Equipping Eve Episode 13 - Life Verses and Labyrinths

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies, but beyond Sunday morning, are

Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Ebendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benziger, a friend of No Compromise Radio, and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello, ladies, and welcome to Equipping Eve. I'm your host, Erin Benziger, and I'm so glad you're here with me today.

Thanks for joining. The weather is starting to get nice outside, at least it is as I tape this, and so certainly as you listen to it, it's actually spring.

I'm really excited because I'm looking outside right now, and it's probably 65, 70 degrees, the sun is out, it's perfect.

It's one of those perfect weekend days. And so I am planning to tape this show, and then

I'm going to grab a textbook and go sit outside and enjoy the sun, because during the week I don't get to breathe fresh air.

So I'm really excited that the weather is so nice on a weekend. But I'm even more excited to be here today just talking to you again.

Thanks again for joining. I think I already said that. This is the show that seeks to equip you ladies with fruits of truth from God's Word, from the

Bible. We know the deception that is out there, and that is why we love the

Bible. That is why we study the Bible, so that we know what the truth is, because the Bible is God's Word. It is

His holy, pure, perfect, infallible, inerrant, unchanging Word.

It's the Word of God. There are people sitting around waiting to hear a voice or a whisper from God.

Open your Bible. God is shouting in His Word. It's there, everything we need to teach us how to live righteous lives in pursuit of holiness, to teach us how to obey and serve

Him well. Everything that we need to be saved is in the Word. If we don't share the

Word of God, the Gospel, as revealed to us through the Bible, no one will be saved.

That is where God has recorded the message of salvation, the message of His Son, His Son Jesus Christ, who was the

Word incarnate. And we love, we love Jesus, don't we? And we love to serve

Him. And so we know that when we know His Word, we can serve Him well.

So that's what we strive to do here at Equipping Eve. So hey, here's a question for you ladies.

What's your life verse? If you're like me, you might cringe a little bit when you hear that phrase or when you hear that question.

What's your life verse? Have you heard people ask that? What's your life verse? What defines your life from the

Bible? And just to be clear, starting off, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a favorite verse, passage, whatever in the

Bible. I understand that. I have my own. But it's this concept of having this one verse, one out of 31 ,000 some odd verses in the

Bible. You have only one that defines your life. That doesn't even make sense. But so often we hear this, you know, what's your life verse?

And there was a point in my walk very early on after I was saved where I thought, oh,

I'm supposed to have one of those. I might not be a Christian if I don't have one. And it's just another one of those silly

Christian colloquialisms. Again, I'm not trying to knock necessarily the broader idea of it.

But I think we need to be careful with this concept of a quote unquote life verse. One website defines a life verse as a

Bible verse that speaks to you directly, one that holds a personal meaning for you. And when

I read that, I thought, shouldn't the whole Bible be speaking to us?

Again, going back to what we just said to introduce the show, the Bible is God's word.

God didn't write 66 books, didn't cause men to be inspired by the

Holy Spirit and compose these 66 books, these 31 ,000 plus verses with the intention that we would only live by one verse.

I mean, you can't pull one verse out of the Bible without looking at its context, its immediate context within that chapter, its broader context within that book, and its context within the whole of Scripture.

And when you think about it, God, the original manuscripts of Scripture didn't even have verse numbers.

That's something that man put in later. And that's fine. I like the verse numbers.

That's how we learn the address, that's how we learn our memory verses, and it's how we are conditioned to kind of put the word to memory.

And so there's nothing wrong with that, but God didn't inspire the verse numbers. So all of a sudden you are picking a life verse, and what if you end up grabbing one of these so -called life verses that's entirely out of context with what

God is saying in the broader passage? Look, as I said, there's nothing wrong with having this verse of truth that has maybe just really,

God has made it very real, very tangible in your life, it's really impacted your life.

But we have to be careful. We have to be careful when we're talking about the Word. It's so easy for us to distort it, even unintentionally.

And I think there's that danger with some of this life verse talk. A woman once asked me, it was not long after I got saved actually, but I had always liked a certain passage of Scripture, and so she asked me what my life verse was once, and I responded to her with Matthew 6, 25 -34.

It was just something that, a passage that I just went to time and again, and I still do to this day.

It's probably one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture, and now it has even more meaning than it did previously.

But she responded when I told her that, I said, you know, Matthew 6, 25 -34, she said,

Oh! You have a whole life passage! Um, kind of?

I mean, I have a whole life book, it's called the Bible. We read the whole of Scripture.

