Pt1-05-THE NEW TESTAMENT VOCABULARY OF PRAYER
THE NEW TESTAMENT VOCABULARY OF PRAYER A STUDY of the New Testament vocabulary of prayer will not only disclose the difficulty of framing a comprehensive definition, but also will be a corrective of any tendency to limit prayer to the mere presentation of petitions.
1. Prayer implies the feeling of a sense of need. The word for prayer (deesis) which is employed with this meaning was used in the making of requests from man to man, especially in the approach of a subject to the ruling sovereign with the request to have some want supplied. But in the New Testament the word is used always of requests addressed to God. We approach the throne of grace in confidence that the Lord will supply our need.
2. Prayer is supplication. The sense of need leads to the attitude of the suppliant. A special term (hiketeria), used only once in the New Testament, occurs in Hebrews 5:7. It is found in the Classics with reference to a suppliant bearing an olive-branch. Herodotus, for example, tells how Aristagoras of Miletus sought to gain the help of Sparta in a revolt against the Persians. When he could not persuade the Spartan king, Cleomenes, by presenting his plans, he sought other means. Taking an olive-branch in his hand, Aristagoras went as a suppliant to Cleomenes, but when he gained audience he tried to bribe the Spartan king to favour his plan. Cleomenes, warned by his little daughter, broke off the audience. The New Testament word is strictly an adjective meaning "of a suppliant", with the noun for "branch" understood.
3. Prayer is a presentation of requests. In Classical Greek two words were in use with the sense of "ask", but there was a distinction. One (erotao) was to ask for the answer to a question; the other (aiteo) for the granting of a petition. In later Greek, as in the New Testament, both words were used in the latter sense. Sometimes, however, the distinction is retained. In John 16:23, the Authorised Version and the Revised Version translate the two Greek words by the one English term "ask". This tends to obscure the meaning. "In that day ye shall ask Me nothing" refers back to the questions of verse 19. "If ye shall ask anything of the Father, He will give it you in My name" refers to the granting of petitions. Moffat translates: "On that day you will not ask Me any questions. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father, He will give you in My name." The use of the term relating to questions suggests, also, that prayer may be a seeking of answers to the many problems which beset the human mind.
4. Prayer involves devotion. There is a group of words which, like the English term "devote", have the root idea of vowing. It is true that the words have become more general, to express the wishes of the suppliant, but probably the root notion is not lost. The verbs are eukhomai and proseukhomai, and the related nouns eukhe and proseukhe. These words are the most frequently employed of all the terms pertaining to prayer. In Acts 16:13; Acts 16:16, proseukhe is used of a place of prayer, such as Jews used to build, as well as of the synagogue.
5. Prayer is a calling upon God, especially for help. The word which carries this thought is from the root which underlies the term "Comforter" or "Advocate" (parakletos). The verb parakaleo was used of "beseeching" God and also men, as well as in the sense of "admonish", "exhort," "comfort ". Its etymology suggests "call beside." In prayer the emphasis is on the calling; in the other meanings stress is laid on the purpose for which aid is invoked. It seems that the term was used in a technical sense by pagans of Paul’s day in beseeching healing from the god Asclepius. Dr. Deissmann noted a marble stele with the inscription, "And concerning this thing I besought the god", in which the same verb occurs as that which Paul used when asking for the removal of the thorn in the flesh.
6. Prayer is fellowship. The word (enteuxis) translated "intercession" in 1 Timothy 2:1 and "prayer" in 1 Timothy 4:5 had a wider meaning than offering prayer on behalf of another. Its root suggests a meeting of two persons, and "probably the leading idea in the word is that of boldness of access, of confidence". A secondary meaning was to make petition, and a compound form in Romans 8:26 is used of the Spirit making intercession on behalf of the Christian. (For a discussion of the verb form, see Chapter iii, section 3.)
7. Prayer includes praise and confession. This is sufficiently brought out by the Revised Version translation of Hebrews 13:15 --"Through Him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips which make confession to His name". The "Century Bible" note on this verse is helpful. "Jesus has offered the great atoning sacrifice, and Christians cannot therefore offer such sacrifices for sin, but they may offer up a sacrifice of praise to God; yet even this only through Christ, who by His sin-offering has made access to God possible. Praise should be offered ’continually’, for it can never adequately express the goodness of God, and it should be the constant attitude of our mind towards Him. The spontaneous praise of the heart does not wait for fixed seasons of worship. ’The fruit of the lips’ is borrowed from the LXX of Hosea 14:2."
8. Prayer includes thanksgiving. The word "eucharist" is derived from the term used for giving thanks in connection with the Lord’s Supper (eukharisteo). Giving thanks to God has a large place in the prayers recorded in the New Testament, and it is fitting that our prayers also, both public and private, should have a large element of thanksgiving.