Hebrew Foundations of New Testament Prayer

Far too many Christians manifest incredible naivete when they think that Jesus and the apostles introduced a completely new religion called Christianity. To follow this line of thinking, one would have to believe that Jesus magically dropped from heaven into a vacuum where he brought forth concepts never before heard or even foreseen among men. For some Christians, there is, if any, relationship between Jesus and the religion and people of the Old Testament. Christianity was a totally new religion of love, mercy, and faith created by Jesus, himself, to replace the failed religion of Judaism, with its judgement, restrictions, and works.

This is true when many Christians think of prayer. They believe that when Jesus introduced the "Lord's Prayer," he gave the church the formula for a totally new way of approaching God to replace Israel s vain repetitions and works righteousness. This new kind of prayer obtains results that no prayer of Judaism could ever produce. The ultimate application of this theory results in statements like, "God does not hear Jewish prayers," and it opens the door for ever increasing anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism.

The simple truth is far removed from this kind of perverted supersessionist thinking that has dominated Christian thought for some eighteen centuries. When we make a careful study of the New Testament in the light of the Hebrew scriptures (which are commonly called the Old Testament), we find a totally different-and quite enlightening-evaluation of prayer and its Hebrew foundations. As a matter of fact, we find that some of the statements of the Apostolic Writings (called the New Testament) literally come to life and are clearly understandable when they are evaluated in the light of the Jewish matrix from which they were manifest.

THE JEWISHNESS OF JESUS-BASIC THEOLOGY

One of the earliest heresies in the church was that of Marcionism which denied the humanity of Jesus and made him the good God of love in the New Testament who replaced Yahweh, the God of anger and judgment of the Old Testament. Marcion asserted that there was no connection between the Old and New Testaments and that Jesus was not the Messiah predicted by the prophets.

Of course, this extreme position brought strong reaction from the leaders of the church, who declared Marcion's teachings to be heretical. (His own father excommunicated him.) The truth is, however, that the lingering effects of Marcionism continued to affect the church, as it was challenged by one theological and Christological heresy after another, most of them similar in some point to Marcionism. These controversies raged for four centuries until the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451 A. D.) adopted the position of the two natures of Christ, stating that he was fully human and fully divine.¹

If we consciously or subconsciously divorce Jesus from being the fully human Jewish man that he was, we destroy the very purpose of the incarnation, and our entire view of theology and history becomes warped. When we accept Jesus as a Jew, both in fleshly ancestry and in worldview and mindset, we find a Biblically-based equilibrium that enables us to understand the truth about his teachings and the religion which he practiced throughout his lifetime.

The Biblical truth of the incarnation is that the deity of Christ was subjected to and limited to his humanity. This is the kenosis of Philippians 2:5-8, which says that at the moment of the incarnation, Jesus emptied himself of his inherent equality with the Father (not of his inherent deity, as some have supposed) in order to become fully human and thereby vulnerable to temptation and to death.

THE PRAYERS OF JESUS

It was in this state of vulnerability that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the Logos who predated and produced all creation, found it necessary "in the days of his flesh" to" offer up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared" (Hebrews 5:7). Perhaps the prayer to which Hebrews alludes is the actual "Lord's Prayer," the one Jesus himself prayed to the Father in the time of his intense anguish in Gethsemane. The prayer is recorded in John I7, the focus of which is Jesus' concern with the post-Calvary condition of his disciples. Luke's gospel, however, records the fact that the prayer included Jesus' very human agonizing over the cup of suffering of which he was about to partake and finally his subjecting himself to the will of the Father (Luke 22:4?). This process of intense prayer found that Jesus, "being in an agony . . . prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

The last night before his crucifixion was not the first night that Jesus had spent in prayer. Luke 6:12 tells us that "he went into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." When morning came, he ordained the twelve apostles. In Matthew 17:21, Jesus declared that certain miracles are not accomplished except by prayer and fasting, something that he had just been doing for forty days in the Judaean desert.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray they were not unfamiliar with the exercise of prayer. They had observed John's disciples being taught by John the art of prayer. They knew that the various Judaisms (Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Qumran Sons of Light, Herodians, and others) of the day had their formulae for prayer and devotion to God, some of which were as pretentious as the garments they wore in association with prayer. Just as some of the Jewish leaders made their tallithot (prayer shawls) broad and their t’fillin (phylacteries) large (Matthew 23:5), some also made their prayers long (Matthew 23:14) and ostenatious (Matthew 6:5). While this was not characteristic of all Pharisees, it was certainly reflective of the pompous public demonstrations that Jesus labeled hypocrisy.

