Troublesome Topic: THE HEBREW AND GREEK WORDS FOR PRAY

The primary word for “pray” in Hebrew means “to intervene, interpose, mediate or judge.” It seems to center around the idea of getting between two entities. God’s true followers use prayer to get between sinners and God in an attempt to draw the former to the latter. Notice that this is not about us, it is entirely about God and about others. Asking for what I want for myself does not fit the Hebrew word for prayer.

The concept of “crying out” to God is often expressed in the Old Testament. It is usually translated as it should be with the English words “cry out.” These pleas for help are not true prayer, but God often chose to answer them anyway. 

 The major Greek word for “pray” comes from two words, the preposition “towards” and the verb “to wish, to want, to will”. The preposition “toward” implies reciprocity between you and the person you are moving toward. This interaction is of the nature of exchanging something, and that idea is strong enough in this preposition to cause some to render it with the word “exchange” or “exchange toward”. So in prayer we are exchanging something with God. What do we exchange? Our will. The other part of the word “pray” is “to wish for, to want, to exercise the will”. Thus, prayer is when we approach God to exchange our will and our wishes for His will and His wishes. God does not receive our will and wishes, but we should receive His. In that exchange we give up any desire to focus on our wants and even our needs. We come away with an all-encompassing desire to see God’s will realized and His name glorified. That is true prayer!

The next lesson is GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIMSELF, NOT TO US