Category: Prayer

Politics and Religion Should Mix

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Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem (Shalu Shalom Yerushalayim). I hear this, we pray it, it’s written on my Tallit. It is even commanded for us to do, is it not? Yet, in the Acharit HaYamim (The End Days) won’t the whole world come against Jerusalem? Isn’t nearly 2/3 of the Earth (and people) to be destroyed, and a new Earth and a new Jerusalem to be created?

When we pray for Yeshua to return, isn’t that going to happen only at the very end of the near total destruction of the World and of the “religious” center of the Universe (that’s Jerusalem, by the way), according to Revelations?

The Bill of Rights guarantees that there will be a separation of church and state. That is a fundamental right of all Americans. But is that a fundamental right of all believers? It shouldn’t be, should it? After all, isn’t the way God wants us to live politically called a Theocracy? A God-led government? The Torah is our Constitution, it is our Penal Code, it is our Miss Manners, it is our Ketubah (Marriage Certificate) with God: it is all we need.

When the Israelites wanted a King, didn’t Shmuel (Samuel) warn them? Wasn’t having a separation between God and Government, in fact, a rejection of God’s authority in our everyday lives?

When people ask me if I am going to a Pro-Israel meeting or event, I usually refuse. Why? Am I against Israel? Certainly not! I don’t do politics, I do God.

You probably won’t agree, but because I want Yeshua to return as soon as possible, to me praying for the (immediate) peace of Jerusalem is almost tantamount to telling Yeshua to stay away. I know…I know…how can I think that? We are commanded to pray for the peace  of Jerusalem. Well, I do. But not for now. I want Jerusalem to have the ultimate peace, an eternal peace, and that will only come with the End Times. Right now what we should expect is anything but peace.

If you believe, as I do, that we are in prophetic times, that we are getting nearer to the End Times (of course, that’s an oxymoron- since the End Times are in the future, by definition every day brings us closer) I look forward to the return of Messiah. I don’t look forward to what that means to us- tribulation, war, death and destruction on a scale never before witnessed by human beings. Not a pretty picture. Maybe that’s one of the reasons Shaul (Paul) told us to keep our eyes on the prize, i.e, the final victory.

When you play golf and you come to a hole with sand traps and water all over it, the methodology is simple- don’t look at where you don’t want to go, keep focused only on the areas you want to hit to. If you look at the sand trap, you will be in it. Let’s look to the end of the end, the new Earth and the new Jerusalem.

I can’t tell you what to do when it comes to praying for Jerusalem or attending political events. If you want to be told, get religion. They’re good at telling you what to do, how to do it, and what will happen if you don’t. This blog/ministry won’t tell you anything but what I see in God’s Word, and to make up your own mind. I don’t want to put myself on a level with the Prophets , but I feel the same responsibility that they had: God told them if they spoke His words they were innocent of the blood that will be shed for disobedience, but if they didn’t they would have the sinners blood on their head. I want you to know what God says, but it is still me interpreting God’s word for you. And I’m a sinner and a bit of a Shlemiel, so you can’t take what I say as an a priori truth.

You need to make up your own minds because, ultimately, it will be you before God and He will hold you responsible for what you do and don’t do. There are no excuses, and what you do or don’t do is your decision. He gave us all Free Will, and he gave us His word to read and , by reading, to understand Him and what He wants from us. Which means we are accountable for ourselves, and it’s no one else’s fault.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, by all means, if for no other reason than we are told to do so. Which “peace” you pray for, the peace made by men (how long has that ever lasted?) or the peace that God promises, is up to you.

Hidden Idolotry

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The below is an excerpt from my book, “Back to Basics: God’s Word vs. Religion” (there is a link to it somewhere around here, and it’s on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites):

“I must have read at least four different versions of the Bible over the years, and read the Bible itself from cover to cover over 2 dozen times, not to mention all the commentaries I’ve read to prepare a Bible study or a sermon.  And yet, after all that reading and study, I don’t recall anywhere where Yeshua said to worship Him (Yeshua). Yes, He says He is the Son of God, and He says He is the Messiah, and He told His Talmudim (Disciples) that they should call Him Lord, for He is their Lord, but He never told anyone to worship anybody or anything other than His Father in heaven. If we worship anyone or anything other than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we are guilty of idolatry.

    Strong words. And words that might make some readers uncomfortable, since most of the Christians I know almost always pray to Jesus, exclusively. Yet, as I said, I have never found anywhere in the Manual the instructions for praying to Yeshua. All I have ever read is how we should be praying to God.

