Watch this report from CNN. Perhaps you will have some questions like I do.
Can I pull a verse or passage from the Bible and turn it into a prophetic word? What is "revelation" and does it still occur today? How do we pray, and at what volume? Do cabaret strip clubs really give more to the community than churches?
Isaiah 35:8
And aa highway will be there, ba roadway, And it will be called the Highway of cHoliness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And dfools will not wander on it. (NAS)
First off, in the context of the passage, this is NOT about I-35. It is not about a physical highway at all. It is the promise of a way of salvation. A king's highway, the King of king's highway specifically, that is promised to those of His elect. Those who walk on it will be clean, washed from sin. Isaiah is telling us that there will be a way of salvation that God will provide, and make, that leads to heaven.
Here is a prime example of pulling out of context a verse and calling it "new revelation". Do we really need new revelation? NO. God's Word is the only complete, final revelation that we need. People need to hear the Good News that it contains. To many of us focus on the sin and try telling sinners to quit sinning, but guess what, they can't. They need to be told who God is, a holy, righteous, wrathful, judge, who demands that we obey Him; saw that we in and of ourselves could not do anything to remove our sin so He sent His Son on our behalf. And that it pleased this loving God to crush Him (Isa.53:10), His own Son. That should be the focus.
Second, do we need to pray like this? For some reason this passage comes to mind.
Matthew 6:5-6 "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to astand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, 1bin order to be seen by men. cTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 "But you, when you pray, ago into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and byour Father who sees in secret will repay you."
Hmmmm.
One thing I have to ask. Does the volume of a person's voice mean God is more likely to hear? Is God hard of hearing? Just wondering.
I think at the end the reporter asked a valid question (showing he probably understood how to interpret Scripture better) by asking when a highway in the desert would be prayed for because of Isaiah 40:3, which, ironically, was the same misinterpretation that the Essenes made in the century prior to Jesus' birth that caused them to go into the desert to prepare the way of the Lord.
Makes me more mindful of how I pray in public. No wonder my family looked nervous when they asked me to pray over Thanksgiving dinner, if that is what they expect, I'd be nervous, too.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Aaron
While I'm not in favor of scripture being taken out of context, you can't condemn a person for praying for what's on their heart.
It could be that their burden for their neighborhood is so great that they feel led to pray outdoors. Maybe, just maybe, their prayers are not for show as the Pharisee's prayer was.
What about Joshua and Jericho? Did they offer praise and prayer while marching outside around the walls before the walls fell?
Jesus wasn't saying not to pray on the street corner--I believe that he was dealing with an attitude of the heart. I think it was summed up in the first verse of chapter 6. "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men..."
Regardless of what or how people pray is not ours to judge.