So this concept of a life verse, I think, it's not unreasonable to say that it's contributing to this blight of biblical ignorance within Christianity.

I mean, you think about it, think of some of the verses that people choose as their quote -unquote life verse.

Let's see, what's one that we saw plastered all over when Tim Tebow was so popular? I think it was him who had this written on his face or something, so if it's not

Tim Tebow, I apologize, I'm not up on my football players, unless they are Packers. But Philippians 4, 13,

Paul writes, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Great truth, yes!

We lean on Christ because in our own strength we will fail, absolutely.

We will not be able to stand up to the circumstances of life without depending wholly on the

Lord. But how many people take this verse to mean that they can achieve their big, dreamy, worldly, temporal dream?

I mean, think about it, Philippians 4, 13 is on every single water bottle and mug in the

Family Christian store, as if it's supposed to inspire me to go out and live my big, dreamy dream.

But in reality, in the context of this verse, the context of this verse is that Paul's life was one of trial and joy, comfort and affliction, and yet whatever circumstance, he knew he could endure by Christ's strength.

I mean, look at the broader passage with me, ladies, Philippians 4. Philippians 4, let's start in verse 10.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me.

Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances

I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance.

I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

This is not telling us that we can accomplish whatever our little, silly human minds think that we want to do.

It means that Christ sustains us whatever our circumstance. God provides for his children, and that is why we lean on him and trust in him alone for strength.

And we can do all things. We can overcome all circumstances. We can walk through all circumstances.

But how many people have this as their quote -unquote life verse without an understanding, a right understanding of what that verse means?

And did you ever notice that we always pick the warm, fuzzy, feel -good verses?

You know, I have never heard anyone use Acts 1 .18 as their life verse, but that's in the

Bible too. What does Acts 1 .18 say? It says, Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out.

It's talking about Judas. How's that for a life verse? No one ever seems to pick that one.

I mean, really, how do you choose this elusive life verse? What do you do?

Can you pick the wrong one? I found another website where a woman talks about creating a spiritual vision board with your life verse.

She says it took her months to select a life verse. She was worried about this.

She didn't want to pick the wrong one, so she was really trying to figure out which one was going to work.

She tried a few on for size, and I'm thinking, this is the problem. Oh, I don't like that verse.

That doesn't fit my life the way I want it to, so I'll pick this one over here. What are we doing? Okay, but then she says she was at a woman's retreat, and they were going to make these spiritual vision boards, and she needed to pick a verse quickly, because you were supposed to base it off your life verse.

So she grabbed one. Proverbs 3 .5, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

So she grabbed that one, and she made her spiritual vision board, and now she looks at her spiritual vision board every day, and it's just so inspiring for her.

And while we're talking about spiritual vision boards, I couldn't believe this when

I read it, and so I have to share it with you, because I have to share it with someone. In case you were wondering how to create a spiritual vision board,

I'm still not sure what a spiritual vision board is, but if you want to make one, here's what you do. First, you select a scripture quote, and she says that this is any

Bible verse that seems to be calling your name. Step two for your spiritual vision board, gather your supplies.

You know, this is like arts and crafts time. Get your poster board or journal. You can also make a spiritual art journal if you'd prefer.

Get some paint and markers and magazines and stickers and colorful paper and a glue stick and paste and images that inspire you.

Wow, this is weird. Who has time for this? Oh, but step three, set the tone.

Are you ready? You need to set the tone. You've chosen your verse. You've got all your supplies.

Maybe you should cover the kitchen table with newspapers so you don't get paste on it. And then you set the tone.

You play some inspirational Christian music, light a candle, or use your favorite essential oil for aromatherapy.

Find some uninterrupted time so you can fully immerse yourself in the creative process.

And use the time to reflect on God's message. And step four is to create. And step five, you reflect.

Find a place to hang your spiritual vision board where you will see it daily. Take 10 minutes a day to reflect on the images and say a prayer.

Here, you know what? Ladies, instead, take 10 minutes a day and add that on to your

Bible study time or add that on to your prayer time. Don't stare at some stupid vision board that you cut pictures out of a magazine and paste it on there.

This is ridiculous. This is garbage. And this is the kind of stuff that some women's ministries are doing.

And I know I'm sounding very opinionated right now, but there's no biblical basis for this.

And it's based off of pulling a verse out of context, just because it speaks to you. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Study the entirety of Scripture. Love the entirety of God's Word. Cling to all of it because it is all of God and it is all for you.

