One of the struggles for me after leaving christianity is not knowing how to pray without using the name of jesus. After researching, I came to a conclusion that yes The Savior came. He did the will of The Father, and performed many healing and miracles. However, I believe that His name is not jesus. In fact, I learned that the name jesus is blasphemous. After carefully evaluating my prayer life, I decided to write on this topic of re-learning how to pray all over again. How did the people in the Old Testament pray? What is prayer and what is the intent of prayer? How did people prayed before the time of The Savior? What does Sonini Nanini expect from us when it comes to prayer?
What Is Prayer and What Is Prayer’s Intent?
I definite prayer as a communication to Sonini Nanini. Prayer is like a very respectful communication to The Most High. In my experience prayer is simply talking to our Heavenly Father and our Creator. Prayer is a sign of a relationship between us and Him. There are so many components to a prayer, but not necessary a formula or a checklist to complete, but rather relevance, and awe of Him because He is mighty. Just as like little children, I believe we are expected to be thankful for all the good things and not so good things that happen in our lives. We must approach His throne with humility and respect.
The Intent of Prayer
We pray to communicate with Our Sonini Nanini as mantioned earlier. One must ask, how do I even speak to the Creator of the universe? You speak to him with respect and adoration. How do you start a payer? Just like we communication with each other, we must know His name. You don’t go to someone and just start talking. You start by addressing his name, and then proceeding to say what you want to say to him or her. However, it takes humility, and faith to speak to a being you do not see. One of the greatest intention is to know who this being is. We must ask Him what His Purpose for us was at creation. In knowing Him, we find ourselves, and our identity. Once you know who He is, and who you are, you will easily know why you are here.
How Did People In The Old Testament Pray?
Since I no longer pray in the name of jesus I had to look back and learn how our ancestors prayed. I know that many of their prayers were answered without using that name. Now, join me on this journey as I uncover prayer all over again. One might ask, why are you following the Old Testament prayer model? Well, I am not convinced that the New Testament was not corrupted to mislead. You have to understand that the Bible was inspired by Sonini Nanini, but written by men. We lost words, locations, meanings with translations, and transliteration overtime. Case in point is looking up how the name of jesus came to be. Are you telling me people of the world cannot pronounce the name Yehoshua? So, how did the people or the Old Testament pray?
Abraham
We cannot talk about prayer without going back to our ancestor Abraham. The first time we actually see Abraham praying for something is at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. I find it interesting that he negotiated with The Most High. I mean talk about having a relationship with Sonini Nanini. Lot, Abraham’s nephew lived in that city. Abraham started a count down with The Most High, and each time he said:
23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Genesis 18:23-25
Remind Sonini Nanini Who He Is
Abraham had the audacity to remind The Most High Sonini Nanini who is is. I spend sometime writing the series called: Who is The Most High and What is ( His name, what does He look like, what are His characteristics, who are His People, and the promise land). I did this so that I can get to know Him better. You cannot call someone out, unless you have that type of relationship. There was time in my life when I reminded Sonini Nanini of His word. I was in despair and I had no where else to turn. As an orphan, long ago there was only one verse that I remembered and I used it. As soon as I prayed and reminded Him, His Word, almost within hours, He answered me. I will write a post of specific answered prayers in my life.
18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 10:18
Esther Prayed
I love the story of Esther so much. Not just because she is a woman, which it is easy to relate to, but because we share a couple things. One, she was an orphan, and second she was a stranger in the land. As the story goes, the queen of the land Vashti disobeyed her husband the kind and she was banished. The king wanted a new bride, so he decided to kidnap all young virgin girls for him to choose from. This story is actually hard to swallow for me because not only that these girls had to sleep with him aka a night with the king, those who were not chosen had to be the king’s concubines. Well, overtime The Chosen People started to experience hatred and prosecution from their enemies. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle sent a message urging now Queen Esther to use her position to help her people.
16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
Esther 4:16
Fasting and Praying
Esther demonstrated enormous amounts of courage. I pray that I too, I am courageous like her. As the story goes, the king did not call her for a long time. The law stated that, coming to the king without his invite, meant death. You can see how powerful prayers, especially group prayers combined with afflicting your body can yield miracles. Denying the body somehow strengthens the spirit. Remember we are spirits, in a body, and we have a soul (personality). Yielding the body’s needs, brings forth your spirit. Cool, right?! Fasting is a common practice to make sure your spirit can connect with Sonini Nanini’s without the body interrupting so much.
Surrendering to Whatever Outcome
Esther faced death and she reconciled with the fact that she could die. This act of surrender is a demonstration of faith, y’all. We saw the same thing when Abraham went to sacrifice his own son when Sonini Nanini asked him to. Sometimes, the test is to see what we are willing to do when hardships come. Are you willing to lose your life in order to accomplish your purpose? I mean can it get any worst than death? Actually, yes the eternal death in hell. In her surrender she also had authority. She told Mordecai what he needed to do along with all the Chosen People. I get chills and I cry when I read these stories. Let us surrender together and trust Sonini Nanini. We must do our part to move His heart.
