Hello,<\/p>\n
I was out running errands one day, and as I was waiting in line I started a conversation with a woman who was also waiting, and she mentioned something that seemed very strange to me. She professed to be a Christian and we were talking about prayer and then she said that she uses the Psalms along with candle burning to petition God. She said every psalm has a different use and that she owns a few books on the subject.<\/p>\n
I looked one of them up when I got home, and what I found confused me. It seemed more like a spellbook than a prayer book, but this woman had said it was based on what Catholics do with their novenas or something.<\/p>\n
Would you please explain this to me? As far as I know, the only thing God allowed in prayer to Him was incense.<\/p>\n
Thank you for your time.<\/p>\n\t
How can I explain some other person’s imaginary religion? Yes, there are people who corrupt the teachings of God in all sorts of ways. “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ<\/em>” (Galatians 1:6-10).<\/p>\n The Psalms are beautiful examples of prayers and songs. They can give you ideas for your own prayers, but they are not there to be recited as incantations.<\/p>\n Incense was used in Old Testament worship and only priests were allowed to burn it. It is not a part of Christian worship.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hello, I was out running errands one day, and as I was waiting in line I started a conversation with a woman who was also waiting, and she mentioned something that seemed very strange to me. She professed to be a Christian and we were talking about prayer and then she said that she…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510,516],"class_list":["post-33215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers","tag-psalms"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89516,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faithfulness-in-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":33215,"position":0},"title":"Faithfulness in Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Heath Rogers In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus told a parable to His disciples about a woman pleading with an unjust judge. This parable was spoken for a specific purpose: \"that men always ought to pray and not lose heart\" (Luke 18:1). Prayer is an exercise of faith. When we pray,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62679,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hannahs-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":33215,"position":1},"title":"Hannah’s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Samuel 1:9-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Thessalonians 5:17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a short passage, but it isn\u2019t short on meaning. What is meant \u201cwithout ceasing?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul isn\u2019t talking about a 24-hour a day, non-stop prayer. There are other things which must be accomplished in life. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24565,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-pray-the-psalms\/","url_meta":{"origin":33215,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to pray the Psalms?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have an urgent question that is generating heat in my congregation. This heat is created by my wife. She prays the Psalms, and I personally do not agree with her on this. But she insists that it is the word of God. I don't agree because we are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89816,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-you-pray-that-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":33215,"position":3},"title":"Would You Pray that Prayer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jonathan Banning In Psalm 7, King David makes a shocking petition to God, \"O' Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands... let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; and let him trample my life down to the ground and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49776,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-woman-cant-lead-prayer-then-she-shouldnt-discipline-or-deal-with-finances\/","url_meta":{"origin":33215,"position":4},"title":"If a woman can’t lead prayer then she shouldn’t discipline or deal with finances","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am currently in a discussion with my brother about women praying with their husbands. 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