So up until yesterday I followed this guy on TikTok, JC Ministries. I’m not sure if he was a pastor, preacher, or just a Christian influencer… but he always seemed to make some good points and give good biblical content. Notice I said “until yesterday.” A few days back there was a medical emergency at one of JD Vance’s rallies. In that time, he lead people to pray.
Sound’s great right? One of the nation’s most powerful political leaders praying openly to the Father in public because of what was going on. It wasn’t great to this guy, in fact the VP may have well dragged out a caldron, dropped in some willow bark, and whipped up a healing potion. He lead in the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father. Which apparently… is a spell.
Now I’m a fierce defender of the Lord’s Prayer as shared with us by Jesus Christ in Matthew 6. Maybe it has to do with my Catholic upbringing, but more so because in those times where I don’t know what to pray, I find comfort and peace in reciting that prayer. When I do, I have full faith that as the Holy Spirit intercedes on my behalf, the Father knows what I need.
Ever since I got involved with evangelical, non-denominational Christianity I have come face to face with many great men who could on the fly weave together an downright poetic prayer that checks all the boxes of what should be in a prayer. In this case the man asked why Vance didn’t mention the woman, her healing, for God to move, for the professionals helping…
I was completely gobsmacked. Instead of praising the Lord that the Father was brought into the room in prayer, the man who had been praying was ridiculed for not measuring up by sharing what some might deem an inadequate prayer. Apparently when Jesus said “pray like this” He didn’t mean to do so literally. Be more like Jesus, just not like this?
Apparently if you “just repeat certain words over and over again thinking that’s gonna do something magical, that is essentially casting a spell, that is not what prayer is.” Who is praying in the hope that the words spoking are going to do something magical? Who thinks that the Lord’s prayer as provided by Jesus Christ is a spell?
Looking through the comments of this video, I could see the bulk of people replying had the same mind I had. Here’s what I replied with:
Was he praying to you or the Father? Do you honestly believe the Lord didn’t know what he was praying for there? There have been times in my life where I screamed to God in grief and desperation, barely using words… by your measure He didn’t hear me. Hallelujah that I am not measured by man! I haven’t been a Catholic for decades, but when I don’t know what to say, God knows my heart because the Holy Spirit intercedes for me, and if what i say happens to sound like the Lord’s prayer, so be it. I know He heard me.
The legalism I see in this faith absolutely drives me up a wall because every single time it’s a human being working to complicate something which is divinely straight forward. Do I confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior? I do. Do I believe in Christ’s death and resurrection for my sins? I do. Do I commit to follow Jesus throughout my life? I do.
There are generations of faithful followers of Jesus Christ who are being deceived by legalistic requirements and checkboxes set by MEN. If someone doesn’t like my prayer and they aren’t the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit? With all due respect they can go pound sand. If someone is bent because the VP dropped an Our Father and didn’t even end it with “in Jesus’s Name?”
See previous response. As for me and my house, we’ll say the Lords prayer as needed and have faith in God to understand our heart.
Note – this is the 2nd version of the video without my comment… Second version appears to have a bunch of folks nodding like bobbleheads at the criticism. Oh well.