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QUESTION: How does Logos/Verbum define prayer?
SOFTWARE: Parks, Jimmy. All the Prayers in the Bible. Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020 avoids giving a definition of prayer. It is, however, a subset of Speaking to God with additional entries for “foreign” gods and for the Magnificat and prayer given as an example, think the Lord’s Prayer a.k.a. Our Father.
ANSWER: From Hardin, Leslie T. “Prayer.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.
Prayer Communication with God, primarily offered in the second-person voice (addressing God directly). May include petition, entreaty, supplication, thanksgiving, praise, hymns, and lament.
Overview
Prayer was not unique to the Israelites of the early biblical period. Many cultures in the ancient Near East offered liturgical and ceremonial prayers and petitions to their deities. However, the prayers of the Old Testament differ in many respects from those of the surrounding ancient Near Eastern cultures. The biblical examples of prayer portray Yahweh as a God who listens, not a deity who is distant or must be cajoled into attending the affairs of humanity.
The earliest biblical prayers stem from a conversational intimacy with Yahweh and include spontaneous and unfiltered requests. Over time, prayer evolved into more fixed and liturgical forms. The teachings about and examples of prayer in the New Testament stem from these Jewish roots, yet they contain innovations introduced by Jesus and the early Christian community. The most notable developments are prayer in the name of Jesus and the introduction of the Lord’s Prayer in Matt 6:9–13 and Luke 11:2–4.[1]
QUESTION: What data is collected regarding prayer?
SOFTWARE: from Parks, Jimmy. All the Prayers in the Bible. Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020.
ANSWER: Along with the prayer itself, each prayer is annotated for the following information:
Speaker: The person or people who are giving the prayer.
Addressee: The entity to whom the prayer is addressed.
Place: The location where the prayer occurs.
Context: The context of the prayer.
Content: The content of the prayer.
Prayer Context include the following:
Communal: Non-liturgical public expression
Literary: Speech to God used as a literary or rhetorical device
Prophetic: A non-visionary oracular experience
Ritual: Part of a ritual, cultic, or other religious exercise
Solitary: Personal prayer or music expressed in private
Theophanic: A dialogue with a manifested presence of God
Other: Not otherwise categorized
Prayer Content include the following:
Affirmation: Expression of agreement
Blessing: Uses the formula “bless/blessed”
Complaint: Report of a specific grievance
Confession: Confession of faith; the speech act portion of salvation
Consecration: A kind of oath where one is set apart for divine service
Curse: Uses the formula “curse/cursed”
Imprecation: Request for justice or vengeance to come down on another
Intercession: Request on behalf of another
Lament: Expressing negative emotion
Oath: A promise, vow, covenant, or other swearing
Petition: Request for a specific consideration for oneself
Praise: Ascribing glory, adoration, worship, or recounting good deeds
Query: Request for information or direction
Repentance: Confession of sin, the speech act portion of repentance
Thanksgiving: An expression of gratitude
Other: Not otherwise categorized[2]
Notice the similarity in attributes and their values to that of the Speaking to God data.
QUESTION: List some Logos resources useful for the study of Biblical prayer?
ANSWER: These are primarily Logos rather than Verbum resources:
Elmer, Robert, ed. Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022.
Hammer, Reuven. Entering the High Holy Days: A Guide to the Origins, Themes, and Prayers. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1998.
Jenkins, Steffen G. Imprecations in the Psalms: Love for Enemies in Hard Places. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2022.
Longenecker, Richard N., ed. Into God’s Presence: Prayer in the New Testament. McMaster New Testament Studies. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002.
Richards, Larry. Every Prayer in the Bible. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1998.
Rosscup, James E. An Exposition on Prayer in the Bible: Igniting the Fuel to Flame Our Communication with God Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008. (this multi-volume resource was recommended as the primary source of all the prayers of the Bible prior to the creation of the dataset.)
QUESTION: What are the search arguments for prayer?
ANSWER: Using Lamentations 3:42-66 as an example: prayer and copying the search from the Context menu:(addressee:person:God AND content:Complaint AND content:Confession AND content:Petition AND content:Repentance AND context:Solitary AND speaker:person:"Jerusalem Inhabitants (Babylonian Exile)" AND title:topic:"The Confession of the Inhabitants of Jerusalem")
Note that while Speaking to God is available in the Bible Browser, Prayers is not.
The Concordance Guide section on the passage produced several results:
Concordance | Command
La 3:56—you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear to my cry for help, but give me relief!”
Type: Request
Verb Class: Caring and Empathizing
La 3:57—You came near when I called on you; you said, “Do not fear!”
Type: Prohibition
Verb Class: Psychological State
La 3:59—You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause.
Type: Request
Verb Class: Judgment
La 3:63—Whether they sit or rise—see, I am the object of their taunt songs.
Type: Request
Verb Class: Focusing and Comprehending
Concordance | Prayer
La 3:42–66—We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; you have…
Addressee: God
Content: Complaint; Confession; Petition; Repentance
Context: Solitary
Speaker: Jerusalem Inhabitants (Babylonian Exile)
Title: The Confession of the Inhabitants of Jerusalem
Concordance | Speech
La 3:42–66—We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us filth and rubbish among the peoples. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us; panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction. My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of my people. My eyes will flow without ceasing, …
Content: Complaint; Confession; Petition; Repentance
Context: Solitary
Distance: Remote
Mode: Prayer
Type: Dialogue
[1] Leslie T. Hardin, “Prayer,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
[2] Jimmy Parks, All the Prayers in the Bible, Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020).
