Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Luke recorded, "One of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'" Luke 11:1, NKJV

Oh! Come on now! The disciples didn't know how to pray?
They were, after all Jewish men, so prayers were a part of their daily lives.
Examples of prayers of confession, petition, thanksgiving, praise, recollection and intercession are found throughout the Testaments. The practice of prayer was also observed in pagan societies.
Morning prayers were a normal ritual, as expressed by the Psalmist, "Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." (Ps. 5:1-3)
The psalmist's prayer demonstrates several elements of prayer. My dictionary suggests that to pray is to ask for interposition and judgment, to cry or call out, to seek (the face of) to request, to inquire, (of an oracle) to intercede, to pour out one's heart. To pray is also to ask humbly and earnestly, an act of adoration. John the Baptist taught his disciples a way of praying. The Pharisees made a show of public prayer. The disciples were emersed in a society steeped in prayer and prayers, and of practices both pious and pompus.
For one thing, the Pharisees publicly prayed loudly and long, wearing the prescribed phylacteries (small leather cases that contain four passages of old testament scriptures) one on the forehead, and the other on the left hand. (See Mt. 23:5)
The intended purpose for the phylacteries was to serve as a reminder of what the Lord had done for them by bringing them out of Egypt, and that "the Lord's law may be in your mouth." (Ex. 13:8-10; 16) In essence, these prayers were more "How great I am," rather than, "O LORD, how great Thou art!) Jesus denounced the practice.
Jesus obviously engaged in a type of prayer that differed quite noticeably from the practices in vogue. Rather than rote recitation (routine or repetition carried out mechanically or unthinkingly) Jesus' prayers were a two-way conversation with His Father. Each prayer was fitted to the need and the occasion. Jesus also prayed in the common Aramaic language, rather than the more formal Hebrew.
So, Lord, how do you do this? Teach us to pray like you do, rather than like what we have been seeing and doing.
Think about the "Model Prayer" as a framework, the skeleton for your petitions. Flesh it out; use it as an anchor, a blueprint, a starting point. Pray in a spirit of adoration and reverence. Express your longings for God's kingdom to come, share your joys and sorrows, plead for your needs (not wants.)
Pray in a spirit of forgiveness; to forgive and be forgiven.
Pray in a Spirit of praise. Pray!
January 21, 2007

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Scapegoat
* Scripture: "He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and foresakes them will have mercy." Proverbs 28:13, NKJV

They had done nothing to deserve what happened to them. In all truth, they were innocent, chosen at random to receive the punishment for the sins of others.
The scenario probably dates back to the beginning of the history of people - somebody takes the 'rap,' becomes the "fall guy," taking the blame for the guilty who then go free.
The biblical "fall guy" wasn't even a person, but a goat, a scapegoat. Azazel, in Hebrew, one that is made to bear the blame of others.
The ceremony of the scapegoat was conducted upon the Day of Atonement. Leviticus, Chapter 16, explains the sacrifices required for the atonement for the Priest, for the Tabernacle, and for the People.
Aaron, the high priest during the Exodus, was instructed to take two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the meeting. He then would cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord (the sin offering) and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Of the two goats, the "sin offering" was sacrificed for the atonement of the 'Holy Place' and the tabernacle of meeting because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgression, for all their sins. (vs.16) Their sin contaminated even God's sanctuary!
Leviticus 16:10 relates that the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat was to be presented before the Lord; Aaron was to confess all the sins of the children of Israel, to make 'atonement' upon it, and to let it go as a scapegoat into the wilderness, removing the sins to a distant desolate place.
"The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land;" (Leviticus 16:22)
It is only through the Grace of God that the ritual of atonement is effective.
Note that in both the ritual of the scapegoat and the scriptural passage from Proverbs that confession of sin is the key to obtaining mercy. The priest (Aaron) confessed for the people, putting their sins on the head of the scapegoat.
Yes, I could quote Hebrews 9:25-26, affirming that Jesus died as a ransom, once for all. Or Isaiah 53:4, that He "took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows." Or many other passages confirming that Jesus died for our sins.
However, it is in the act of confession and forsaking of our sins that we will have mercy. (Further reading: Romans 10:9-11)
April 9, 12006