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The Prayer Life of Jesus – The Amidah

The Prayer Life of Jesus – The Amidah

The Prayer Life of Jesus – The Amidah.

“Tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a righteous man!” (James 5:16).

The Lord Jesus always was and still continues to be the ultimate prayer warrior. He prayed to the Father even before He was born (Hebrews 10:5-7), and He kept praying until the moment of His ascension (Luke 24:50-53). But He didn’t stop praying when His work on earth was done, for He continues to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father as we read this! (Hebrews 7:25). His ministry was largely a prayer ministry in the sense of prayer being the foundation for everything He did. He prayed for saints and sinners, privately and publicly, with His face to the ground and His head up facing the heavens. He prayed in grief and He prayed in gratitude, while exhausted and while full of energy. Jesus prayed with His dying breath and He prayed after He rose from the dead. He prayed before major decisions and during dramatic miracles. He prayed spontaneously and He prayed in words prepared thousands of years before Him. He prayed short, one-sentence prayers (John 12:28), and He prayed in at least one long prayer that seemed to encompass just about everything (John 17). Jesus developed a lifestyle of prayer that was common to observant Jews, but nonetheless uncommon in its intimacy with the Father.

Jewish Lifestyle. Being born and raised in an observant and orthodox Jewish household, Jesus was immersed from Day One on earth in prayer, in the centrality of prayer to one’s life and faith. Observant Jews practiced formal prayers frequently during the day, and spontaneous prayers throughout each day. They would pray the Sh’ma twice a day, the primary statement of faith for all biblical Jews, starting with its first line, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your might…” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Then there’s the Amidah, a series of 18 sacred benedictions that each Jewish father would recite at home twice a day, or perhaps each rabbi in the local synagogue. The Psalms were memorized and on the lips of all believing Jews, as were other classic prayers from the Hebrew Bible, most notably Aaron’s Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.”  But by no means were the Jews content with all those formal prayers each day. The rabbis taught each Jew to offer up sincere blessings for just about everything in the course of each day, as many as a hundred blessings, giving God praise and thanks for every common blessing enjoyed. There were blessings for practically every conceivable grace and event, from successfully going to the bathroom, to waking up each morning, to the blessing of being able to retire at the end of the day. These formal prayers and the more informal blessings developed a habit of prayer in each earnest Jewish believer, and made sure that God was seen as the main reference point all day for everyone in the faith. The Jewish prayers were constant reminders of God’s grace and goodness, and made sure that each Jewish home and synagogue were cultures of prayer. Jesus was shaped and directed and nurtured in this Jewish prayer life, and since He was a faithful Jew, prayer was certainly second nature to Him throughout His time on earth.

The Amidah. It was common during Jesus’ time that rabbis would be asked about prayer. Since faithful Jews were such distinctively prayerful people, many would be naturally curious about the best way to pray and what the essence of prayer really was. A rabbi would often answer these kinds of questions by teaching the central Jewish liturgy of prayer called the “Amidah,” and by giving his own shortened summary of these prayers for use in an emergency. The Amidah, which means “standing,” because the prayers were to be said while standing, was a series of 18 benedictions. The Amidah remains to this day as the centerpiece of Jewish worship. Many of the benedictions date back to Nehemiah, hundreds of years before Christ, and were prayed twice a day in every faithful Jewish home during Jesus’ day. He would have heard His foster father Joseph recite the Amidah every day without fail, and Joseph would have taught his Son to do likewise. In turn, there is no doubt that being an observant Jew, Jesus would have prayed the Amidah daily with His disciples.

The Amidah and the Lord’s Prayer. So then, it is no surprise that, when asked by His disciples how to pray, Jesus responded with His own brief summary of many of the ideas and patterns found in the Amidah. That’s the sort of thing rabbis would do. That’s why it is thought by many that the Lord’s Prayer is, phrase-by-phrase, a deep and meaningful glimpse of the Amidah, the heart of Jewish devotion and faith, the core of how biblical believers have communicated with the almighty God for centuries. May we continue to sit at the feet of rabbi Jesus and learn to pray as He taught His disciples, saying…

Highlights of the Amidah:

