Thursday, January 26, 2012

Should a Christian pray about the book of Mormon?

I am a born-again christian who has got involved with some missionary's who want me to pray about the book of Mormon.|||You can if you want to. You can take anything to God in prayer. But do not confuse discernment of Spirit with passing emotionalism and be mislead. Reread the entire New Testament. God has given us a new covenant already. It stands until the end. There is no need for another. Remember when Jesus said others would come in His name - speaking for God- , wolves in sheeps clothing? He said not to be mislead.





I'd look into the history of the Mormon church if I were you.





Galatians 1:6, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel."





Galatians 1:8,9,


"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."





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The gospel is more than praying, it is the means of our redemption. Paul is quite clear as we see if we read *all * his letters. The bible does not support the doctrines of Mormonism.


http://contenderministries.org/mormonism鈥?/a>





http://www.tbm.org/are_mormons_christian鈥?/a>





Any prophecy and revelation that cannot be fully supported by the bible and the commandments entailed therein is false. Period. Jesus is the fulfillment.





Does Joseph Smith meet these guidelines?





1 Timothy 3


1This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop(overseer/leader), he desireth a good work.





2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of ONE WIFE, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;





3Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;





4One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;





5(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)





You will know a tree by it's fruit.|||The book of Mormon has a great answer to this question in 2 Nephi 32:8-9. It says:





8 ... For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.


9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.





And this one in Moroni 10:4-6





4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.


5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.





And if you want one from the Bible, try James 1:5





5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.





|||I would be a bit wary of those "christians" telling you not to pray about something. Will God lie to you? Will He fail to give you wisdom if you ask Him for it? (James 1:5). Why would others tell you not to pray about something....? Doesn't make any sense.





I would suggest you listen to what the missionaries tell you, read the book of mormon, pray about it, and come to your own conclusion about whether or not it's true.|||Of course you should!





Those saying no are asking you to not pray - there is no topic for which you shouldn't pray.





Read John 16, it makes it clear that the spirit guides us to truth, you get the spirit through prayer, so not only should you, but we're all commanded to pray always.





That's how I got my testimony of the Book of Mormon, and it stands on it's own, from God and 100% true!














To set the record straight on some of the other posts:





urallnutballs brought up Galations 1:8-9. It does speak of a false gospel and says that if it's not the same gospel preached by Paul it's false; what they don't post is verses 11-12 where he states that the gospel he teaches is based on revelation and taught by revelation.





Ironically Paul is saying that those telling you not to pray are the false gospel. Afterall, Paul, being converted by a vision and revelation, consistantly spoke of revelation.





The LDS church is the gospel that Paul preached, along with the prophecy and personal revelation the bible leads each person towards.








cadmon brought up false revelation asserting that we learn in the temple not to pray, nothing could be more false and more twisted as the temple is often refrred to as "the house of prayer". His story about Joseph Smith is grossly distorted into making a logical conclusion that is completely false.








In the end the answer of what to do is obvious, pray. No true Christian would ever tell you not to pray!|||2 Ne. 32: 8


8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the devil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.





And as for Oceanwoman.........as I read the list provided on cults, I couldn't help to remember that you don't pertain to any denomination. Ironically you've added "christian" to your source now as well. If you don't attend to any denomination then you have no authority or source for your teaching other than your own ideas and perceptions. |||Sure, pray about it but also do your research. Insist on actually reading the book before accepting the baptism challenge.





Mormons believe that works save. God's grace doesn't save you. You have to follow all these rules and do all these callings in order to be saved.





A few weeks is not enough time to learn what will be expected of you as a Mormon. |||Paul commended the Bereans in Acts 17 for comparing new scripture to the established scripture. That's what you need to do here. There's ample material on the internet about the Book of Mormon's lack of historical validity and where it sharply differs from the Bible.





