The Seven Prayers of Jesus

By Laszlo Gallusz

Millions of Christians believe that prayer is the breath of the soul, on which depends the quality of their spiritual life. The reality, however, is that genuine prayer is something we need to learn repeatedly. We share the helplessness of the disciples who asked Jesus, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ (Luke 11:1).

This volume focuses on the praying of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The Seven Prayers of Jesus investigates his prayers in their literary and socio-historical context, and points to their theological significance and relevance for today.

Laszlo Gallusz hopes that this work will not only provide a fresh biblical perspective on the prayers of Jesus but also become a source of inspiration for our own prayer lives.

‘Dr Gallusz’s . . . engagement with Scripture shows his mastery of the biblical topic. Yet he also writes with the heart of a pastor, applying his insights to the life of the individual Christian and also that of the church. This book will enrich the intellect and nurture the spirit of all those who read it. I recommend it wholeheartedly.’
Laurence A. Turner, Principal Lecturer Emeritus in Old Testament, Newbold College, Bracknell, UK

• Language: English
• Publisher: IVP
• Release date: Jul 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781783595686

Laszlo Gallusz

Laszlo Gallusz is a Lecturer in New Testament Studies, Belgrade Theological Seminary, Serbia. He received his PhD at Karoli Gaspar University of the Reformed Church in Budapest and studied for his master's degree at Newbold College. He is a visiting scholar at Tyndale House, Cambridge and author of three books and scholarly articles in English, Hungarian and Serbian, including The Throne Motif in the Book of Revelation (LNTS). He is a frequent visitor to the USA as a speaker in churches and at scholarly conferences, and similarly also occasionally to Australia.

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To Jenő Szigeti a ‘living legend’, whose wisdom, balance and dedication is a shining example for the younger generation of scholars, teachers and believers

‘Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.’

(Dan. 12:3)

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INTER-VARSITY PRESS

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© Laszlo Gallusz, 2017

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Quotations marked niv are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (Anglicized edition). Copyright © 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica (formerly International Bible Society). Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘niv’ is a registered trademark of Biblica (formerly International Bible Society). UK trademark number 1448790.

The quotation marked njb is taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Co., Inc., a division of Random House, Inc. and used by permission.

First published 2017

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ISBN: 978-1-78359-567-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-78359-568-6

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CONTENTS

Abbreviations

Introduction

An inborn desire for God

The essence of prayer

Learning to pray

1. Prayer in the life of Jesus

Attitude of Jesus towards prayer

Jesus’ practice of prayer

The instructions of Jesus regarding prayer

Jesus listens to our prayers

2. Abba: experiencing intimacy with God

Background: the ancient concept of God’s fatherhood

The abba language of Jesus

The Christian use of abba

Intimacy with abba, Father

THE SEVEN PRAYERS

3. The Lord’s Prayer

The prayer’s position within the Synoptic tradition

Structural considerations

The address

‘Thou’ petitions

The daily bread

‘We’ petitions

The doxology

4. The prayer of thanksgiving

Setting and timing

Failure of the wise and elevation of the little ones

Drawing strength in a situation of failure

5. The prayer at the resurrection of Lazarus

Setting and timing

The role of signs in John’s Gospel

The prayer made aloud at the burial cave

The silence of Jesus: God’s timing and ours

6. The prayer answered by a heavenly voice

Setting and timing

The ‘hour’ of Jesus and the divine glory

The divine glory redefined

Relearning the meaning of glory

7. The farewell prayer

Setting and timing

Christ’s intercession as a token of love

Recommitment in the shadow of the glorification

Life of the disciples in the world

Prayer for the future of the church

8. The prayer in Gethsemane

Setting and timing

The agony

Gethsemane as a victory

The mystery of unanswered prayers

9. Praying on the cross

The centrality of the cross

Prayer for forgiveness of enemies

Praying in the dark night of the soul

Prayer of unconditional trust

Conclusion

Bibliography

Search names for ancient authors

Search names for modern authors

Notes

ABBREVIATIONS

In addition to standard abbreviations for biblical books, the following abbreviations for ancient literature and modern sources are used:

