Good afternoon, All.

What is prayer?

This post will attempt to provide an overview of what prayer is, why prayer is important, to whom prayer is directed, when we should pray, and how we should pray. It’s intended to be suggestive rather than exhaustive, and is written with Revivalists and former Revivalists in mind.

First, the ‘what’ of prayer. Put simply prayer is the addressing and petitioning of God. For the Christian prayer is both a privilege and a responsibility; a duty and a discipline.

Second, the ‘why’ of prayer. Christians pray because the one whom we worship both seeks and merits our prayers. God desires a close, intimate relationship with each and every one of us, as a father to his children. And as the Creator and Sustainer of all that was, is and ever shall be, he is deserving of our praise and devotion.

Third, the ‘who’ of prayer. Jesus taught his disciples to pray directly to God as their heavenly Father, a radical concept for Jews of the time (see Matthew 6). He also taught his followers to pray to the Father in his name (see John 16).

Fourth, the ‘when’ of prayer. The Jews of Jesus’ day prayed thrice daily, at the so-called prescribed hours of prayer (9.00am, 12.00pm, and 3.00pm). They also gave thanks before the main meal of the day. Now there is nothing at all wrong with following this general approach, given it was the practice of the first Christians. Ultimately however, when one prays to God is a personal matter. Noting this, the content of the Lord’s Prayer implies that such devotion best takes place at the start of each day.

Fifth, and finally, the ‘how’ of prayer. Again, using the Lord’s Prayer as the model it was intended by Jesus to be, our prayers should comprise praise, petition, and penitence. A well-used contemporary model, one that’s based squarely on the principles underpinning the Lord’s Prayer, uses the acronym ‘ACTS’: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. This perfectly describes balanced prayer.

Prayer in private, or in public? The answer, of course, is both! Ultimately prayer is worship, and worship in both Testaments engaged both the private and public spheres of life. One point often lost on Revivalists is that corporate prayer at the time of Jesus was liturgical: Priests and/or community leaders prayed aloud a series of conventional petitions to God, and the people completed each appeal by responding in unison. This corporate Jewish practice was adopted by the Christian Church, and continues to be followed in the more liturgically-minded communions (i.e. the various national Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran traditions).

And what about tongues? Okay, now to the nub of the issue. I suggest the common and near universal practice among Revivalists of babbling exclusively in tongues doesn’t meet the biblical standards for prayer. Noting this, according to what Paul had to say in 1 Corinthians, tongues-prayer does meet one standard for praise, given the individual human spirit (and NOT the Holy Spirit as Revivalists mistakenly assume) offers praises to God with the mind disengaged. But when his disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, in the model prayer he left them, private praise was simply one component of a much greater whole. Jesus taught his followers to present their needs to God, to selflessly pray for others, and to pray for personal and corporate forgiveness, none of which private tongues-prayer addresses. Furthermore, Paul’s limitations altogether nullifies the corporate use of tongues-prayer in public, given each and every example must be interpreted, and must be restricted to three presentations only.

I will make another observation: As practiced in Revivalism tongues-prayer is inherently selfish.

A well-rounded prayer life will involve private, daily discipline, and corporate involvement. It will include praising, petitioning and confessing. It will seek to address one's personal/individual needs, as well as the needs of others. Ultimately, prayer should seek the alignment of the pray-er's will with God's will for him or her, for others, and for the created order. For Revivalists, tongues-prayer will necessarily form a part, but this part should always be held in balance and tension with the whole. Critically, tongues-prayer should never be seen as an alternative to prayer in English; at best it should complement rather than supplant intentional, thoughtful and meditative prayer with the mind engaged.

Blessings,

Ian