I was asked this once.
This simple question brings many opportunities for success and failure.
For example, it is not a given whether you pray to God, to Jesus or the Holy Spirit, or to Mary. In Muslims' view of Christianity, they are all at about the same level. At the same time it opens the door to present a lot of teaching of Jesus against what the Pharisees did, and that is similar to what Islam currently does. How did Issa's teachings became so contrary to Islam? This is a question for Muslims.
Concerning prayer, Jesus presented God as a loving father (unlike Islam).
There is no special vocabulary used to address God in the Bible (they did not do the equivalent of going from normal speech to a sort of royal 'thee', 'thou', 'thine' when talking to God. Prayer is like normal conversation.
There is no specific position prescribed, such as kneeling or facing a certain direction (although Paul mentions 'lifting holy hands').
Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.
(1 Timothy 2:8)
Prayer is done anywhere and everywhere and in different ways.
Praying, for the sake of to be seen to be praying, is discouraged, the same way as fasting to be openly seen is discouraged. (In contrast Muslims have a well-known season of fasting.)
Jesus called for praying in secret and fasting in secret.
This link documents various body positions that have been documented in the Bible:
https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/practical-christian-living/posture-during-prayer
No comments:
Post a Comment