Okay, from Life Verses, which, as I said, you want to have a favorite verse,

I've got favorite verses. It's okay. Yes, we memorize Scripture verse by verse and we can't sit down and memorize a whole book at a time.

I get that. I'm not necessarily knocking the entire concept, but make sure that when you're applying that verse, you're doing it rightly.

You're doing it within its biblical context. Okay, ladies? Okay. All right. From Life Verses to Labyrinths.

Yes, Labyrinths. I thought we'd have kind of an L day because both of these topics popped up on my computer this week and I thought

I'd just combine them for shows. So Labyrinths, Prayer Labyrinths. I don't know if you've heard of these before, but an article popped up on my screen this week and I don't know,

I think someone must have linked to it on Facebook and I apologize. I don't remember who it was. I don't remember if it was a ministry or a person.

So I apologize. I'm not trying to not give credit. Just to make clear, the person or group that posted this was lamenting this article and the fact that it's even happening.

So it was a good, it was a right reaction. But when

I clicked on this article, I saw that it was actually a year old. It's from May of 2014, but if this was happening a year ago and was popular a year ago, it's probably more of a problem today because the church visible is only spiraling downward.

So I thought it was worth talking about. And so the article, it's from May 7th of 2014, but I don't think the concept is outdated and I think we can take this to God's word and see some, some warnings there against this idea of the prayer labyrinth.

And the article is entitled Labyrinth Transforms Prayer Life, Baptists Say.

It's written by Jeff Brumley and he writes, Rita Martin knows a thing or two about prayer as a lifelong

Baptist who raised a family in the church, or at least she thought she did until this past Monday, Thursday, when she participated in a labyrinth prayer session with other members of her congregation at Vinton Baptist Church in Vinton, Virginia.

Labyrinths vary in size and patterns, but generally feature a maze that participants walk slowly and prayerfully, usually concentrating on a particular verse of scripture, maybe your life verse, the name of Christ, or another spiritual concept.

The practice is growing in popularity among Baptists as they explore unfamiliar spiritual disciplines to deepen their faith.

Stop. Unfamiliar spiritual disciplines, why is it unfamiliar to you? Because it's not in the Bible. And so if it's not in the

Bible, you probably shouldn't be doing it. Just a side note.

The article continues, pausing at various stations where different Bible verses were posted, Martin said she came to realize her prayer life in general needed to go a whole lot deeper.

Martin said she has always been a prayer, but now she sees her mind often drifted off during normal prayer times.

The labyrinth is a very good tool, she says, to keep your mind on track and to concentrate on what you're praying for and why you're praying and just communing with God.

Okay, ever since that experience, Martin and other senior members of the congregation have urged

Minister to Adults Brittany Riddle to schedule more times when the 20 by 20 foot canvas maze can be rolled out for prayer.

Riddle said, Riddle is the minister, Brittany Riddle, said the experiment began simply as a theme for the church's regular

Sacred Steps program, which introduces members to a different spiritual practice each month.

You know, there's just not that many spiritual practices that are prescribed by the

Bible. We have made up a lot of them. That doesn't mean that they're bad, but they're not necessary.

You don't need to journal to be a Christian. You don't need to do any of this extra stuff to be a good

Christian. You pray, you read your Bible, you fellowship with the saints, you sit under good

Bible teaching, you find a local church and serve there. These ideas have been taken to the extreme, and this labyrinth is one that we need to stay very far away from, ladies.

We're going to talk about this in just a second. Just finishing this article,

Riddle said she found the labyrinth equally inspiring when she first came across it at Furman University in 2005.

She was already open to different forms of spirituality, but the labyrinth still surprised her. She says,

I was used to just sitting down, closing my eyes, and bowing my head. Oh, don't follow me, silly us.

But Riddle said that her experience at Furman University changed all that for the better. The experience just opened me up to using myself more fully, using my body, using my whole self when

I pray and try to connect to God. Huh? Again, we're looking for experiences here.

Do you see that? Do you see how this is appealing to people's experience? Do I feel like I'm connected to God?

Do I feel warm and fuzzy when I'm walking in the labyrinth? Do I feel more spiritual? It doesn't matter what you feel because your feeling is subjective.

And that's why we don't base anything on our emotions or on our feelings. They're not bad, but they can't be trusted.

The article continues, that's also how the labyrinth has been used by Christians down through the centuries.

Well, that's wrong. While the term derives from ancient Greek and is traced to antiquity in the

Christian context, labyrinths date back to at least the 12th century when they were included in the floor plans of many medieval cathedrals.

