Praying in King James??

[annsni]

I was listening to Family Radio tonight (because a friend has fallen into this false teaching and I like to hear things for myself) and before Camping went into reading the Word and teaching, he prayed - and it was in modified KJ! LOL "Father, we thank thee for thy love for us and that thou camest to die for us...." sort of thing. Why do some people pray like that? I thought it was interesting.

Of course his teaching was weird and I was happy to get to Target to start my shopping but it's worth it to listen to him a little here and there so I can discuss him intelligently with my friend. I will only listen to him when I'm alone in the car so the kids don't get any of his "teaching".

 

[Jim1999]

Doesn't everyone pray in KJ English?

Seriously, for most of my ministry, it was very common for members to pray with thee's and thou's.....It gradually changed in the mid 70's for some, but the older members continued with the thee's and thou's. I think the praying just went along with the most common Bible; the KJV.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Steven2006]

There is an elderly man in my church that says "Thee" and "Thou" when he prays, and it has never entered my mind to think anything ill about it. He is a wonderful example of a Christian man that I am blessed to know. IMO it always sounds like he has much reverence when he prays, nothing unusual about it at all.

 

[DHK]

There is an elderly man in my church that says "Thee" and "Thou" when he prays, and it has never entered my mind to think anything ill about it. He is a wonderful example of a Christian man that I am blessed to know. IMO it always sounds like he has much reverence when he prays, nothing unusual about it at all.

I agree. Most people that grew up with the KJV probably pray in this manner. I do.

 

[Tom Butler]

Doesn't everyone pray in KJ English?

Seriously, for most of my ministry, it was very common for members to pray with thee's and thou's.....It gradually changed in the mid 70's for some, but the older members continued with the thee's and thou's. I think the praying just went along with the most common Bible; the KJV.

Cheers,

Jim

Back in the 1940s and 1950s as I grew up, everybody prayed like that.

I picked it up easily because that's all I knew. I thought this was the required way to pray. It began to change in the 1960s, as the young people began to shed anything practiced by anyone over 30.

We have a couple of men in their 80s who pray the old way, but most of the praying in my church is more conversational.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Wasnt the bible supposed to be written in the language of the people so they could better comprehend? Thy, Thou's etc are not used today but are just another moment in time that has passed into history.

 

[Jerome]

Thy, Thou's etc are not used today

President Obama just published a children's book titled Of Thee I Sing:laugh:

 

[Crabtownboy]

I was listening to Family Radio tonight (because a friend has fallen into this false teaching and I like to hear things for myself) and before Camping went into reading the Word and teaching, he prayed - and it was in modified KJ! LOL "Father, we thank thee for thy love for us and that thou camest to die for us...." sort of thing. Why do some people pray like that? I thought it was interesting.

When I was a kid that is the way everyone in the church I grew up in prayed. As a kid I thought that was the only language God really understood. I think differently now. :jesus:

 

[glfredrick]

Like the rest of you, that is what I grew up hearing. I thought it was normal. The first time I was exposed to a different translation in modern English, I thought it felt "irreverent" to just say God and he, him, etc., instead of "thee, thou," etc. I have since come to understand that that style of English was a mere cultural blip on the radar and that the underlying languages do not stipulate the use of that formal level of English grammar.

Over my years as pastor and teacher, I have had to wean many a church member off of their canned "holy-sounding" prayers to a place where they actually came before a Holy God and prayed in a real and heartfelt way.

When I hear a man that otherwise speaks normally start to pray, "Oh Lordeth, we cometh before Thee-eth..." I generally start thinking that he is just repeating something he heard somewhere else and has prayed no new thought for decades.

 

[nodak]

Who art thou to judge another's servant?

Or to put it in todays speech, are you so all that and a bag of chips that you get to decide if another person is praying genuinely or not?

Before you tar and feather me, I got that from a younger hipper person who defends those who's customs might be a tad dated.

Important thing is to pray--use thee's and thou's or use whassup, but pray.

 

[SBCPreacher]

Or to put it in todays speech, are you so all that and a bag of chips...

That's so last year!

 

[jaigner]

We should feel free to pray in our vernacular. If people still pray out loud that way because of how they grew up, it's not a massive huge deal, but I think it can become a bit of a gimmick or distraction...or even a point of pride. There's definitely nothing holy or extra-respectful about using KJ english.

If we are quoting when we pray, that's another thing. For most of us (unfortunately) the KJV is what we have memorized.

I was born in the early 80s, but my church hadn't quite caught up yet, so I'm in that spot, too.

 

[Gwyneth]

"Important thing is to pray--use thee's and thou's or use whassup, but pray."

AMEN

 

[Alcott]

Though some still pray with "thee" and "thou,"
Because it's the only way they know how,
I put in with "you" and "y'all;"
The one we pray to knows them all.

 

[ReformedBaptist]

Why do you careth how people prayeth? In timeth, we come to prayeth differentlyeth.

Actually, I have head men pray this way. I think its their way of showing reverence when speaking to a Holy God. I have not been offended by it or thought to critcize it. Just thought they were seeking to honor God.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

President Obama just published a children's book titled Of Thee I Sing:laugh:

Exactly! :wavey:

 

[DHK]

Better modernize all those songs (or never sing them again):

[FONT=&quot]

My country 'tis of thee [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sweet land of liberty of thee I sing [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Land where my fathers died land of the Pilgrim's pride [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From every mountain side let freedom ring [/quote[/FONT]]

 

[Tom Butler]

Better modernize all those songs (or never sing them again):
[FONT=&quot]My country 'tis of thee[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sweet land of liberty of thee I sing [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Land where my fathers died land of the Pilgrim's pride [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From every mountain side let freedom ring [/FONT]

Somehow, taking thee out of the song leaves something to be desired.

As,
My country, it's about you; Sweet land of liberty, I'm singing about-cha.

 

[annsni]

We're not talking about published songs.

I was just talking about a man who prays in King James and thought it odd. I haven't experienced it myself in all these years that I've been saved so I just wanted to see what others thought. That's all.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Somehow, taking thee out of the song leaves something to be desired.

As,
My country, it's about you; Sweet land of liberty, I'm singing about-cha.

I kinda like that...it even exposes the mistake that its all about any country doesnt it when it's all about the glory of God, Right.