Is it any wonder, then, that when Jesus was asked to teach his disciples to pray, he offered them a prayer that is the epitome of simplicity (just like rest of the teachings which he offered in the Sermon on the Mount). With great brevity Jesus brought forth the essence of Judaic prayer concepts by saying, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:9-13). What a profound, yet utterly simple prayer! These were not just words to be mouthed in vain repetitions: they represented a formula for prayer that would render proper honor to God and provide for all of man's needs.

The Disciples' Prayer was not, however, an innovation which had never been considered among the Jewish people. Like the "Golden Rule"-the first recorded use of which was by Hillel, not Jesus-the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples was a composite of prayer concepts and statements that Jesus had learned as a boy in family devotion in the synagogue of Nazareth, and in the temple during annual family pilgrimages to the Feast of Passover. Each phrase of the prayer model which Jesus taught his disciples was condensed from synagogal prayers or from fundamental principles of the Judaic worldview and mindset.

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME

The introduction to the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven . . ." reflects a distinctly Jewish concept-that of God as a person who is the Father of his people (as compared to the Greco-Roman view of god as an a abstraction, the impersonal force of nature). The idea of God as an observant and concerned Father is found extensive in the teachings of Jesus and in rabbinic literature. It is also likely that Jesus' choice of this phrase to introduce his prayer reflected his simplification of an extensive litany, the Avinu Malkenu, which was later recorded and attributed to Rabbi Akiba (second century).²

The use of the term, "Our Father," also manifests a distinctly Jewish concept, that of identification with a corporate body. Jewish scholar Nicholas De Lange notes that "to be a Jew means first and foremost to belong to a group, the Jewish people, and the religious beliefs are secondary, in a sense, to this corporate allegiance."³ Jewish prayer, therefore, expresses the "cry of the whole community."⁴ An old Hasidic saying best describes this concept: "A prayer which is not spoken in the name of all Israel is no prayer at all."⁵ Marvin Wilson notes, "This deeply rooted biblical emphasis upon folk - that is, the group - is underscored by the fact that most Jewish prayer employs the plural ‘we,’ not the singular ‘I.’"⁶

The sanctification of the name of God is an ancient practice that has always characterized Judaism and its displays of public worship. Kaddish, the concluding prayer of synagogue liturgy states, "Magnified and sanctified be great name in the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His Kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen. While the Kaddish itself may not have predated Christianity, the source from which it was developed certainly did.

For the Jewish people, the hallowing or sanctifying of the name of God was more than simple words recited in the liturgy of the synagogue. It was a supreme commitment to God's holiness and his will that was confirmed in the willingness to sacrifice one's life for his faith and devotion to God rather than profane the name of God by denying his Word. This Jewish concept of sanctifying the name of God was carried over into the life of the earliest church and was manifest in their willingness to suffer martyrdom rather than recant the tenets of their faith.

Another prominent part of the synagogue liturgy is the Amidah (which means "stand," noting the fact that it is recited while standing). Also called the Shemoneh Esreh (which means "eighteen," signifying the eighteen benedictions which comprise it), this prayer begins with the first berakah (blessing): "Praised art Thou, 0 Lord our God and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob the great, mighty, and revered God, the most high God, who bestowest loving-kindness, and art Master of all things…" Although there was much spontaneity in the synagogue service in the time of Jesus, there was also liturgical structure, and the Amidah was already canonical and compulsory for every Jew.⁸

Additionally, each of the more than one hundred berakot that are recited throughout the course of the day begins with these words: "Blessed art thou, 0 Lord God, King of the Universe . . " This formula probably dates to pre-Christian times, and reflects the Jewish mindset of blessing, hallowing, or sanctifying the name of God in every aspect of life a fact which Jesus, the Jew of Jews, would continue to emphasize in the daily prayers of his disciples.

THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH

This part of the Lord's Prayer reflects a concept that is at the very heart of all the faith of Judaism. The Jew people have always believed that human history is linear; that is, it began somewhere (with divine creation) and will end somewhere (with the advent of Messiah and Messianic age). In contrast the Gentile world around them believed that history was cyclical, because the universal nature was eternal (in Greek philosophy) and man was on the unending cycle of reincarnation (in eastern monism). The Jews also believed that history was covenantal (based in the unilateral commitment of the Creator to his people while the Gentile world believed that history was casual with all events being the product of previous events.

