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 Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
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General Information
Prayer is a necessity to mankind because he is incurably religious. It is a universal phenomenon. While not exclusively Christian, it is most real in Christianity because the Christian life is a life of fellowship with God. In no other religion do we find such prayers as are found uttered by men like Moses, David and Paul.
As a many-faceted phenomenon, prayer includes the following elements:
The pivotal factor in prayer is attitude.
Posture, language, place or time do not matter. Man's heart must be in rapport with God. Jesus has left us an unsurpassed and perfect example of the importance of prayer in one's life (the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6).
The following principles are regulative in prayer:
Prayer avails only as
From the standpoint of human responsibility, prayer is the major element in the out-working of God's redemptive program (1Tim. 2:1-4). Neglect of prayer is a sin (1Sam. 12:23).
Prayer is the process of addressing a superhuman being or beings for purposes of praise, adoration, thanksgiving, petition, penitence, and so on. Prayer is a part of every culture and does not belong to any particular religious tradition. The foundations for prayer, however, differ according to the understanding of God's relationship to human beings and to the world. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, prayer is based on the belief that God is both transcendent and personal, an active agent in human history. In Christian belief, God's concern for humanity is manifested in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Prayer may be communal, as in public worship, or private; vocal, prayer said aloud by individuals or groups, or mental, as in meditation and contemplation. Popular forms of prayer include litanies (see Litany) and prayers for the dead (for example, the Jewish Kaddish). Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer.
Joan A. Range
Bibliography
Bemporad, Jack, ed., Theological Foundations
of Prayer (1967); Bradshaw, Paul F., Daily Prayer in the
Early Church (1982); Fenton, J. C., The Theology of Prayer
(1939); Huck, G., and Klenicki, L., eds., Spirituality and
Prayer, Jewish and Christian Understanding (1983).
Prayer, in religion, both a person's act of communion with God, or any other object of worship, and the words used. It is the natural result of a person's belief in God. Prayer may be individual or group, formal or spontaneous, silent or spoken. In one or more forms, it is at the center of worship. The inseparable accompaniment of sacrifice in most primitive religions, prayer occupied a central position in Jewish religion from earliest days. The Temple was "a house of prayer" (see Isaiah 56:7) and the Psalms, or Psalter, became the prayer of liturgy of the Temple and the synagogue and formed the substance of prayers in early Christianity.
Christian prayer normally includes invocation, praise, thanksgiving, petition (for oneself and others), confession, and appeal for forgiveness. It follows the pattern of the prayer known as the Lord's Prayer (Latin Paternoster) given by Jesus Christ to his disciples (see Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).
Prayer forms of corporate worship vary from the highly liturgical formalized prayers of the Divine Office in the Roman Catholic church and the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England and other Anglican churches, through the extemporaneous spoken prayers of nonliturgical services, to the silent prayer of a Friends' Meeting.
In its narrowest sense, prayer is understood as spiritual communion for the sake of requesting something of a deity. In its broadest sense, prayer is any ritual form designed to bring one into closer relation to whatever one believes to be the ultimate. In this sense, both the dance ceremonials of the Native American and the meditation of the Buddhist seeking self-perfection are forms of prayer. At the highest level, sacrifice is absorbed into prayer in the sacrificial offering of self to God through total commitment.
Aids to prayer, evolved through the centuries, include prayer beads, which enable a worshiper to count the prayers he or she is praying; the prayer wheel, a cylindrical box containing written prayers believed to become effective as the box is revolved on its axis, used primarily by Tibetan Buddhists; and the prayer rug, used by Muslims.
Theology that is biblical and evangelical will always be nurtured by prayer. Moreover, it will give special attention to the life of prayer, since theology is inseparable from spirituality. Theology is concerned not only with the Logos but also with the Spirit who reveals and applies the wisdom of Christ to our hearts. John Calvin referred to prayer as "the soul of faith," and indeed faith without prayer soon becomes lifeless. It is by prayer that we make contact with God. It is likewise through prayer that God communicates with us.
