R.C. Sproul

by certain formulae, by the recitation or incantation of certain words and phrases that would be repeated endlessly, wrote formal prayers that were designed, as I said, to manipulate God. We think that we can manipulate God through magic.

by certain formulae, by the recitation or incantation of certain words and phrases that would be repeated endlessly, wrote formal prayers that were designed, as I said, to manipulate God. We think that we can manipulate God through magic.

Now there was a lot of magic in the ancient realm of paganism where people thought in the magic realm that they could not only manipulate the gods, but they could manipulate their environment. They could change their environment by magic incantations or particular formulae.

Now there was a lot of magic in the ancient realm of paganism where people thought in the magic realm that they could not only manipulate the gods, but they could manipulate their environment. They could change their environment by magic incantations or particular formulae.

Now that may seem utterly foreign to us in the sophisticated culture in which we live today, but I ask you to think about it. This whole system of manipulating our environment is at the core of New Age religion and has infiltrated profoundly into the life of the church, and particularly into the evangelical church, where I see a lot of magic happening.

Now that may seem utterly foreign to us in the sophisticated culture in which we live today, but I ask you to think about it. This whole system of manipulating our environment is at the core of New Age religion and has infiltrated profoundly into the life of the church, and particularly into the evangelical church, where I see a lot of magic happening.

You see the signs on bumper stickers or on billboards, visualize world peace. Saw one on a bumper sticker not too long ago that said visualize, and then it wrote W-H-I-R-L-E-D-P-E-A-S. world peace. It was obviously a joke taking off on this common statement that we see, visualize world peace. What's behind that? What's the point of visualizing world peace?

You see the signs on bumper stickers or on billboards, visualize world peace. Saw one on a bumper sticker not too long ago that said visualize, and then it wrote W-H-I-R-L-E-D-P-E-A-S. world peace. It was obviously a joke taking off on this common statement that we see, visualize world peace. What's behind that? What's the point of visualizing world peace?

The idea is that if we concentrate our thinking, we will somehow emanate certain power from the core of our being, and if we get enough people to focus their energy fields on what we want to have happen, that that will actually involve a kind of psychokinetic activity whereby mind over matter takes place, like Uri Geller can concentrate on the handle of a spoon and make it bend.

The idea is that if we concentrate our thinking, we will somehow emanate certain power from the core of our being, and if we get enough people to focus their energy fields on what we want to have happen, that that will actually involve a kind of psychokinetic activity whereby mind over matter takes place, like Uri Geller can concentrate on the handle of a spoon and make it bend.

That's a trick, folks. It's not real. But we believe we can now call upon the resources of the inner person and invoke power that manipulates our environment. That is not religious faith in the biblical sense. It's magic. And no matter how you cloak it with sanctified phrases, it's still magic.

That's a trick, folks. It's not real. But we believe we can now call upon the resources of the inner person and invoke power that manipulates our environment. That is not religious faith in the biblical sense. It's magic. And no matter how you cloak it with sanctified phrases, it's still magic.

And we need to be very careful of this intrusion of New Age thinking into the Christian faith because Jesus, again, before He teaches people the proper way to pray, He warns them against these two kinds of improper praying, the kind of the hypocrite and the kind of the pagan. God is not honored by pagan prayer that seeks to manipulate Him or to use the power of magic to change our environment.

And we need to be very careful of this intrusion of New Age thinking into the Christian faith because Jesus, again, before He teaches people the proper way to pray, He warns them against these two kinds of improper praying, the kind of the hypocrite and the kind of the pagan. God is not honored by pagan prayer that seeks to manipulate Him or to use the power of magic to change our environment.

Well, having given these prefatory warnings, then Jesus turns His attention to a positive exposition of what godly prayer should contain and what it should look like. And in that instance, he delivered to the church what has since become known as the Lord's Prayer. And the Lord's Prayer is an integral part of the worship of multitudes of Christians.

Well, having given these prefatory warnings, then Jesus turns His attention to a positive exposition of what godly prayer should contain and what it should look like. And in that instance, he delivered to the church what has since become known as the Lord's Prayer. And the Lord's Prayer is an integral part of the worship of multitudes of Christians.

Most Christian worship services on Sunday morning include within it somewhere the praying of the Lord's Prayer. Now don't get me wrong here, and please don't call me up or write me about this. I'm not opposed to that. But even in that, there is a danger. There's a danger that by reciting the Lord's Prayer, we are doing just that, involved in a recitation.

Most Christian worship services on Sunday morning include within it somewhere the praying of the Lord's Prayer. Now don't get me wrong here, and please don't call me up or write me about this. I'm not opposed to that. But even in that, there is a danger. There's a danger that by reciting the Lord's Prayer, we are doing just that, involved in a recitation.

That the Lord's Prayer itself can become an occasion for a violation of what Jesus just warned that prayer should avoid. It could become an exercise in paganism of the heaping up of meaningless, empty, endless repetitions. That is, if we just say the prayer.

That the Lord's Prayer itself can become an occasion for a violation of what Jesus just warned that prayer should avoid. It could become an exercise in paganism of the heaping up of meaningless, empty, endless repetitions. That is, if we just say the prayer.