Peace to you!
I already wrote about this in my book “Returning to the Origins of Christian Doctrine.” But I will try to answer this question again.
Today Christianity is the largest religion in the world. It leads both in the number of adherents, of which there are about 2.3 billion people, and in geographical distribution. All Christianity is united by the belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah (translated as Christ), Savior and Son of God. But at the same time, Christianity is greatly fragmented. The largest movements in Christianity are Catholicism (1.2 billion followers), Protestantism (800 million) and Orthodoxy (220 million). There are many branches within these currents.
Different movements have significantly different beliefs and rituals. In particular, Christians have different prayer rules. While Catholics and Orthodox believe it is possible and even necessary to pray to dead people, Protestant Christians pray directly to God.
Now we will try to consider the biblical argumentation of both traditions: so who should pray?
I would like to start by remembering where Christianity came from. For all historians and theologians there is no doubt that Christianity has its roots in Judaism. The first book of the Bible, usually called the Old Testament, contains God's instructions given to people from the Garden of Eden, and a description of the life of God's people - the Jews - until the coming of Jesus Christ.
The Jews did not accept Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and therefore still live according to the Tanakh, which almost completely coincides with the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The Jews do not find in the Tanakh a command to pray to God through intermediaries, so they pray to Him directly.
Islam arose later than Christianity. Muslims, Jews and Christians believe in one God, who is also called Lord and Allah. The Qur'an mentions many characters and events of the Bible. Muslims, according to the Koran, like Jews according to the Tanakh, still turn directly to the Creator in worship and worship. Only in Orthodox Christianity and Catholics, who have an ancient Greco-Roman heritage, are mediation prayers to God through deceased heroes of the faith widely used. Protestant Christians, who broke away from the dominant movements of Christianity at that time - Catholicism and Orthodoxy - began to seek the purity of the teachings of the Bible, therefore, having explored this point, they pray to God directly. Now we will look at which Bible verses the diametrically opposed beliefs are based on.
Usually, to confirm the possibility of praying to God through an intermediary, they remember Moses, who prayed for his people and God heard his prayer (see Ex. 32:11). The prophet Daniel also prayed intercessory prayer for the Jews (Dan. 9:3). Abraham asked for King Abimelech, who desired his wife Sarah (see Gen. 20:7), Pharaoh, through Moses and Aaron, cried out to God to deliver Egypt from the plagues (see Exodus 8:8), Job prayed for his friends (see . Job 42:8), King Hezekiah prayed for his people (see 2 Chron. 30:18-20), according to the word of Elijah, rain fell on the earth (see 1 Kings 17:1; 18:41). In addition, the Bible contains texts that encourage us to pray for one another (James 5:16). Proponents of mediation prayers conclude from these facts that it means that some believers can intercede before God on behalf of others. Of course, this conclusion can be drawn. Indeed, the Bible teaches that it is possible and even necessary to pray for other people through intercessory prayer. But these same facts can be looked at from a different perspective.
Of course, Moses and Daniel prayed for their people, and Christians prayed for Christians, but at that time they were alive. There are no examples in the Bible - both the Old and the New Testaments - of believers who were dead at that time praying for living people. Also in the Bible we do not see that believers, one by one or in groups, would go to Moses, Daniel, or other spiritual leaders, or priests, or Christian ministers with requests to pray to the Lord for them. That is, the Bible does not describe examples of mediatorial prayers as they are common in some popular Christian churches today.
People often apply human stereotypes to their relationship with God. It seems to them that close acquaintance with those who have power is enough to solve private problems. But the biblical Creator of heaven, earth and the universe is not the way many believers want to imagine Him - obediently listening to the voice of their servants. The Creator always fulfills only what is fair and necessary in this particular case, without even heeding the requests of the great prophets:
“And the Lord said to me, Even if Moses and Samuel appeared before me
My soul will not bow down to this people” (Jer. 15:1).
«Pardon depends
not from him who wills,
nor from him who runs
, but
from God who shows mercy
” (Rom. 9:16).
“Call if there is one who answers you. And to which of the saints
will you contact me?