  1. Blessed are you, O Lord, our God and God of our fathers – God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. The great, the mighty, and the awesome God, God Most High, who bestows lovingkindness and is the Creator of all. Who remembers the love of our fathers, and will lovingly send a redeemer for their children’s children, for the sake of Your name, O King, Savior and Shield. Blessed are You, Shield of Abraham.
  2. You are mighty forever, O Lord, You resurrect the dead, You are great to save. Sustaining the living in lovingkindness, resurrecting the dead in abundant mercy, You support the failing and heal the sick, set free the captives,, and keep the faith with those who sleep in the dust. Who is like You, Master of mighty deeds, and who may be compared unto You? O King, who sends death and revives again, and causes salvation to sprout forth. You are surely believed to resurrect the dead. Blessed are You, O Lord, who revives the dead.
  3. Responsive Reading: (Reader): We will sanctify Your name in this world just as it is sanctified in the highest heaven, as it is written by Your prophet, “They call out to one another and say… (Congregation): “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” ( 6:3); (Reader): Those facing them praise God saying, (Congregation): “Blessed be the Presence of the Lord in His place.” (Ezek. 3:12); (Reader): And in Your holy words it is written, saying, (Congregation): “The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Hallelujah!” (Ps. 146:10); (Reader): Throughout all generations we will declare Your greatness, and to all eternity we will proclaim Your holiness. Your praise, O our God, shall never depart from our mouth, for You are a great and holy God and King. Blessed are You, O Lord, the holy God. You are holy and Your name is holy, and the holy ones praise You every day. Blessed are You, O Lord, the holy God.
  4. You graciously give knowledge to mankind, and teach mortals understanding. Favor us with Your knowledge, understanding, and intelligence. Blessed are You, O Lord, who graciously gives understanding.
  5. Lead us back, our Father, to Your instructions; bring us near, our King, to Your service, and cause us to return in perfect repentance before You. Blessed are You, O Lord, who accepts repentance.
  6. Forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned; pardon us, our King, for we have transgressed, that you might pardon and forgive. Blessed are You, O Gracious One, who multiplies forgiveness.
  7. Look upon our afflictions and fight our fight, and redeem us speedily for the sake of Your name, for You are a strong redeemer. Blessed are you, O Lord, the Redeemer of Israel.
  8. Heal us and we shall be healed, help us and we shall be helped, for You are our joy. Grant full healing for all our wounds, for You, O God and King, are a true and merciful physician. Blessed are You, O Lord, who heals the sick of His people Israel.
  9. Bless us, O Lord our God, this year, and all of its yield for good, and shower down a blessing upon the face of the earth. Fill us with Your bounty and bless our year that it be as the good years. Blessed are You, O Lord, who blesses the years.
  10. Blow the trumpet for our liberation, and lift a banner to gather our exiles, and gather us into one body from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You, O Lord, who gathers the dispersed of your people Israel.
  11. Restore our judges as before, and our counselors as in the beginning, and remove from us grief and sighing. Reign over us, O lord, You alone, in lovingkindness and compassion, and clear us in judgment. Blessed are You, O Lord the King, who loves righteousness and justice.
  12. May no hope be left to the slanderers, but may wickedness perish in a moment. May all Your enemies be soon cut off, and speedily uproot the arrogant. Shatter and humble them speedily in our days. Blessed are You, O Lord, who strikes down enemies and humbles the arrogant. (This benediction is a ‘late’ addition the Amidah, c. 180 AD).
  13. May Your compassion, O Lord our God, be stirred over the righteous and over the pious and over the elders of Your people, the House of Israel; over the remnant of their scribes, over the new believers, and over us. Grant a good reward upon them who truly trust in Your name, and assign our portion with them forever. May we not come to shame because we have trusted in You. Blessed are You, O Lord, the stronghold and assurance of the righteous.
  14. To Jerusalem Your city return in mercy, and dwell in her midst as You have promised. Build her speedily in our days as an everlasting structure, and quickly establish there the throne of David. Blessed are You, O Lord, the builder of Jerusalem.
  15. May the descendant of David, Your servant, be brought forth speedily, and may he be exalted through Your salvation, for we hope in Your salvation every day. Blessed are You, O Lord, who brings forth the horn of salvation.
  16. Hear our voice, O Lord our God, spare and have mercy on us, and accept in mercy and favor our prayer. For You are a God who hears prayers and supplications. Do not turn us away empty-handed, O King, when we come before You. For You listen to the prayers of Your people Israel in mercy. Blessed are You, O Lord, who hears prayers.
  17. We acknowledge to You, O Lord, that You are our God as You were the God of our fathers, forever and ever. Rock of our life, Shield of our salvation, You are unchanging from age to age. We thank You and declare Your praise, for our lives that are in Your hands and for our souls that are entrusted to You. Your miracles are with us every day, and Your benefits are with us at all times, evening and morning and midday. You are good, for Your mercies are endless; You are merciful, for Your kindnesses are never complete; from everlasting we have hoped in You. And for all these things may Your name be blessed and exalted, always and forevermore. Let every living thing give thanks to You and praise Your name in truth, O God, our salvation and our help. Blessed are You, O Lord, Your name is good, and to You it is right to give thanks.
  18. Grant peace, happiness, and blessing, grace, lovingkindness, and mercy to us and all Israel Your people. Bless us, our Father, every one of us, by the light of Your face, for by this light of Your face You gave us, O Lord our God, Your teaching of life, lovingkindness, and righteousness, and blessing and mercy, life and peace. May it be good in Your eyes to bless Your people Israel in every time and at every hour with Your peace. Blessed are You, O Lord, who blesses Your people Israel with peace.

(Benedictions adapted from www.jewishencylopedia.com and from En-Gedi Resource Center).