Please note that all Biblical quotes, in this and all other lessons posted to Greek Thoughts, are from The Literal English Translation of the Bible produced by BTE Ministries - The Bible Translation and Exegesis Institute of America.
We are continuing with our study of the word προσεὺχομαι (Strong's #4336, pronounced prō'sūk-ō-mī), which means, "to pray." It is a word compounded from the preposition πρὸς (Strong's #4314, pronounced prōs) meaning "to" or "toward," and the word εὔχομαι (Strong's #2172, pronounced ū' kō-mī) meaning "to wish, to desire." Εὔχομαι is used in the New Testament to express a wish, which is its basic, root meaning.
Our purpose for this study is to understand how εὔχομαι is used in prayer to God. We have learned from the previous parts of this study that God's answer to prayer is only guaranteed when the believer's underlying wish and desire in prayer is for the Lord's will to be done. We saw this principle revealed in 1 John 5:14-15; and again in James 4:1-4, from which we gained further understanding that those praying in order to fulfill their own hedonistic desires will not receive an answer; because they are actually committing spiritual adultery and have positioned themselves as enemies of God. We also learned, from James 1:5-8, that a double-minded person is one who asks God for wisdom but does not ask in faithtrusting the Lord through trials in order to gain His wisdom. The focus here is again on the wish or desire underlying a person's prayer. In addition, James, in James 1:5-8, added to our understanding of prayer by revealing that one must ask in faith, believing that the Lord's will is being done in response to prayer. Last week our focus was on Paul's teaching about prayer, from Philippians 4:4-7. In these verses, Paul commanded that everything should be brought to the Lord through prayer (προσεὺχομαι), with thanksgiving. He states that the peace of God will guard the hearts and thoughts of those who leave the answer to situations prayed for in the Lord's hands, for His will to be done.
Teachings on prayer, whether penned by Paul, James or John, originate from the Lord's teaching on prayer, as recorded in the Gospels; therefore, this week, we turn our attention to the Lord's teaching on προσεὺχομαι, from John 14:12-14.
John 14:12-14
Before Jesus goes to the cross, He instructs His disciples as to how they are to function once He is living within them. He first says that "the one believing into Him" will be doing the same works as He, differing only quantitatively. The reason for this is expressed at the end of the verse; Jesus is going to His Father. This tells us that Jesus is looking past the present (in which He is confined by the physical realm), past His death and resurrection, to the future when He will dwell within each of His people and, in so doing, will be able to minister through many believers at one time, in various locations.
The second thing Jesus states is that His disciples will communicate to the Father in His name. They are not to pray or approach the Father in any other name because, "… there is no salvation in any other one, for there is no other name under heaven having been given among men, in which it is necessary that we should be saved"F1 (Acts 4:12), and "because through Him (Christ Jesus) we both (Jew and Gentile) have access in one Spirit to the Father" (Ephesians 2:18).
In both of these teachings on prayer, the understanding of how one is to pray is of paramount importance. We are to pray "in His name;" but Jesus did not present this prepositional phrase as a formula through which believers get their wishes and desires answered; that concept would be presented as praying "through His name." When someone functions "in" the name of another, he/she moves in representation of the purposes and plan of that person under whose name he/she is functioning. Therefore, Jesus' promise of response to prayer is reserved for those who pray in His name—desiring His plan and purposes be done.
Next, Jesus states the purpose for praying in this way: "…in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Everything the Father does is done so that others can see the Father in the Son. This is in agreement with the Lord's statement that He is not doing the works nor is He speaking the words, but these are coming from the Father Who is in Him (John 14:10).
14) If you should ask anything in My Name, I will do it.
Jesus repeats the proper approach to the Father in prayer (ask anything in My Name) and gives its resulting promise: "I will do it."
When we started this series, we presented that praying to God involved two things: first, that prayer is the expression of one's wish and desire to God; and second, in order for an answer to be guaranteed, one's wish and desire must be aligned with the Lord's will. We began in 1 John 5 and worked our way back to the source of the apostles' teachings— the teaching of prayer given by the Lord Himself. We did this to show the continuity among all of the teachings on prayer given to the Early Church and their common origin in the teaching of Jesus Christ. While many have abused the meaning of praying "in His name" in an attempt to retain control and cause things to turn out in certain ways; from this study, we can see that the Early Church understood praying "in His name" to mean praying for the Lord's will to be done (1 John 5:14), as opposed to praying for one's own personal desires to be accomplished (1 John 4:1-4; 1 John 1:5-8).
Next week we will continue to explore Jesus' teachings on prayer as presented in John 15:7.
*PROSEUCHOMAI is the English font spelling of the Greek word προσεὺχομαι.
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F1: The infinitive of result σωθῆναῖἡμᾶς, "to be saved us" is translated νὰ͂σωθῶμεν, "that we should be saved."
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Bill Klein has been a pastor, counselor, and educator for the past 41 years. He has had extensive training and education in biblical languages, and has authored a Biblical Greek course.
He is currently serving as Professor of Biblical Greek at Master's Graduate School of Divinity, and president of BTE Ministries - The Bible Translation and Exegesis Institute of America, a non-profit organization located in California that provides Bible study tapes and Greek study materials through their website BTEMinistries.org.