Prayer

by Jenna Caruthers

In English, the word "pray" originates as begging or entreaty. When I was fleeing Roman Christianity, one of the things that used to bug me was their seeming passivity. One way that showed up was in terms of "prayer." Recently I saw an initialism that drove home that point: "P.U.S.H--Pray Until Something Happens." While I sort of understand the perceived desirability of persistence, their degrees of distance from the destination guarantee their flight to Hawaii ends up in Alaska instead.

Roman Christians seem to conceive of prayer as, okay, you have or know about a situation, you tell "God" and wait for Him to do something. And yet, a study of the Hebrew word "palal"--which is among the words used for communicating with the Almighty--tells a different story. We have the letter pey-lamed-lamed. Pey is the mouth, speaking. Lamed is the shepherd's staff--the authority; it's doubled here denoting the emphasis.

The word itself even seems to portray a supplicant kneeling before the throne where YHVH and Yahshua are seated.

Pal-from the root word--means to fall. This is literally a recognition of one's status of coming before the king and showing respect before pleading one's cause. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

Another aspect of palal is that of discernment. The one to whom you plead is making a judgment about what you've said. He tells you what to do about it. Our Western orientation makes a distinction between words and actions but Hebrew makes no such separation. After telling your side of the story, the Judge will make a determination directing you to take some action. Often, even in courts today, there is a "brief" about the decision that explains the judge's point of view and precedents.

When you don't humbly wait, but just sort of sign off with the tagline "in Jesus' name," you miss the point: relationship, communication, understanding, obedience.