But consider how flakey it is to base a religious decision on prayer alone. Our hearts decieve us at times. Wanting to believe can sometimes create a feeling that we do believe. Cults that use coercive influence love to use the feeling approach to convince people that the feeling is legitimate evidence. Study the JW's, Moonies, or any number of cults and look at their tactics.





As a faithful Mormon, I read the Book of Mormon over 30 times. I loved it. Now that my eyes have been opened, I see it for what it is. It's heavily plagarized from the Bible and other source documents available to Joseph Smith. Doctrinally, God is one decision away from not being God, Christ's saving power is available only after we do all we can, and it infuses doubt about your salvation by suggesting that we have to be sufficiently humble or righteous for God to save us, as if we had to clean ourselves up before God would have anything to do with us. (Alma 5 folks)





Scientifically, not a single person, place or item unique to the Book of Mormon has ever been found. Modern Mormons directly contradict the statements of Joseph Smith about where Book of Mormon events took place. It's truly like trying to find the Lord of the Ring lands on a modern map. Can't do it, because it never happened.





You can trust the Bible. Stick with that.|||Mormons believe in being born again and it happens all the time. Sometimes even when they first pray about the book of mormon if it's actually true or not. The Book of Mormon was written to help people come unto christ.





Aren't we supposed to pray over things like this? Why are people telling you not to pray and not to rely on the holy ghost?|||There's a better place to ask if the Book of Mormon is true than Yahoo Answers. Try asking God directly. Study the book, ponder the book, and then ask God directly through prayer is the book is true. Anyone who tells you not to pray...anyone who discourages prayer...is no true Christian. Also, don't forget that Mormons are Christian too. :)|||I guess it depends on whether you trust God, or hope that he might give you an answer.





It is true that the devil can imitate God, but anyone who has experienced both the spirit of God and the spirit of Satan would not confuse the two. Experience helps us to differentiate between good and evil. The spirit of God, or Holy Ghost, gives a strong sense of peace, also known as a burning in the bosom. "Did not our hearts burn within us?"





Follow the light that is in you. All light comes from God.





As for myself, I received my answer many years ago, and can testify that there is a God in heaven who answers prayers, and who considers the needs of his children. If a child asks for a fish, will his father give him a stone?





I am eternally grateful for the light and knowledge that God has granted me, for the servants that he sent to find me, and for the gift of the Holy Ghost which leads a man unto all truth.|||Even the bible teaches us to pray always. Prayer is conversation with our Heavenly Father. I don't see why he wouldn't want us to ask Him something that we didn't know. Just as in school, if we don't understand something, we ask a teacher to help us understand. The promise in the Book of Mormon is that if we will pray to know its truth, the Holy Ghost will help us understand. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us the way the Holy Ghost lets us know the truth.|||Gotten "involved" with some missionary's? We can only assume that you are meeting with them due to some INTEREST on your part that is sincere %26amp; real. That being the case then praying as you study the book of mormon would certainly be the WISE thing to do. Otherwise you are leaving your feelings and beliefs about this book on the attitudes, biases and beliefs of OTHERS - believers %26amp; nonbelievers alike. We are ALL biased in whatever views of ANYTHING that we take and believe.





So I would say OF COURSE you should pray about it and study it (not just read it). If you have a personal relationship with your Savior Jesus Christ then your prayers will be answered - IF you are genuinely seeking the truth from the Holy GHost.





If you base your beliefs on what others think and feel then you will only be swayed by every wind of change that occurs in life - including this one. So use your brain, use the common sense the good Lord gave you and determine for yourself about this book.|||There is no risk in praying to find out if the Book of Mormon is a true book. There are so many out there who will try to sway you away from this book and it's truth and the only way you can find out for yourself is to receive an answer from God through prayer.





I love the Book of Mormon and I know that is Another Testament of Jesus Christ, that Joseph Smith did in fact translate the book, and that it can give us great direction and guidance in our lives.





