Rev. Fr. Anselm Jimoh
I had wanted to share a reflection in this edition on the question of whether our prayers change the will of God or the course of events. I however, to the contrary feel obliged by the reactions of some readers to respond to their enquiries on some of the views I expressed in the preceding/introductory edition. This is especially in the area of shouting when we pray.
I did say and maintain that raising our voices at God is not praying. This has been misunderstood by some readers as a view against vocal prayer. I take responsibility for the misunderstanding as I went through the published work and noticed that I used the expression; “raising our voices to God” instead of “raising our voices at God.” I guess the expression; “raising our voices to God” gives room for the mistaken interpretation. The difference lies in the “at”, which is definitely disrespectful as it means shouting at God.
The fact of the matter, which is the point I made and still emphasize is that shouting at God as many do today in the name of praying, and the unruly outburst of emotions are wrong and unacceptable ways to pray. Vocal prayer, which necessarily involves the use of our voices in communicating our praises and desires to God is a valid form of prayer like such other forms as meditation or mental prayer and mystical prayer.
A reader referred me to Acts 4:24 among other suggested passages of scripture to interpret in the light of my claim. Acts 4:24 says; “when they heard it, they raised their voices as one and called upon God .. .” The use of the term “raised” here does not in any way translate as “shouted.” The group of believers had just listened to Peter and John who shared with them their experiences with the elders and the chief priest and Pharisees who had arrested them and released them on the strong warning that they should no longer speak in the name of Jesus Christ. (Act 4:1 ff). As one body and group they prayed in thanksgiving to God with one voice. It is a common experience and expression that people talk about praying as raising our eyes to heaven, or looking up on God, or evening going up the mountain. These are common ways we expression our communication with God in prayer. They do not meaning shouting as in raising our voices at God, which is what I condemn.
Nothing, absolutely nothing justifies raising our voices at God during prayer. In the pattern of prayer Jesus gave the apostles, the popular “Our Father” (Mt.6:9, Lk. 11:1 and Mk 11:25), respect and homage to God “Our Father in heaven, holy is your name” comes first before any other thing. In my piece on “The Lord's Prayer: A Disciple's Prayer” published in two parts in previous editions of this newspaper, I explained, citing William Barclay that “holy is your name” or “hallowed be thy name” interprets as God's name is to be separated from others and given a special reverence as it differs from any other name. There is no conception of this phrase that out rightly disagrees with this interpretation. A son shows no respect to his father by shouting or raising his voice at the father!
In our time, the raising of our voices at God takes a different and worse dimension when speaking in tongues is involved. I do have my deep reservations about speaking in tongues but would rather not discuss that here or now. Suffice to note that at the point of speaking in tongues, most times, not all the times and not by all who speak in tongues, but most of those who do and most of the times they speak in tongues during prayer, the rudeness at God gets into the realm of reckless abandon. What is suppose to be a respectful and docile supplication addressed to a most superior Being becomes a reckless display of acquired “talent” and a show of disregard and disrespect to the divine.
Perhaps at this point, we should take an excursion through the scripture in relation to prayer. The idea is to see how the children of God prayed and pull out any noticeable trend as a model of prayer.
The Old Testament (OT) shows prayer as a dialogue between God and Israel. The Psalms constitute the prayer handbook of the OT. In addition to the Psalms, you have the prayers of Eliezer (Gen.24:12-14), Jacob (Gen.32:1O-13), Moses (Ex.32: 11-14, 34:8f, Num. 14:13-19), Gideon (Jg.6:36-40), Samson (Jg. 15:18, 16:28), Hannah (1 Sam. 1:1 Off), David (2Kings 7:18-29), Solomon (1 Kings 3:6-9, 8:23-53), Elijah (1Kings 19:36f). These represent the Israelites' typical form of prayer. The prayers attributed to Moses are of special interest as they are more like the intercessory prayers we are used to in our own time. This is also the pattern of prayer in the story of Abraham and Sodom (Gen.18:20-32).
The common characteristics of these prayers are that they are short, dignified and humble. This immediately calls to mind the injunction of Jesus to his disciples when he taught them to pray; “When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen ... When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is with you in secret.” (Mt.6:5-6). While this does not necessarily suggests that prayer should be a secret affair, it also does not say that we should turn our public address systems to the houses round about as many churches do today and disturb the entire neighbourhood in the name of prayers. Jesus out rightly condemns those who are unfair and unjust to others and yet offer long showy prayers in public. (Mk.12:40, Lk.20:47). The OT suggests that our prayers should be a humble dignified dialogue with God, not a jamboree or adverts to attract and distract others.
