Prayer

Here is a great discussion of what prayer can be by Gary Collier. This is from his study of the Thessalonian letters (www.coffeewithpaul.com).


Although it has been defined or conceived in numerous ways, Prayer is best understood as an open-ended, interactive communication between people and God in pursuit of a relationship. Prayer involves all aspects of a human being, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, mystical, or other. Although prayer is better experienced and practiced than dissected and analyzed, the following notes attend more to the latter.

To help people develop balance and avoid falling into ruts (such as praying only about things they want or need), acronyms have long been used as reminders of various concerns of prayer: for example, ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication). Discussions often talk about "types" of prayers, as in the Encyclopaedia Britannica's article on prayer which lists six types: petition, confession, intercession, praise/thanksgiving, adoration, and ecstasy. Others list more or less, and might combine praise and adoration, while adding or substituting prayers of blessing, submission, prevailing, complaint, agreement, importunity, faith, dedication - and perhaps many more. Still others talk of formation prayers, or covenant prayers, prayers of tears, or prayers of relinquishment; and still others of types of prayers as meditative, reading, singing, vocal, silent, and working prayers, or even morning and evening prayers. And on it goes.

This can get confusing, and those wanting to learn how to pray better can actually get frustrated with uncertainty: so many people saying so many different things! Just how many "types" are there, and do I need them all?

First, let's clarify something: the word "type" is too vague for what we need. Imagine a young man who doesn't know much about horses speaking to Sherlock Holmes about a missing horse. Mr. Holmes, believing that something is afoot, asks: "What type of horse did you have?" The young man replies: "A little horse, about this high." "Yes," replies Holmes, "but what breed, size, weight, and color?"
A type of prayer is like a type of horse: it can mean anything, or nothing. So, in the interest of clarity, it is useful to be more precise, asking what is AFOOT with prayer: -i.e., distinguishing between the Aims, Forms, Outlook, Occasions, and Theology of prayer language.

1. Aims (or functions): What does the specific prayer language attempt to accomplish, or how does it function? This would include words or concepts as in the following list:
adoration, worship, praise
confession, lamentation, repentance
thanksgiving, blessing
supplication, petition, entreaty,
intercession, commendation, mediation
declaration, affirmation, vow, oath,
complaint, imprecation (asking for curse or vindication)
invocation, doxology, benediction
These (and other) objectives can be included in prayers of all shapes and sizes where a single objective (e.g., praise) might be pursued or several objectives might be mixed (e.g., blessing, petition, etc.).

2. Forms: What formal characteristics of a prayer or prayer language make it alike or different from others? For example, the book of Psalms contains an entire category of Psalms that follows specific formal patterns resulting in Psalms of Lament and Petition. These are either communal or individual prayers. The formal pattern goes something like this: address God, file a complaint, request help, affirm trust in God, and vow to praise God. Psalms that fit into this formal category include at least 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 90, 94,123 - enough to show the formal pattern fairly clearly. Explained simplistically, these are written by following a kind of template or pre-set pattern in which specific vocabulary, phrases, or concerns determine how the Psalm (prayer) progresses. Obviously, not all prayers have such formal features, but many prayer Psalms do, and there are other forms besides Lament and Petition (e.g., Praise, Thanksgiving, Enthronement or Royal, and more).

3. Outlook: What attitude, state of mind, style, manner, or mode is the prayer language of a specific prayer using? Prayer language may reflect a range of outlook, from a very fluid or spontaneous style to a more careful and formal style, and from a very sedate to a highly emotional style. This would include one or more emotions or values as in the following list:
respect, trepidation, fear, awe-inspired humility, modesty joy, celebration, happiness, elation boldness, courage, confidence, security distress, suffering, anguish, pain concern, puzzlement, confusion, frustration annoyance, irritation, exasperation, anger reflection, contemplation, meditation, ecstasy vocal, silent, written, singing, working, public, private.
All of these (and more) can be found in scripture. Yes, even anger! (cf. Jonah). God can handle every human emotion.

4. Occasions: What are the appropriate times and duration of prayer? Though many religions have set times of prayers for particular concerns (including Judaism and some branches of Christianity), NT documents do not refer to an established practice of times of prayer in the earliest churches, except "pray constantly." There are many examples of both very long prayers (e.g., Jesus praying all night), and very short prayers (e.g., "Have mercy on me, a sinner.")

5. Theology: What does the prayer language say about God? How does he act or not act, what is his nature, what does he promise or threaten, and more.

Obviously, this introduction is more suggestive than definitive. Its purpose is to encourage readers to think broadly about prayer as an all-encompassing interchange with the divine, fit not only for private help in time of need, or for particular denominational purposes, but also for every possible human expression for every possible need or occasion. We don't own prayer; we are merely privileged to discover and participate in it.