David A Man After Sonini Nanini’s Heart
The story of King David is so cool! However it is a story full of enemies and running from death. Just because someone does great things, doesn’t mean that people love him. I see this situation a lot, where those who succeed are the most attacked and hated. David killed a giant for goodness sake, but that started a man hunt from King Soul when he realized that David will become king. Fast forward, after a lot of hardship, David became king and he had everything. Until he saw a beautiful woman bathing outside the castle. David takes her, and gets her pregnant. Abortions were not available then I guess (woot woot to Roe vs. Wade being overturned), so David vised up his plan. One of his general was the husband of Beersheba and David had him killed. Later on David’s Psalms spread all over the world, and they are prayers that I recite often when words won’t come out right.
13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.
2 Samuel 11:13-14
Repentance and Forgiveness
I truly believe that Sonini Nanini loves a repentant heart. I believe this is why David was called a man after Sononi Nanini’s heart. If you read David’s full story, you will find that he loved to worship Sonini Nanini. His worship was so powerful that it had the ability to remove evil spirits. Up until this point where he killed Uriah the Hittite, David lived righteously. This is another example of grace. David deserved death for what he did. However Sonini Nanini extended him mercy. Even then, David did not escape the consequences of his sin. He lost his son from the affair. What I am pointing out is that David did not stop to worship even after losing his son.
Sin Leads to Death
If you think that we are not responsible for our ancestors sins, think again. We suffered our ancestors sins for the last 400 years because of idolatry. Additionally, if you ever think that you will never do evil like David did, You are wrong. David lived righteously up until that point when he saw a beautiful woman. Sin is deceptive, and cunning. I am sure David told himself that no one will know. He may also have thought that since Uriah was not The Chosen People rather a Hittite, that maybe the Most High would not mind. David also forgot what he went through to get to kingship. Sin is evil and it leads to death. Now, an innocent child died because of his father’s sin. As you read on, David denied his flesh, and plead for his child to no avail.
Jabez Dared to Ask for Expansion
I did not read about Jabez until writing this post. This shows how much I really did not read the Bible as a christian. This guy had many brothers. As his mother was giving birth to him, she experienced severe paid. By the way this is another indicator of The Chosen People being in African. In my country, children do not take the father’s names which is a western culture. Rather each child is given a name as parents see fit. Jabez simply means pain. So, imagine growing up and people calling you pain. How painful can that feel that everywhere you went, they associate you as something negative. So he prayed:
9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name [a]Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my [b]territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Praying Is An Honor
Jabez an honorable man among his brethlen, realized that the only one who can change the status his mother gave him was Sonini Nanini. He Engaged Him in prayer and he had courage to ask for what he wanted. There is nothing wrong in asking for a blessing and asked for more territory. He asked that Sonini Nanini’s hand be with him, and also prayed for protection from evil. Most importantly he asked that he would not cause pain, even though his mother called him pain. Wow, I cried reading this. Just because people call you something bad, it doesn’t mean that you have to identify by it or produce what they say. You can ask for your identity to be what The Most High meant it to be.
Pain Leads To Prayer
As someone who experienced pain time and time again, prayer brings comfort. Have you noticed that the only time the masses turn to prayer it is when there is a disaster? Look at 9/11, when a loved one dies, a natural disaster hits, etc…People find that praying bring comfort. Jabez’s name was pain, but he did not want to cause pain, even though his name caused him pain. However, his pain caused him to be humble. Prayer requites humility and whenever pain hits, lets call on Sonini Nanini because calling on Him gives us comfort and answers our prayers too.
Our Father Will Give Us What We Ask For
Many times I prayed and many times my prayers were answered. There are many other accounts that I can write about where prayers lead to amazing outcomes. We have not talked about Moses, Elijah, Joshua, Daniel, and many others. Like I said, I will have to do a post on my answered prayers testimony as Sonini Nanini wills. What have you prayed for and it came to pass? Sometimes, I feel like I am passive in my prayers, and or I simply do not ask. What would actually happen if I was intentional in asking for what aligns with His will?
What Does Sonini Nanini Expects Us To Do First Before We Pray?
When I read the story of Abraham and many others in the Bible, I find that back then, they actually audibly talked to Sonini Nanini in a way that there was a real time exchange. It makes me wonder, what is causing us to not have that today? Why is Sonini Nanini silent? Is this what the Bible talks about, when He turns His back and not hear? What would make Him turn His Back on His People? This is what He said we must do:
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
The Pre-Requisites of Sonini Nanini Concerning Prayer
The verse above clearly tells us what we must do to even come close as how Abraham and others who spoke to Sonini Nanini audible and in real time. You must be His People. To be His, you must be called by His name? There is a name above all names Sonini Nanini, do you have what it takes to call Him by His name? You must humble yourself. If you are humble, you are able to pray. Prideful people can’t pray prayers Sonini Nanini will ever hear. It is not a one time deal. You must keep seeking His Face! What this means is that, its a way of life, it is a relationship. You must turn from your wicked ways, your sins! Without true repentance of forsaking the wicked things we do, He will not hear the prayers. THEN, He promises to hear, forgive, and heal our land!
