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How Do You Pray?
If you don't even know who God
is, why do you pray? You say Jesus is God, then are we to assume He says no one
gets to the Father except through the Father? If then, Jesus is God, why does He
always refer to Himself in the second person? Is Jesus schizophrenic?
The Divinity of the Christ
We owe thanks to Alan Tennuchi
and to Jesus and to God and to the holy spirit for this one. It all started like
this:
27 Next he said to Thomas:
Put your finger here, and see my hands, and take your hand and stick it into my
side, and stop being unbelieving but become believing.
28 In answer Thomas said to him: My Lord and my God! (John 20).
Lets us clear our minds of any preconceptions. Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for
calling him his God. Jesus' response was:
29 Jesus said to him: Because
you have seen me have you believed? Happy are those who do not see and yet
believe (John 20)
So Jesus did not deny and
therefore by omission confirmed that he was God to Thomas. Then Paul tells us:
9 For this very reason also God exalted him to a superior position and kindly
gave him the name that is above every [other] name,
10 so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and
those on earth and those under the ground,
11 and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of God the Father (Philippians 2).
Whereas Paul also says of
Jehovah:
11 For it is written: As I
live, says Jehovah, to me every knee will bend down, and every tongue will make
open acknowledgment to God (Romans 14).
So Jesus is getting the knee bending open acknowledgement that Jehovah is
getting. But we read in Revelation that John fell down at the feet of the angel
(not the angel Michael) who was showing him the vision twice:
11 At that I fell down before
his feet to worship him. But he tells me: Be careful! Do not do that! All I am
is a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who have the work of witnessing to
Jesus. Worship God; for the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires
prophesying (Revelation 19).
9 And there came one of the 7 angels who had the 7 bowls which were full of the
7 last plagues, and he spoke with me and said: Come here, I will show you the
bride, the Lamb's wife.
10 So he carried me away in [the power of the] spirit to a great and lofty
mountain, and he showed me the holy city
Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21).
17 And, look! I am coming quickly. Happy is anyone observing the words of the
prophecy of this scroll. (Says Jesus)
18 Well, I John was the one hearing and seeing these things. And when I had
heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that had
been showing me these things.
19 But he tells me: Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of
you and of your brothers who are prophets and of those who are observing the
words of this scroll. Worship God (Revelation 22 - says the angel of Revelation
21:9,10).
Now making an acknowledgement on one's knees is not necessarily worship, but the
point is that the holy spirit stepped in to prevent further idolatry in the case
of John, so why did Jesus not rebuke Thomas?
Then we have the dying words of Stephen, which echo precisely the dying words of
Jesus.
59 And they went on casting
stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 Then, bending his knees, he cried out with a strong voice: Lord, do not
charge this sin against them. And after saying this he fell asleep [in death]
(Acts 7)
34 But Jesus was saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing. Furthermore, to distribute his garments, they cast lots (Luke 23).
46 And Jesus called with a loud voice and said: Father, into your hands I
entrust my spirit. When he had said this, he expired (Luke 23).
Now Jesus was the eternal Father of Stephen. So Stephen was saying precisely
what Jesus said. Incidentally the 'Lord' of Acts 7:60 is Jesus because:
22 For the Father judges no
one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son (John 5)
And so the pleas for the non charging of sin would be made to Jesus not Jehovah.
So here Stephen was making an audible prayer to his father Jesus, just as Jesus
made to his father God at his death. Jesus said on the night of his death, after
the last supper:
13 Also, whatever it is that
you ask in my name, I will do this, in order that the Father may be glorified in
connection with the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it (John 14 Adapted from the
Greek).
In verse 13 the request is made of God, in verse 14 the request is made of
Jesus. In both cases Jesus performs the request. However one cannot just pray to
God and say to him things like: Please oh God look after my mother, I ask this
in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Because you need to be baptised into
Jesus' precious name before you can act with the authority of that name before
God or before anyone else. For example:
13 But certain ones of the
roving Jews who practiced the casting out of demons also undertook to name the
name of the Lord Jesus over those having the wicked spirits, saying: I solemnly
charge you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.
14 Now there were seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing
this.
15 But in answer the wicked spirit said to them: I know Jesus and I am
acquainted with Paul; but who are you?
