and the poetical form of the prophetic hook-, and of the prayers which thej contain, must have tended to tix this psalm ic character on all Jewish prayer. The effect is seen plainly in the form of Ile/ekiah's prayers in 2 Kings \i\. 15 19; Isa. xxxviii, 9 20.
Cm of the prayers recorded in theO. T. the two most remarkable are those of Solomon at the dedication of
the Temple il Kings viii. 2.'. 58) and of Joshua the
high-pries! ami hi- colleagues after the captiv ity ( Neb.
The former i- a prayer for God's presence
with his people in time of iiai ional defeat (ver. 33, 84),
famine or pestilence (ver. 85 87), war (ver. ll. 15), and
Captivity (ver. 46 50), and with each individual Jew
and Btranger | \ er. II 13) « bo may worship in the Tem-
PRAYER
475
PRAYER
pie. The latter contains a recital of all God's blessings to the children of Israel from Abraham to the captivity, a confession of their continual sins, and a fresh dedica- tion of themselves to the covenant. It is clear that both are likely to have exercised a strong liturgical in- fluence, and accordingly we find that the public prayer in the Temple, already referred to, had in our Lord's time grown into a kind of liturgy. Before and during the sacrifice there was a prayer that God would put it into their hearts to love and fear him; then a repeating of the Ten Commandments, and of the passages written on their phylacteries [see Frontlets] ; next, three or four prayers and ascriptions of glory to God; and the blessing from Numb, vi, 24-20, "The Lord bless thee," etc., closed this service. Afterwards, at the offering of the meat-offering, there followed the singing of psalms, regularly fixed for each day of the week, or specially appointed for the great festivals (see Bingham, bk. xiii, ch. v, § 4). A somewhat similar liturgy formed a regu- lar part of the synagogue worship, in which there was a regular minister, as the leader of prayer pi|2Si^ H^TO, legatus ecclesice) , and public prayer, as well as private, was the special object of the Proseuchre. It appears, also, from the question of the disciples in Luke xi, 1, and from Jewish tradition, that the chief teachers of the day gave special forms of prayer to their disciples, as the badge of their discipleship and the best fruits of their learning. See Forms of Prayer.
All Christian prayer is, of course, based on the Lord's Prayer ; but its spirit is also guided by that of his prayer in Gethsemane, and of the prayer recorded by St. John (ch. xvii), the beginning of his great work of intercession. The first is the comprehensive type of the simplest and most universal prayer; the second justifies prayers for special blessings of this life, while it limits them by perfect resignation to God's will; the last, dwelling as it does on the knowledge and glorification of God, and the communion of man with him, as the one object of prayer and life, is the type of the highest and most spiritual devotion. The Lord's Prayer has given the form and tone of all ordinary Christian prayer; it lias fixed, as its leading principles, simplicity and confidence in our Father, community of sympathy with all men, and prac- tical reference to our own life ; it has shown, as its true objects, first the glory of God, and next the needs of man. To the intercessory prayer we may trace up its transcendental element, its desire of that communion through love with the nature of God which is the se- cret of all individual holiness and of all community with men.
The influence of these prayers is more distinctly traced in the pravers contained in the Epistles (see Eph. iii, 14-21 ; Rom. xvi, 25-27; Phil. i. 3-11; Col. i, 9-15; Heb. xiii, 20, 21 ; 1 Pet. v, 10. 1 1, etc.) than in those re- corded in the Acts. The public prayer, which from the beginning became the principle of life and unity in the Church (see Acts ii, 42 ; and comp. i, 24, 25 ; iv, 24-30 ; vi, 6; xii, 5; xiii, 2, 3; xvi, 25; xx, 36; xxi, 5), probably in the first instance took much of its form and style from the prayers of the synagogues. The only form given (besides the very short one of Acts i, 24, 25), dwelling as it does (Acts iv, 24-30) on the Scriptures of the O. T. in their application to our Lord, seems to mark this connection. It was probably by degrees that they assumed the distinctively Christian character.
3. In the record of prayersaccepted and granted by God. we observe, as always, a special adaptation to the period of his dispensation to which they belong. In the patri- archal period they have the simple and childlike tone of domestic supplication for the simple and apparently trivial incidents of domestic life. Such are the prayers of Abraham for children (Gen. xv, 2, 3); for Ishmael (xvii, 18); of Isaac for Kebekah (xxv, 21); of Abra- ham's servant in Mesopotamia (xxiv, 12-14) ; although sometimes they take a wider range in intercession, as with Abraham for Sodom (Gen. xviii, 23-32), and for
Abimelech ( xx, 7, 17). In the Mosaic period they as- sume a more solemn tone and a national bearing, chiefiy that of direct intercession for the chosen people, as by Moses (Numb, xi, 2; xii, 13: xxi, 7); by Samuel (1 Sam. vii, 5; xii, 19, 23) ; by David (2 Sam. xxiv, 17, 18) ; by Hezekiah (2 Kings" xix, 15-19) ; by Isaiah (2 Kings xix, 4; 2 Chron. xxxii, 20); by Daniel (Dan. ix, 20, 21) : or of prayer for national victory, as by Asa (2 Chron. xiv, 11); Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xx, 6-12). More rarely are they for individuals, as in the prayer of Hannah (1 Sam. i, 12) ; in that of Hezekiah in his sickness (2 Kings xx, 2) ; the intercession of Samuel for Saul (1 Sam. xv, 11, 35), etc. A special class are those which precede and refer to the exercise of miraculous power, as by Moses (Exod. viii, 12, 30; xv. 25): by Elijah at Zarephath ( 1 Kings xvii, 20) and Carmel (1 Kings xviii, 3G, 37) ; by Elisha at Shunem (2 Kings iv, 33) and Dothan (vi, 17, 18); by Isaiah (2 Kings xx, 11); by St. Peter for Tabitha "(Acts ix, 40); by the elders of the Church (James v, 14-16). In the New Testament they have a more directly spiritual bearing, such as the prayer of the Church for protection and grace (Acts iv, 24-30) ; of the Apostles for their Samar- itan converts (viii, 15) ; of Cornelius for guidance (x, 4, 31); of the Church of St. Peter (xii, 5); of St. Paul at Philippi (xvi, 25); of St. Paul against the thorn in the flesh answered, although not granted (2 Cor. xii, 7-9), etc. It would seem the intention of Holy Scripture to encourage all prayer, more especially intercession, in all relations and for all righteous objects. — Smith. See Lord's Prayer.