Reply #262: oh, my. [View All]

[RevCheesehead]

I just clicked on your profile and saw "Rockingham County, NC."

I LIVED in Rockingham County - for six months. My very first pastorate - and I was treated like shit. And this was in one of the so-called "liberal churches" in the area. Believe me, I know quite a bit about the religious intolerance of that area. It's ugly. Butt-ugly.

I'm beginning to piece a few things together here. I suspect you are referring to homosexuality (and oh my lord, that's a hopelessly lost situation in NC - unless you want to move to Chapel Hill or Charlotte.) Most people won't even talk about it - their minds are shut closed, like a steel trap.

In regards to your question I thought I answered that in my "long-winded response" to you. Let me be more concise.

It is impossible to isolate this section of the text from the rest of the passage on prayer (hence, my "lay an egg" story). You need more than a sentence or two to get the full message.

Jesus says "when you pray, do it like this." The Lord's prayer is a model of how to begin a conversation with God. Prayer is personal and private, and is not to be mocked, or paraded around on display for all the world to see. It is important to do an attitude-check before one begins to pray. One must be careful not to judge others (don't pray for the destruction of your enemies), and don't treat prayer as something casual or profane.

"Ask/search/knock" is one idea. It is not enough to simply ask. You must also search. You must knock. Prayer is not about passivly waiting for something to happen. The answers to prayer frequently come in the "seeking" and "knocking". You might not get the answer you were expecting. You might hear "no." But if you aren't listening, you won't hear anything at all. And if you aren't seeking, you won't find what you're looking for. If you don't knock, don't be angry if the door remains closed.

Now, does the Bible actually say that, literally? No. This is theological interpretation. That is what Methodists do. We are not literalists. If you cannot accept that, then we have reached an impass in our discussion.