16 With that the man in whom the wicked spirit was leaped upon them, got the
mastery of one after the other, and prevailed against them, so that they fled
naked and wounded out of that house (Acts 9).
Unless you are bearing Jesus' name you cannot use its authority. So now, those
who are born again, baptised into the name of the son, parties to the ARC
through the 3AC, those who have associated angels in heaven, those who
themselves are God's sons, those who act and walk with a clear conscience before
God despite their many sins, those who bask in his undeserved kindness, can pray
to God in Jesus' name and can make requests of him in Jesus' name. They can also
pray to Jesus, and make request of him. This is why Jesus said, when he was
dying:
46 About the ninth hour Jesus
called out with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27)
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus called out with a loud voice: Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? which means, when translated: My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?
The greater meaning being
that FDS1 (Faithful Discreet Slave) and FDS3 (who are both his wife and hence
'him' in the flesh) would cry out not to one God but to two Gods, namely Jehovah
God and Jesus God, asking why they had forsaken them. The answer is because they
have become corrupt in their idolatry of each other and so Jesus has appointed
FDS2 and FDS4 respectively. Is it not the great irony and finesse of the true
God, that in Jesus agony, his very words were inspired to declare that he was
going to become a God to be worshipped by men, just like his dad.
More evidence of this is found in the two recitals of the Lord's prayer in
Matthew 6 and Luke 11:
To the crowds on the mount
6 You, however, when you
pray, go into your private room and, after shutting your door, pray to your
Father who is in secret; then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you.
7 But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the
people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use
of many words.
8 So, do not make yourselves like them, for God your Father knows what things
you are needing before ever you ask him.
9 you must pray, then, this way:
'Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.
10 Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon
earth.
11 Give us today our bread for this day;
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the wicked one.'
14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you;
15 whereas if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses.
16 When you are fasting, stop becoming sad-faced like the hypocrites, for they
disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Truly I say to
you, They are having their reward in full.
17 But you, when fasting, grease your head and wash your face,
18 that you may appear to be fasting, not to men, but to your Father who is in
secrecy; then your Father who is looking on in secrecy will repay you.
In the literal meaning, 'your Father' is God. In the greater coded symbolic
meaning:
Your father who is in secret/secrecy is Jehovah (because he is in secret to men)
Your father who looks on in secret/secrecy is Jesus (for those born again)
(because he is not in secret to men - we have seen him)
To his disciples
1 Now on the occasion of his
being in a certain place praying, when he stopped, a certain one of his
disciples said to him: Lord, teach us how to pray, just as John also taught his
disciples.
2 Then he said to them: Whenever you pray, say, 'Father, let your name be
sanctified. Let your kingdom come.
3 Give us our bread for the day according to the day's requirement.
4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone that is in
debt to us; and do not bring us into temptation (Luke 11).
Since there are two gospel accounts of Jesus teaching various groups how to
pray, we know by the Parallel Account Principle that there are two greater
groups whom he teaches how to pray. Since in Matthew he was teaching the crowds
and in Luke he was teaching his disciples, we already know what these two
greater groups are more or less.
If we play the usual spot the difference between Matthew 6 and Luke 11, we see
that Matthew 6 mentions the will of the father being done and a delivering from
evil but Luke 11 does not. This is because the particular disciples in the
greater group of Luke are already delivered from evil by virtue of the blood of
the Christ, and because the greater meaning of the prayer in Luke is a prayer to
Jesus whose will is subordinate in will to the almighty. So here are the two
prayers for the two groups. Any human can pray to God, and any born again
Christian can also pray to Jesus. Amen. It is as Jesus himself prophesied:
19 Therefore, in answer,
Jesus went on to say to them: Most truly I say to you, The Son cannot do a
single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing.
For whatever things that One does, these things the Son also does in like
manner.
20 For the Father has affection for the Son and shows him all the things he
himself does, and he will show him works greater than these, in order that you
may marvel (John 5).
So he will eventually listen
to prayer and accept worship as his father does. This eventuality became a
reality on 33Nisan16.
Is worshipping Jesus Idolatry?
10 Then Jesus said to him: Go
away, Satan! For it is written, It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it
is to him alone you must render sacred service (Matthew 4).
8 In reply Jesus said to him: It is written, It is Jehovah your God you must
worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service (Luke 4).