In the prayer of primitive man God is envisaged as a higher being (or beings) who hears and answers the requests of humans, though he is not generally understood as all-powerful and all-holy. Primitive prayer is born out of need and fear, and the request is frequently for deliverance from misfortune and danger.
Ritual prayer represents a more advanced stage of civilization, though not necessarily deeper or more meaningful prayer. Here it is the form, not the content, of the prayer which brings about the answer. Prayer is reduced to litanies and repetitions that are often believed to have a magical effect.
In popular Greek religion petition was focused upon moral values rather than simply rudimentary needs. The gods were believed to be benign but not omnipotent. The prayer of the ancient Greeks was a purified form of primitive prayer. It reflected but did not transcend the cultural values of hellenic civilization.
Philosophical prayer signifies the dissolution of realistic or naive prayer. Prayer now becomes reflection upon the meaning of life or resignation to the divine order of the universe. At its best, philosophical prayer includes a note of thanksgiving for the blessings of life.
According to Heiler, the two highest types of prayer are the mystical and the prophetic. Mysticism in its Christian context represents a synthesis of Neoplatonic and biblical motifs, but it is also a universal religious phenomenon. Here the aim is union with God, who is generally portrayed in suprapersonal terms. The anthropomorphic god of primitive religion is now transformed into a God that transcends personality, one that is best described as the Absolute, the infinite abyss, or the infinite ground and depth of all being. Mysticism sees prayer as the elevation of the mind to God. Revelation is an interior illumination rather than the intervention of God in history (as in biblical faith). Mystics often speak of a ladder of prayer or stages of prayer, and petition is always considered the lowest stage. The highest form of prayer is contemplation, which often culminates in ecstasy.
For Heiler, prophetic prayer signifies both a reappropriation and a transformation of the insights of primitive man. Now prayer is based not only on need but also on love. It is neither an incantation nor a meditation but a spontaneous outburst of emotion. Indeed, heartfelt supplication is the essence of true prayer. Prophetic prayer involves importunity, begging and even complaining. In this category of prophetic religion Heiler places not only the biblical prophets and apostles but also the Reformers, especially Luther, and the Puritans. Judaism and Islam at their best also mirror prophetic religion, though mysticism is present in these movements as well.
The spirituality which Heiler did not consider and which is really a contemporary phenomenon can be called secular spirituality. It signifies a this-worldly mysticism where the emphasis is on not detachment from the world but immersion in the world. This was already anticipated in both Hegel and Nietzsche. J. A. T. Robinson describes secular prayer as the penetration through the world to God. The liberation theologian Juan Luis Segundo defines prayer as reflection on and openness to what God is doing in history. Henry Nelson Wieman, the religious naturalist, sees prayer as an attitude toward life which places us in contact with the creative process in nature. Dorothy Solle speaks of "political prayer," which is oriented toward praxis rather than either adoration or petition.
Prayer in the biblical perspective is spontaneous, though it may take structured forms. But the forms themselves must always be held to tentatively and placed aside when they become barriers to the conversation of the heart with the living God. True prayer, in the prophetic or biblical sense, bursts through all forms and techniques. This is because it has its basis in the Spirit of God, who cannot be encased in a sacramental box or a ritualistic formula.
In the Bible petition and intercession are primary, though adoration, thanksgiving, and confession also have a role. Yet the petitionary element is present in all these forms of prayer. Biblical prayer is crying to God out of the depths; it is the pouring out of the soul before God (cf. I Sam. 1:15; Pss. 88:1-2; 130:1-2; 142:1-2; Lam. 2:19; Matt. 7:7-8; Phil. 4:6; Heb. 5:7). It often takes the form of importunity, passionate pleading to God, even wrestling with God.
Such an attitude presupposes that God's ultimate will is unchanging, but the way in which he chooses to realize this will is dependent on the prayers of his children. He wants us as covenant partners, not as automatons or slaves. In this restricted sense prayer may be said to change the will of God. But more fundamentally it is sharing with God our needs and desires so that we might be more fully conformed to his ultimate will and purpose.
