Babes Tan-Magkalas

How to Pray Article Series: The Different Distorted Approaches to Prayer



Posted: Tuesday, January 05, 2010

by Babes Tan-Magkalas
http://www.stjosephsite.com

How to pray properly and effectively is one of the most common questions about prayer. In the book "What God Does When Men Pray" by William Carr Peel, he discussed the different distorted approaches to prayer. Let us have a brief discussion of it to be able to know the things we should not do when praying to God.

In the spare tire approach', we only pray to God when we need something from him. Some people go to church only when they want something so bad and they want God to answer their prayers. Others pray only when they are sick and they need God to heal them.

With the stained glass approach', the prayer has a certain formula that one needs to follow in order for the prayer to work. An example is the "thee" and "thou" of Elizabethan English. It is not wrong to use these words when praying, what's wrong about it is the rigid adherence to a certain way of praying and the belief that if the steps are not followed in a certain way, the prayer is worthless.

In the "blue book approach", God is thought of as similar to a college professor who gives out grades in accordance to the number of pages filled in an examination. The more words you use and the more spiritual they sound, the more chance that God will listen to you.

Another approach is the Monty Hall approach'. The term was coined from Monty Hall, who was the host of the game show Let's Make a Deal." It is making a deal with God that If He does something for you, you would do something for Him in return.

In the Aladdin's Lamp approach', God is seen as a genie who will grant your wish if you rub him the right way. The wrestling match approach' on the other hand, is where God is forcefully reminded of His promises and obligations.

These are the different distorted approaches to prayer by William Carr Peel. I discussed these approaches in order to recognize the wrong approaches we do in praying to God and to have an idea as to how to pray properly and effectively.

Signature:

Go check out my free 13 video series on the answers to your biggest questions about prayers . For details on how to make your prayers more powerful and effective, visit http://www.how-to-pray-effectively.com

This Article has been viewed 184 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.