But this isn’t what was written in the Masoretic Hebrew text of the old
testament. The ‘alone’ is not mentioned there:
13 Jehovah your God you
should fear, and him you should serve, and by his name you should swear
(Deuteronomy 6).
12 And now, O Israel, what is Jehovah your God asking of you but to fear Jehovah
your God, so as to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve Jehovah
your God with all your heart and all your soul (Deuteronomy 10).
20 Jehovah your God you should fear. Him you should serve, and to him you should
cling, and by his name you should make sworn statements (Deuteronomy 10)
But in the LXX ‘alone’ is mentioned in Deuteronomy 6:13.
13 The Lord your God you
shall fear and him alone you shall render sacred service (Deuteronomy 6:13 LXX)
Fear is something that would not only apply to God. Jesus is therefore
indicating that worship can apply to more than one person.
23 For this night there stood
near me an angel of the God to whom I belong and to whom I render sacred service
(Acts 27).
So there was only one God to whom Paul rendered sacred service in the literal
meaning. But there are two God’s in the greater meaning by the Successive
Descriptions Principle of the code.
9 For God, to whom I render sacred service with my spirit in connection with the
good news about his Son, is my witness of how without ceasing I always make
mention of you in my prayers (Romans 1)
So that God is Jehovah. But worship (holy fear) is to Jesus too:
22 You worship what you do
not know; we worship what we know, because salvation originates with the Jews.
23 Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is
looking for suchlike ones to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit, and those worshipping him must worship with spirit and truth
(John 4).
The ‘greater’ Father is Jesus, who is also to be worshipped, for the
symbolism of John 4 - see.
Jesus is only God of those to whom he is the eternal father. Sacred service to
God is obeying the laws of Jehovah. The commandments of the Christ are today a
part of these laws.
12 This is my commandment,
that you love one another just as I have loved you (John 15:12).
You do not need to be a God to make a commandment. But if a God makes a
commandment and if you follow that commandment because you accept the God then
you are worshipping that God and rendering to him sacred service. This brings us
to the Greek word (sorry-this forum does not suppot greek - you will have to
look it up), which means 'to worship' or 'to do obeisance to'. When Jesus
appeared to the two Mary's immediately after his resurrection we read:
9 And, look! Jesus met them
and said: Good day! They approached and caught him by his feet and
worshipped/did obeisance to him (Matthew 28).
10 At that I fell down before his feet to worship/do obeisance to him. But he
tells me: Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you and of
your brothers who have the work of witnessing to Jesus. Worship/do obeisance to
God; for the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires prophesying (Revelation
19).
8 Well, I John was the one hearing and seeing these things. And when I had heard
and seen, I fell down to worship/do obeisance before the feet of the angel that
had been showing me these things.
9 But he tells me: Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you
and of your brothers who are prophets and of those who are observing the words
of this scroll. Worship/do obeisance to God (Revelation 22)
Now when you are clinging to someone’s feet in the cases of Revelation 19 and
22 above and Acts 10 below, it was considered worship by the angel/Peter and was
therefore prohibited, so in the case of Mary and Mary in Matthew 28:9 it was
worship by the No Coincidences Principle of the code.
25 As Peter entered,
Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet and worshipped/did obeisance to him.
26 But Peter lifted him up, saying: Rise; I myself am also a man (Acts 10).
16 However, the eleven disciples went into
Galilee
to the mountain where Jesus had arranged for them,
17 and when they saw him they worshipped/did obeisance, but some doubted.
18 And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying: All authority has been given
me in heaven and on the earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them
into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am
with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things (Matthew 28).
If he has all of God’s authority then he is also to be worshipped. Observing
commandments of God and Jesus which are not contradictory is worshipping both of
them.
So now we can understand why Isaiah said of the Christ:
6 For there has been a child
born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to
be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9).
He was to become a mighty God in the future. He became the only begotten son of
God as follows.
The angel Michael died on the stake in Jesus. Satan committed suicide in Judas,
and God allowed Satan to die as an angel at that time too. God himself then
resurrected Michael, and then subsequently, Michael resurrected Satan. This then
physically reversed their genealogy.
David
said in his song...
32 For who is a God besides
Jehovah, And who is a rock besides our God? (2 Samuel).
