Questions and Answers | Unwrapped: The Gifts of Christmas
Is it okay to pray out loud to our heavenly Father? Is it better to pray silently so that Satan doesn't hear our prayers?
Proverbs 6:16–19 lists the things that God hates. Since I am made in His image, should I hate those things as well?
I have neighbors who are dressing their young male child like a girl. They claim they're letting him choose an identity. Until just a few months ago, he dressed like a boy. Now he comes out in a frilly dress with bows in his hair. This is very painful for me to watch, and I have found myself avoiding them. What should a Christian do in this situation?
Is it okay to pray out loud to our heavenly Father? Is it better to pray silently so that Satan doesn't hear our prayers?
Author C. S. Lewis wrote that there are two errors in the way we think about Satan: seeing him as weak and insignificant or seeing him as so powerful that we are helpless against him. You don’t have to worry about Satan hearing your prayers because God is more powerful than Satan (1 John 4:4).
Jesus prayed openly and out loud, and He instructed His disciples to pray in the same manner. He gave them a model with what is called The Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13). Praying out loud can help keep you from getting distracted. Speaking aloud keeps you present to the prayer. When we pray silently, we can lose track of our thoughts or even fall asleep.
What is more important than worrying about whether or not Satan can hear our prayers is the way in which we pray. Ask yourself: Am I praying without potential distraction? (For example: Have I turned off my cell phone and moved it out of sight?) Am I praying thoughtfully? Am I praying specifically and honestly? (Matt. 6:7–8).
Proverbs 6:16–19 lists the things that God hates. Since I am made in His image, should I hate those things as well?
I’m glad you recognize that God does hate evil in very specific ways. The things that are the objects of His hatred in these passages include arrogance, deception, murder of the innocent, a conniving heart, the readiness to “run” to evil, false testimony, and troublemaking.
Throughout Scripture, we read that God speaks strongly against these things (Deut. 25:16; Prov. 3:32; Prov. 12:22; James 1:26; Matt. 5:28). If you study these and other passages, you can create a long list of attitudes and behaviors that God hates, ranging from repellent sexual practices to pagan forms of worship to unjust acts. But to sum it all up: God hates evil.
The Psalmist enjoins us in the following words, “Let those who love the LORD hate evil!” (Ps. 97:10). In other words, we cannot be lukewarm Christians. And we can’t let cultural trends dictate which sins to hate and which to minimize. Abortion, for example, has lately not been as great a focus of the Christian’s outrage, yet it is the murder of the utterly innocent, the taking of human life. False testimonies are lies, the “deception” mentioned in Proverbs.
God is not a respecter of persons; He hates evil wherever it is found. If we love Him, and study His Word to know Him, our minds will become more and more in tune with Him, loving what He loves and hating what He hates. To be committed to righteousness is to know what is evil, something that becomes clearer and clearer as we read God’s Word and know His character.
I have neighbors who are dressing their young male child like a girl. They claim they're letting him choose an identity. Until just a few months ago, he dressed like a boy. Now he comes out in a frilly dress with bows in his hair. This is very painful for me to watch, and I have found myself avoiding them. What should a Christian do in this situation?
As an urban dweller with similar situations around me, I understand your internal conflict. As noted in the question above, we are right to see what violates God’s design for human beings as wrong and to be saddened by the choices these parents have made for their child. Even so, we are placed in this world at a certain time of history, a time when what we see around us does not match up with what God designed.
It is not easy to live in this conflicted state. But, as I read Scripture and talk with other Christians, I see how the Lord wants us to live in this reality. We are commanded clearly to love our neighbor. This doesn’t mean we like or approve of their behavior. As Matthew 22:37–39 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Notice that the command to love our neighbors is second, proceeding from the depth of our love for God. The love for our neighbor is the overflow of our love for God. As you interact with this young couple and their child, show them your warmth and find practical ways to give to them, be hospitable in spirit, and always kind.
BY Dr. Rosalie de Rosset
Dr. Rosalie de Rosset has been teaching at Moody Bible Institute in the Communications Department for over five decades. She is occasionally featured on Moody Radio. Rosalie is a published author, respected speaker, and talented writer. She lives on the northside of Chicago, a city she enjoys for its natural beauty and multi-faceted art offerings.