tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4879615387850345622.post2962969096774837632..comments2023-07-17T23:10:02.228+10:00Comments on Discombobula: Good Prayer/Bad PrayerSuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01122659239039900398noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4879615387850345622.post-19017431595034149772009-11-08T21:08:11.985+11:002009-11-08T21:08:11.985+11:00It's so weird, Sue, how this idea of 'righ...It's so weird, Sue, how this idea of 'right' and 'wrong' prayer is even an issue. But it is, and that's so much a symptom of all that's awry with our thought-world. Prayer flows from the very centre of us, where God is, and is, at its most basic, God communing with God through the medium of his amazing Creation.<br><br>It's when our sense of - non-existent - separation gets in the way that everything goes tail-up.<br><br>Let's keep Centred:)MysticBrithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14341037712756284832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4879615387850345622.post-37878564804280870842009-11-08T22:53:41.093+11:002009-11-08T22:53:41.093+11:00Thanks for the link, Sue! That Stringfellow passag...Thanks for the link, Sue! That Stringfellow passage is so good...<br><br>You know, when I first put up The Mercy Site, something like eight years ago, I fully expected to be attacked from all sides. It never happened. Maybe there are nasty remarks about The Mercy Site, or The Mercy Blog, out there somewhere, but I've never seen any. God is merciful!<br><br>This "repetitive babbling" thing (Matthew 6:7) is easily solved with a little NT Greek. <i>Battalogeo</i> means babbling, going on and on. <i>Battalos</i>, "the Gabbler," was a nickname for Demosthenes, the great orator, given him by his rivals. You could as easily apply the term to wordy charismatic/evangelical prayers that are as much sermons as prayers!<br><br>Jesus, though, seems by choosing this very Greek expression to have been getting at pagan prayers rather than Jewish - hence the NIV translation, "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." The very literal and accurate ESV has, "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." Only the old King James version has this "vain repetition" phrase that gets people like your blogger so worked up!<br><br>You are so right to refuse to live in (out of) fear. As Jesus' mate wrote, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)MikeFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732248182662167951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4879615387850345622.post-8167545448828158112009-11-10T14:56:51.903+11:002009-11-10T14:56:51.903+11:00You know, I get so sick of "it's not in t...You know, I get so sick of "it's not in the bible..." As you say, millions of things are not in the bible...so unless a person is completely literal, they are violating it one way or another. The internet is not in the bible. Neither is electric guitar. Nor chocolate. Nor television. Nor cars.<br><br>You can't judge something by omission.<br><br>Anyhow, love this post, love reading your experiences and such. Wish I cared enough about any kind of prayer at all to practice the things you talk about...but I'm rather apathetic right now. But it sounds just lovely.Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01067954787472463337noreply@blogger.com