Prayer Defined as Offering Desires to God in Christ
Prayer is understood as the direct address of the soul to God, an intercourse that can be oral or mental, occasional or constant [1]. It involves expressing reverence, love, gratitude, penitence, hope, submission, and desires to God [11]. Scripturally, prayer is described in various ways, such as "beseeching the Lord" (Exodus 32:11), "pouring out the soul before the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:15), "seeking unto God and making supplication" (Job 8:5), and "drawing near to God" (Psalm 73:28) [1, 3]. The act of prayer presupposes a belief in God's personality, His ability, and His willingness to engage with humanity [1].
A central aspect of Christian prayer is that it is offered "in Christ" or "through Christ" [3]. This means that access to God in prayer is made possible by Jesus Christ [4]. The Apostle Paul, for instance, prays "in the name of the Lord Jesus" [7]. The Geneva Bible translation of 1 Peter 4:11 states that "God in al things may be glorified through Iesus Christ" [9]. Charles Hodge notes that prayer involves expressing desires for God's favor and for both providential and spiritual blessings needed for oneself and others [11].
The concept of offering desires to God in Christ is rooted in the understanding of Christ's role as mediator and intercessor. Christ's priestly office includes offering Himself as a sacrifice and continually interceding for believers [6]. His advocacy with the Father is based on His perfect sacrifice [6]. Therefore, through Jesus, believers are encouraged to "continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name" (Hebrews 13:15) [8]. This aligns with the idea that prayer is a "freewill offering" of the mouth, encompassing spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise [10].
Thomas Aquinas explains that prayer is the "unfolding of our will to God, that He may fulfill it" [13]. While prayer is offered to God alone as the one who grants grace and glory, saints can be prayed to in a secondary sense, as intercessors through whom God's grace may be obtained [12]. However, the primary direction of prayer is to God, with Christ as the means of access [3, 4]. The Lord's Prayer, taught by Jesus, serves as a comprehensive model, embodying a wide range of spiritual requirements in a simple and humble form [2, 5]. It is the foundation upon which all Christian prayer is based, though its spirit is also guided by Christ's prayers in Gethsemane and John 17 [5].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or formal. It is a "beseeching the Lord" (Ex. 32:11); "pouring out the soul before the Lord" (1 Sam. 1:15); "praying and crying to heaven" (2 Chr. 32:20); "seeking unto God and making supplication" (Job 8:5); "drawing near to God" (Ps. 73:28); "bowing the knees" (Eph. 3:14). Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold inter”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Lords Prayer — the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples. (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4) "In this prayer our Lord shows his disciples how an infinite variety of wants and requests can be compressed into a few humble petitions. It embodies every possible desire of a praying heart, a whole world of spiritual requirements; yet all in the most simple, condensed and humble form, resembling, in this respect, a pearl on which the light of heaven plays."--Lange. "This prayer contains four great general sentiments, which constitute the very soul of religion,--sentiments which”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Prayer — Commanded -- Isa 55:6; Mt 7:7; Php 4:6. To be offered To God. -- Ps 5:2; Mt 4:10. To Christ. -- Lu 23:42; Ac 7:59. To the Holy Spirit. -- 2Th 3:5. Through Christ. -- Eph 2:18; Heb 10:19. God hears -- Ps 10:17; 65:2. God answers -- Ps 99:6; Isa 58:9. Is described as Bowing the knees. -- Eph 3:14. Looking up. -- Ps 5:3. Lifting up the soul. -- Ps 25:1. Lifting up the heart. -- La 3:41. Pouring out the heart. -- Ps 62:8. Pouring out the soul. -- 1Sa 1:15. Calling upon the name of the Lord. -- Ge 12:8; Ps 116:4; Ac 22:16. Crying to God. -- Ps 27:7; 34:6. Drawing”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Access to God — Is of God -- Ps 65:4. Is by Christ -- Joh 10:7, 9; 14:6; Ro 5:2; Eph 2:13; 3:12; Heb 7:9, 25; 10:19; 1Pe 3:18. Is by the Holy Spirit -- Eph 2:18. Obtained through faith -- Ac 14:27; Ro 5:2; Eph 3:12; Heb 11:6. Follows upon reconciliation to God -- Col 1:21,22. In Prayer -- See Prayer. De 4:7; Mt 6:6; 1Pe 1:17. In his temple -- Ps 