Musing – What is prayer? Or How to pray.

Hebraic Musing – What is prayer?   Or   How to pray.

A friend attending what he referred to as a formal, liturgical church service and he found himself scratching his head over the prayer style which he described as “READING PREPARED WORDS FOUND IN THEIR PEWS”.   So let’s do some research as to how Jesus told us how to pray in Matt 6:5-13 NIV.   And  let’s listen with ears of the times.  Jesus said in red letters to His apostles:

5 “…when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.  I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”   Who are the hypocrites praying to?  Other men.

6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”   The recent movie “War Room” portrayed this well – setting aside a prayer closet with no clutter or distractions.  I wonder if Jesus had seen and was inspired by that movie?   :<)

7 “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”   Jesus does want us to be persistent, but He is not counting the words.  Do we like it when our children are begging for something monotonously and repetitiously?   And we already know what they want!

9-13  "This, then, is how you should pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

When the Apostles asked Yeshua “how to pray” he gave them what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” – which is a very short summary of the Amidah.  The word Amidah literally means “standing,” because it is recited while standing. It is beautiful, but long and has eighteen or nineteen long verses to be recited three times a day.  Our Lord’s Prayer is Yeshua’s condensed version.   (In case you are interested,  the Hebraic Insight from 6 years ago is copied below as an example of the whole Amidah which the Apostles found to be laborious and monotonous.  Can you find the Lord’s Prayer in it?)

How does it feel when your beloved child just sits down and talks to you from his/her heart?  If the child’s sentences are incomplete and their voice does not remind us of “stained glass windows” we still relish these precious moments of personal relationship and  communication.  We serve a Loving Father God who loves to converse with us on a personal basis; not reciting someone else’s words.

Points to ponder

How to make prayer a personal communication?
Years ago my mother said she did not know “how to pray”. 
My wife said to her “Start by simply talking to Jesus and say ‘Thank you Jesus’”

Do you know God’s phone number?
It is Jer. 33:3 --  'Call to me and I will answer you and
tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

♫  What a friend we have in Jesus…

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   July 26, 2016