1. “The prayers” implies a certain fixity of form. Everybody knew what “the prayers” were!
2. The first Jesus-followers were, of course, Jewish. There is nothing to suggest that Jesus overruled Jewish prayer customs in toto. Rather, he infused them with a radically new meaning.
Two terms are important for
understanding Jewish prayer: keva and
kavvanah
keva (“fixed form”)—fixity, structure, an established routine
kavvanah (“intention”)—intentionality, direction, intensity
3. Jewish tradition does not set keva and kavvanah in competition. Nor does it give people a choice of one or the other. Keva is seen as an aid to kavvanah, not a hindrance. Several modern analogies might be suggested:
In first-century Judaism, the actual wording of
the various liturgical prayers was still quite fluid, although the
overall outline or structure was more or less fixed.
Even Paul insisted that everything be done “decently and in order” (1 Co 14:40) in the Church’s worship—not to stifle charismatic or spontaneous expressions, but to give them voice!
Our
Father in heaven,
hallowed
be your name.
Your
kingdom come.
Your
will be done,
on
earth as it is in heaven.
Give
us this day our daily bread.
And
forgive us our debts,
as
we also have forgiven our debtors.
And
do not bring us to the time of trial,
but
rescue us from the evil one” (Mt 6:9-13).
1. Keva: For the early Church, the Lord’s Prayer was the definitive Christian prayer. Already in the New Testament, it shows signs of liturgical shaping—it exists in two distinct versions (Mt 6:9-10 and Lk 11:2-4). Joachim Jeremias has argued that Luke preserves an older (shorter) form, while Matthew’s wording is closer to the Aramaic original.
Possible roots in Jewish liturgical prayer.
a. Qaddish is one of the oldest and most used prayers in Jewish piety. It was (and is) recited at various points in the synagogue liturgy. Some scholars have pointed out some connections to the wording of the Lord’s Prayer (noted in boldface):
Magnified
and hallowed
be his great name
in the world he created according
to his will.
And may he establish
his kingdom in your life and in your days
and in the life of all the house of
very soon and in the coming season.
--And you say: Amen!
Blessed,
praised and glorified, raised, lifted up and
revered, exalted and lauded
be the name of him who is Holy, blessed be He!
Although he is high above all blessings, hymns, praised and
solace
uttered in this world.
--And you say: Amen!
May
our prayers and the supplications of all Israel
be accepted by our
Father, who is in heaven.
--And you say: Amen!
May
there be abundant peace from Heaven
and life for us and all
--And you say: Amen!
May he
who makes peace in the heights make peace for us and
all
--And you say: Amen!
b. Tefillah
literally means simply
“prayer.” It is the “standard” Jewish prayer, prayed three times per
day by the
devout. It is to be prayed standing, which gives rise to another name,
the amidah (“standing” prayer). Although it
is a set prayer form, individuals are free to extemporize the
concluding portion,
and it is not unlikely that ancient rabbis would have taught their
disciples
such a customary closing. Philip Sigal has suggested that the Lord’s
Prayer
originally served just this purpose, and interprets “When you pray,
say…” (Lk
11:2) to mean, “When you pray the tefillah,
conclude by saying…”
Whatever its original
liturgical setting, the Lord's Prayer rather quickly began to function
within the Church as a kind of Christian tefillah.
Some representative reflections on the first line “Our Father, who art in heaven”:
a. Tertullian, On Prayer 2:
The prayer begins with a testimony to God, and with the reward of faith, when we say, “Our Father who art in the heavens;” for (in so saying), we at once pray to God, and commend faith, whose reward this appellation is. It is written, “To them who believed on him he gave power to be called sons of God.” However, our Lord very frequently proclaimed God as a Father to us; nay, even gave a precept “that we call no one on earth father,” but the Father whom we have in the heavens: and so, in thus praying, we are likewise obeying the precept. Happy they who recognize their Father!
b. Cyprian, On the Lord’s Prayer 9:
“After
this manner,” he says,
“pray: Our Father, which art in heaven.” The new man, born again and
restored
to his God by his grace, says “Father,” in the first place because he
has now
begun to be a son. “He came,” he says, “to his own, and his own did not
receive
him. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the
sons of
God, even to those who believe in his name.” The man, therefore, who
has
believed in his name, and has become God’s son, ought from this point
to begin
both to give thanks and to profess himself God’s son, by declaring that
God is
his Father in heaven; and also to bear witness, among the very first
words of
his new birth, that he has renounced an earthly and carnal father, and
that he
has begun to know as well as to have as a father him only who is in
heaven, as
it is written: “They who say unto their father and their mother, I have
not
known you, and who have not acknowledged their own children these have
observed
your precepts and have kept your covenant.” Also the Lord in his Gospel
has
bidden us to call “no man our father upon earth, because there is to us
one
Father, who is in heaven.” And to the disciple who had made mention of
his dead
father, he replied, “Let the dead bury their dead”; for he had said
that his
father was dead, while the Father of believers is living.
c. Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catecheses 5:11:
Then, after these things, we say that prayer which the Savior delivered to his own disciples, with a pure conscience styling God our Father, and saying, “Our Father, which art in heaven.” O most surpassing loving-kindness of God! On them who revolted from him and were in the very extreme of misery he bestowed such complete forgiveness of their evil deeds, and so great participation of grace, as that they should even call him Father. “Our Father, which art in heaven”; they also, too, are a heaven who bear the image of the heavenly, in whom God is, dwelling and walking in them [2 Co 6:16].
No one must allow himself to be persuaded, by any arguments whatever, to decorate the psalms with extraneous matter or make alterations in their order or change the words themselves. They must be sung and chanted with entire simplicity, just as they are written, so that the holy men who gave them to us, recognizing their own words, may pray with us, yes and even more that the Spirit, who spoke by the saints, recognizing the selfsame words that he inspired, may join us in them too.
2. Kavvanah:
a. Concern to chant the psalms in such a way that the soul benefits—not just an empty mouthing of the words:
But we must not omit to explain the reason why words of this kind should be not merely said, but rendered with melody and song; for there are actually some simple folk among us who, though they believe the words to be inspired, yet think the reason for singing them is just to make them more pleasing to the ear! This is by no means so; Holy Scripture is not designed to tickle the esthetic palate, and it is rather for the soul’s own profit that the psalms are sung (Athanasius, On the Psalms)
b. Cultivating the right inner intention: What do we do with imprecatory psalms that call down calamity on our enemies? Two ancient traditions:
They stated that the sum total of their error or misjudgment, had been coming to a meeting on a given day before dawn, and singing responsively a hymn to Christ as to God, swearing with a holy oath not to commit any crime, never to steal or commit robbery, commit adultery, fail a sworn agreement or refuse to return a sum left in trust. When all this was finished, it was their custom to go their separate ways, and later re-assemble to take food of an ordinary and simple kind. But after my edict which forbids all political societies, they did in fact give this up.
Eventually, these two services were combined into one.
2. Justin Martyr, First Apology 67 (ca. 150):
On the
day called Sunday all who dwell in cities or in the
country meet together in one place, and the narratives of the apostles
or the
writings of the prophets are read as long as there is time. When the
reader has
finished, the president verbally instructs us, and exhorts us to
imitate those
good persons (or things) [of whom we have just heard]. Then we all
stand up
together, and offer up prayers; and, our prayers being over, bread and
wine and
water are brought in, and the president in like manner offers up
prayers and
thanksgivings to the best of his ability, and the people shout assent,
saying Amen; and there is a distribution to
each person and a general partaking of that over which the thanksgiving
has
been made, and it is sent to those who are not present by the deacons.
The primitive pattern:
The format was elaborated upon over the course of time, but the basic outline remains in place in liturgical churches (Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, etc.) to this day.
3. Congregational involvement.
a. Laity.
The People (Greek
b. Deacons.
Deacons were responsible for
attending to the logistics of the service—making sure the Eucharistic
elements,
etc., are in place for when they are needed, and prompting the
worshipers (even
the presiding minister!) when it is time for them to perform their
“part.” In the absence of a printed bulletin, the ancient church had
something even better--a deacon to serve as "master of ceremonies" and
keep everything moving according to the traditional pattern.
c. Presbyters and Bishop. In the pre-Constantinian era the bishop was still most commonly the principle liturgical minister of a local congregation—essentially what Protestants have come to call the “senior pastor” of the church.
The bishop would have been assisted by a small group of presbyters or “elders.” Originally the presbyters would have essentially constituted a “church board” with little or no liturgical responsibility. With the passage of time, however, they gained more liturgical duties and some of their administrative functions fell back upon the bishop. Presbyters were authorized to preach and to administer the sacraments, but were always understood to serve under the leadership of the bishop.
d. “Minor Orders.” Various sorts of “minor orders” of clergy are also attested in ancient Christian literature. Members of these orders were not ordained as such, but were officially appointed in the church to perform their various duties: subdeacons, readers, cantors, etc.
4. Singing. In earliest times, virtually the entire service was sung, not spoken. In the synagogue, even the Scripture readings are chanted. A person chanting can be heard clearly at a greater distance than a person shouting.
Apart
from those moments when the Scriptures are being read or a sermon is
preached,
when the bishop is praying aloud or the deacon is specifying the
intentions of
the litany of community prayer, is there any time when the faithful
assembled
in the church are not singing? Truly I see nothing better, more useful
or holy
that they could do. (Augustine,
Epistle 55, 18-19)