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Malformed prayer

When we pray, there are many preconceived ideas about what is taking place. And I would argue, at least in the Western world, wrong preconceptions. Typically, when we pray, we are asking for things. Not necessarily bad things, selfish things or even physical things, but we are asking God to do or provide something that we think would be good or beneficial.  Does this not presuppose that we think we know what would be best or possibly good?

One needs to step back and honestly assess our position.  Almost all of us have been alive for less than 100 years, yet somehow, especially those of the 18-25 year range, seem to think that we know best.  Honestly, our exposure to reality, our experience with ourselves and with others and the volume of our knowledge is incredibly small.  When we honestly think about how small, insignificant and uninformed we actually are, how could we dare to think that we know best about anything?

The Orthodox position on prayer (the historical position) is radically different than what the Evangelical/Protestant world promotes.  Prayer is not an appeal to a divine Santa Claus. Prayer is not a casual chat with a buddy.  Prayer is learning to silence our ever busy, distracted minds and "listen" for the direction of the Holy Spirit.  It is bringing our mind into our hearts and simply listening. Ultimately, it is an appeal to God to have mercy on us.

We are so distracted, so temporally minded, so earthly, that we cannot even think straight, not to mention even pray "straight".  The "Jesus Prayer" has been a foundational standard for the Christian world for many centuries, some would argue even from the beginning of the church.  This is the place to start to learn how to pray.

Judging others

When we hear someone speak and we disagree with what is being said, we are saying, in essence, that the speaker is wrong.  It is our responsibility, as Christians, who ought always to  strive to love our neighbor, to understand the source of that error (either his in speaking or our mistake in hearing him) and respond appropriately.  We must never attack, belittle or demean someone else for an error, logical, presuppositional or otherwise, for what we perceive as an error in the speaker, may be an error in our hearing/understanding. 

This is especially true when we are hearing someone speak from a different worldview.  In this case, there are surely presuppositional differences, of which, neither we nor they may be aware.  Humility is the key, as one should always be growing in understanding, therefore one will be wrong at various times.  As we grow in understanding, we ought to grow in humility, for we ought to be repeatedly seeing our errors.

Choosing Hell

In the garden of Eden, man was sinless, sin had no place, had no power and was merely a concept, unrealized.  Yet when man sinned, death took control and as an act of mercy, God allowed man to live for only a certain length of time and then be committed to the grave.  We understand this to be an act of mercy, for if man was to live forever, he would literally be in hell.  For he would continue living in the immediate presence of God, yet unable to die, would continue under the domination of sin with no means for escape. 
As we move forward in time, Jesus has come, died and risen from the grave, having defeated death.  Man now can live in the presence of God, free from the domination of sin and death is defeated, yet to be destroyed.  When death is finally destroyed, those men who have used their time on earth to refine themselves, to fight against sin and to strive for holiness, they will be preparing themselves for a glorious eternity.  But those men who waste their time, do not fight against the influence of sin and enter eternity, embodied, yet not striving after holiness, will endure a literal hell, for eternity.  This state will be the state in which man would have been, had God not introduced the mercy of death.  But at this point in time, death will have been destroyed, and those men who have not taken advantage of the resurrection of Christ, of the church as a hospital and of the power and direction of the Holy Spirit to prepare for an eternity with Christ, will suffer an eternity in eternal life, yet despising the very glory of God, who fills all things.