Patterns varied, but the practice usually featured participants praying as they traveled through the mazes.

Sessions were often accompanied by music. In recent years, the practice has become more popular with the decline of denominationalism and as Christians are becoming more spiritually eclectic.

Should we be becoming more spiritually eclectic? No. The article says a

Google search uncovers articles showing labyrinths being used by a variety of Protestant churches and even at some synagogues.

And in fact, there actually is a website with a labyrinth locator, so you can find a labyrinth anywhere in the world.

And that website is Veriditas, which exists basically to perpetuate this idea of a prayer labyrinth.

And it was started back in 95 by a woman named Lauren Artress. And the website says that Veriditas is dedicated to inspiring personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience.

We accomplish our mission by training and supporting labyrinth facilitators around the world and offering meaningful events that promote further understanding of the labyrinth as a tool for personal and community transformation.

What is a labyrinth? You know, this article explained a little bit that it's like a maze that you walk through.

So what's the purpose of this? Why would you do this? Well, there's a good article about this on gotquestions .org,

which by and large is a decent resource. And so their article on prayer labyrinths is rather helpful.

And we'll link to this as well over at the blog. And so what is a prayer labyrinth? Are they biblical?

And they answer the question by saying that a labyrinth is a path which leads via a circuitous route, having trouble talking, to the center of an intricate design and back out again.

A labyrinth's route is unicursal. That is, it has only a single path. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth is designed for ease of navigation and it is impossible to get lost within one.

A prayer labyrinth is a labyrinth used to facilitate prayer, meditation, spiritual transformation, and or global unity.

The most famous labyrinths today include an ancient one in the Cathedral of Chartres, France, and others.

Labyrinths have been used by a wide variety of cultures for at least 3500 years, it says. Evidence of ancient labyrinths exists in Crete, Egypt, Italy, Scandinavia, and North America.

They were decidedly pagan in function. Many were dedicated to a goddess and used in ritualistic dances.

The Hopi Indians saw the labyrinth as a symbol of Mother Earth, and hundreds of stone labyrinths along the

Scandinavian shoreline were used as magic traps for trolls and evil winds to ensure safe fishing.

In the Middle Age, the Catholic Church adapted the labyrinth for its own purposes within its cathedrals.

Within Catholicism, the labyrinth could symbolize several things, the hard and winding road to God, a mystical ascension to salvation and enlightenment, or even a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for those who could not make the actual journey.

According to Veriditas, says this article, walking a prayer labyrinth involves three stages, purgation, which is releasing, illumination, receiving, and union, returning.

Purgation occurs as one moves toward the center of the labyrinth. During this stage, one sheds the cares and distractions of life and opens his heart and mind.

Illumination occurs at the center of the labyrinth. This is the time to receive what is there for you through prayer and meditation.

Union occurs as one exits the labyrinth and involves, quote, joining God, your higher power, or the healing forces at work in the world.

Proponents of prayer labyrinths speak of using it to become enlightened, realigned, with the higher power, et cetera.

And indeed, Veriditas does say, the labyrinth is a walking meditation, a path of prayer, and an archetypal blueprint where psyche meets spirit.

It has only one path that leads from the outer edge in a circuitous way to the center. There are no tricks to it and no dead ends.

Unlike a maze where you lose your way, the labyrinth is a spiritual tool that can help you find your way.

What are the benefits? It reduces stress, quiets the mind, grounds the body, and opens the heart.

Labyrinths, ladies, are one way of meditation, as we've seen here, that these often go along with meditation.

It's a type of walking meditation where you seek to get in touch with your divine center.

It's this idea that we all have a spark of the divine inside of us, and as we travel the labyrinth and get to the center, we will be able to unite with that divinity within us and become enlightened.

And I don't care if you put it in the basement or the gym of a quote -unquote Christian church.

It doesn't make it Christian. This is a decidedly pagan practice.

Veriditas continues, as we just read by GodQuestions, that there are three stages, releasing on the way in, receiving in the center, and returning when you follow the return path back out.

Symbolically and sometimes actually, you are taking back out into the world that which you have received.

Do you hear how new -agey this is? And this is a bigger trend than I think we realize.

You can actually download, are you ready? A finger labyrinth that you can print off on a piece of paper and then,

I don't know, sit at your desk at your lunch hour and trace the labyrinth with your finger. And it's a way to meditate, to empty your mind, and really ultimately to enter into an altered state of consciousness.