It was only fitting, then, that second great statement the Kaddish should be, ". . . May [God] establish His Kingdom during your life and during your days . . ." The second statement of Jesus' prayer was again a simplification, with ". . .thy kingdom come . . :" condensed from earlier Jewish prayers. The coming of the kingdom clearly distinguishes Judaism from Gentile religions, the ultimate expectation of which is to escape the material earth to be absorbed into the spiritual, the realm of ideas (Platonism), or to escape the wheel of reincarnation into nothingness (Hinduism). Judaism anticipates and prays for the coming if the kingdom of God on earth and for the resurrection.

Judaism also believes in working in concert with God to bring gradual improvement of the society of man in preparation for the Messianic age. The philosophy of Judaism is that God is searching for men who will volunteer their services in this quest to better the world. The implication of this concept is encapsulated in the idea of the increasing of the kingdom of God, stated prophetically of the Messiah by Isaiah: "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end . . ." (Isaiah 9:7). In his parables, Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God as a growing movement (e.g., Matthew 12: 33). Could it be that Christians would be better served if more of them recognized their faith as responsibility to "keep the garden" rather than

as an escape mechanism? This is clearly the intent of Jesus' prayer, "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven," for when the will of God is done in earth, the kingship of God is expanded.⁹ This, again, is a reaffirmation of the Jewish concept that the kingdom of God is the process of a gradual progression, climaxed in an event-the coming of Messiah and the establishing of the Messianic age.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

This petition is a simple paraphrasing of Proverbs 30:8: ". . . give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient [necessary] for me " It is based in a continuing Jewish belief in God's provision for his people, which was demonstrated in the Sinai desert in the literal bread (manna) that was provided daily, except on Sabbath, "a certain rate every day" (Exodus 16:4). When one is anxious about tomorrow, he does not have complete trust in the God who is already in tomorrow just as he is in today. Indeed, his name, Yahweh, can be interpreted as, "I will be [there]. "

FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE

The idea that men's forgiveness from God is directly proportional to the degree to which they forgive one another is also found in later Judaism, which drew from the same pre-Christian sources from which Jesus drew. This is seen in the traditional Jewish Day of Atonement which is believed to atone for the sins of man against God but not to atone for sins of man against men unless the offender seeks reconciliation with the offended. There is a strong belief in Judaism that men cannot be at peace with God without first having been reconciled with their neighbors.

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US

Judaism recognizes God's allowing temptation to come into the lives of his chosen so as to test their faith. As a matter of fact, temptation is seen as a test, the purpose of which is to strengthen resolve to righteousness and faith in God. The prayer of Jesus that God would not lead the petitioner into such testing probably places the emphasis on testing which a believer is not able to endure. Judaism has long taught that in every man is resident a good inclination (yetzer tov) and an evil inclination (yetzer hara). The ideal situation is for the good inclination to override the evil inclination. There are many examples in Talmudic literature where prayers are offered to God not to permit the evil inclination to dominate the life of the petitioner. The idea is that of being delivered from the power or force of evil that is present in the world and operates in individuals in the form of the evil inclination.

A PRECIS OF JUDAIC PRAYER

The entire Lord's Prayer, therefore, is to a great extent a precis of prayer concepts and liturgical elements practiced in second Temple and synagogal Judaism before and during the time of Jesus and the apostles. The fact that the disciples asked Jesus, their rabbi, to teach them to pray was very Jewish, and the prayer which he offered as a model was a simple, condensed version of the rich Judaic prayer tradition which Jesus had practiced throughout his lifetime.

APOSTOLIC PRAYER TRADTIONS AND CONCEPTS

Since all of the apostles were Jewish, it was only natural that they were intensely involved in the practice of prayer. The fact that prayer was central to the nascent church is underscored by its being listed as one of the church's four identifying qualities in Acts 2:42. As a matter of fact, there are over ninety references to prayer in the apostolic writings. These men of God understood what Jesus had specifically taught them: prayer to God the Father in the name of Jesus is one of the most vital aspects of the life and liturgy of the church. It is not prayer in the sense of a mere liturgical exercise but prayer in the richest Hebrew tradition of conversation (dialogue) with God. It was offered for virtually every aspect of human life.