   But didn’t Yeshua tell us that anything we ask for in His name we will receive? (John 14:13) Yes, He did, but that’s not the same as saying, “Pray to me and you will receive what you ask for.” Far from it! He is simply saying that what we ask for from God will be given when we ask Yeshua to intercede for us (there is an implied understanding here that what we ask for “in His name” will be something that is within God’s will, and not just for selfish or evil purposes). We are to utilize the fact that Yeshua sacrificed Himself for us, and by means of that sacrifice we are able to receive the salvation that used to be attainable only through the sacrificial system with the Temple. Yeshua is the one and last, ultimate sacrifice, and he sits at God’s right hand, interceding for us. That is why we pray in His name, to utilize the pathway He has provided. Maybe that’s why He both instructs and reminds us that the only way to the Father is through the Son ( John 14:6).

   It was by Yeshua’s death that we can now get past the Parokhet, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the average person. That’s why the curtain was torn from the top down, from God to us, when Yeshua died. He provides the pathway, He says to follow Him (and no one else), and He is the one who tells us how to pray (Matthew 6:9), which is to “Our Father, who art in Heaven…”.  He didn’t say, “pray to me”. He told us to pray to God. If we pray to anyone else, we are placing a barrier between God and us. Yeshua is an intercessor, not a barrier.”

I hear people, especially in one of the oldest “Christian” religions, where the prayer is almost always to Yeshua/Jesus. They also pray to saints, people. Not God, Adonai, El Elyon, but to people. They ask people to ask Jesus to ask God! But they kneel before a graven image and pray to that person. And they see nothing wrong with that!

Oy!! No graven images, pray to Our Father, ask in my name…what part of this don’t they understand? Where do they come up with this stuff?

Who do you pray to?  Is it God, the Father? Is it Jesus/Yeshua? Is it somebody that is supposed to intercede with Yeshua to ask the Father? Why so many middlemen? No wonder Jewish people are uncomfortable with this program- we would never purposely do retail when wholesale is available!

Think about the hidden idols in your life, and I’m not talking about statues of Ba’al in the living room.Is football more important than Church? Do you read the Bible for a few minutes each morning or the newspaper (which is always the same?)

Think about it, and if you see the hidden idols in your life, get rid of them.

How Long Does Prayer Have to Be?

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How many times have you heard people pray? and pray…and pray…and pray…and pray!  “Father God” this, and “Father God” that, and “Father God”, and (more) “Father God”.

I think He knows who you are talking to.

I also think that prayer doesn’t have to be long and drawn out to be effective. In fact, in Numbers (B’Midbar) 12:13, when Miryam was struck with leprosy, here was Moshe’s big sister, who risked her life following him down the Nile (Nile Crocodiles bask on the river’s edge, where she was walking, and they can get to be 12 feet long and weigh over a ton- yes, she risked her life for him) and when he saw her, white as death, did he cry out in a long and Shakespearean manner? No, he simply said, “Oh Lord, please heal her!” That was it. Five words and God said He would heal her.

Solomon made a long and beautiful prayer when he dedicated the Temple. Even though it was long, it was inclusive of what he was asking for- that God not just bless and sanctify the house they made for His presence, but that in the future when Jews all over the world prayed in the direction of the Temple (prophetic, wasn’t it?) that God listen. And Solomon went through the different problems we may have to cause us to pray to God for relief. That was what most of the prayer was about, which is why I said it was inclusive.

We don’t need to pray until we run out of things to say. I hear, so often (haven’t you?) people searching for things to add. It’s sad, to me. Why can’t they have the faith that God knows what we want, and just ask for that? If we were to intercede for everyone we know, and ask for everything that we think God would want us to ask for, we won’t have time to live any of it. When Yeshua taught us how to pray (Matthew 6:11) He said to just ask for our daily bread. If I can make a quickie Drash on this, I would say it’s not just today’s bread we should ask for, trusting in Ha Shem (God, or literally ‘The Name”) to provide for tomorrow when it comes, but that we should only ask for what is needed, now. With prayer, that means don’t go on and on, asking for this person, and that person, and for this, and for that, ad infinitum. Just use the KISS rule: Keep It Simple, Schlemiel!  Pray about what is most important to you. Yeshua also tells us later in Matthew that God knows what we need and what we want.

Personally, I think he wants us to pray, even though He knows what we want, so we can show not just faithful belief that He is listening, but to show that we can be humble in our requests, and that we don’t ask for everything to make ourselves look “holy”. I am not holy, you are not holy. God says to “be thou holy, for I am holy” but it is not possible for humans. That isn’t so much a command as a goal. We can reach it, but only thanks to Yeshua and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) that dwells in those who have accepted God’s gift of Grace.

Well, I would be a hypocrite if I kept on at this topic any longer. Keep your prayer simple, keep it honest, and if you don’t find the words coming easily and on their own, stop.

When I pray what is truly on my heart, I cry. If you pray and find yourself crying, well, THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about!!