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Okay, so let's talk about prayer. Prayer is one of the most basic activities of all religions. Basically, prayer is a very simple ritual of making a request to a higher power that you cannot communicate with directly. Some might consider simply communicating with this higher power a form of prayer, but in any case, a request is usually the point of praying. Additionally, some see prayer as not only a ritual for making requests, but as a form of worship, as the notion of communicating with this higher power is an act of respect. Most persons pray to deities, but some might pray to other types of spirits, and some might even pray to the universe or nature.
Prayer is hardly to be considered cultic. For the most part, prayer is harmless, and while no gods might be listening or doing anything about such requests, it doesn't hurt to say a prayer, and sometimes, when we have nothing else we can do about a certain situation, prayer might be our only alternative. In addition to this, prayer sometimes helps to relax us and ease our stress.
But while prayer is generally harmless, most persons don't think about or even realize that are potential harmful consequences that can come from prayer. The root problem is that prayer really doesn't work. We're not saying that it doesn't have any positive effects and that we know for sure it doesn't work, but this is what all of the research so far has shown. Since it doesn't work, praying becomes a waste of valuable time. When you are praying, you could be out there instead doing the work or putting in the effort to get what you want in the first place. Only hard work and persistence get you what you want. Sitting on your butt all day praying for it doesn't. If what you request is not something that you can work for, then just think of all the constructive things you could be doing while you're praying. And this is the main problem.
What starts to happen with many cult members, is that when you pray, you start to think of prayer as an acceptable alternative to actually working towards getting what it is you want. Because prayer does not work, you are wasting your time getting nothing while you could be out there trying to actually work towards your goal. Think about if you are unemployed and badly need a job. What you should be doing is going out there looking for work and filling out applications. The wrong thing to do is to only pray about it. This can start out insignificant, but can grow to the extreme. To show you what we mean, consider how some parents actually pray for their sick children to recover instead of actually taking them to the hospital. Many children have died as a result of this exact cultic activity. When this happens, prayer becomes more than simple innocent gesture, it becomes a dangerous tool of ignorance and laziness, and in some cases, even death. Over all, prayer has the potential to increase a person's tendency to become very superstitious.
And when you become superstitious, that's another set of problems. Often, all it takes is for a person to pray and get something they wanted just once, and that sets them up for life in the belief that prayer works. They forget about all the other prayers that went unanswered, and they do not even consider for a moment that it could have been just a coincidence. Coincidences do happen.
Now, in addition to these cultic properties involving prayer, the 4th Watch has some additional practices, behaviors, and beliefs regarding prayer that are also of a cultic nature.
The 4th Watch holds the belief that prayer does in fact work and is a true way to communicate with God. Unfortunately, they also teach that prayer is more important than actually doing the work necessary to get what you want. They teach that God is your provider. They teach that by not praying or relying on something else to get what you want, you somehow are betraying God. By not praying, they imply that you are basically telling God that you don't need him and that relying on yourself is more reliable than relying on him. It's like disconnecting yourself from God, which ultimately of course leads to Satan.
And unfortunately, because of this, there are 4th Watch pastors who actually teach to their congregation that prayer is more important than seeking medical attention. This is because God is your healer and for all of the reasons we just mentioned. We will state that one 4th Watcher has told us that this idea of praying instead of seeking medical attention is not an official teaching of their religion. If that is the case, then we are certainly happy about that. But, it is a fact that certain pastors have preached this in the church to their members. Even if it is not an official part in their doctrine, clearly you have 4th Watchers believing it, and, it is no wonder why with all of the things that they do teach about prayer concerning how important it is in order to avoid betraying God. This is what such superstition does to them. And yes, the 4th Watchers are extremely superstitious.
A cultic feature of the 4th Watch is the way you are supposed to pray. Of course, mainstream religions have special prayers to say and even certain words that are expected in the prayer, such as "amen" in order for the prayer to be recognized. But in the 4th Watch, you have to say prayers in a strict method, otherwise, you are taught that the prayer is not valid and God will not answer it. I don't know if it's because he can't hear it unless you say some magic words or if it's because he chooses to ignore you because you do not follow his technique. But in any case, your prayer is no good.
According to the 4th Watch, when you pray, you have to acknowledge four parts which are followed through the A.C.T.S. model. The A.C.T.S. model is the system used for 4th Watch prayer, and it is an acronym that stands for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. You are to acknowledge each one of these concepts in your prayer, and in that order.
The first part of the prayer is adoration. When you first pray, you have to babble a bunch of things about how much you love God. Once you're done adoring him, you move onto confession. Here, you confess what things you have done wrong and what sins you've committed. After that, you have one more thing to do before you can ask him what it is you want. You now are in thanksgiving mode. At this point, you are to keep thanking him over and over again for all that he's done for you, whether it's good or bad. After you have adored him, confessed to him, and thanked him, you now have the right to finally ask for something. That is the step of supplication. This is where you can go ahead and ask for that new bike that you've wanted, or anything else such as for your father to survive surgery, or simply for forgiveness of a sin you've committed.
Even after all that, you are still required to say the traditional "amen". We can't be certain if it's a rule, but we know that when most 4th Watchers end prayer, before they say "amen", they say something like "in Jesus' name". And after that, they usually say something along the lines of "To God be the glory". There are no simple prayers in the 4th Watch. Each prayer can last for ten minutes or even half an hour. We have sat through prayers that seemed to have last for a lot longer than that.
In addition to the way you are expected to pray, you also must only pray to Jesus, not to the Father, or to God in general, but to Jesus only. You are not allowed to pray to God or the Father directly, but must go through Jesus first. If you do not do this, according to the cult, every prayer you say, God will not hear or he will ignore you. As far as we are aware, this is common practice for most religions of Christianity, but we highly doubt that God would not listen to you simply because you didn't go through the proper chain of command.
Another strange teaching of the 4th Watch church concerning prayer, is this absurd notion that God will also not heed your request if you only pray by yourself and if you do not pray in a church. Apparently, the 4th Watch doctrine states that when you pray, you must be inside a church with other members praying with you, other wise, God will not listen to you. We have a difficult time believing that the 4th Watch really believes this, but this is what was told to one of us by their pastor and we have yet to hear from any 4th Watchers telling us differently.
Obviously, this is a very weird rule of prayer indeed. It is absolutely absurd to think that God will not listen to you if you are not in a church or if you are not praying with other persons. One of the things that persons love about theistic religion is that whenever they feel the need, they can always bow their head and close their eyes and talk to God. Any atheist would love to do that, to have someone like that they can just talk to. And, if a god is that powerful, you'd think he wouldn't care whether you're by yourself or in a church at all. It shouldn't matter.
As you should be able to see, the 4th Watch is a cult just on their views on prayer.
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