Post by Mark on May 5, 2008 4:37:23 GMT -8
Kabalat Tefilah
"Hear our voice, Adonai our God, and have pity and mercy upon us, and accept in mercy and in favor our prayer, for You are a God who hears prayers and petitions.
Do not turn us away from You empty, for in mercy You hear the prayer of Your people Israel. Blessed are You, Adonai, who hears prayer."
Prayer, by many, is considered a religious obligation or an act of personal piety (a dedication of one’s personal time to make one more righteous). The hope is really that it is something else altogether. The hope is that prayer is to be intimate communion and personal relationship with our loving Heavenly Father. The difference between these two is the understanding that one’s prayers go beyond the walls that surround the petitioner and extend into the heavens: to the ears of the Almighty.
One of the chief delusions of the Christian understanding of Adonai’s mercy is that He hears the prayers of all who call upon Him. Yet the Scriptures are plain that those who refuse to hear the commands of His
are not heard.
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
(Proverbs 28:9)
The God of heaven and earth desires to share with us His love and mercy; but He is not willing to play games. When we come to Him in prayer, it is on His terms, not ours.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
(Psalms 66:18-20)
Take time to enter into prayer and take inventory of where your heart is in respect to His commands. If prayer is an act of ritual, could it because there is iniquity hidden in your heart? If so, then prayer is a waste of your time.
Yet, Adonai is the God who abundantly forgives.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:9)
Communion with Him is maybe not so far away as you might think.
"Hear our voice, Adonai our God, and have pity and mercy upon us, and accept in mercy and in favor our prayer, for You are a God who hears prayers and petitions.
Do not turn us away from You empty, for in mercy You hear the prayer of Your people Israel. Blessed are You, Adonai, who hears prayer."
Prayer, by many, is considered a religious obligation or an act of personal piety (a dedication of one’s personal time to make one more righteous). The hope is really that it is something else altogether. The hope is that prayer is to be intimate communion and personal relationship with our loving Heavenly Father. The difference between these two is the understanding that one’s prayers go beyond the walls that surround the petitioner and extend into the heavens: to the ears of the Almighty.
One of the chief delusions of the Christian understanding of Adonai’s mercy is that He hears the prayers of all who call upon Him. Yet the Scriptures are plain that those who refuse to hear the commands of His
are not heard.He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
(Proverbs 28:9)
The God of heaven and earth desires to share with us His love and mercy; but He is not willing to play games. When we come to Him in prayer, it is on His terms, not ours.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
(Psalms 66:18-20)
Take time to enter into prayer and take inventory of where your heart is in respect to His commands. If prayer is an act of ritual, could it because there is iniquity hidden in your heart? If so, then prayer is a waste of your time.
Yet, Adonai is the God who abundantly forgives.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:9)
Communion with Him is maybe not so far away as you might think.