But I would turn to God
, I would commit my work to God” (Job 5:1,8).
From these texts it is clear that the mediatory prayer of the “saints” does not guarantee a positive resolution of the issue.
Prayer, what is it and what does it mean?
The most important concept of “Prayer” is a conversation with God, this is a person’s communication with Him.
Related article: Prayer to start the day. 5 examples
A person is used to communicating with his own kind and he desires dialogue with people. Even if he is closed, lonely, unsociable, he still reaches out for communication. We may even find alternative types of communication such as: the Internet, TV, pets, music, hobbies...
The same can be said about a person’s communication with God.
How can we, people living on earth, communicate with God? Only through prayer. Of course, there are also works and walking in the light, but this is a slightly different topic.
1
If a Christian
If a person is a Christian, then he should always pray and not lose heart:
5 And he said to them: [suppose that] one of you, having a friend, comes to him at midnight and says to him: friend! lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for my friend came to me from the road, and I have nothing to offer him; 7 And he from within will answer him: Do not bother me, the doors are already locked, and my children are with me on the bed; I can't get up and give it to you. 8 If, I tell you, he does not get up and give him because of his friendship, then because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he asks. 9 And I will tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you, 10 for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 Which father among you, [when] his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? or, [when he asks] for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or, if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. (Luke 11:5-13)
1 He also told them a parable about how one should always pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and was not ashamed of people. 3 In the same city there was a widow, and she came to him and said, Protect me from my adversary. 4 But for a long time he did not want to. And then he said to himself: although I do not fear God and am not ashamed of people, 5 but, as this widow does not give me peace, I will protect her so that she does not come to bother me anymore. 6 And the Lord said, Do you hear what the unjust judge says? 7 Will not God protect His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night, although He is slow to protect them? 8 I tell you that he will give them protection quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:1-8)
2
Moderate heart
A person should pray with a humble heart, in sincere repentance:
9 He also spoke to some who were confident in themselves that they were righteous, and disparaged others, the following parable: 10 Two men entered the temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: God! I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this publican: 12 I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get. 13 But the publican, standing afar off, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven; but, striking himself on the chest, he said: God! be merciful to me, a sinner! 14 I tell you that this one went to his house justified more than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14)
3
Impressing others
A Christian should not pray to impress those around him:
5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, so that they may be seen by people. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not talk too much, like the pagans, for they think that for their many words they will be heard; (Matt. 6:5-7)
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows and hypocritically pray for a long time: for this you will receive all the more condemnation. (Matt. 23:14)
4
With faith and forgiveness
The prayer should be with faith and forgiveness of all who have done wrong against “You”:
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and it will be done for you. 25 And when you stand in prayer, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. (Mark 11:24,25)
5
Christian Privilege
Prayer is the privilege of Christians. God will not hear the prayers of sinners who are not Christian believers, people who do not seek God and do not comply with His will.
For example, compare passages from the Bible:
2 Kings 5:1-18; Numbers 22:1-35; 2 Kings 20:1-6; 1 Kings 21:1-29; Eze 14:1-8; Eze 18:1-32; 2 Pet 2:15-16; Jude 1:11; Acts 10:1-48
The above passages clearly show the honesty and deceit of man before God, with whom God has fellowship and those who are far from the Truth.
Related article: Prayer with children 4 examples
In these passages, nowhere is there a person who prayed → was heard by God → received a positive answer to his prayer → then began to sin, that is, live as before → then began to pray again → was heard by God → then again received a positive answer to his prayer → then he begins to deliberately sin again, and so it’s a vicious circle.
Such people meet in our lives very often, and “we” ourselves (real Christians) are not perfect. But the difference between the prayer of a Christian and a non-Christian is that a real Christian received baptism → changed his way of thinking and acting → began to live by faith, struggling with sin in his life.
This is the difference between the prayer of a Christian and a non-Christian.
We need to pray correctly, otherwise our prayer will not give us anything good and will be useless:
8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the righteous is acceptable to Him. (Prov. 15:8)
29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. (Prov. 15:29)
9 Whoever turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer is an abomination. (Prov.28:9)
6
Who to pray for?