In the literal meaning at the time of the song, nobody. In the first word
symbolic meaning, after the law, by the Binary Question Principle - Jesus.
Now dear reader, are you still dim in your mind or are you becoming bright? Have
you (in the case that you have not read it elsewhere) yet asked the question:
If an angel can become a God, and if a man can become an angel, then can a man
become a God?
If you have, then you are blessed, for the holy spirit has the control of those
sorts of realisations.
Prayers and Blessings
At that time Solomon said:
Jehovah himself said he was to reside in the thick gloom.
I have successfully built a house of lofty abode for you, an established place
for you to dwell in to time indefinite (1 Kings 8:12,13).
A prayer then we read:
Then the king turned his face
and began to bless all the congregation of
Israel
, while all the congregation of
Israel
were standing up.
And he went on to say: Blessed is Jehovah the God of Israel, who spoke by his
own mouth with
David
my father, and by his own hand has given fulfillment, saying (1 Kings 8:14,15).
This is a blessing, he turns towards them to give it. So his prayer was made
whilst he was turned away from the congregation. Then we read in Kings:
And Solomon began standing
before the altar of Jehovah in front of all the congregation of Israel, and he
now spread his palms out to the heavens; and he went on to say: O Jehovah the
God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth
beneath, keeping the covenant and the loving-kindness toward your servants who
are walking before you with all their heart (1 Kings 8:22,23).
Whereas we read in the parallel account in 2 Chronicles:
And he began standing before
the altar of Jehovah in front of all the congregation of
Israel
, and he now spread out his palms. (For Solomon had made a platform of copper
and then put it in the middle of the enclosure. Its length was five cubits, and
its width five cubits, and its height three cubits; and he kept standing upon
it. And he proceeded to kneel upon his knees in front of all the congregation of
Israel
and to spread his palms out to the heavens.
And he went on to say: Oh Jehovah the God of Israel, there is no God like you in
the heavens or on the earth, keeping the covenant and the loving-kindness toward
your servants who are walking before you with all their heart (2 Chronicles
6:12-14).
So he knelt down, and spread
out his palms to the heavens and he presumably turned back away from the
congregation. Then when he finished this prayer we read:
And it came about that, as soon as Solomon finished praying to Jehovah with all
this prayer and request for favor, he rose up from before the altar of Jehovah,
from bending down upon his knees with his palms spread out to the heavens.
And he began to stand and
bless all the congregation of
Israel
with a loud voice, saying:
Blessed be Jehovah, who has given a resting-place to his people
Israel
according to all that he has promised. There has not failed one word of all his
good promise that he has promised by means of Moses his servant (1 Kings
8:54-56).
Solomon's actions show that prayers should be made kneeling down and privately
and silently, whereas blessings should be made publicly and audibly whilst
standing up. The prayer is the burnt offering, all of which goes to God, the
blessing is the communion sacrifice, which is shared with God and the priests
and the congregation.
May prayer be prepared as
incense before you, the raising up of palms as the evening grain offering (Psalm
141:2).
The evening grain offering was a burnt offering (Numbers 28:8).
I will also bring them to my
holy mountain and make them rejoice inside my house of prayer. Their whole burnt
offerings and their sacrifices will be for acceptance upon my altar. For my own
house will be called even a house of prayer for all the peoples (Isaiah 56:7).
This is actually a prophecy which refers to the foreigners of the Great Crowd in
the second fulfillment. We will eventually get this right! Isaiah is quite
plainly equating prayer with the 'whole burnt offering', with the emphasis on
'whole'. So all of the prayer goes to God. Let us not be like the sons of Eli:
Now the sons of Eli were good for nothing men; they did not acknowledge Jehovah.
As for the due right of the priests from the people, whenever any man was
offering a sacrifice, an attendant of the priest came with the 3 pronged fork in
his hand, just when the meat was boiling, and he made a thrust into the basin or
the two handled cooking pot or the cauldron or the one-handled cooking pot.
Anything that the fork might bring up the priest would take for himself. That is
the way they would do in
Shiloh
to all the Israelites coming there (1 Sam 2:12-14).
Let us stop sticking our forks in other people's prayers to Jehovah, guess which
feeding program the 3 pronged fork represents (FDS3). Let them pray silently to
him alone as did Hannah, whose prayer was answered with Samuel, her son:
And it occurred that while
she prayed extendedly before Jehovah, Eli was watching her mouth.
