Musing – What does the Word “Prayer” Really Mean?

Hebraic Musing – What does the Word “Prayer” Really Mean?

I find the first mention of the word “Prayer” in Gen. 25:21 where “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.” NIV   Isaac was needy and desperate; but most of all, Isaac was holding the Lord God to a promise. 

The word “Pray” appears in earlier situations by someone simply calling on or talking to God and we find ourselves doing that often (I hope).  

Praying as a “Prayer” involves entreating or beseeching or appealing to God for a situation and/or a solution. 

Definitions get fuzzy, but the second one by Merriam-Webster is “an earnest request or wish”.  Does that definition best fit the original Hebrew?  What is the symbolic meaning of Prayer in the original Hebrew in Gen 25:21?

The word in Hebrew -- OT:6279 `athar — to pray, to entreat, to supplicate, to plead.  Let’s look at the symbolism of the Hebrew letters –   Ayin, Thav, Resh   or  u  t  r   
Symbolically:
u    Eye  or See
t    Seal  or Covenant
r    Head or Highest

So we could say that the symbolic meaning of “Prayer” is to   SEE   the COVENANT   of the HIGHEST.  The highest applicable covenant I can think of was the original Abrahamic covenant which the LORD enhanced in Gen 22:17-18  “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."  So was Isaac simply reminding the LORD through “Prayer” of His promise of offspring from Father Abraham’s seed? 

Are we entitled to seek God for the completion of His promises to us as sons of Father Abraham?

Points to ponder

Should we be in prayer for our needs?   Or for wants?

Should we be in prayer for fulfillment of God’s promises; or for His will to be done?

♫ Father Abraham had many sons, Many sons had Father Abraham, I am one of them and so are you… ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                          February 12, 2019  

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”