I hope you at least try praying about it. If you pray you will have no regrets because you will find an answer for yourself, not from someone on yahoo and not from the missionaries but for yourself from God.





http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/


http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vg鈥?/a>


http://www.becominglds.blogspot.com/|||Who better to ask if something is true, than the Lord?





For those who don't think we should pray...





2 Nephi 32:8


And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the devil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.





So... let's see, WHO doesn't want us to pray??|||Why would you listen to somebody who advises you NOT to pray about something? Of course you should pray about it. You should pray about everything.





Proverbs 3:5-6


5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.


6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.





EDIT: I don't know how Mchugh can say that God won't answer prayers and give you wisdom or knowledge. It's bad advice. He's basically saying don't turn to God for knowledge. James 1:5 is very plain. "If any of you lack wisdom."


Matt 21:22


And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive|||No. It's not scriptural. We are taught no where in scripture to pray regarding the truthfullness of God's Word. We ARE however, taught to study.











2 Tim 2:15


15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.


(KJV)





Remember the Bereans? They didn't just believe Paul's teachings, instead, they went to the letters they themselves had and for this, they were called, "more noble" Acts 17:11.





Now, let me tell you how the LDS will answer this if you tell them this. They will tell you to go to James 1:5! James there, is talking about trials and tribulations and how we overcome them (read from vs. 2 - vs 12). NOT about praying over the truthfulness of God's Word!





I would be glad to help you with any of the LDS claims if you need help.


|||You should pray about ANYTHING. Why would you NOT want to pray? God has told us (in the BIBLE) that he will give us wisdom if we pray. What better thing to ask wisdom about than a claim that something is his word or not. Would God not be the perfect person to ask about such a claim?





I have prayed about it and have learned, through the power of the Holy Ghost, its truthfulness. Anyone else can have the power of the Holy Ghost as well.|||Jesus constantly prayed to his Father--and taught his disciples that it is imperative, even so important that he taught them how to pray by giving them guidelines (The Lord's Prayer.)





I don't get how prayer is not supposed to be a thing that a Christian does?|||What is the danger in asking God? That He might answer? That an answer might require you, knowing the will of God, to change your life? If those are dangers, then asking is a dangerous thing. Is there any danger that He would lie to you? You know the answer to that. Trust God. Ask.|||When I was 20, I was a born again Christian and I prayed about the Book of Mormon. It changed my life in tremendous ways! I have never been happier and now I have an eternal family.





BTW...all Christian are born again, even Mormons and Catholics.|||See this..


http://www.carm.org/mormon.htm





No do not... they will never tell you Essential information! This is what happened to me, I had to find out info for myself and this was years later because the LDS leaders tell you the way it is, and if you disagree you are in the wrong...





I found the LDS temple is cold, creepy, hypnotic, and strange...please research what happens there. http://www.exmormon.org/templex.htm





and





http://www.lds-mormon.com/veilworker/end鈥?/a>








YOU COULD NEVER BE DUPED INTO A CULT...COULD YOU?


(taken from Steven Hassan's book "Combatting Cult Mind Control")





Do you belong to an organization that .


- has lots of meetings?


- keeps you so busy you don't have time to think?


- has an infallible leader?


- expects purity?


- has rigid principles?


- expects confessions?


- speaks a clich茅-ridden language?


- is at odds with the world?


- has simple answers to most of life's questions?


- makes you feel secure?


- makes you feel more special than non-members?


- frowns on expressions of doubts?


- claims absolute truth?


- expects significant financial contributions?


- is reluctant to allow you to leave?


- controls information about its own history?


- always says you are free to choose?








.....BEEN IN AN ORGANIZATION LIKE THIS LATELY?


mormon polygamy...


http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/





|||Yes, the Bible (James 1:6) instructs us to ask God in faith if we lack wisdom. Anyone who says that prayer is not a reliable way to get an answer doesn't believe in the Bible.|||yes you should, in fact you should pray about everything you do in your life. the lord will guide you to the truth.|||No. It's a false gospel. They always tell you that.





