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Joel Osteen in "prayer."
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A friend once took me to a Bible study many years ago. It was quite different than any other Bible study I had ever been to, for two main reasons. First, while we talked about “spiritual things”, there was no actual studying done of God’s Word. The scripture passage to be discussed was read, and we spent a long time going around the room, talking about what the passage meant to us. Second, near the end of the meeting, we engaged in a form of prayer that was exceedingly strange to me. The leader said that it was time to join together in prayer. He dimmed the lights, and as the group moved in closely enough to put their hands on each other’s shoulders, another member grabbed his guitar.
When everyone was in position, the guitar man began to strum out his chord progression. The leader began with his petitions, mostly centered on the greatness of God’s glory. When he finished, other members of the group would randomly offer their petitions, in unctuous voices, trembling with spiritual emotion. All this was accompanied by the soft strains of the guitar, and the spontaneous ejaculations of “Amen!” and “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” While swaying. In the dark. For about half an hour.
I was caught by surprise. Never before had I experienced such a thing in a church setting. I got the vague sense that I did upset the apple cart to some degree. During the periods of silence between random petitions, several people cast a furtive glance in my direction; I suspect to see what I, the new guy, was going to offer. I offered nothing but silence. The space between prayers gradually became longer and longer. Eventually the guitar man changed his progression, cadenced, and the prayers were concluded.
While I didn’t realize it at the time, such mystical prayer practices are, in American Evangelicalism, standard operating procedure. To the American Evangelical, prayer is not simply asking God for things. Prayer is a two way line of communication, and a way in which we come into God’s presence.
Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. Prayer is the place of admitting our need, of adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God... Prayer changes the one praying because in prayer, you are in the presence of God as you lay before Him your complete self in confession and dependence. There is nothing to hide when in quiet supplication we are reaching into the deepest part of ourselves and admitting our needs and failures. In so doing, our hearts are quieted and pride is stripped and we enjoy the presence of God.[1]
We get in the right emotional state, tell Him how great He is, and God will speak to our hearts. The idea that prayers would be composed prior to the act of praying, let alone written down, is bad, and to be discouraged. Spontaneous prayers uttered from the heart are more authentic than reading written prayers, or reciting memorized prayers by rote:
Like turning to the right channel, God speaks to individuals who are ready and prepared to listen. A friend once put it this way: A Christ follower who builds the following four habits in his life will be in a good place to hear from God... A Christ follower should spend daily time reading the Bible, mulling over the message, and praying for ways to make scripture’s lessons into a lifestyle.[2]
Prayer, in and of itself, has power which the Christian can wield to get God to bring blessing into their lives. This is from Joel Osteen Ministries:
We Believe in the Power of Prayer: The Bible says the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, yet something extraordinary happens when two or more agree together in prayer. In Matt. 18:19, Jesus said, “If any two of you agree touching any matter on this earth, it shall be done.” Post your prayer request below and believe that God is going to move mightily in your life as others from around the world pray in agreement with your request![3]
In short, the complete opposite of the way we Confessional Lutherans pray.
Is this really the right way to pray? Many people, even some Confessional Lutherans, seem to think so. I hear Lutherans complain all the time about how boring their pastor is when he prays; or, how we need to spice things up when we pray. We can’t just keep using that stodgy old General Prayer in the liturgy, Sunday after Sunday. People stop paying attention after a while. Our pastors need to do more extemporaneously, and come up with their prayers on the spot from their hearts. Those prayers will be more interesting and meaningful.
This is nothing more than Enthusiasm. Luther used the term Enthusiasm, or enthusiast (in the German, Schwärmer, which means one who swarms, like a group of buzzing bees on a hive), to describe those who sought God through their feelings and spiritual experiences, outside of, and apart from, God’s Word. We know, however, that Scripture teaches that God does not want to deal with us in any way other than through Word and Sacrament.[4] Therefore, as Luther says, whatever is praised as from the Spirit, without the Word and Sacraments, is from the Devil himself.[5]
The American Evangelical view of prayer turns us away from the Biblical teaching on prayer, and makes us into Enthusiasts and magicians. Through prayer, rather than through Word and Sacrament, we would seek to come into God’s presence, commune with Him, and receive His instruction. This view turns prayer into a means of grace. Satan loves this, since it diverts our focus from the actual means of grace God has given us, and renders useless our prayers by turning them into mystical experiences and incantations, rather than petitions to the Almighty God.
