The Lord Is Our Rock And Our Salvation

When my twin brother and I were five years old, my mother became a Christian. Before that time, she was Anglican. When she became a Christian, she decided to send my brother and I on the Sunday School bus to an Evangelical Free Church every week. It was there that my brother and I learned about God and His Word.

However, our mother didn't become totally free from the traditions of the Anglican Church. When my brother and I were thirteen, she made us attend weekly classes so that we could be confirmed. I had never heard of the word "confirmation" before, so I was curious. I wanted to know why our mother thought it was of the utmost importance that we go.

My brother and I attended these confirmation classes faithfully, but I did it begrudgingly because I found myself constantly questioning the Anglican traditions and beliefs. (I am outspoken when it comes to God's Word. I don't think the teachers liked me very much because of it, but they didn't kick me out.) Now as I look back, I am glad I went. It opened my eyes to the foolishness of man's rituals and traditions. Every day we were there, we had to read large portions from a black book called the "Book of Common Prayer." Let me clarify: this black book was not the Bible, and the words in it were not the Scriptures. I was very uncomfortable reading from a book that was written by man and not God. Don't get me wrong, the words sounded quite spiritual, and I have to admit, reading them out loud made me feel, well . . . pious, especially compared to saying my own personal prayers. In fact, my prayers sounded rather pathetic in comparison. However, the Holy Spirit inside me would convict me of this deception and remind me of the truths I had already learned in God's Word.

There were many things that disturbed me about the Anglican traditions, but I won't go through them all. When I talked to my mother about them, she still insisted I had to be confirmed. Finally, during one of the classes, I asked the Anglican teacher why confirmation was so important. I was horrified when he told me I needed to be confirmed in order to be saved. I was so angry at this un-Biblical belief that I obstinately refused to attend any more class . . . except I was only thirteen and commanded by God to obey my parents. Therefore, I was confirmed.

Here is a picture of my brother and I just before our confirmation ceremony.

For prayer to be pleasing to God, prayer needs to be spoken from the heart, not heartlessly read like a robot from a book or repeated from words spoken by someone else.

"May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14 (NIV)

A few words spoken to God from the heart is more pleasing to Him than many words spoken in ritual or vain. It is God who is our Rock and our Redeemer, not any of man's traditions.