Stick with the bible. You might pray God gives them eyes to see and ears to hear what is of Him....and what is not.|||Pray about what concerning the book of Mormon? That Mormons see it for what it is and turn back to the Bible?|||I would think a Christian would pray about everything.|||There's really not much to pray about, except for the salvation of the missionary.|||The LDS missionary program is very specifically designed to make sure you have an emotional connection and experience with the missionaries immediately.





It is their goal to get you to pray and get confirmation before you learn very much about the actual doctrine and institution. Once you start to learn, you will see that it is a fraud and lose interest, so they have to move fast.





More than half of all converts leave the LDS church within their first year when they see what they got into.





Demand that you be given more time before they pressure you further. Visit the church several times for different random meetings, not just the ones they want you to. One thing you may notice is that they spend very little time in meetings actually talking about or worshiping God. Mostly they talk about how the members all need to behave.|||Mormon missionaries will urge you to accept the test given in the Book of Mormon (Moroni 10:4): "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost." The missionaries will encourage you to interpret any positive, tingly feeling as a confirmation that the Book of Mormon is 鈥榯rue鈥?





The fundamental question, of course, is how one can validate the source and the trustworthiness of any "message" or "inspiration" that one might receive? Even devout believers in prayer must admit that some messages cannot be relied upon. The devil can transform himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and thus deceive "even the elect" (Matthew 24:24).





A portion of the Mormon temple "endowment" ceremony demonstrates that prayer is a unreliable method of confirming truth. There is a scene where Adam prays to God in the 鈥榯rue order of prayer鈥? however it is Lucifer who responds, rather than God.





Even revelations received by Joseph Smith were not always trustworthy according to David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, who wrote about Smith receiving a false revelation:





鈥淲hen the Book of Mormon was in the hands of the printer, more money was needed to finish the printing of it. We were waiting on Martin Harris who was doing his best to sell a part of his farm, in order to raise the necessary funds. After a time Hyrum Smith and others began to get impatient, thinking that Martin Harris was too slow and under transgression for not selling his land at once, even if at a great sacrifice. Brother Hyrum thought they should not wait any longer on Martin Harris, and that the money should be raised in some other way. Brother Hyrum was vexed with Brother Martin, and thought they should get the money by some means outside of him, and not let him have anything to do with the publication of the Book, or receiving any of the profits thereof if any profits should accrue.... Brother Hyrum said it had been suggested to him that some of the brethren might go to Toronto Canada, and sell the copy-right of the Book of Mormon for considerable money: and he persuaded Joseph to inquire of the Lord about it. Joseph concluded to do so. He had not yet given up the stone. Joseph looked into the hat in which he placed the stone, and received a revelation that some of the brethren should go to Toronto, Canada, and that they would sell the copy-right of the Book of Mormon. Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery went to Toronto on this mission, but they failed entirely to sell the copyright, returning without any money. Joseph was at my father's house when they returned. I was there also, and am an eye witness to these facts.... Well, we were all in great trouble, and we asked Joseph how it was that he had received a revelation from the Lord for some brethren to go to Toronto and sell the copy-right, and the brethren had utterly failed in their undertaking. Joseph did not know how it was, so he enquired of the Lord about it, and behold the following revelation came through the stone:





"Some revelations are of God: some revelations are of man: and some revelations are of the devil."





So we see that the revelation to go to Toronto and sell the copy-right was not of God, but was of the devil or the heart of man (An Address To All Believers In Christ, 1887, pp.30-31).





Prayer can be used as a part of the process but it is not a sufficient guide. Our own desires and emotions could mislead us (James 4:3). If prayer alone were sufficient to determine truth there would not be thousands of different religions.


|||Many people have done this, and some get "no," some get "no answer" and some get "yes." All I can conclude from this is that prayer is not a reliable way of getting information.|||Anything that doesn't line up with Biblical teachings are wrong. You should pray for the missionary, that his/her eyes will be opened to the truth.

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