THE HOURS OF PRAYER

One of the most clear and significant influences of the Judaic heritage on the daily lives of the first century believers in Jesus was the continuing practice of the hours of prayer. These were appointed times that God had given to Moses and other prophets of Israel, times at which God's people were to be gathered around his throne for intimate communion. Much like the appointment calendars which business and professional people maintain in order to man- age their time and schedule meetings and other activities, God has set forth a calendar of daily, weekly, monthly, annual, and generational appointments. The hours of prayer are the most basic of these appointments.

Originally the hours of prayer were set to coincide with the sacrifices of the tabernacle, at 9 a.m: and 3 p.m. (Exodus 29:39; Leviticus 6:20; Daniel 9:21). Then, by the time of David, the noon hour of prayer had been added, so that David could say of his prayer life, "Evening, and morning and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17). This is the same formula for prayer that was still being practiced in the time when "Daniel . . . went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before is God, as he did aforetime" (Daniel 6:10).

By A. D.100, this practice was considered binding upon all Jews, with the times fixed for synagogue worship in the following manner: for morning (shacharit) prayers, between seven and ten a.m.; for afternoon (mincha) prayers, between three and four p.m.; and for evening (ma’ariv) prayers, no precise time.¹⁰ The Talmud stresses that the most appropriate times for morning and evening prayers are at dawn and dusk, respectively.¹¹

The earliest church continued to practice prayer on the more Biblically-normative hours of 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. Many of the outstanding events of New Testament history occurred at the time of the hours of prayer. Jesus was nailed to the cross at the time of the morning sacrifice (9 a.m.-the third hour of the day [Mark 15:25]); darkness fell upon the land at the noon hour of prayer (Mark 15:33); Jesus expired at the time of the evening sacrifice (3 p.m: - the ninth hour of the day [Mark 15:34]); and he was entombed at dusk, the time of the evening prayers in Jewish tradition (John 19:31, 42). The infusion of the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost at the time of morning prayer (Acts 2:15). Peter restored the paralytic to health as he accompanied John to the temple for the hour of prayer 3 p.m. (the ninth hour). At the afternoon hour of prayer, Cornelius saw his vision and was advised by an angel to contact Peter (Acts 10:3). Peter was praying on his house top at the noon hour of prayer when he received the vision which emboldened him to take the gospel to the Roman centurion's home in Caesarea (Acts 10:9).

The church continued in the tradition which it had inherited from Judaism through the apostles by practicing prayer at the three appointed hours of the day. The Didache described three hours of prayer (without specific times).¹²

Among Tertullian's various calls for return to orthopraxy in the church was his request that the old hours of worship be restored, in which he noted that the three prayer hours were reflective of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (circa 200 A.D.13 By the time of the fourth century, however, monasteries had "improved" on God's formula by instituting the seven times of daily prayer which became the norm for western monastic orders.¹⁴

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

The practice of prayer according to the hours of prayer was the means of fulfilling Paul's injunction to the church at Thessalonica that they "pray without ceasing:' Obviously, this did not mean some mindless incantation or vain repetition (Matthew 6:7). And, it would be physically impossible to pray twenty-four hours a day. What was meant was the devotion to praying at the times which God had prescribed (not to limit praying at others times as well).

The problem for humans is that they need to be reminded to worship and pray. (Note the Almighty's inclusion of a "remember" commandment in the Decalogue to specify a weekly time for interaction with Creator and family.) Hours of prayer are good reminders to us that we should take time from our feverish activities to spend in conversation with God, and they are convenient mile markers on the hectic highway of life that help us stop and take time for and with God. If these practices were appropriate for the apostolic foundation of the church, they certainly have value for believers in the church today. As we pray at the hours of prayer and at other times when we are inspired to do so, we are praying "incessantly."

REJOICE EVERMORE; IN EVER THING GIVE THANKS

It has been said that if believers would practice I Thessalonians 5:17 and "pray without ceasing," I Thessalonians 5: 16 would automatically follow, and they would, indeed, "rejoice evermore." The problem is that the church has lost contact with its Judaic heritage in this important respect also. David said, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1). The way the King of Israel accomplished this act of perpetual blessing was the same way in which countless Jewish people have done so over the centuries-through the system of blessings (berakoth) that assists a Jewish person in blessing God at all times and for all things.

There are over one hundred blessings that are recited throughout the day by the observant Jew, including blessings for nature's bounty, for successful bodily functions, for the events of life, both good and bad. These berakot honor God and recognize his sovereignty and provision in everything. They do, indeed, represent an exercise in giving thanks in everything.

