Prayer

THEODORE G. STYLIANOPOULOS

Prayer by means of words, thoughts, gestures, gifts, and rites is a universal reli­gious phenomenon through which human beings have expressed their dependence on, or need of, assistance from a higher power. The Christian meaning of prayer is deeply rooted in the biblical understanding of God, his saving work and will. In Orthodox Christianity, prayer, both private and cor­porate, is absolutely central, as is manifest in Orthodox worship, piety, and spiritual­ity. Energized by the Holy Spirit, prayer is the soul of the church and the breath of life for the striving believer.

The Old Testament is a treasure house of prayers of praise, glorification, and thanks­giving as well as of petition, confession, repentance, intercession, lament, and com­plaint to God. Such prayers are expressed through words, songs, and gestures such as standing, outstretched hands, kneeling, and prostration. Magnificent examples of prayers include the Song of Moses (Exod. 15.1–18), Solomon’s prayer at the dedica­tion of the Temple (1 Kings 8.22–53), the Prayer of Hannah in the dedication of Samuel (1Sam. 2.1–10), the priestly bene­diction (Num. 6.24–26), and the prayers of Ezra (Neh. 9.6–37) and Daniel (Dan. 9.3–19) for the restoration of God’s people. The Book of Psalms, the hymn book of Israel and later that of the church, is the primary Old Testament example of the rich variety of prayers already mentioned. Here also we find the astonishing dynamic of the human-divine relationship ranging from exultation and thanksgiving to bitter lament and despair, yet hanging on by faith in the God of steadfast love and mercy. St. Athanasius’ Letter to Marcellinus, an extraordinary essay on the Psalms that classifies and explains their usage, likens the Book of Psalms to a garden offering many beautiful flowers and a mirror of the soul reflecting the whole range of human feel­ings and experiences with God.

The New Testament presupposes the stream of Jewish worship and prayer. The Gospel of Luke records exquisite prayers by the Virgin Mary (Lk. 1.46–55), the priest Zechariah (Lk. 1.68–79), and the elder Simeon (Lk. 2.29–32). Jesus himself, cir­cumcised on the eighth day and presented at the Temple on the fortieth, grew up in the tradition of Jewish prayer and piety with frequent appearances at the Temple and the synagogue. He not only gave instruc­tions on prayer but also practiced heartfelt prayer, seeking solitude in the hills where he could pray all night, not least before making important decisions (Mk. 1.35; Lk. 6.12). The personal depth of Jesus’ prayers to God the Father breaks forth in dramatic moments of joyful confession (Mt. 11.25), the giving of the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6.5–13), the high priestly prayer to the Father (Jn. 17), and the agony at Gethsemane (Mk. 14.33–5), all of which exemplify the intimate relationship with God as a personal and loving Father which Jesus lived and taught. While the early church inherited much of the Jewish tradition of prayer, it gradually moved away from the Temple worship and cultic practices such as animal sacrifices, circumcision, and kosher foods, regarded as no longer compatible with the gospel. Instead, the church focused on its own rites of baptism, the Mystical Supper or Eucharist, and other rites that gradually developed into a whole tradition of worship continuously elaborated in content and structure. St. Paul, large sec­tions of whose letters read like prayers, is a primary figure of the Christian renewal of prayer and worship in trinitarian forms based on the view that each baptized Chris­tian is a living sacrifice to God (Rom. 6.4, 13; 12.1) and the church is the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 3.16–17; 12.12–27). Stirring echoes of early Christian prayers and aspects of wor­ship, replete with Old Testament language, frequently occur in the Book of Revelation, where the eschatological drama of salvation itself is recounted from the perspective of the worship of God (Rev. 4.4–11; 5.8–14; 7.9–12; 11.15–18; 12.10–12; 15.3–4; 19.1–8).

The biblical foundations of prayer – the accessibility of a personal and moral God worthy of all honor and praise, the reciprocity of the divine-human relation­ship in freedom and faith, and the active saving purpose of God to rescue from evil and sanctify all things in Christ and the Spirit – shine through the development of an immensely rich tradition of Orthodox worship, piety, and spirituality. In Ortho­dox worship, next to the main sacraments of baptism and Eucharist, numerous other sacraments and rites sustain the community’s engagement with the mystery of God and invoke God’s blessings on key events or moments of life, such as birth, marriage, the need for forgiveness and healing, ministry, and death itself. Ortho­dox piety seeks the sanctification of every conceivable human activity through pra­yers for the blessing of schools, programs, homes, buildings, fields, agricultural prod­ucts, animals, and (in modern times) automobiles.

Orthodox spirituality, flourishing in monastic traditions but not to be separated from church worship and practice, celebrates prayer as a highly intentional and focused activity in pursuit of Christian perfection through inner cleansing and sublime experiences of God. Origen, Greg­ory of Nyssa, Isaac the Syrian, Maximos the Confessor, Symeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas, the many authors included in the Philokalia, and modern saints and authors such as Theophan the Recluse and Silouan of Athos, are primary bearers of this Orthodox mystical tradition which has had significant impact on contemporary clergy and laity. The focus of this life of prayer is the recitation of the Jesus Prayer that, along with other ascetic disciplines, and above all reliance on God’s grace, guide the Christian to deeper levels of prayer in the process of theosis (deification), including purification, illumination, and glorification. The striking metaphors – “heaven in the heart,” “light of the mind,” “food for the soul,” “secret work of the heart,” “spiritual breathing,” “inner worship,” “standing before God” – richly suggest the meaning and value of concen­trated personal prayer. Prayer’s ultimate purpose is the transformation of daily life into a sacrament of the presence, power, and holiness of God.

SEE ALSO: Baptism; Blessing Rituals; Deifi­cation; Eucharist; Jesus Prayer; Mystery (Sacrament)

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Balentine, S. E. (1993) Prayer in the Hebrew Bible.

Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Bloom, A. (1970) Beginning to Pray. New York: Paulist Press.

Chariton, Higoumen. (1966) The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology. London: Faber and Faber. Clement, O. (1996) The Roots of Christian Mysticism. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. Cullmann, O. (1995) Prayer in the New Testament.

Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

McGuckin, J. A. (1999) “The Prayer of the Heart in Patristic and Early Byzantine Tradition,” in

P. Allen, W. Mayer, and L. Cross (ed.) Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church, vol. 2. Banyo: Australian Catholic University, Centre for Early Christian Studies, pp. 69–108.

Miller, P. D. (1994) They Cried to the Lord: The Form and Theology of Biblical Prayer. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress.

Palmer, G. E. H. et al. (eds.) (1979–95) The Philokalia: The Complete Text, vols. 1–4. London: Faber and Faber.

Payne, R. (1979) The Classics of Western Spirituality: Origen on Martyrdom, Prayer, et al. New York: Paulist Press.

Payne, R. (ed.) (1980) The Classics of Western Spirituality: Athanasius, the Life of St. Anthony and the Letter to Marcellinus. New York: Paulist Press.