This is dangerous. And if you ever hear anyone talking about any of this type of thing, stop listening to that person because they are teaching you unbiblical prayer practices.

You know, we love to always have something extra.

We've talked about this so much. We're always looking for something more, and especially as women, we tend to fall into that trap.

Something more. What the Bible describes for prayer isn't enough for me. I need something that makes me feel even more spiritual.

But ladies, that's not what we're called to do. We are called to pray the way

Jesus taught us to pray. There's no magic formula to it. You don't have to pray in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

You should pray every single day. You should pray all day long. Pray without ceasing, right?

There's no magic formula. There's no magic words. We just pray the way that Jesus taught us to pray.

And we see so many examples of prayer in Scripture. And, of course, what's the ultimate one that we think of first?

We think of what's called the Lord's Prayer, but really is probably better titled the

Disciple's Prayer because Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray. And if you turn to Matthew 6, which we were just talking about Matthew 6 a little bit,

Matthew 6, 9, Jesus says, Pray then in this way, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We can probably, most of us, recite that without even reading it.

We've grown up with this beautiful prayer, but have you ever stopped and really looked at the formula that Jesus does give us?

Not every prayer is necessarily going to follow this exact formula, but there are overarching principles here that do teach us how to pray.

And, ladies, the first of those is that we need to have a right understanding of who God is and who we are as we come before his throne.

Because ultimately, the truly righteous prayer by the truly righteous person or the person seeking righteousness is rooted in the character of God.

If you have a right understanding of the God that you serve and the God that you are praying to, a right understanding of his sovereignty and his supremacy and his kingship and his lordship over your life and over all things, and you also have a right understanding of his justice and his holiness and his love and his forgiveness and his mercy and his grace, you can pray well.

You don't need a labyrinth. You don't need to meditate. You don't need to focus on just one word over and over and over again until you go into an altered state of consciousness.

No, you pray, you engage your entire mind, and you do it ultimately to worship and obey

God. Our first priority in prayer must be the glory of God.

We see this in the way Jesus taught us to pray. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.

God's name is intrinsically holy, and we must acknowledge who he is in order to set our own minds in a right place and have a right perspective before we continue our prayer.

Otherwise, we will go to him, and we will give him all of our petitions and all of the things we think we need and we think we want.

But if we stand before the throne, kneel before the throne, and say,

God, you are holy, you are pure, and you are righteous, and you are good because you have graciously saved me, and I have not deserved it, doesn't that already change the nature of your prayer?

God's given you salvation. Are you really going to ask him for a new car? So we see that in verse 9.

We see that foremost focus on God's name. In verse 10, we see the focus on God's kingdom, the earthly kingdom of Christ, and then his spiritual kingdom.

And so think, before you start asking about yourself, who are you praying for? Who are you praying for that God would bring to repentance and faith in his

Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? And then the second part of verse 10, your will be done,

Lord, on earth as it is in heaven. This is about submitting to the will of God and understanding that we are the creation, he is the creator, and we live in submission to him because he has saved us.

Would we have it any other way? And so the first part of this prayer that Jesus teaches his disciples, we see that this is for God's glory.

And then we see three more petitions in the second half of it, and here we petition for our own needs.

Verse 11, give us this day our daily bread, our physical needs. It's okay to pray for this. God has promised that he will provide for his children.

We were just talking, mentioning Matthew 6, 25 through 34, and God so clearly states in there,

Jesus teaches there, later in this same chapter, that he will care for his own.

Look at the birds of the air, verse 26, that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not worth much more than they? Yes, we can pray for our daily physical needs.

God promises to provide for his children. In verse 12, the second thing that we pray for is forgiveness.

Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. We must confess our sins. We come before God.

If we have been saved, we come before him already justified. And so we don't pray for justification, but we pray for continued sanctification.

We thank the Lord for our justification, but we repent of our sin, we confess our sin, and we ask

God to continue to grow us so that we become more and more like Christ, the way that we are called.

And then verse 13, we pray for fortification. We desire righteousness, but we recognize our own weakness, which is why

Jesus teaches us to pray, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This is how we are taught to pray by the

Lord. If you don't sit down and pray in this order,

God's not going to not hear your prayer if you are his child. But this is a good model.

It better be because Jesus taught us how to pray this way. And you'll note how this does engage your mind, how this doesn't appeal to your emotions, and how practical and objective and true this is.