Ancient literature

1QpHab – Pesher Habakkuk

Ann. – Tacitus, Annales

Ant. – Josephus, Jewish Antiquities

Bapt. – Tertullian, De baptismo

Barn. – Barnabas

Bib. Hist. – Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica

1 Clem. – 1 Clement

Dial. – Justin, Dialogue with Trypho

Diatr. – Epictetus, Diatribai

Did. – Didache

Dom. Or. – Cyprian, De dominica oratione

Eccl. Rab. – Ecclesiastes Rabbah

Enchir. – Augustine, Enchiridion de fide, spe, et caritate

Gen. Rab. – Genesis Rabbah

Hel. – Euripides, Helena

Hist. – Herodotus, Historiae

Il. – Homer, Ilias

Jub. – Jubilees

JW – Josephus, Jewish War

Lev. Rab. – Leviticus Rabbah

m. Abot – Mishnah, Abot

m. Ber. – Mishnah, Berakot

m. Sotah – Mishnah, Sotah

m. Yebam. – Mishnah, Yebamot

m. Yoma – Mishnah, Yoma

3 Macc. – 3 Maccabees

Opif. – Philo, De opificio mundi

Or. – Origen, De oratione (Peri proseuchēs)

Ora. – Anselm, Orationes sive meditations

Orat. – Tertullian, De oratione

Pol. Phil – Polycarp, To the Philippians

Rab. Perd. – Cicero, Pro Rabirio Perduellionis Reo

Serm. – Augustine, Sermons

Serm. Dom. – Augustine, De sermone Domini in monte

Sir. – Sirach

SM – Luther, Small Catechism

Spec. – Philo, De specialibus legibus

T. Isaac – Testament of Isaac

T. Jac. – Testament of Jacob

T. Job – Testament of Job

t. Sanh. – Tosefta, Sanhedrin

Ta‘an – Ta‘anit

Targ. Isa. – Targum of Isaiah

Targ. Yer. – Targum Yerušalmi

Tob. – Tobit

Verr. – Cicero, In Verrem

Wis. – Wisdom

Periodicals, commentaries and reference sources

AB – Anchor Bible

ABD – Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (6 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1992)

ABRL – Anchor Bible Reference Library

AThR – Anglican Theological Review

AUSS – Andrews University Seminary Studies

BECNT – Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

Bib – Biblica

BTB – Biblical Theology Bulletin

CBQ – Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CTJ – Calvin Theological Journal

CTR – Criswell Theological Review

EBC – The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

EvQ – Evangelical Quarterly

ExpTim – Expository Times

IBT – Interpreting Biblical Texts

ICC – International Critical Commentary

IVPNTCS – The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

JRT – Journal of Religious Thought

JSNT – Journal for the Study of the New Testament

JTS – Journal of Theological Studies

LNTS – Library of New Testament Studies

LQ – Lutheran Quarterly

NCB – New Century Bible

NICNT – New International Commentary on the New Testament

NIDNTT – New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975–8)

NIGTC – New International Greek Testament Commentary

niv – New International Version (2011)

njb – New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

NSBT – New Studies in Biblical Theology

RHPR – Revue d’histoire et de philosophie religieuses

Str-B – Herman L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch (4 vols.; Munich: Beck, 1922–61)

TDNT – Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich (trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley; 10 vols.; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–76)

TSAJ – Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism

WBC – World Biblical Commentary

WUNT – Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

INTRODUCTION

When a doctoral student at Princeton asked, ‘What is there left in the world for original dissertation research?’ Albert Einstein replied, ‘Find out about prayer. Somebody must find out about prayer.’

¹

There is a deep mystery and also much perplexity involved in the Christian activity which we call prayer. For many, it is a delusion and a waste of time, the last resort of people who have run out of ideas, and the first resort of people who never bothered to think about how they could actually solve the problem at hand. At the same time, to the believer it represents the most precious use of time, an activity which ‘is to religion what original research is to science’.