15:1; 27:4; 43:3; 65:4. To obtain mercy and grace -- Heb 4:16. A privilege of saints -- De 4:7; Ps 15:1; 23:6; 24:3,4. Saints have, with confidence -- Eph 3:12; Heb 4:16; 10:19,20. Vouchsafed to repenting sinners -- See Repen”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Lord's Prayer — The name given to the only form of prayer Christ taught his disciples (Matt. 6:9-13). The closing doxology of the prayer is omitted by Luke (11:2-4), also in the R.V. of Matt. 6:13. This prayer contains no allusion to the atonement of Christ, nor to the offices of the Holy Spirit. "All Christian prayer is based on the Lord's Prayer, but its spirit is also guided by that of His prayer in Gethsemane and of the prayer recorded John 17. The Lord's Prayer is the comprehensive type of the simplest and most universal prayer."”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Intercession of Christ — Christ's priestly office consists of these two parts, (1) the offering up of himself as a sacrifice, and (2) making continual intercession for us. When on earth he made intercession for his people (Luke 23:34; John 17:20; Heb. 5:7); but now he exercises this function of his priesthood in heaven, where he is said to appear in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:12, 24). His advocacy with the Father for his people rests on the basis of his own all-perfect sacrifice. Thus he pleads for and obtains the fulfilment of all the promises of the everlas”
- I Thessalonians “I Thessalonians 4:1 (BBE) — And last of all, the prayer which we make to you from our heart and in the name of the Lord Jesus, is this: that as we made clear to you what sort of behaviour is pleasing to God, as in fact you are doing now, so you will go on in these ways, but more and more.”
- Hebrews “Hebrews 13:15 (BSB) — Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.”
- I Peter “I Peter 4:11 (Geneva1599) — If any man speake, let him speake as the wordes of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the abilitie which God ministreth, that God in al things may be glorified through Iesus Christ, to whome is prayse and dominion for euer, and euer, Amen.”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 119:104: Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,.... Not sacrifices out of his flocks and herds, such as were the voluntary and freewill offerings brought to the priests under the law, though there may be an allusion to them; nor out of his substance, such as David and his people willingly offered towards the building of the temple; but these are not the freewill offerings of his hands, but of his mouth; the spiritual sacrifices of prayer praise: prayer is an offering; see Psa 141:2; and it is a freewill offering, when a man is assisted by the ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 73: § 20. Prayer. Prayer is the converse of the soul with God. Therein we manifest or express to Him our reverence, and love for his divine perfection, our gratitude for all his mercies, our penitence for our sins, our hope in his forgiving love, our submission to his authority, our confidence in his care, our desires for his favour, and for the providential and spiritual blessings needed for ourselves and others. As religion, in the subjective sense of the word, is the state of mind induced by the due apprehension of the character of God and”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae), Of Prayer, Art. 4: Article: Whether we ought to pray to God alone? I answer that, Prayer is offered to a person in two ways: first, as to be fulfilled by him, secondly, as to be obtained through him. In the first way we offer prayer to God alone, since all our prayers ought to be directed to the acquisition of grace and glory, which God alone gives, according to Ps. 83:12, "The Lord will give grace and glory." But in the second way we pray to the saints, whether angels or men, not that God may through them know our p”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Third Part (Tertia Pars), Of Christ's Prayer, Art. 1: Article: Whether it is becoming of Christ to pray? I answer that, As was said in the SS, Question [83], Articles [1],2, prayer is the unfolding of our will to God, that He may fulfill it. If, therefore, there had been but one will in Christ, viz. the Divine, it would nowise belong to Him to pray, since the Divine will of itself is effective of whatever He wishes by it, according to Ps. 134:6: "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, He hath done." But because the Divine and the human wills are distinct in Christ, and the hu”