Prayers in the postexilic books of the OT, like Ezra 9:6-15, Tobit 3:1-6, 13:1-18, Judith 9:2-14, 2Macc.15:22-24, are longer and more formal than what we find in the pre-exilic period. They are often prayers of contrition. The prophetic literatures are replete with prayers and one spirit runs through all the forms of prayer; namely, humility or a humble submission to the Most High. The prophets were not known to command God or hold God to ransom on account of the covenant. The contrast in prayer style is seen in 1Kings 18:27-29, 36-37. This is the prayer of the prophets of Baal and Elijah respectively. The prophets of Baal shouted, gashed their skin with knives until they bled and raved, Elijah dignifiedly and humbly entreated Yahweh and at once, he was answered.
In the New Testament (NT), Jesus was very critical of pharisaic practices, including their “show-off” method of prayer. He cautioned his followers against such prayer practices (Mt.6:5-8), which he likened to pagan practice; a fact confirmed by the example of the prophets of Baal above.
Jesus does not actually condemn long prayers because they are long as there is nothing wrong with long prayers. What he condemned was the public show which to a great extent is the intent behind such lengthy prayers. In today's Christian world, it is like we want people to know we can pray eloquently for a sustained period of time. The Pharisee was eloquent in giving an account of himself to God while the publican was brief, contrite and humble. (Lk.18:lOff). The publican went home at right with God, indicating he left the presence of God fulfilled and renewed. It was not what was said and what was not said, but how what was said was said; for more than anything else, prayer is the raising up of our minds and hearts to God.
Jesus' own prayer life which dominates the gospels is our perfect example of how to pray. His method of prayer illustrates his recommI had wanted to share a reflection in this edition on the question of whether our prayers change the will of God or the course of events. I however, to the contrary feel obliged by the reactions of some readers to respond to their enquiries on some of the views I expressed in the preceding/introductory edition. This is especially in the area of shouting when we pray.
I did say and maintain that raising our voices at God is not praying. This has been misunderstood by some readers as a view against vocal prayer. I take responsibility for the misunderstanding as I went through the published work and noticed that I used the expression; “raising our voices to God” instead of “raising our voices at God.” I guess the expression; “raising our voices to God” gives room for the mistaken interpretation. The difference lies in the “at”, which is definitely disrespectful as it means shouting at God.
The fact of the matter, which is the point I made and still emphasize is that shouting at God as many do today in the name of praying, and the unruly outburst of emotions are wrong and unacceptable ways to pray. Vocal prayer, which necessarily involves the use of our voices in communicating our praises and desires to God is a valid form of prayer like such other forms as meditation or mental prayer and mystical prayer.
A reader referred me to Acts 4:24 among other suggested passages of scripture to interpret in the light of my claim. Acts 4:24 says; “when they heard it, they raised their voices as one and called upon God .. .” The use of the term “raised” here does not in any way translate as “shouted.” The group of believers had just listened to Peter and John who shared with them their experiences with the elders and the chief priest and Pharisees who had arrested them and released them on the strong warning that they should no longer speak in the name of Jesus Christ. (Act 4:1 ff). As one body and group they prayed in thanksgiving to God with one voice. It is a common experience and expression that people talk about praying as raising our eyes to heaven, or looking up on God, or evening going up the mountain. These are common ways we expression our communication with God in prayer. They do not meaning shouting as in raising our voices at God, which is what I condemn.
Nothing, absolutely nothing justifies raising our voices at God during prayer. In the pattern of prayer Jesus gave the apostles, the popular “Our Father” (Mt.6:9, Lk. 11:1 and Mk 11:25), respect and homage to God “Our Father in heaven, holy is your name” comes first before any other thing. In my piece on “The Lord's Prayer: A Disciple's Prayer” published in two parts in previous editions of this newspaper, I explained, citing William Barclay that “holy is your name” or “hallowed be thy name” interprets as God's name is to be separated from others and given a special reverence as it differs from any other name. There is no conception of this phrase that out rightly disagrees with this interpretation. A son shows no respect to his father by shouting or raising his voice at the father!
