All right, I’ve got some questions about prayer. Feel free to answer any and all of them…
- Where do we see that the approved prayer stance is a bowed head and closed eyes?
- Does praying in Jesus’ name mean saying “In Jesus’ name” at the end of our prayers?
- Since the model we have of praying over food is “giving thanks,” should we include requests in such prayers?
- Do prayers need to end with “Amen”?
Let me add a few observations:
- Despite what you may have heard, we do find the apostles praying to “the Lord” and to Jesus in the book of Acts.
- We see in Jesus’ ministry that some of what he said in his prayers was said for the benefit of those listening (see John 11:42, for example).
- Prayer was one of the basic parts of the apostles’ job description (Acts 6:4).
1. 1st Assumptions 10:12 (If you can’t find it, just trust me ;) )
2. No.
3. Maybe, but I know this much — God already blessed the food by giving it to us. Asking him to double-bless it is sorta silly. If you look at the times when says, “and when he had blessed ‘them’ ” referring to food in Mark 8:7, the ‘them’ more directly refers to those whom he commanded. Food doesn’t need blessing. God deserves blessing.
4. Probably not, unless at some point we try and help everyone understand why we use that word; ie, that it means, “Let it be so,” and that we use it because it is a word Jesus used, and it feels good sometimes to use the ancient tongue.
I meant to have a “probably” in the sentence about ‘them’. I don’t know enough Greek to be certain, but I’ve heard it from more than one person who knows Greek a lot better than me.
#1 approved by me, why because when I am talking to God, a rat running across the floor might distract the conversation. At my age if I were to get face down on the floor, someone would have to help me up, and there is that rat again, if he were to run across my head I would probably get up on my own, rat then.
#2 No, but when you get old, we need to remind our self who sent us to God.
#3 Don’t see anything wrong there, how about “Lord thank you for the food, Please send more later.”
#4 not unless you believe God thinks you are insincere, when you said it.
I believe God enjoys a little humor too. :)
(2) If the answer were yes, then does that mean according to Colossians 3:17 that everything we do, we have to say “in Jesus name” when we do it? ;-)
Tim,
Good post. Thoughts about prayer are always appreciated.
Until this week I’d never heard of you, then I “encountered” you on Sarah and Trey’s blogs, and then in Christian Chronicle. Thanks to the blogging world! I’m enjoying your site.
WB
Thanks for the comments, guys. Warren, I love the way the Internet lets me “meet” all sorts of people. I now have several very good friends that I’m not entirely sure what they look like.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Hey, I’m one of those friends! :)
When I was younger, I think I was taught that the bowing your head and closing your eyes was to avoid distractions. Maybe some of us don’t grow out of it. I don’t see anything wrong with it either, especially in a group if looking around at people would distract. When I’m on my own, though, I don’t always do that.
I’ve heard people intertwining the mention of “Jesus’ name” throughout their prayer, rather than saving it for the end. In my opinion, that kinda avoids the habit-not-really-thinking-about-what-we’re-saying aspect.
Nick’s comment is the second time recently that I heard that asking God to bless the food is redundant. I don’t really see that. I do understand what you’re saying, Nick. Should we just give thanks for it, as Jesus did, and not ask blessings? In Jesus’ famous example, he asks God to “give us this day our daily bread.” So, what, were we not expecting that until we asked for it?
I just like for people to think about what they’re praying, rather than having a habitual prayer every time they pray in public. Mine are never the same, but I worry that I might have certain words or phrases that pop up every time. I want to say and hear sincere prayers that are meaningful and obviously thought about. When I hear people share their pet peeves about the men who pray in their worship services, that bothers me.
Lisa,
I personally have tried to limit my “at the table” prayers to thanks. I try not to be judgmental nor holier-than-thou about it, just making that application personally.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Question #1. We don’t find it in the Bible
#2. No. Praying in Jesus name means praying in his
authority and because of Him. We only have
access to God in Him.
#3. unless it includes a request it is not prayer. Thanks
giving is always good and is commanded, but it is not
prayer. The Bible is consistant about his, “prayer and
thanksgiving” is a common phrase.
In my view we ought to still be asking for daily bread
and being thankful for what we have today.
Good questions and good thoughts. The main thing about prayer is that we do it. The only people who get answers to prayer are those who pray.
Royce
Royce, I’m wondering, in that case, if we should have a prayer before eating. Doesn’t the Bible talk about giving thanks rather than praying?
From what I’ve read, the Jews typically said a blessing before eating.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Pray standing with your arms outstretched; pray sitting with your head bowed and your hands either clasped or held out with palms facing up; pray kneeling with your face bowed to the ground; pray… …Is it not interesting that Jesus never said anything about the posture of prayer, just the content?
Several years ago I met an older man from a Reformed church who had spent his lifetime serving God in the country of India and now served sort of as a spiritual mentor to many of us who preached for local churches in Ithaca, New York where so much ungodliness and pagan ways was accepted by the surrounding culture. He prayed to God as though God was right in the room. He dared to question God as to why God continues to allow the ungodly to so publiclly blaspheme his name; his voice was full of exuberance when responding to stories of people being transformed by the gospel of Jesus; he openly wept when praying for a specific family in the community who had two children die from cancer in less than one year; he prayed with urgency when another minister in our group was making a moral choice that seriously compromised the ability to be a faithful witness for Jesus; and on and on.
I learned a lot from Merold. It was clear from the content of Merold’s prayer that he recognized God as trancendant and upon the throne. Yet it was also clear from his conversational and emotive tone that he also believed God was imanent and actually present with us as we gathered in the name of Jesus Christ. It was also clear that Merold not only believed God was powerful and able to do whatever his will is but also believed God was big enough to handle everything from our praises and petitions to our complaints and questions. Listening to Merold was like listening to the Psalms being read with both emotion and conviction.
I know Merold would never claim to be the standard on how Christians should pray and I do not want to claim that he defines the standard on prayer. However, I did learn a lot from him on praying to God…especially when it comes to voicing our frustration, anger, grief, and even faithful doubt to God.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Thanks for sharing that, Rex. I don’t want to sound like an old fogey, but the best “pray-ers” I’ve known in my life have all been older people. (Yes, I know that it sounds silly to talk about someone being better at praying than someone else; maybe you know what I mean) There was one man in particular in the church in Long Beach, California, that seemed to take you into the very presence of God every time he prayed. Not fancy words, nor anything showy. Just the way he talked to God, something that reflected a lifetime of talking to God.
Grace and peace,
Tim
My husband was like that – talking to His father as a son, but also as a friend. His expressions of faith and gratitude shone through when he prayed. As my son-in-law mentioned in the memorial service for Lon, Lon was a praying man – and not ashamed to do it in public. He was very special.
One thing I am convinced of is that we need to encourage these “prayer warriors” in the church, reminding them how much we need them praying for us. In Acts 4, after Peter and John were released from their arrest, look at what the first thing the church did. They prayed! Look at the theological content of their prayer and you will understand why they prayed before doing anything else. Sometimes it seems like the necessity of prayer is taken lightly and perhaps that is a real indication of what we believe about God (though we would not like to admit that).
Grace and peace,
Rex
Rex,
I very much agree. That’s one of the reasons I find Acts 6 to be so telling. The apostles considered prayer to be one of their many duties. How many churches put prayer on their preacher’s job description? How many would hire a “minister of prayer”?
It’s just hard for us to take prayer seriously, living in a rationalistic society.
Grace and peace,
Tim