Meditation and contemplation have a role in biblical religion, though not, however, as higher stages of prayer (as in mysticism) but as supplements to prayer. The focus of our meditation is not on the essence of God or the infinite depth of all being but on God's redemptive deeds in biblical history culminating in Jesus Christ. The aim is not greater detachment from the world of turmoil and confusion but a greater attachment to God and to our fellow human beings.
Biblical spirituality makes a place for silence, yet silence is to be used not to get beyond the Word but to prepare ourselves to hear the Word. Against certain types of mysticism, faith-piety (Heiler) does not seek to transcend reason but to place reason in the service of God. There can be a prayer that consists only in groans or sighs or in shouts and cries of jubilation; yet it is not complete or full prayer until it takes the form of meaningful communication with the living God.
Prayer in biblical or evangelical spirituality is rooted in both the experience of Godforsakenness and in the sense of the presence of God. It is inspired by both the felt need of God and gratitude for his work of reconciliation and redemption in Jesus Christ.
Biblical prayer includes the dimension of importunity and of submission. It is both wrestling with God in the darkness and resting in the stillness. There is a time to argue and complain to God, but there is also a time to submit. Biblical faith sees submission to the will of God coming after the attempt to discover his will through heartfelt supplication. Prayer is both a pleading with God that he will hear and act upon our requests and a trusting surrender to God in the confidence that he will act in his own time and way. But the confidence comes only through the struggle.
Christian prayer is both corporate and individual. We find God in solitariness, but we never remain in this state. Instead, we seek to unite our sacrifices of praise and our petitions and intercessions with those of the company of fellow believers. The man or woman of prayer may find God both in solitude and in fellowship. Even in solitude we believe that the petitioner is not alone but is surrounded by a cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1), the saints and angels in the church triumphant.
We are called to present personal and individual needs to God, but at the same time we are urged to intercede for the whole company of the saints (John 17:20-21; Eph. 6:18) and also for the world at large (I Tim. 2:1-2). Biblical spirituality entails not withdrawal from the turmoils of the world but identification with the world in its shame and affliction. Personal petition would become egocentric if it were not held in balance with intercession, adoration, and thanksgiving.
The goal of prayer is not absorption into the being of God but the transformation of the world for the glory of God. We yearn for the blessed vision of God, but even more we seek to bring our wills and the wills of all people into conformity with the purposes of God. We pray not simply for personal happiness or for protection (as in primitive prayer) but for the advancement and extension of the kingdom of God.
D G Bloesch
(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)
Bibliography
D. G. Bloesch, The Struggle of Prayer; J. Ellul, Prayer
and Modern Man; O. Hallesby, Prayer; P. T. Forsyth, The Soul of Prayer;
K. Barth, Prayer; F. von Hugel, The Life of Prayer; T. Merton,
Contemplative Prayer; H. U. von Balthasar, Prayer; P. LeFevre,
Understandings of Prayer.
Prayer is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal. It is a "beseeching the Lord" (Ex. 32:11); "pouring out the soul before the Lord" (1 Sam. 1:15); "praying and crying to heaven" (2 Chr. 32:20); "seeking unto God and making supplication" (Job 8:5); "drawing near to God" (Ps. 73:28); "bowing the knees" (Eph. 3:14).
Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold intercourse with us, his personal control of all things and of all his creatures and all their actions. Acceptable prayer must be sincere (Heb. 10:22), offered with reverence and godly fear, with a humble sense of our own insignificance as creatures and of our own unworthiness as sinners, with earnest importunity, and with unhesitating submission to the divine will.
Prayer must also be offered in the faith that God is, and is the hearer and answerer of prayer, and that he will fulfil his word, "Ask, and ye shall receive" (Matt. 7:7, 8; 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 14:13, 14), and in the name of Christ (16:23, 24; 15:16; Eph. 2:18; 5:20; Col. 3:17; 1 Pet. 2:5). Prayer is of different kinds, secret (Matt. 6:6); social, as family prayers, and in social worship; and public, in the service of the sanctuary.
