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Heart To Heart
● Heb 4:14-16 . .Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we
profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with
our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just
as we are; yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace
with frankness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in
our time of need.
The above tells me that it would be wise to put away our missals, our
siddurs, and our rosaries, step away from the Wailing Wall, and voice one's
concerns from the heart with free, candid, forthright, and sincere expression
because frankness stresses unbridled freedom of speech and the liberty to
speak one's mind without fear of ridicule, shame, disgrace, retribution, or
retaliation, viz: with Messiah on the job, people may speak to Heaven just
as they'd speak with their wives and/or their BFF.
FAQ: Didn't Jesus instruct his men to pray with rote when he taught them
the Our Father? (Matt 6:9-13)
REPLY: He also instructed them avoid saying the same thing over, and over,
and over again. (Matt 6:7)
Anyway; when I was a little boy, my mom taught me how to say the "lay me
down to sleep" prayer. Later, in catechism, I was taught advanced prayers
like the Hail Mary, the Our father, the Act of Contrition, and Grace Before
Meals.
After taking up the Bible, I discovered memorization may be an okay place
to begin, but not a good way to continue. The thing is: Jesus' men began
with him on an elementary level, but they advanced very quickly and I have
yet to find even one example in the new testament of them rattling off the
Our Father-- in point of fact, I've yet to discover one example of even Jesus
reciting that prayer. Theirs, and his, are all conversational.
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