{"id":33130,"date":"2018-02-14T19:41:48","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T01:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=33130"},"modified":"2018-02-25T00:59:10","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T06:59:10","slug":"christian-prayer-or-mental-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/christian-prayer-or-mental-illness\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Prayer, or Mental Illness?","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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It\u2019s one thing to talk to Jesus. It\u2019s another thing when Jesus talks to you. That\u2019s called mental illness, if I\u2019m not correct, hearing voices…<\/strong> \u2014Joyce Behar,\u00a0The View;<\/em> foxnews.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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THAT<\/strong> was television host Joyce Behar’s conclusion to the assertion by a former White House staffer that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence claims that “Jesus tells him to say things.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Behar, who was raised Catholic, continued:<\/p>\n

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My question is, can he talk to Mary Magdalene when his wife isn\u2019t in the room?<\/strong> \u2014rawstory.com<\/a>, Feb. 13th, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Co-host Sunny Hostin quipped:<\/p>\n

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Look, I\u2019m Catholic, I\u2019m a faithful person, but I don\u2019t know that I want my vice president talking in tongues.<\/strong> \u2014Ibid.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The problem today is not that some people are hearing the voice of God, but that most people\u00a0aren’t<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus said:<\/p>\n

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You do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:26-27)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And again,\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not listen, because you do not belong to God. (John 8:47)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jesus says that people do not “hear” His voice because they “do not believe” and therefore “do not belong to God.” This is why the Pharisees, even though “raised” in the faith and well versed in the Scriptures, could not “hear” nor understand the Lord. Their hearts were hardened with pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Oh, that today you would hear his voice, \u2018Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert…’ (Heb 3:7-8)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The pre-condition to hearing God’s voice in one’s heart is faith, a child-like faith. “Unless you turn and become like children,”<\/em> Jesus said, “you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”\u00a0<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a>Matt 18:3<\/span><\/span>