²

One of the central teachings of the Bible is that people can approach God, expressing their gratitude to him and sharing with him their concerns, with a strong hope that they will be heard. On a number of occasions Jesus Christ exhorted his followers to pray (Matt. 7:7–11; John 16:23–24). Similar encouragements can be found in the Old Testament (Ps. 50:15) and in the apostolic writings (Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2). Millions of Christians, in accordance with the teaching of the Bible, believe that prayer is the breath of their souls on which the quality of their spiritual lives depends. The reality, however, is that this subject brings a large dose of frustration. The reason lies in a major discrepancy between the theory of prayer and its practice: believing people know more about prayer than they ever practise in their private lives. This is confirmed by a website poll, according to which only 23 (3.39%) of the 678 respondents expressed satisfaction with their prayer times.

³

This research indicates that the issue is more complex than it seems at first sight. At the same time, it points to the need to address the subject of prayer from a fresh angle in order to restore it to the place to which it belongs: the heart and soul of the Christian experience.

An inborn desire for God

Jacques Ellul notes, ‘The man of our time does not know how to pray; but much more than that, he has neither the desire nor the need to do so.’

⁴

We rely primarily on our personal resources, intelligence and skills. Prayer is an unnatural activity for us, since from birth we have been learning the rules of self-reliance as we strain to achieve self-sufficiency. Since prayer fundamentally challenges these deep-seated values, it becomes ‘an assault on human autonomy, an indictment of independent living’.

⁵

Yet, when circumstances radically change and deep crisis is faced, something breaks in the deepest sphere of the human soul and we are drawn to prayer, seeing in it a last glimmer of hope. In those moments we stop denying the longing planted deeply within us and we start to allow God to meet us where we are. Thus, he gradually changes our view of life and moves us in the direction he always wanted to take us. It is not that he twists our arm, forcing us into a corner to have faith in him, but he uses the circumstances of our lives to make us see ‘too much to deny and too little to be sure’.

⁶

It has been widely argued that the human longing for eternity, security, intimacy and spiritual fulfilment provides the key for understanding our origins and purpose of existence.

⁷

No earthly experience can satisfy this hunger, regardless of what we possess, what we have achieved or whom we know.

⁸

Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109), one of the greatest thinkers of the Middle Ages, wrote in one of his prayers: ‘Lord, give me what you have made me want. I praise and thank you for the desire that you have inspired; perfect what you have begun, and grant me what you have made me long for.’

⁹

This longing, engrafted into our hearts, is a divine voice that tries to awaken us to recognize our need for meaning and directs us to the path leading to God. Thomas Merton states: ‘We are a living incompleteness. We are a gap, an emptiness that calls for fulfilment.’

¹⁰

In its essence, prayer is a means for expressing our understanding of our place in the universe, since by turning to it we acknowledge our limitations and our dependence on God. On the other hand, viewed from God’s perspective, prayer becomes the basic means that he uses to transform us, give us meaning and set us free from the burdens that enslave us.

In our days, the greatest hindrance to humanity taking seriously its longing for God is the context of intense cultural pressure in which we live. This is characterized by increased stress and concern, and breathing in the atmosphere of doubt, existential disorientation, crisis of identity and strong demands of our achievement-oriented society. Living in this context means accepting an accelerated life-speed, which takes its toll in some of the basic areas of human existence. For example, in the area of communication, our conversations shrink to shorter, less personal and more cryptic ways of conversing (e.g. SMS messages, e-mails). This trend has an impact primarily on the quality of family life, since working parents give an almost insignificant fraction of their time to each other and to their children.

While contemporary Western civilization can boast of having significantly raised the standard of living in comparison to earlier periods of human history, the spin-off of such progress is to live under the pressure of a constant ‘not enough’: not enough time, not enough rest, not enough exercise, not enough opportunities to recharge. How do we fit God into our already overcrowded schedule? The problem seems to be not only the lack of time for addressing spiritual needs, but also that ‘time pressures crowd out the leisurely pace that prayer seems to require’.

¹¹

We live constantly in great haste and we are not machines which can be stopped or switched to an alternative mode in a moment. If we are not intentional in carving out time to experience a personal touch from God on a regular basis, and if we are not able to live at a pace which makes it possible to connect with him, the danger of our dying of thirst at the fountainside becomes a real threat.

The essence