Magyar Egyház, 1971 (50. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1971-03-01 / 3. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 7 MAGYAR CHURCH DO WE ALL PRAY TO THE SAME GOD? The 40 day Lent in the Christian calendar is a reminder of the struggling of our Lord Jesus Christ with Satan in the wilderness, where our Lord spent 40 days, fasting, after John the Baptist baptized him in the River Jordan. Satan tempted Jesus three times. One of his temptations was that he promised the whole world to Jesus if He would worship him instead of God. The answer of our Lord to Satan is well known: “Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’.” What could be more important for us in Lent than to realize again that we shall worship and serve only God? Realizing that we should worship and pray to God, let us now ask ourselves this question: “Do we all pray to the same God?” We all readily answer: “How could we pray to any other god since there is only one God?”. It is true that there is only one God. However, do we not try many times to change this only one God to our liking? Do we not imagine God, many times, as a Person who will sanction and approve our own thoughts and actions? Do we not sometime forget that it is not we who should tell God what is right and what is sinful, but it is God who is supposed to tell us the thruth in his Holy Word? There are so many people who claim that they are praying to God everyday, yet these same people are acting in such a way that they make us wonder if they are praying to the same God whom we know from the Bible. This illustration will make very clear what we are saying. The Bible says ‘.“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plentious in mercy.” (Psalm 100) If 1 know that God is merciful and gracious and I go into my room and pray to Him, what would be the result of my prayer? Would it be possible that I would come out of my room with hatred, anger and vengenance in my heart? Would it? NO, IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE, because if I truly prayed to the real God, the merciful and gracious God, then I will leave my room with the most sincere desire to show mercy, love, understanding and helpfulness toward all men. If this did not happen, it simply means, that I did not pray to the real God, 1 prayed to my home-made idol ... or that I did not pray at all. True praying to the real God is like a fire. It will burn out of our minds all those ideas, intentions, plans and opinions which are contrary to the truth of God. Also, true praying to the real God gives us peace, spiritual strength, it dispells our fear, it gives us wisdom to understand why we are here on earth, what our duties are and it makes us enthusiastic to work and do something everyday for the glory of God and for the good of our fellowmen. People are praying in many ways and for different reasons. But there is only one true praying, the way Jesus taught us: “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” What a wonderful change would take place in our lives if we would be brave enough to go into our room and tell all our problems to our heavenly Father and if we would be humble enough to obey his voice in our conscience. By the grace of God, we, human beings, are so created that we are able to communicate with our Creater in prayer. You can do it, too. Try it even today. Stephen Kovács Jesus on the Cross. John 19:25-30.
