Just a thought about some silly traditions people hang onto. I used to think we had to go to a church building to pray. Another person I heard of thought we had to go to a building to be saved with the help of pastors in that building. Rolling on Floor Laughing right now!!! Not just at others but at myself when I was new in the faith.
I am a little amused that anyone thinks one must go to a building to be saved or to pray, since Paul was saved on the way to Damascus, Zacchaeus in a tree, and Nicodemus on the road near a river, the thief on a cross and many other examples of people who came to Christ wherever they were without "ordained pastors" or "buildings."
Jesus Christ prayed in the wilderness, and David prayed on his back in his room by himself.
It is astonishing when we think of how many traditions of men have dictated what people do and what they believe that are completely unnecessary but have caused pressure and guilt if the people thought differently.
Did you know you can become saved in a jail cell all by yourself with the influence of the Holy Spirit, it is happening in some countries of the world?
Did you know you can pray anywhere at any time for any reason without the help of another person?
Romans 8:25-27 "…25 But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. 27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
It is not the words people want us to say that save us, its not the rituals people want us to do that save us or impart wisdom.
Ephesians 6:18
"Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints."
Never pray another man's prayer, and never pray from a book unless its the Bible. Never repeat words others tell you to say. God wants us to speak our own minds to Him. He wants genuine worship according to what's in our own hearts, not the canned thoughts of someone other than ourselves.
Mark 7:5-13
"5 And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with [a]unholy hands?” 6 But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7 And in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
Following the traditions of men causes the deadness of the soul, the laziness of the heart, and non-thinking patterns of the mind.
When you pray use your own heart and your own words as you seek God.
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