When instructing His disciples on prayer, Jesus famously said: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:6-7) Some Christians take this passage to mean that prayer must always be extemporaneous: that is, the product of spontaneous emotion and thought. They believe scripted prayers (particularly those prayed as part of a liturgical church service) are inferior to the personal prayers we come up with on our own.
In liturgical church traditions, it's wise to guard against rote recitation, losing sight of the heart behind the words we say. But what many American Christians don't know (because our churches generally don't teach church history!) is that scripted, liturgical prayers have been a core part of Christian services since, well, before Christ Himself! That's right: scripted prayers were (and still are) part of the Jewish liturgy. During the morning and afternoon sacrifices, at festivals and for specific occasions, scripted blessings and prayers were frequently used. Jesus probably prayed these with the Jewish community of His day.
As Jesus' Jewish followers diverged from Judaism at large due to their Messianic beliefs, the liturgies of Judaism heavily influenced early church liturgy. This is why Acts 2:42 says, 'And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.' (Emphasis on the plural!)
Scripted prayers provide us a profound look at how Christians prayed throughout history, but they also provide us with vocabulary and ideas for our own prayer life. It's not scripted prayer OR spontaneous prayer; it's both! And using pre-written prayers (by humans, not AI) Pre-written prayers are a great way to join in the congregation's communal worship, emphasize scriptural truths (most are based on Scripture itself, especially historical prayers, like those in the Book of Common Prayer and the Liturgy of the Hours) and grow confident in praying aloud.
This week's podcast episode dives deeper into the history of scripted prayer and how it enriches our lives as believers. You'll also hear my favorite books for reading prayers of Christians past and learn how to turn Scripture into a prayer of your own.
PS - Thank you for sending in your requests for future episodes! This series will end before May 1st, so if you have a question for our final Q/A episode, reply this email or email phylicia@phyliciamasonheimer.com to submit your question.