In our time, the raising of our voices at God takes a different and worse dimension when speaking in tongues is involved. I do have my deep reservations about speaking in tongues but would rather not discuss that here or now. Suffice to note that at the point of speaking in tongues, most times, not all the times and not by all who speak in tongues, but most of those who do and most of the times they speak in tongues during prayer, the rudeness at God gets into the realm of reckless abandon. What is suppose to be a respectful and docile supplication addressed to a most superior Being becomes a reckless display of acquired “talent” and a show of disregard and disrespect to the divine.
Perhaps at this point, we should take an excursion through the scripture in relation to prayer. The idea is to see how the children of God prayed and pull out any noticeable trend as a model of prayer.
The Old Testament (OT) shows prayer as a dialogue between God and Israel. The Psalms constitute the prayer handbook of the OT. In addition to the Psalms, you have the prayers of Eliezer (Gen.24:12-14), Jacob (Gen.32:1O-13), Moses (Ex.32: 11-14, 34:8f, Num. 14:13-19), Gideon (Jg.6:36-40), Samson (Jg. 15:18, 16:28), Hannah (1 Sam. 1:1 Off), David (2Kings 7:18-29), Solomon (1 Kings 3:6-9, 8:23-53), Elijah (1Kings 19:36f). These represent the Israelites' typical form of prayer. The prayers attributed to Moses are of special interest as they are more like the intercessory prayers we are used to in our own time. This is also the pattern of prayer in the story of Abraham and Sodom (Gen.18:20-32).
The common characteristics of these prayers are that they are short, dignified and humble. This immediately calls to mind the injunction of Jesus to his disciples when he taught them to pray; “When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen ... When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is with you in secret.” (Mt.6:5-6). While this does not necessarily suggests that prayer should be a secret affair, it also does not say that we should turn our public address systems to the houses round about as many churches do today and disturb the entire neighbourhood in the name of prayers. Jesus out rightly condemns those who are unfair and unjust to others and yet offer long showy prayers in public. (Mk.12:40, Lk.20:47). The OT suggests that our prayers should be a humble dignified dialogue with God, not a jamboree or adverts to attract and distract others.
Prayers in the postexilic books of the OT, like Ezra 9:6-15, Tobit 3:1-6, 13:1-18, Judith 9:2-14, 2Macc.15:22-24, are longer and more formal than what we find in the pre-exilic period. They are often prayers of contrition. The prophetic literatures are replete with prayers and one spirit runs through all the forms of prayer; namely, humility or a humble submission to the Most High. The prophets were not known to command God or hold God to ransom on account of the covenant. The contrast in prayer style is seen in 1Kings 18:27-29, 36-37. This is the prayer of the prophets of Baal and Elijah respectively. The prophets of Baal shouted, gashed their skin with knives until they bled and raved, Elijah dignifiedly and humbly entreated Yahweh and at once, he was answered.
In the New Testament (NT), Jesus was very critical of pharisaic practices, including their “show-off” method of prayer. He cautioned his followers against such prayer practices (Mt.6:5-8), which he likened to pagan practice; a fact confirmed by the example of the prophets of Baal above.
Jesus does not actually condemn long prayers because they are long as there is nothing wrong with long prayers. What he condemned was the public show which to a great extent is the intent behind such lengthy prayers. In today's Christian world, it is like we want people to know we can pray eloquently for a sustained period of time. The Pharisee was eloquent in giving an account of himself to God while the publican was brief, contrite and humble. (Lk.18:lOff). The publican went home at right with God, indicating he left the presence of God fulfilled and renewed. It was not what was said and what was not said, but how what was said was said; for more than anything else, prayer is the raising up of our minds and hearts to God.
Jesus' own prayer life which dominates the gospels is our perfect example of how to pray. His method of prayer illustrates his recommendation as he often prayed in solitude. (Lk.6:12). The event and prayer in the garden of Gethsemane showed how Jesus controlled his emotions in and through his prayers. (Mt.26:36-46, Mk.14:32-42, and Lk.22:40-46). He was overwhelmed with the reality of his forthcoming agony, suffering and death and wished it could pass over him. But it was not a matter of “by fire by force” as we are used to today, rather he prayed; “... Yet not what I want, but what you want.” (Mt.26:39, Lk.22:39, Mk.14:32). This is indeed a very sharp contrast to today's practice by most Christians.
Most Christians today will remind God what a faithful God he is and how faithful they have tried to be; they will remind God of His promises to His children and command that the “Holy Ghost fire” should consume them. “Them” here refers to the persecutors.
Jesus preferred and indeed most of his prayers were in solitude, but was not against cultic prayer. By “cultic prayer” we mean public liturgical prayers as different from personal, private, or family prayers.
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