Intercessory prayer is enjoined (Num. 6:23; Job 42:8; Isa. 62:6; Ps. 122:6; 1 Tim. 2:1; James 5:14), and there are many instances on record of answers having been given to such prayers, e.g., of Abraham (Gen. 17:18, 20; 18:23-32; 20: 7, 17, 18), of Moses for Pharaoh (Ex. 8: 12, 13, 30, 31; Ex. 9:33), for the Israelites (Ex. 17:11, 13; 32:11-14, 31-34; Num. 21:7, 8; Deut. 9:18, 19, 25), for Miriam (Num. 12:13), for Aaron (Deut. 9:20), of Samuel (1 Sam. 7:5-12), of Solomon (1 Kings 8; 2 Chr. 6), Elijah (1 Kings 17: 20-23), Elisha (2 Kings 4:33-36), Isaiah (2 Kings 19), Jeremiah (42:2-10), Peter (Acts 9:40), the church (12:5-12), Paul (28:8).
No rules are anywhere in Scripture laid down
for the manner of prayer or the attitude to be assumed by the
suppliant.
If we except the "Lord's Prayer" (Matt. 6:9-13), which is,
however, rather a model or pattern of prayer than a set prayer to be
offered up, we have no special form of prayer for general use given us
in Scripture. Prayer is frequently enjoined in Scripture (Ex. 22:23,
27; 1 Kings 3:5; 2 Chr. 7:14; Ps. 37:4; Isa. 55:6; Joel 2:32; Ezek.
36:37, etc.), and we have very many testimonies that it has been
answered (Ps. 3:4; 4:1; 6:8; 18:6; 28:6; 30:2; 34: 4; 118:5; James
5:16-18, etc.).
Prayer is like the dove that Noah sent forth, which blessed him not only when it returned with an olive-leaf in its mouth, but when it never returned at all.
Robinson's Job.
(Easton Illustrated Dictionary)
The Divine Office (Latin officium divinum,"divine duty"), a series of nonsacramental services of prayer to be chanted or recited at determined hours of the day. It is intended to sanctify particular parts of the day. The series of "hours" has been a regular practice in cathedrals and monasteries since the 4th century. Originally they were performed using the Book of Psalms, readings or "lessons" from the Bible, and collections of hymns and prayers. By the 13th century the hours were incorporated into one volume, called the Breviary, for the private use of monks and clergy. Orthodox churches still use the older collections of liturgical books for the Divine Office. Recitation of the Divine Office has been obligatory for all priests (and some nuns) in the Roman Catholic church since 1918. The Second Vatican Council revised the Breviary and changed its name to Liturgy of the Hours.
The full Divine Office consists of nine offices, or hours.
Vatican II obligated those bound to the recitation of the Divine Office to recite only one of the three remaining little hours; all the little hours remain, however, in the Orthodox Divine Office.
In the Reformation churches, the Divine Office has had a mixed history. Luther's Deutsche Messe (German Mass), established in 1526, provided for a form of morning prayer and evening prayer, but these were soon abandoned by congregations and survived only in pious family circles. In the Anglican church, Thomas Cranmer had the Book of Common Prayer officially accepted in 1549. It provides for a morning prayer (matins) and an evening prayer (evensong). It has been revised repeatedly and is in use in the Anglican church today. These offices in the Free Churches (Puritan, Methodist, and others) have become increasingly rare, as the churches have departed from the Book of Common Prayer. The office of the ecumenical community of Taizé in France, similar to the Roman Breviary, has been translated into many languages and enjoys wide use among Christians of every denomination.
Joseph M. Powers
Matins, first of the daily prayer services in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. In the Roman Catholic tradition, matins consists of readings from the Bible, lessons about the lives of the saints, and sermons. The term matins is derived from a Latin word meaning "of the morning."
Vespers (Latin vesperae, "of the evening"), part of the daily series of nonsacramental services of prayer in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Vespers is usually an evening devotion. The term is often applied to the evensong (evening prayer) of the Anglican Church, while in other churches it designates a musical service held on Sunday afternoon.
prayer
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