Friends,

Developing the Language of Prayer, pt 2

In this ongoing, periodic, series of posts on prayer, I am learning how to develop the language of prayer by praying the Scriptures. In this post, I would like to look at some of the simpler prayers that are being offered in the Scripture. These prayers are often only two or three lines. Sometimes one sentence. Sometimes they are quotations of Scripture. In all cases, they express a very human side of prayer. This means, the fear, the needs, the ambition, the sorrow, the pain. It means, whatever experience the person was having, that became their prayer. Furthermore, their prayers became, for us, Scripture.

Eugene Peterson writes, in his newest book Tell It Slant that prayer is one of the most fundamental aspects of our humanity and that when we lose that aspect of our lives, we are actually depriving God of something: “Prayer may well be the single aspect of our language most in danger of losing touch with the sheer grittiness of our humanity.” He goes on to write, “A realization and embrace of our basic neediness, our poverty, is a necessary precondition for the employment of the imperatives in the prayer and parable [in Luke 11:1-13]…We do not become less needy, less dependent when we pray; we become more needy, more dependent-which is to say, more human. When we pray we dive ever more deeply into the very human condition from which sin alienates us and Christ saves us” (54, 55).

We cannot, then, escape prayer. We will and must pray. It defines us. We are, in effect, beggars who are constantly in need of someone’s help. But Peterson’s point is not that prayers somehow always satisfy the needs we have or get us the help we need. It’s not that our prayers are or (ever) should be designed to get us wealthy or otherwise less dependent. No our prayers teach us to become more dependent. The more we pray, the more we realize we are needy, the more we realize we lack.

What I’d like to do in this post is show you some of the shorter prayers in Scripture that are often overlooked or simply skimmed over by the reader. We must not forget, however, that these are prayers that were prayed. What is amazing about them is that they are prayed in the midst of everyday life and living. It’s almost like the people who prayed them are just walking down the road, thinking about this or that or the other, and they offer up a short, what we might call, one-liner. Often, God honors their prayers and answers them well. I’ll post a few of these and then perhaps make a comment or two about them and their context.

Prayer 1

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

“Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.”

Probably no prayer has been more abused or misunderstood than the so-called prayer of Jabez. I don’t believe for a minute that this prayer is meant to be a thesis for those preachers who hawk a certain prosperity-gospel which is no gospel at all. What we can say, however, is that this is a man who was not going to make a name for himself. He asked the Lord God to remove the reproach of his family. He was asking the Lord to guard him against what he inherited from his family, what is signified by his name: pain. Many in our world try to make names for themselves; Jabez asked the Lord to make his name.

Prayer 2

2 Samuel 24:10

“David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men and he said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a foolish thing.”

David had made a major error in judgment by ordering a census of the fighting men of Israel and he was rebuked by the Lord. What is amazing about David is that he sinned a lot-and every time he did he repented before the Lord. I was thinking last night about how tough David was and about his mighty men, and The Three. These were not men you wanted to fight in a bar on Saturday night. But there’s that other side of David-the side that weeps before the Lord because of sin, or cries out to God in repentance, or begs the Lord like a simple child. David here shows us that the mightiest among us, the greatest of kings, are held responsible before the Lord when it comes to sin. There is a remarkable aspect to this prayer: David’s humility. It is a feature that the Kings of Israel and Judah would sufficiently lack. David teaches us here about the connection between prayer and repentance.

Prayer 3

Luke 23:34

“Father, Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Jesus actually prays several prayers from the cross and I will mention those as well. But this one-oh my!-this one takes the cake. Nails are being shoved through his skin and bones and muscles. His flesh is being ripped and torn. Blood is pouring out him. His back is flayed. Blood is streaming down his face from the crown of thorns. There, the King, and he has the audacity to pray, “Father, forgive them!” I have to be honest when I say this is one of the most difficult prayers in Scripture to understand and one of the most difficult prayers in our mouths to pray. But it demonstrates for us that it can be prayed. Dare I go so far as to suggest that it must be prayed? Here in the midst of something as horrible as death, Jesus prays for forgiveness for others-while those very ones he prays for are the very ones doing the killing. If this prayer doesn’t cause you great consternation then I don’t suppose anything will

Prayer 4

Luke 23:46

“Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.”

This is an 8 word prayer. 8 words! Often we think that in order for our prayers to be effective or meaningful they have to be full of words, stuffed full with language, and sounds, and syllables, and mighty paragraphs, well crafted sentences. Jesus sums up our neediness in 8 words while he hang there dying. 8 words to demonstrate to the world, to all who would hear, that his trust was place in only one place: His Father. He entrusted himself to no one else but His Father. Only His Father was worthy of his Spirit. Only His Father was capable of keeping His Spirit safe. 8 words. I wonder if, in times of great difficulty, we have the courage to pray these same 8 words. Jesus prayed them while dying, can we pray them while living?

Prayer 5

Matthew 27:46

“Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachtani?” (or, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”

Sometimes this is called the ‘cry of dereliction.’ Actually, it is a quote from the Psalm-#22. The problem I have with this is that too many people try to simply rationalize away this cry. There are times in life when we truly are alone-set free to roam the wilderness. There are scary times when God feels miles and miles away. But what else are we supposed to cry out? This is from the same David who once prayed, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me.” What sort of highs and lows are there that we have to contend with in life? And why shouldn’t we pray exactly the way we feel? I love that Jesus had the Scripture on his mind and his heart and his lips while he prayed: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” When Jesus prayed this Psalm on the cross, he legitimized using it for prayer and he legitimized David’s ‘feeling’ of abandonment. Sometimes we are dreadfully alone and we must tell the Father how that is.

Prayer 6

Luke 22:42

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.”

I wonder what is harder to pray: Father forgive them? Or Father, your will be done? Yet this was Jesus’ prayer. I suspect, and I have no proof, but I suspect that Jesus learned this prayer from his mother Mary. Remember in Luke 1 Mary prayed, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). That is no easy prayer to pray, but there it is. These prayers we pray must be grounded in this fundamental idea that we do not first belong to ourselves, but that we first belong to the Lord Jesus. Can we do his will? No. Are we afraid to do His will? Yes. Will doing his will always mean that life is pleasant and accomplished? No. But what is the bottom line to doing God’s will instead of our own because it is certainly not so that we ourselves will look good or feel good or win friends and influence people. It think it is some far grander than that: “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your Name!” And that, my friends, is the essence and purpose of submitting ourselves to the will of God. Your will be done.

There are six short prayers then. These prayers help us develop the language of prayer by turning our thoughts back to God. The Lord teaches us to pray through difficulties, through abandonment, through sin, through trust issues, through issues of submission to the Lord’s will. It’s not necessarily that it is that simple or that prayer can be neatly packaged or that words can be so tidy. Rather these are examples of the sort of language that might be used or, better, of what language is capable of. These prayers come from different people in different situations and circumstances. We do well to remember that prayer is not confined to the church building or to the closet. Pray is offered in a garden, on the cross, in a field, or along the road. Wherever we are, then, we are free to pray. Whatever we feel, we are free to offer as prayer. Whenever it is, we must pray. Not a minute goes by nor a circumstance arises that our hearts should not be tuned to prayer.

I hope this helps you develop your prayer language.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Developing the Language of Prayer, pt 1