In recent years, I asked God what the hand holding in a circle when praying was all about. It seemed ritualistic based on pagan practices.
I was one of those irritating children who was always asking why. I think my parents saw it as rebellion instead of a desire to understand the why of everything we did.
The idea that there is greater power in the prayer, incentivizing God to hear and answer when we are in solidarity, smacks of ritual that expects God to do more if we practice this, a sort of manipulation of God.
Within pagan ceremonies, there is a saying "complete the ring", with the expectation that the spirits will come if we are in solidarity. It is perceived as a manipulation and power technique.
It seems to be that in holding hands to pray, we are focusing more on the people around us than on Christ. The sense that the power is in the people and the holding of hands and not in Christ.
John 4:24 "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth".
The holding of hands originated from Pentecostal and Charismatic groups, who have added a lot of ideas that are not Biblical, often emulating the pagans, thinking it will bring greater power.
Another ritual that came from paganism that Christians have adopted is the practice of putting one's hands together to pray. We see no mandate or example in the Bible of believers doing this, but we do see it in pagan religions.
When we ask God to show us the traditoins we were raised with to see if they are taught by God, He opens our eyes to many things Christians practice and even require of one another that God never commanded or endorsed. They were brought into Christianity by people who wanted to feel spiritual, so they adopted these practices from paganism, thinking they would Christianize them.
The problem is they adopted the rules that became habits and turned them into mandates that caused others to judge one another over something that is not Biblical or godly.
Mankind has the habit of desiring to appear more spiritual while disobeying the scriptures. They hold dear to their own idea of holiness based on rituals that are useless in our walk with Christ.
God's word is so simple and does not require many rituals. God gave us the Lord's supper to remember Christ and what He did on the cross. He also gave us the head covering during the gathering to demonstrate the relationships between Christ and the church. He gave us baptism to demonstrate the born-again experience and Christ coming to live in the believer at salvation.
These practices were given by God; nothing more needs to be added to walk with Christ, only the things He gave. Anything else is man's pride, adding things to feel more spiritual.
To add things to our Christianity that God never gave is a matter of pride. We think we are appeasing and pleasing God when we are prideful in thinking we need to add to God's commands our own.
When we do not participate the humanistic rituals of the culture around us, that culture will despise us for not doing what they do. I understand that people often do not know why they do things, so in their heart, they may not be disrespecting Christ. I do not judge their heart. I just know that I have no desire to follow pagan practices merely because the rest of apostacy is doing it.
When we ask God the why of things, He is going to show us, and it will set us apart from nearly everyone.
Some example of rituals the church practices are as follows:
Christmas, Easter, Halloween, birthdays, hand holding in prayer, folding of hands while praying, lighting candles during Lent, giving up foods for Lent, lighting candles for the dead, talking to the dead at funerals, attending a large gathering in a building called a church, the paid pastor system, pews all facing forward while no one is allowed to speak except the paid preacher, funerals, and more, that God never commanded and have distracted beleivers from Christ to place their trust in these rituals.
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