Teaching on Calling on the Name of the Lord

Evangelical · 11-09-2016, 05:48 PM

To give an example, suppose someone knows the verse about nothing being impossible for God. They then pray the verse in the context of asking God for a million dollars for their own selfish pursuits. They are praying the Bible but they ask amiss according to God. According to you, since they pray the bible they are praying right.

Suppose someone pray reads a message from Lee about nothing being impossible for God in the context of God changing our sinful hearts. According to you, to pray such a prayer would be wrong, because it uses Lee's message. But according to God the prayer itself is right.

We are not discussing reinventing the wheel. I believe in the Canon. So did Witness Lee. My point is that we have received the (written) Word of God through men. Yet you seem to believe that we need an instruction from the Bible to do anything. We need an instruction from the Bible to pray-read messages. Yet you know as well as I that following instructions from the Bible is not how the Bible itself was constructed. If that were true, then the Old Testament should define the New Testament. But men had to figure it out, pray about it, put two and two together, and give us the New Testament Canon.

I believe that God still speaks today and did not stop speaking when the Bible was written. I believe there is no difference between pray-reading a (biblical) message from Lee, and you pray -reading a bible verse which has gone through umpteen different translations. I believe that prayer from our own misguided hearts can potentially be worse than pray-reading a message from Lee if that message is on target. I believe that pray-reading a bible verse that we may understand out of context to be no better than pray-reading a message of Lee that is "in context".

Ohio · 11-09-2016, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evangelical

To give an example, suppose someone knows the verse about nothing being impossible for God. They then pray the verse in the context of asking God for a million dollars for their own selfish pursuits. They are praying the Bible but they ask amiss according to God. According to you, since they pray the bible they are praying right.

Suppose someone pray reads a message from Lee about nothing being impossible for God in the context of God changing our sinful hearts. According to you, to pray such a prayer would be wrong, because it uses Lee's message. But according to God the prayer itself is right.

We are not discussing reinventing the wheel. I believe in the Canon. So did Witness Lee. My point is that we have received the (written) Word of God through men. Yet you seem to believe that we need an instruction from the Bible to do anything. We need an instruction from the Bible to pray-read messages. Yet you know as well as I that following instructions from the Bible is not how the Bible itself was constructed. If that were true, then the Old Testament should define the New Testament. But men had to figure it out, pray about it, put two and two together, and give us the New Testament Canon.

Please don't project these ridiculous ideas on me. I never wrote them.

To ask God for a million dollars is not to pray according to the Bible.

To ask God to win that lawsuit against Heritage House Publishers is to pray according to Lee, but it also is not to pray according to the Bible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evangelical

I believe that God still speaks today and did not stop speaking when the Bible was written. I believe there is no difference between pray-reading a (biblical) message from Lee, and you pray -reading a bible verse which has gone through umpteen different translations. I believe that prayer from our own misguided hearts can potentially be worse than pray-reading a message from Lee if that message is on target. I believe that pray-reading a bible verse that we may understand out of context to be no better than pray-reading a message of Lee that is "in context".

I have read many messages from Lee that were not on target. You, however, are entitled to your own prayer life. My only suggestion is that which Jesus gave to His own disciples, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees" at LSM.

Evangelical · 11-09-2016, 06:18 PM

My post is not really addressing "praying according to the Bible" but what we can and cannot pray-read.

My point is that it is not whether we pray-read the Bible or not that really matters but whether what we pray is truthful or not.

It is possible to pray read a Lee message and pray according to the Bible. It is possible to pray-read the Bible and not pray according to the Bible (ask amiss, or have the wrong understanding of the verse). It is also possible to pray-read a Less message and ask amiss. What matters is where our hearts are at when we pray - the key thing about pray-reading is not just simply "praying verses back to God" but to pray our (Spirit-given) inspiration from the verses back to God. This is another key difference between pray-reading in the Recovery and merely repeating verses back to God in prayer as practiced in denominations - the Recovery emphasizes the subjective aspects whereas denominations make it an objective religious practice.

11-09-2016, 05:48 PM	#1
Evangelical Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3,965	Re: Calling On The Name of The Lord and Pray-Reading To give an example, suppose someone knows the verse about nothing being impossible for God. They then pray the verse in the context of asking God for a million dollars for their own selfish pursuits. They are praying the Bible but they ask amiss according to God. According to you, since they pray the bible they are praying right. Suppose someone pray reads a message from Lee about nothing being impossible for God in the context of God changing our sinful hearts. According to you, to pray such a prayer would be wrong, because it uses Lee's message. But according to God the prayer itself is right. We are not discussing reinventing the wheel. I believe in the Canon. So did Witness Lee. My point is that we have received the (written) Word of God through men. Yet you seem to believe that we need an instruction from the Bible to do anything. We need an instruction from the Bible to pray-read messages. Yet you know as well as I that following instructions from the Bible is not how the Bible itself was constructed. If that were true, then the Old Testament should define the New Testament. But men had to figure it out, pray about it, put two and two together, and give us the New Testament Canon. I believe that God still speaks today and did not stop speaking when the Bible was written. I believe there is no difference between pray-reading a (biblical) message from Lee, and you pray -reading a bible verse which has gone through umpteen different translations. I believe that prayer from our own misguided hearts can potentially be worse than pray-reading a message from Lee if that message is on target. I believe that pray-reading a bible verse that we may understand out of context to be no better than pray-reading a message of Lee that is "in context".

11-09-2016, 06:18 PM	#3
Evangelical Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3,965	Re: Calling On The Name of The Lord and Pray-Reading My post is not really addressing "praying according to the Bible" but what we can and cannot pray-read. My point is that it is not whether we pray-read the Bible or not that really matters but whether what we pray is truthful or not. It is possible to pray read a Lee message and pray according to the Bible. It is possible to pray-read the Bible and not pray according to the Bible (ask amiss, or have the wrong understanding of the verse). It is also possible to pray-read a Less message and ask amiss. What matters is where our hearts are at when we pray - the key thing about pray-reading is not just simply "praying verses back to God" but to pray our (Spirit-given) inspiration from the verses back to God. This is another key difference between pray-reading in the Recovery and merely repeating verses back to God in prayer as practiced in denominations - the Recovery emphasizes the subjective aspects whereas denominations make it an objective religious practice.