If the Book of Wisdom contributes little, Sirach compensates, as might be expected from the re- spective origin of the two books. It contains prayers, e.g. 22^-23* (personal) ; 36^'" (national); 5Q22-'i4 partly thanksgiving, the source of Rinkart's famous hymn, 'Nun danket alle Gott.' Sir V'"' " 28-"'' prepare the way for our Lord's teaching on prayer, and may have been present to His mind : 38""" was certainly in St. James' mind when he wrote Ja 5""'^. Sir 38^ may perhaps be the source of tlie proverb, ' Laborare est orare.' Taking the book generally, it is remarkable that the principal subject of praj'er in Sirach is the forgiveness of sins, thus advancing the movement begun in OT to spiritualize the aims of prayer.
One more book of Apocr. requires notice, an apocaly|)se, the so-callecf 2 Esdras. Though chs. 3-14 inclusive are certainly post-Christian, and therefore do not, like the books hitherto con- sidered, illustrate inter - Testamental Jewish thought, there is much that is of great interest in them, and not least in regard to prayer. The question is raised in V'"--"!' (RV text) whether the intercession of prophets and leaders which had plaj'ed so great a part in the histoi"y of Israel will not also be availing in the day of judgment, and the answer is a twice-repeated negative.
III. In the New Testament. — It will be con- venient to state at once the main points in which the doctrine of praj'er makes advance in NT. (1) Further development of prayer for spiritual blessings. It is the light here thrown on the possibilities of a higher life by the example and teaching of Christ which enlarges and raises the scope of prayer. (2) Extension of the guidance of the Holy Spirit to all believers, enables them for prayer. Power in prayer was a characteristic of the prophets in the OT, because they had the Spirit. Now aU can pray, because all have the Spirit. (3) Prayer in the name of Jesus. This ia absolutely new ( Jn 16-^). The verse just cited gives the turning-point in the history of prayer. It does not divert prayer from the Father to the Son, but gives new access to the Father. Thus the normal idea of prayer is to pray in the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father.
NT words for ' prayer ' must be briefly noticed. 1. Prayer to God witu implication of worship ia irpoaeiixeo^Sai- 2. eixeaSai. barely exceeds an earnest wish, and needs ir/iis rbv Bebv to give it the sense of prayer as in 2 Co 13'. Its subst. ei^x^ means a vow except in Ja 5'°. 3. Sio/xai, S^tjo-is, though used of supjilication to God even by our Lord Himself (Lk 2"2'-), may also be used of prayer to man {e.g. Lk 9^°), which is not the case with irpoaei'xcirffcLi. i. ahtiv, a simple word belonging to our childlike relation (Lk 11''), contains no thought of worship ; in RV always ' ask,' but disguised in AV by five difl'erent renderings, namely 'ask,' 'desire,' ' beg,' ' crave,' 'require.' The mid. voice (alTclaOaC) gives intensity to the request (see Mayor on Ja 4'). S. ipoiT&u, usually explained as involving a certain freedom in the manner and form of request. 6. ivTvyxi-i'^tv^ virepevTvyxdvetv, tr. 'intercede,' though the sense is primarily to draw near the person addressed, and only secondarily on behalf of an- other. See below under ' Epistles.'
i. Gospels. — The example and teaching of our Lord: (I) His personal example. His prayer was real prayer, not merely ofl'ered by way of example
PEAYER
PKAYER
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to dUiiples, but as real and intense as any ever uttLTud. Notliinj; brinj^s out His true liuinanity inoie tlian His deiiendence on tlie Katlier in prayer. His prayers may be considered under three heads : (a) At or bc/'ure the great events of Hit life on earth : at Baptism ( Lk 3'' ) ; before clioice of apostles (Lk 0'-- ") ; before translij,-uration, which is almost represented as tlie ellect of prayer (Lk O-"-*) ; before Getlisemane (Jn 17, the earlier verses of uhicli refer to the eonsuniinatioii of His own work) ; during' the a^'ony (Lk -Jiw-'-^, He 5'). It is to be observed that, for these notices, we are mainly indebted to St. Luke, and his special intere-st in our Lord's teaching; iis to prayer will appear under other heads also, {/i) Prai/cr b'fore performance of inirncle.i : implied in the case ot Lazarus, Jn U^'- ■*- ; probably implied MkT^'. Cf. -Mt 17-''(TK); but much more frequent in miracles wrouirlit by disciples. (7) Intercessory prayer: for disciples and future believers, Jn l""'^, and continued after ascension, Ro 8**, He 7^ (this continued intercession is not denied by Jn lG-°, which merely guards against the thought that our prayer is of itself unacceptable ; His heavenly intercession is but another aspect of our asking in Jesus' name) ; prayer for individuals : St. I'L-ter, Lk 22^- ; soldiers at the cross, Lk 23**. See -Monrad, World of Prayer, p. 72, Eng. tr.
(2) The Lord's direct teaching in various ways. This may be considered under the following heads : (a) the Lord's Praver ; (^] parables; (7) incidental sayings ; (0) last discourses.
(o) The Lord's Prayer. — There are grounds which appear to the present writer to be sulScient, but which cannot be stated here, for believing that the prayer was gi\cn on two occasions, and in two distinct forms. The latter circumstance would seem to show that stress was not laid on the icpetition of the e.\act words, but on the teaching which the prayer conveyed a.s to the topics, pro- portion, and order of all prayer. There is but one clause in the Lord's Prayer relating to temporal wants, and even that not merely to the wants of the individual (' give us'). ^loreover, it is capable of including spiritual needs, and is constantly so interpreted. On the other hand, it does legitimate praver for temporal wants. In this connexion notice the direction given Mt 24-". This tendency of the Lord's Prayer to fix desires on spiritual things is summed up in one of the agraplui quoted by Urigen, Hcl. in Ps 4* LXX (Lomm. xi. 4.32) and el-cwhere, and probably authentic, 'Ask the great things, and the little things shall be added to you ; ask the heavenly things, and the earthly things shall be aililed to you' (Resell, Aqrapha, Logion 41 ). Another characteristic of the Lord's Prayer is its catholicity. There is nothing of particularism in it. It is already conscious of its world-wide destinj'. A merely Jewish iiraj'er of this date would certainly have been addressed to the Lord God of Israel 'of our fathers), and would have con- tained a pctilion for the nation. See Latham, Pastor Pastorum, p. 416. See, further, art. Lord's Prayer.