facebook and Twitter of the hypocritical variety? Undoubtedly. Much of what is posted on social media is self-serving, and prayers often are as well. We should be careful about everything we post. Especially, we must guard against sharing religious-sounding words in order make ourselves appear spiritual. We should never offer a prayer as a “Jesus juke.”

James 1:19 says we should be “quick to listen and slow to speak.” These truths should be applied to posts on social media. We should always examine our motives for posting. We should always actually pray the prayer before we proclaim it publicly. Private prayer—simply having a heart-to-heart conversation with God—should be the essence of our prayer lives. Any public prayer we offer, on social media or elsewhere, should be an extension of our time alone with God.

Whenever we pray, and on whatever platform we express our prayers, our prayers should be for God’s glory, not our own. “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

S. Michael Houdmann

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While I agree with this article, I would submit also that there is a difference between prayer that is communicating to God, and prayer requests. Some of our communication to God is private. Prayer requests can help us by letting people know there is a need either for ourselves or on behalf of someone else, and we are asking God for answers

In asking God for prayer requests on behalf of others, we should be mindful of their privacy as well as for ourselves too.

Thanks for coming by, Friends.

Have a blessed evening!

Are You One of Those....

 

...kind of people that has a problem about praying in public. To be honest with you, I am one that has never liked to pray in public. But not to worry. There is good news for us. I found an answer on gotquestions.org that addresses this and gives us "permission" if you will to not feel guilty about it. (if you do) Read on:

How can I stop being nervous about praying publicly?

Many people find praying publicly or in a group to be a daunting prospect. Public speaking of any kind is one of the greatest fears experienced by people. Public prayer adds the extra pressure of the spiritual aspect and makes people even more nervous because of the potential impact public prayer may have on others. It should be remembered, however, that although prayer is commanded by God, public prayer is not. In fact, Jesus said when we pray, we should go into a room, close the door and pray in secret (Matthew 6:6). So the first thing to understand about public prayer is that it is not a necessity of the Christian life.

For those who want to join in praying publicly, there are several ways to reduce the nervousness that often accompanies the experience. First, it’s important to pray with a group of people with whom we are comfortable, those we are sure won’t judge us for our less-than-eloquent prayers. Praying with others can be a great comfort when we hear our needs being lifted to the throne of grace by those who care enough about us to do so. Others who hear us pray for them are similarly encouraged. A group of people who love one another and accept one another in love and humility will usually ease the fears of those who are nervous about praying in public.

Another way to ease the burden of nervousness is to pray silently in advance of the public session, asking God to direct our minds and hearts to Him and away from ourselves. When we direct our thoughts toward the Creator of the universe and allow ourselves to become immersed in His immense nature, we will find our thoughts and feelings about ourselves diminishing. Our concerns will be more centered on what God thinks of us, not what others think. God loves us with an uncompromising love, and if we belong to Him through Christ, He has put our sin as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), and He invites us to come boldly before His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Being mindful that He does not judge us for our lack of eloquence will go a long way toward easing nervousness. People look at the external, which includes the speech, but God sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

Finally, many people find that the sheer repetition of praying in public will ease the nervousness. Praying with others can be a very edifying experience, but ultimately prayer is the privilege of communicating with our heavenly Father who sees our hearts and knows what we need before we even ask. He doesn’t need to hear eloquence in our prayers in order to bless us and draw near to us. What He asks for is a contrite heart and a lowly spirit, things He will never refuse (Psalm 51:17), no matter how eloquent our prayers.

(source: gotquestions.org)

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So there you go, Friends. While God does want us to pray, He doesn't command us to pray in public. I always felt a bit guilty when I have been in a group and the question was asked, "Would anyone like to lead us in a word of prayer."  The article today, puts my guilt behind me now, and I know that I don't have to feel that way.

Thanks for sticking with me these past 2 days, Friends. I am feeling better and happy to be back giving you content again.

Thanks for coming by today. Have a blessed day!