These blessings are so called because each one begins with the blessing of God. From ancient times, they were introduced with, "Baruch attah Adonai elohenu, Melek HaOlam…" ("Blessed are you, 0 Lord God, King of the Universe"). Again, the emphasis is on blessing the Lord at all times." This rich heritage has been lost to Christian believers as a result of the church's denial of its Jewish roots. It certainly is a part of what needs to be recovered for the daily spiritual health of believers. The exact wording of the blessings may not be as important as the fact that we are given reminders that we should indeed "rejoice evermore" and "in everything give thanks." Again, amid the hustle and bustle of daily living, we need reminders to take the time to thank the One who works all things to our good (Romans 8:28).

Since in his own estimation Paul remained a Pharisee until his death (Acts 23:6; Philippians 3:5), it was only natural that he would practice what he had inherited from the teaching of Gamaliel. And, it was only natural that he would pass this valuable information along to the Gentile believers in Thesslonica. This did not represent the imposition of some Jewish legalism upon unsuspecting Gentile believers, but rather a transfer of the richness of the inheritance from the root of the olive tree to the ingrafted branches (Romans 11:17).

LITURGICAL ACCLAMATIONS

The very language of prayer which Christians still employ is very Jewish, particularly in the acclamations used in private and public prayer. Notable among these are Amen, Hallelujah, and Hosanna, all Hebrew words rich in meaning and function for both Jew and Christian.

The term Amen carries the meaning of an affirmation of acceptance. It was used among the Jews as a closing statement for many prayers. In the reading of various berakot in the synagogue service, the response has been, "Amen." It is no accident, then, that the various blessings and doxologies of the Apocalypse are concluded with the prescribed Amen (Revelation 1:6, 18; 7:12; 22:21).

The word Hallelujah literally means "praise to Yah " It is a prominent exclamation in the Psalms, one section of which is called the Hallel Psalms because they begin-with this word (Psalms 113-118). Is it any, wonder then; that we find Hallelujah used in :worship in the Apocalypse (Revelation 19:1; 3, 4, 6).

The rich and varied meaning of Hosanna has been lost to both Judaism and Christianity because of the ancient and continuing conflicts between these faiths. Originally the Hebrew term Hoshana had two functions: to acclaim homage to a monarch and to appeal for salvation. It was appropriate as a term of honor for the-Messiah King, and it was an exclamatory prayer for salvation (This term was repeated frequently and with great emotion during the ceremony of pouring water, mixed with wine, at the Feast of Tabernacles in expectation of the rains that would save the people from hunger and thirst).

Because of the controversy over the Messiahship of Jesus and because of the church's eventual-political dominance in society, Christians and Jews appropriated one of the two meanings of the word Hoshana to their own circumstances and neglected the other. The church came to use the term in the sense of paying homage to the King, the Lord Jesus, a usage that was primarily based on the cries of the people during Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9, I5). On the other hand, because of their being the object of systematic and unrelenting persecutions- most generally under the auspices of the church or its subjects- the Jewish people came to use the term Hoshana as a cry for deliverance or salvation from their tormentors.

Indeed, the mournful, penitential, and supplicatory Jewish litanies of the Middle Ages were called Hoshanot¹⁵. While the Christian Hosanna was the exultant exclamation of the triumphant church, the Jewish Hoshana was expressed in its literal meaning, "Save now!", in the face of the martyrdom Jewish communities suffered at the hands of Christian princes.

TIME FOR RESTORATION

We have made only a cursory examination of the influence of the Judaic practices on the prayer life of the-New Testament church. Still; it is clear that both the concept and the practice of prayer in the church, both individually and corporately, was thoroughly Judaic.

Without a doubt, the church would be restored to a more practical and effective exercise of the worship of God if it were fully restored to the Hebrew foundations of its system of praise, worship, and service. A return to the Biblical understanding and order of prayer would be a source of health for believers and corporate worshipping communities. Indeed, this is a part of Paul’s pastoral instruction that "all scripture [The Old Testament] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:16). Surely it is now time that such obviously scriptural practices as hours of prayer, daily berakot, and prayer as conversation with the Divine be fully restored to the church. Is there any reason why Christians should allow generational Judaeophobia to continue to rob them of the richness and fatness of the olive tree into which they have been grafted?

In this prophetic time of the restoration of all things in preparation for the Messianic age, let us discover and claim our rightful heritage as "fellow citizens with the saints" of the "commonwealth of Israel," so that we may be "mature, completely equipped unto every good work."

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