Do any Christians follow Jesus?

[Mudhammam]

Even in the most simplest tasks, such as prayer, I have yet to know any Christians who actually follow Jesus' plain instructions:

"When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’"

According to Jesus, that's what prayers are to consist of, not all this "Dear Diary" shit that Christians typically turn it into. What gives? Are "real" followers of Christ just an endangered species?

[Ryantology]

In the following, I bold the parts of the warning of the Sermon on the Mount that apply to Christians, according to

Jesus:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Christians:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

And that's why every Christian on earth is going to hell, if the Bible is actually God's word.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Why does anyone have to pray? If your favorite deity knows what you need he should give it to you without you having to beg for it. If it's his will that you get it then he will give it to you without you begging for it. If he doesn't want you to have it then he will keep it from you.

As it says in Sirach 40:28 (CEB) = "My child, don’t live the life of a beggar; it’s better to die than to beg."

Praying is just begging. It's whining that your favorite deity's plans for you suck and that you want a better deal.

[Dystopia]

There's not a single Christian that follows the bible blindly step by step, even the most fundamentalist ones can't do it because some of their conducts would be considered crimes. I frequently annoy my girlfriend when I tell her she's not a good Christian for being pro gay marriage.

[Mr Greene]

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’"

According to Jesus, that's what prayers are to consist of, not all this "Dear Diary" shit that Christians typically turn it into. What gives? Are "real" followers of Christ just an endangered species?

Which version is this one? Where's all the stuff on trespassing?

[Whateverist]

Even in the most simplest tasks, such as prayer, I have yet to know any Christians who actually follow Jesus' plain instructions:

"When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’"

According to Jesus, that's what prayers are to consist of, not all this "Dear Diary" shit that Christians typically turn it into. What gives? Are "real" followers of Christ just an endangered species?

Good points. If you keep in mind the admonition against babbling then these are actually quite good points to meditate on .. wordlessly of course.

[Ben Davis]

Which version is this one? Where's all the stuff on trespassing?

It's a modern Baptist version. You're thinking of the Catholic one:

"Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us, this day, our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil."

The Church of England version then adds:

"For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever."

[vorlon13]

When asked which of the 10 Commandments to follow, Christ listed 5. (for those home schooled Christers, that would be 1/2) So how many displays of the Commandments only list 5 ??

Are Christers saying Jesus could only remember 5, but really meant all 10 ?

(and I don't want to go in another direction here, but in one Gospel, Christ also lists "Defraud Not" and I'm not sure where He was going with that one)

[Jenny A]

I began with the trespassers version in the Presbyterian church, but for most of my childhood we used the REALLY modernized Lutheran version:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

But I remember the Presbeterians used the trespassers and the inevitable Sunday lecture about how trespasses were bad things you did to others not cutting through the corner of your neighbor's lawn---unless of course you walked on his prize petunias. Debtors I didn't hear about until later.

The word "sin" wasn't really in either the Greek or Hebrew vocabulary at the time--- at least not the Christianity came to use it. It meant something like to miss the mark in Greek. Thus trespassing and other imperfect synonyms.

I think the temptation was clearer than "the time of trial" though.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Which version is this one? Where's all the stuff on trespassing?

It's a modern Baptist version. You're thinking of the Catholic one:

"Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us, this day, our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil."

The Church of England version then adds:

"For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever."

That prayer is really funny since it places the for one's failures on the Big Guy for tempting him = "And lead us not into temptation". Instead of the "devil made me do it" defense it becomes "I wouldn't have done it but I couldn't resist God's temptation" defense.