Does it matter how we pray?
I am very concerned about the way in which a lot of Christians today are addressing GOD. I first noticed this around the early 1990's when a new trend began to sweep through the Christian Church.
That trend is the practice of addressing our Lord as "Father God...". Please allow me to tell you what I know about this.
In the New-Age/Occult there is a belief that there are two living powers in the universe. One is the heavenly, spiritual powers and the other is the earthly, spiritual powers. The heavenly are referred to as "Father God" and the earthly are referred to as "Mother Earth". When New-Agers pray, they pray: "Father God and Mother Earth.....". Around the time of the late 60's and 70's, many "forward thinking" people started mixing Witchcraft, Eastern religion, Pantheistic theology and some Christianity into their beliefs and this philosophy of "harmony, peace and love" turned into what is known as the "New-Age" religion. In a short time, these pagan ideas filtered into the charismatic Christian Churches. Once that happened, (to my thinking because there are a lot of Charismatics on T.V.), this practice spread like wildfire.
People say to me, "Well, He is our Father and our God", and that is a true statement, but no where in the Bible did anyone ever pray or refer to GOD as "Father God".
Jesus instructed His disciples clearly on this matter. When they asked Him to teach them how to pray, He said, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed (holy) be thy name."
If we take the practices of the Occult/New-Age and put them in a Christian church, does that change their origin or their meaning? I say, "absolutely not". I believe the devil's deception is always the devil's. It cannot be made Holy.
I read in a Houston, TX. newspaper, back in 1980, about a woman in Colorado who had a lot of nice land and wanted to set up a community of diverse religions. She was offering small parcels, free of charge, to select individuals who had unique religious beliefs. They would be of her choosing, I assume, and would have to be willing to work in unity with one another. I was told by a friend who visited this place, that they have built a small "temple" for the specific purpose of the upcoming wedding ceremony between "Father God" and "Mother Earth".
Another example, I witnessed myself, was in Dallas, TX. The Dallas City Councel has an opening prayer at all of their meetings, offered by one of their local church pastors. The pastor's congregation submits his/her name to the councel and, I guess, they are just chosen randomly. One of the pastors chosen was a "New-Age" church pastor. When the word got out to the public that this person was to give the opening prayer, quite a few people protested. After reviewing the pastor and his church, the city councel decided not to let him speak and someone else was chosen. The church complained and no doubt, there was a big equal rights problem with this. So the counsel asked the church to send them a copy of the intended prayer for approval. After reviewing the intended prayer, the councel said they found nothing offensive in it and they allowed the "New-Age" pastor to recite the prayer at the opening of the next councel meeting.
I watched this on our local television's evening newscast. The young man proceeded: "Father God and Mother Earth, we thank you for this great planet...(and the prayer continued with a lot of stuff about us living together on this planet in harmony, tolerance and peace)". There was a group of "followers" who accompanied this young man. To the best of my recollection, these were all women, dressed completely in black, from head to toe. When the young man finished his prayer, they all stood up and walked out of the room in a very structured, military-like, single file. I feel quite certain, that this so-called "New-Age" church was actually a Wiccan church and for those of you who don't know that term, Wicca stands for witches and thus the Church of Satan.
So folks, please beware of the snare. Consider all that you do in the name of the Lord, and make sure it is Biblical. We are taught that the devil will appear as "an angel of light", that he will impersonate Christ, that "if it were possible, even the elect will be decieved". This term "Father God" may sound Holy and reverent but that just shows how vulnerable we are to deception. Please be on guard and be careful.
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