Over the course of the month of June, we talked a lot about how we learn to pray. One of the theses of the series was that the Bible teaches us to pray not through classroom-style lectures with definitions and specific applications, but rather through discipleship—we sit and listen as the men and women of the Bible pray. We see what they hoped for and expected from their prayers, and how they spoke with and addressed God. In Hebrews 13:7, the author of Hebrews writes:
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Here is discipleship in action—the author tells them to observe the life of their leaders and then to imitate the faith by which they lived.
With all that said, and the series now complete, I thought it might be helpful to address a few things about prayer from a more classroom-oriented perspective. It is true that prayer is generally an instinctive practice that stems from natural religion—most, if not all, human religions have procedures for prayer. But intermixed with that are many strange ideas about prayer, distorted by the fallen nature of our intellectual and spiritual faculties. The way we pray depends heavily on our perception and understanding of God. If we believe wrong things about God and how He can be approached, then our prayers become distorted.
I believe that prayer is often distorted among Christians because of the influence of pagan and pantheistic ideas about the nature of God. I’m not saying that those who pray in this way are pagans necessarily—only that, whether they are aware of it or not, they are praying in ways that contradict the revealed character of God. Thankfully, God is merciful and hears our prayers even when they are imperfect. But the further we stray from the proper mode of prayer, the more danger we risk.
The one place in Scripture where we have clear, classroom-style instruction about prayer is in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus discusses prayer alongside other spiritual practices such as fasting and giving. In that section, Jesus makes two primary assertions about prayer, drawn from the two negative examples He gives. The prayer of the hypocrites and the prayer of the Gentiles are both presented in contrast to how members of God’s kingdom should pray.
The two assertions are:
- Prayer must be sincere.
- Prayer must be rational.
The first is easier to understand because the example of the hypocrite is obvious. The hypocrite prays not because he wants to be heard by God, but because he wants to be seen as someone who is devoted to prayer. What he aims at in prayer is completely divorced from the actual purpose of prayer. For Jesus, prayer was about communion with God—fellowship with Him made possible for God’s people through the gospel. That is its goal and its reward. To use prayer as a means to some other end is blasphemous.
What about the prayer of the Gentiles? Here, “Gentiles” is used broadly to refer to all pagan peoples. Jesus says they “heap up empty words because they think they will be heard for their many words.” These are not insincere prayers—the Gentiles genuinely want to be heard by God and to obtain favor. The problem lies in how they attempt to be heard. They view prayer as an act that appeases the anger of the gods and earns their favor. Therefore, what matters most in prayer is a display of fervency and devotion. The more they can heap up words, the more likely they believe they are to be heard.
Think of the prophets of Baal who repeated the same requests for hours, even cutting themselves as a display of devotion. Or consider a more familiar example: the Rosary in Catholic practice.
The Rosary is problematic on multiple levels (chiefly because most of its prayers are addressed to Mary, the mother of Jesus, rather than to God), but it serves as an illustration of how Christian practices can absorb and replicate pagan assumptions about prayer. The Rosary is often used as an act of contrition, and many popes have recommended daily use. It involves a chain with 50 small beads and 5 large beads used to guide prayer. Each small bead represents a “Hail Mary,” and each large bead represents an “Our Father.” The goal is to pray all the way around the Rosary, fingering each bead as you go. The same prayers are repeated endlessly.
This is prayer in which the rational element has been removed. What do I mean by that? When we speak with each other, we use words as a means of communication—to take thoughts in my mind and enable my listener to understand them. This is the rational use of language. Imagine trying to have a conversation with someone who, in response to everything you say, recites the Gettysburg Address. You might enjoy hearing it once or twice, but it’s not a real conversation!
Similarly, God does not want us to come to Him and simply recite things. The pagans do this because they think it will earn something from God by displaying their devotion or contrition. But this is fundamentally misguided. First, no amount of repetition or fervency can compensate for our rebellion and wickedness. Even if God were pleased with such performances, they would still be inadequate to change His attitude toward us.
But more importantly—and this is a glorious truth—there is no need to placate God. His attitude toward us is not conditioned on our displays of devotion; it is gracious and accepting. He hears our prayers because of the work of Jesus. We don’t need to prove anything to Him. Instead, the goal of prayer is rational discourse—us speaking to God with our minds and communicating our thoughts and feelings honestly. It is not wrong to be fervent in prayer, to pray with emotion and affection; but this fervency should be rational and rooted in our honest expression of ourselves to God.
Next week, I want to take a closer look at some forms of prayer commonly practiced in the Christian church today that I believe are problematic.