As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart; only her lips were quivering, and
her voice was not heard. But Eli took her for drunk (1 Samuel 1:12,13).
She was not drunk, her
actions were inspired, she is teaching us how to pray. As Jesus did:
Also when you pray, you must
not be as the hypocrites. Because they like to pray standing in the synagogues
and on the corners of the broad ways, to be visible to men. Truly I say to you,
they are having their reward in full. You, however, when you pray, go into your
private room and after shutting the door, pray to your father who is in secret,
then your father who looks on in secret will repay you. But when praying, do not
say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do.
For they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words, for God
your father knows what things you are needing before ever you ask him (Matthew
6:5-8)
So obviously we should pray to Jehovah directly, not through Jesus. Jesus is a
mediator of covenants, not a mediator of prayers.
Oh hearer of prayer, even to
you people of all flesh will come (Psalm 65:2).
This one is God.
Jehovah will indeed hear my
request for favor; Jehovah himself will accept my own prayer (Psalm 6:9).
But as for me, my prayer was
to you, O Jehovah, At an acceptable time, O God. In the abundance of your
loving-kindness answer me with the truth of salvation by you (Psalm 69:13).
Do not be anxious over
anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving
let your petitions be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).
11 The Pharisee stood and began to pray these things to himself, 'O God, I thank
you I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even
as this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week, I give the tenth of all things I acquire.'
13 But the tax collector standing at a distance was not willing even to raise
his eyes heavenward, but kept beating his breast, saying, 'O God, be gracious to
me a sinner (Luke 18:11-13).
Evidently both of these were praying to God directly.
6 You, however, when you
pray, go into your private room and, after shutting your door, pray to your
Father who is in secret; then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you.
7 But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the
people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use
of many words.
8 So, do not make yourselves like them, for God your Father knows what things
you are needing before ever you ask him.
9 you must pray, then, this way:
'Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.
10 Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon
earth.
11 Give us today our bread for this day;
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the wicked one.'
14 For if you forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
15 whereas if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses.
16 When you are fasting, stop becoming sad-faced like the hypocrites, for they
disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Truly I say to
you, They are having their reward in full.
17 But you, when fasting, grease your head and wash your face,
18 that you may appear to be fasting, not to men, but to your Father who is in
secrecy; then your Father who is looking on in secrecy will repay you.
In the literal meaning, 'your Father' is God. In the greater coded symbolic
meaning:
Your father who is in secret/secrecy is Jehovah (because he is in secret to men)
Your father who looks on in secret/secrecy is Jesus (for those born again)
(because he is not in secret to men - we have seen him)
Blessings are requests of God made out loud in the form of speech to the
congregation:
Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: This
is the way you should bless the sons of Israel, saying to them:
May Jehovah bless you and
keep you. May Jehovah make his face shine toward you, and may he favor you. May
Jehovah lift up his face toward you and assign peace to you. And they must place
my name upon the sons of
Israel
, that I myself may bless them (Numbers 6:22-27).
Some Examples of Prayers and Blessings
And Hezekiah began to pray before Jehovah and say: Oh Jehovah the God of Israel,
sitting upon the cherubs, you alone are the [true] God of all the kingdoms of
the earth. You yourself have made the heavens and the earth.
Incline your ear, Oh Jehovah, and hear. Open your eyes, Oh Jehovah, and see, and
hear the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt the living God.
It is a fact, Oh Jehovah, the kings of
Assyria
have devastated the nations and their land.
And they have consigned their gods to the fire, because they were no gods, but
the workmanship of man's hands, wood and stone;
And now, Oh Jehovah our God, save us, please, out of his hand, that all the
kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Oh Jehovah, are God alone.
And Isaiah the son of Amoz proceeded to send to Hezekiah, saying: This is what
Jehovah the God of Israel has said: The prayer that you have made to me
concerning Sennacherib the king of
Assyria
I have heard (2 Kings 19:15-20).
May the God who gives peace be with all of you Amen (Romans 15:33).
May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father and [the] Lord
Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:3).
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way
prosperously to you.
Moreover, may the Lord cause you to increase, yes, make you abound, in love to
one another and to all, even as we also do to you; to the end that he may make
your hearts firm, unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the
presence of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13).
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