And you'll note that Jesus warns just two verses earlier, before he teaches this, he says, when you are praying,

Matthew 6 -7, when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

And I think not only of the meditation where you focus on one word over and over and over again, which is often used in these prayer labyrinths as well, but think of these churches where you just offer the rote prayers up and you never think about it.

Sounds really spiritual because I've memorized all my prayers. God doesn't hear it if it's not from a heart that is in submission to him.

And so this is how we pray. Jesus did not say, go to the worldwide labyrinth locator and travel to the nearest labyrinth and go in and start walking around and when you get to the center, then you'll find me and we'll commune for a little bit and then you can leave again and take that back out in the world.

No, there's nothing. There's no mention of labyrinths in the Bible. In fact, I went to Bible Gateway and I checked in several translations, even the translations that I really, really don't like that aren't actual

Bible translations. And I only found the instance of labyrinths in one of them. It was actually the message, so I'm not entirely surprised.

But it was not in this context of prayer labyrinths. It was somewhere in Job. So the concept of labyrinths, prayer labyrinths, is not in the

Bible. So stay away from it. If someone's teaching this, stay away from it. Follow the biblical example of prayer.

Jesus is your number one model right there in Matthew 6. What are some other examples of godly prayer?

Well, what about Isaiah in chapter 37? It's talking about King Hezekiah.

And in verse 15, Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, O LORD of hosts, the

God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.

You have made heaven and earth. Do you see how Hezekiah's prayer focused on God first?

God is intrinsically holy. He is enthroned above all the earth. He is king of all.

He is creator of all. And then Hezekiah makes his petition, Incline your ear,

O LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, O LORD, and see. And listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living

God. Focus on God. Praise and glorify God.

And then bring your petitions because they will be prioritized rightly because you have focused on the one whom you serve.

Well, what about Jesus in prayer? Of course, we just saw His teaching in Matthew 6.

And in Matthew 14, 22, we see Him praying on His own, you know, where He sends the crowds away, and He goes on a mountain by Himself to pray.

Was He walking in a labyrinth? No. No, He wasn't. Mark 1, 35 gives us another example of Jesus praying early in the morning.

So we see there's no prescribed time or place that you have to pray. Jesus prayed in the morning.

He prayed after He sent the crowds away. What about the early church in prayer? Acts 2, verse 42, they continually devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

It is a vital, vital part of our Christian life. You will starve without prayer, ladies.

You will. And you don't listen for a voice from God, but this is how you talk to God.

And this is how you submit yourself to Him and glorify

Him and ask for His strength. We see how

Paul prayed desperately that God would take away that thorn, that thorn in his side, right, in 2

Corinthians 12. And then what do we see Paul teaching us in Romans 10 about one of the priorities in prayer?

Brethren, my heart's desire, verse 1, Romans 10, 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

We pray for the salvation of others. But we see, and there are many other examples of prayer in the

Scriptures, we see when the Bible talks about prayer that the mind is engaged, our hearts are engaged, and we are seeking the will of God.

We are not seeking a spark of divinity within ourselves. We are seeking the God who is outside of us, the

God who has saved us. And so this ridiculousness about prayer labyrinths and meditation and soaking prayer and chanting or whatever else you want to call it, these different contemplative prayer movements, and that's what a prayer labyrinth is, is it's one of these contemplative prayer,

New Age, mystical, Eastern religion practices.

They are not biblical, and so we stay away from them.

So ladies, if you hear a Bible teacher telling you to walk a prayer labyrinth or to practice some form of meditation that mimics

Eastern meditation, anything that causes you to disengage your mind, you go back to the

Bible, because the Bible does not teach that. The Bible teaches us that we are engaged in our prayer and that we reach out, we glorify

God, we acknowledge His name, His holy name, praise it, and then we bring our petitions before Him, all in submission to His will.

And when we have a right understanding of the God we are praying to, our priorities will fall in place underneath that.

It's bound to happen. So ladies, I hope that's how you're seeking to pray.

I hope you're praying. I hope you are prayers. And I hope you're staying in the scriptures.

Well, I think that's all I have for today. I don't have another L to talk about, and I'm probably past my time.

So ladies, we've talked about life verses, we've talked about labyrinths. Stay in the

Bible. But keep it in context. Ladies, until we talk again, get in your

Bibles, get on your knees, and get equipped. Thanks for listening. You've been listening to Equipping Eve, a no -compromise radio production.

If you'd like to get a hold of Erin, you can reach her at EquippingEve at gmail .com, or you can check out one of our two websites,

DoNotBeSurprised .com or EquippingEve .org. Thanks for listening.