Who should you pray for? For everyone and everything! Prayer is a “tool” that makes it possible to talk with God on various topics. You can talk to God and ask Him for different things, as long as it is not vulgar, unnecessary, sinful. Jesus gave an example of prayer in the Gospel of Matthew.
Example prayer:
9 Pray this way: Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; 10 Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; 11 Give us this day our daily bread; 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Matt. 6:9-13)
Here we see, as it were, an example of what a person should talk about in prayer.
The beginning, middle and end of the prayer: praising God, asking Him, the final part of the prayer is Amen, which means: so be it.
This is a simple example that only provides a basis for “building” your prayer about your needs and wants.
The Bible contains many examples of prayers where people asked God for various and necessary things:
34 Jesus said: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided His garments by casting lots. (Luke 23:34)
5 So Peter was kept in prison, while the church diligently prayed to God for him. (Acts 12:5)
14 The Apostles who were in Jerusalem, hearing that the Samaritans had received the word of God, sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they came, prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14,15)
60 And he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice: Lord! Do not impute this sin to them. And having said this, he rested. (Acts 7:60)
and Gen 18:23-32; Exodus 32:11-13; 1 Samuel 7:4-5; 1 Kings 8:12-61
7
You need to pray in your own words
You need to pray in your own words, since modern books called “Prayers”, “Prayers for every day”, “Prayers for various saints”, “Prayers for a specific holiday”, etc., have nothing to do with real prayer.
Books of this kind only help you “mumble” the same words every time a certain day or holiday comes. They force a person to repeat the text mechanically, but this kind of thing does not fit with the Bible.
If prayer is communication and conversation with God, then you need to pray “with your mind and heart”:
1 Corinthians 14 - it also talks about the gift of interpretation, but in the context you can see that prayer has a rational component in the mouth of the person praying (Christian)
People don't talk in clichéd phrases to each other. Yes, we say “hello, bye” every time, but the essence of our speeches is always different. We use different words and expressions in communication, in accordance with the situation, common sense, our mood, our desires...
A person always has different feelings, desires, moods and interests. Everything around is changing - the situation, questions and answers. You need to understand that God is a Person, and a Person more Intelligent than us. So why can we accept patterns from books when addressing the Father, because prayer is an intimate dialogue, not a memorized phrase.
Examples of prayers in the Bible:
1 Therefore, first of all, I ask that prayers, petitions, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and for all those in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and purity, 3 for this is good and pleasing to God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to reach the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:1-4)
15 And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will forgive him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed: the earnest prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:15,16)
14 All of them continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with [certain] women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (Acts 1:14)
24 Having heard it, they unanimously lifted up their voices to God and said: Sovereign God, who created the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them! 25 You, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said by the Holy Spirit: Why are the Gentiles troubled, and the nations plotting vain things? 26 The kings of the earth rose up, and the princes gathered themselves together against the Lord and against His Christ. 27 For truly in this city Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together against Your holy Son Jesus, whom You anointed, 28 to do that which Your hand and Your counsel had predestined to be. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to Your servants to speak Your word with all boldness, 30 as You stretch out Your hand to heal and to do signs and wonders in the name of Your Holy Son Jesus. 31 And because of their prayer, the place where they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:24-31)
44 And while he was in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:44)
These places will also be useful:
1 Kings 8:12-61; 2 Kings 20:2-3; 2 Chronicles 30:19; Nehemiah 1:4-11; Dan 6:13; Dan 9:3-21;
8
Posture in prayer
Related article: Posture in prayer
It doesn’t matter in what position we pray, the main thing is that it is not “ritual” - according to any human traditions.
There are no specific rules in the Bible regarding postures in prayer.