Likewise, to believe in, and rely on, the “power of prayer” is dangerous. If, by the phrase one means that prayer is powerful because Almighty God has promised to hear us when we pray, and to answer our prayers, then yes, prayer is powerful. If one believes that, simply by repeating a certain prayer, or “declaring” to inanimate things such as storms, diseases, your job, etc., you can change reality because God is obligated to give you what you have declared for, then no. Prayer has no power in and of itself or, as the Lutherans would say, by the outward act. That isn’t even praying. That is saying a magic incantation, and makes you some kind of witch or sorcerer. When explained like that it may sound silly. Who would ever do such a thing? This is the next step down the road of the misuse of prayer, and it is taught by all the beloved American health and wealth prosperity gospel heretic preachers.
What does God say prayer is? It’s pretty simple: Prayer is speaking to God, in words or thoughts.[6] The Bible is filled with good examples of what prayer is: Abraham praying for Sodom;[7] Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane;[8] St. Stephen praying for those who were murdering him,[9] among many others. Scripture tells us that we should make our requests of Him in thankfulness, in the name of Jesus, and in accordance with His revealed will:
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus... “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full... Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (Philippians 4:6-7; John 16:23; 1 John 5:14-15).
We should pray for ourselves and for others, including our enemies, everywhere, regularly and frequently:
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence...“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust... I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting...Then He [Jesus] spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart... pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Timothy 2:1-2; Matthew 5:43-45; 1 Timothy 2:8; Luke 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).
Jesus even gives us a model prayer, recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel:
In this manner, therefore, pray: 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 forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Matthew 6:9-13).
And also in St. Luke’s:
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one (Luke 11:1-4).
In this, the Lord’s Prayer, we find, as Luther observes, seven petitions that include every need and never cease to apply to us.[10] So, if we find ourselves at a loss for what we should pray, we have Jesus’ own instruction to guide us. But don’t ignore, as many do that St. Luke is quoting Christ when he writes, “When you pray, say...”
But, in the same sermon, Jesus tells us to avoid vain repetitions! Wouldn’t reciting the Lord’s Prayer, or the General Prayer from the Divine Service, over and over, week after week, be the definition of vain repetitions?
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words (Matthew 6:5-7).
In short, no. He’s talking about using repeated prayers as a sorcerer uses incantations, or as one who prays using the same words over and over, thinking that his mere act of praying causes his prayer to be effective, apart from it’s content. Stated another way, Jesus condemns the idea that the “power of prayer” is in the performance of the outward act. To the contrary, Jesus himself used repeated prayers:
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless[a] I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand” (Matthew 26:36-46).
He does not merely give us a model prayer; he also gives us a prayer to pray at all times, in the Lord’s Prayer. When we pray this prayer, we can be sure that we are praying according to His will, and therefore that He hears us. It also shows us that, while extemporaneous prayers “from the heart” are not necessarily always bad, God encourages us to pray following guides which He provides, and using prayers that have been previously composed is acceptable. The Jesus who prayed “from the heart” in Gethsemane is, after all, the same Jesus who gave us the Lord’s Prayer, and prayed the “written prayers” of the Psalms “by rote” as he hung on the cross.
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[1] Slick, Matt. "Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry." What is Prayer? July 01, 2017. Accessed September 21, 2017. https://carm.org/what-prayer.
[2] Burns, Tim. "How Can I Hear God Speaking to Me?" How Can I Hear God Speaking to Me? May 27, 2016. Accessed September 21, 2017. http://www1.cbn.com/how-can-i-hear-god-speaking-me.
[3] "We Believe in the Power of Prayer." Pray Together. Accessed September 21, 2017. https://www.joelosteen.com/Pages/PrayTogether.aspx.
[4] Hebrews 1:1-2
[5] SA III IX 10
[6] Luther, Martin. Luther’s Small Catechism, with Explanation. St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 2005.
[7] Genesis 18:22-23
[8] Matthew 26:36-44
[9] Acts 7:59-60
[10] LC III 34
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