Prayer
What is your understanding of prayer? I wonder sometimes how skewed is my view of prayer. I had an immediate answer to a prayer recently, and in recounting that to two different people, I received two different and unexpected reactions. It was quite confusing to me. Maybe I didn’t tell the tale well enough. Maybe the metaphysical ramifications of answered prayer is too overwhelming to comprehend. Maybe I should pray about it.
In my effort to get a better grip on prayer, I did a bible word search for “pray”. “Pray” returned 384 results from the ESV, and 511 from the KJV! I decided that I had better not try to do that deep dive and become even more confused… Even Luther’s treatise on prayer in the Large Catechism, while interesting and instructive, and a must read, it is beyond the scope of this little devotion. The Small Catechism‘s focus on prayer is the Lord’s Prayer. This is the basic understanding of what prayer is. The explanation to the Fifth Petition and the Conclusion summarizes prayer nicely:
The Fifth Petition.
We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins, nor deny such petitions on account of them; for we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray, neither have we deserved them; but that He would grant them all to us by grace; for we daily sin much, and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. So will we verily, on our part, also heartily forgive and also readily do good to those who sin against us.
From <https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/the-lords-prayer/>
Conclusion
Amen.
What does this mean?
–Answer: That I should be certain that these petitions are acceptable to our Father in heaven and heard; for He Himself has commanded us so to pray, and has promised that He will hear us. Amen, Amen; that is, Yea, yea, it shall be so.
From <https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/the-lords-prayer/>
Or as St Paul puts it:
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians%205%3A16%2D18&version=EHV>
“Pray without ceasing”??? Maybe St Paul has a skewed view of prayer also???
Daniel also had ideas on prayer.
Three times each day he would get on his knees and pray and offer praise before his God.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%206%3A9%2D11&version=EHV>
And that got him thrown to the lions… (Read about it here.)
I suppose just about everyone in the bible has an viewpoint on prayer: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Hannah, Samuel, David, Job, Ezra; as I motioned, 511 times prayer is referenced… Zechariah, Anna, John the Baptist (and his disciples), Peter and John were there, also James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All of them kept praying together with one mind, along with the women, with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:13-14 EHV).
This is the metaphysical ramifications of prayer:
I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel, holding a gold censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer together with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar that was in front of the throne. And the smoke of the incense went up from the hand of the angel before God, together with the prayers of the saints.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%208&version=EHV>
What is your understanding of prayer? In my skewed view, I will pray.
Trust the Promises
Steve Skiver