22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of all the congregation of Israel, and lifted up his hands to heaven (1 Kings 8:22)
6 Come, let us worship and fall down, let us kneel before the face of the Lord our Creator; (Ps.94:6)
14 He said: No; I am the captain of the army of the Lord, now I have come [here]. Jesus fell with his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What will my lord say to his servant?” (Joshua 5:14)
15 And when you stretch out your hands, I will close My eyes from you; and when you multiply your prayers, I do not hear: your hands are full of blood. (Isa.1:15)
2 And [Hezekiah] turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying: 3 “O Lord! Remember that I walked before You faithfully and with a devoted heart, and did what was right in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly. (2 Kings 20:2,3)
41 And He Himself went away from them a stone's throw, and kneeled down and prayed (Luke 22:41)
These and many other examples from the Bible show how to pray correctly and how not to be misled by various “fashion” trends.
Acts 12:1-16
Let's begin our study of this passage with verses 12:1-5a:
Acts 12:1-5a “At that time King Herod lifted up his hands against some of the church to do them harm, and killed James the brother of John with the sword. Seeing that this was pleasing to the Jews, he then took Peter—then were the days of unleavened bread—and, detaining him, put him in prison, and ordered four quartets of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after Passover.”
The King Herod referred to here was the grandson of that King Herod who wanted the baby Jesus dead (Matthew 2) and “sent to kill all the little children in Bethlehem and in all its borders, from two years old and under” (Matthew 2:16). He was also the nephew of Herod, called the “tetrarch,” who beheaded John the Baptist and treated Jesus before the crucifixion: “having humiliated Him and mocked Him, he dressed Him in light clothes [to humiliate Him even more – approx. author]" (Luke 23:11). It seems that the Herod of our story fully inherited the cruelty of his grandfather and uncle, because it was he who killed James, one of the twelve, and, seeing how the Jews liked it, grabbed Peter, intending to bring him out to the people, probably to kill him too . However, Herod miscalculated because verse 5 says:
Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in prison, WHILE the church prayed earnestly to God for him.”
The Tsar sent a whole detachment of armed guards to guard Peter. He thought that by doing so he could prevent any attempt to free him. However, he did not take into account the fact that, although Peter was in prison, all this time the church diligently prayed to God for him. Herod could not prevent this in any way, and therefore could not prevent God from intervening in answer to this prayer. Let's see what happened next:
Acts 12:6-7a “When Herod wanted to bring him out, that night Peter slept between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the guards at the door kept watch over the prison. And behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared, and light shone on the prison […].”
Herod took sufficient measures to prevent Peter from escaping from prison. To the right and left of Peter there were guards, to whom he was chained. If he decided to run away, he would have to deal with them first! Moreover, as if this were not enough, there were two more guards guarding him at the door! And although Herod did his best to surround Peter with armed guards, all his efforts were nothing compared to God and HIS power. Look what the Lord did:
Acts 12:7-11 “And behold, the angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison. The angel, pushing Peter in the side, woke him up and said: get up quickly. And the chains fell from his hands. And the Angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your shoes.” He did so. Then he says to him: put on your clothes and follow me. Peter went out and followed him, not knowing that what the Angel was doing was real, but thinking that he was seeing a vision. Having passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gates leading into the city, which opened to them of their own accord: they went out and walked one street, and suddenly the Angel was not with him. Then Peter, coming to his senses, said: Now I truly see that the Lord has sent His angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from everything that the people of the Jews were waiting for.”
Many believe that in order for such an escape to succeed, the guards had to sleep deeply. Well, does the Bible say this? Never! On the contrary, it is said that Peter slept between two soldiers, while other guards at the door “guarded the prison.” As for these watchmen, would the Word say “watched” if they were actually asleep? I don’t think so, because it would contradict the very meaning of the word “guard.” One way or another, I don’t know exactly how God arranged the escape, but I do know that He arranged it and saved Peter “from the hand of Herod and from everything that the people of the Jews were waiting for.” Yet let us not forget what led to this miraculous liberation in the first place. This is stated in verse 5:
Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in prison, WHILE the church prayed earnestly to God for him.”
Pay attention to the particle of opposition “meanwhile” in this sentence. She points out that Peter's imprisonment was countered by a weapon, and that weapon was prayer. The church prayed tirelessly, and God answered their prayer by doing the impossible, bringing down Herod and his power, and delivering Peter from the trouble he was in.
