I saw another discussion on this from 2011 and after perusing it, I wasn't sure if I saw some points that I would have made on the subject. I may have missed them though. So forgive me in advance if my points were already made.
So I have been in a church for some time where everyone except me prays in KJV English. They do not seem to like me for this fact and I am seeking out another reformed church because of it. But the one I attended this past Lord's Day does the same thing. Their prayer meeting consisted entirely of this, from every person that prayed. I remained silent and felt grieved in my spirit.
So here's my beef with this. Prayer is something that is commanded by God, that is a given. But the apostle tells us that as believers, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, by whom we cry out to God, Abba Father. When God truly saved us, we called out to Him in our despair to rescue and save us from our sins and from His just condemnation. We looked to Jesus Christ alone for justification and life. And He did indeed hear us as promised and sent the Spirit of Christ into our hearts, by whom we now cry out, Abba Father.
Now my point is not necessarily to go into what Abba means, but to argue that this miracle of new birth that takes place in our souls puts into us a spirit of groaning and supplication to our Holy Father jn heaven. We depend on Him for everything and every breath we take. And the majority of our private prayer is indeed groaning that cannot even be expressed. And yet God our Father knows. We groan in our pains and we enter His presence by Christ and only by His merits.
Now amidst my cries to God I have never felt it brought me any closer to Him to speak to Him in Elizabethan English. After all, do believers say in Russia have to cry out to their Father in heaven in some altered form of Russian to feel as though they are paying God due reverence?
To me it seems like religious hypocrisy to pray this way, especially publicly, considering the things I have stated about the nature of true prayer. And even though publicly, we must pray intelligibly, the language we use ought to still be that of a child to their Father.
The church at it's heart, must be evangelical as well and ever seeking to expand the work of the gospel. We are not here on the earth to form little religious societies filled with oddities which may be a hindrance to sinners seeking God, or even to those not yet seeking Him. What will a man think who walks into our assembly seeking help and guidance think when he hears us praying, O God we thank thee for thy richest blessings which thou hast bestowed upon us...etc..? Will he get the impression from this that we truly have a personal relationship with God, or that we are simply performing a religious duty? Maybe he will think that he wants nothing to do with Christianity now because he could never bring himself to pray in such a way.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter.
So I have been in a church for some time where everyone except me prays in KJV English. They do not seem to like me for this fact and I am seeking out another reformed church because of it. But the one I attended this past Lord's Day does the same thing. Their prayer meeting consisted entirely of this, from every person that prayed. I remained silent and felt grieved in my spirit.
So here's my beef with this. Prayer is something that is commanded by God, that is a given. But the apostle tells us that as believers, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, by whom we cry out to God, Abba Father. When God truly saved us, we called out to Him in our despair to rescue and save us from our sins and from His just condemnation. We looked to Jesus Christ alone for justification and life. And He did indeed hear us as promised and sent the Spirit of Christ into our hearts, by whom we now cry out, Abba Father.
Now my point is not necessarily to go into what Abba means, but to argue that this miracle of new birth that takes place in our souls puts into us a spirit of groaning and supplication to our Holy Father jn heaven. We depend on Him for everything and every breath we take. And the majority of our private prayer is indeed groaning that cannot even be expressed. And yet God our Father knows. We groan in our pains and we enter His presence by Christ and only by His merits.
Now amidst my cries to God I have never felt it brought me any closer to Him to speak to Him in Elizabethan English. After all, do believers say in Russia have to cry out to their Father in heaven in some altered form of Russian to feel as though they are paying God due reverence?
To me it seems like religious hypocrisy to pray this way, especially publicly, considering the things I have stated about the nature of true prayer. And even though publicly, we must pray intelligibly, the language we use ought to still be that of a child to their Father.
The church at it's heart, must be evangelical as well and ever seeking to expand the work of the gospel. We are not here on the earth to form little religious societies filled with oddities which may be a hindrance to sinners seeking God, or even to those not yet seeking Him. What will a man think who walks into our assembly seeking help and guidance think when he hears us praying, O God we thank thee for thy richest blessings which thou hast bestowed upon us...etc..? Will he get the impression from this that we truly have a personal relationship with God, or that we are simply performing a religious duty? Maybe he will think that he wants nothing to do with Christianity now because he could never bring himself to pray in such a way.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter.