Prayers of Praise

Saint Mother Theresa of India

Mother Theresa of India and Idolatrous practices of the Roman Catholic church

Prayers Of Praise Or Presumption

In the world of magic, what we know to be Prestidigitation refers to a magical trick or sleight of hand, literally "nimble fingers" from the Latin digitus ("finger") and the French preste ("quick"). In the context of the game Dungeons and Dragons, it is a minor illusion and transmutation cantrip that can produce a wide variety of minor, harmless magical effects. 

In the courtroom, there are sidesteps, misdirection, leading the witness, testifying from non-witnesses, and so on. The tactics above are making things appear that are not really part of the story, but they are made to look like they are.

In religion, God's word refers frequently to idolatrous practices, to the worship of things that are not God, but they make the ignorant think they are. Sometimes people begin to catch on to the practice of idolatry, and then a quick tongue is necessary or an altered perspective, a twisting of the facts to make it seem as though the idols are not idols at all, when in fact they are.

Prayers Of Praise, But Not To God

This week I asked someone born in Italy, and she told me that there is a saint for every day of the year. On the Web, I found a list of Roman Catholic saints that seemed to go on forever. I asked a Baptist, if I were to pray to you, what would you say? She responded, You can pray for me or you can pray with me, but you cannot pray to me. Some Catholics will tell you, we do not worship the saints, we do not pray to them as God, we ask them to intercede for us with God. We are also told that the Bible contains references to the fellowship of prayer, and by this, they mean the saints, as those who inspire godly living.

The truth be told, there are no references in the scriptures that point to praying to those who have passed from this life. Yes, there is a cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12, but there is no reference to prayer there either. Finding scripture to support our point of view is not how we interpret what God has said. I have also read in Catholic literature about praying to the departed who might be in Purgatory. The person who understands Purgatory as a means of satisfying God does not understand salvation by grace through faith, which includes justification, and that means no sin remains on the record of those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Purgatory is just another made-up teaching by those who worship the institution of Catholicism and who are, at heart, idolaters.

Prayers of Praise But Not To The Saints

According to the Oxford dictionary, prayer is an address, a solemn request, or an expression of thanks to a deity or other objects of worship. Far be it from me to criticize Oxford, but there is no other object of worship but God alone. As to the Catholic Church, it teaches its followers to pray to saints. It can teach that by praying to the saints, they are only connecting to people who have passed from this life and thereby are fellowshipping with them in prayer, and by "it" I mean the leaders and teachers of Roman Catholicism, but prayer to anyone other than God Almighty is idolatry by the correct definition of the word prayer.

Prayers of Praise

In reality, a prayer of praise is a fruit of regeneration. Peter begins his two letters, 1 and 2 Peter, by saying the following. 1 Peter 1:1-3, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," Everything that Peter teaches in these verses is a work of God and separate from any human participation. We are chosen, sanctified, or set apart to God, and born again by no power in ourselves, but completely the work of God alone.

2 Peter 1:1-4, "1Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ,

 To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

Peter's opening words are a mouthful to say the least. Nevertheless, he again points to God alone as God and the One who is truly in control of those He chooses to save. God's salvation proves that He is righteous because sinful men cannot save themselves, and they cannot, in any way, contribute to their own salvation. People who change as a result of God's salvation are not contributing to their salvation; they are merely revealing the fruit of God having already saved them. As Peter says, it is God's divine power that saves. He has granted everything pertaining to life and godliness, and not we ourselves. God provides true knowledge of Himself, not organized religions that seek their own worship rather than that of God. Consistently, God's work refers to His calling His children, and that divine call is to salvation as God's choice alone. It is God's glory and excellence alone that saves without any participation by sinful creatures, that all people are. It is God-given faith in His promises that saves and causes His people to participate in His divine nature.

For all these reasons, prayers are to and for God alone.