Origen on Prayer

Introduction

            Prayer is a spiritual discipline that Christians have practiced since the inception of their faith. The Lord Jesus Christ taught his disciples that when they pray they were to pray in this way:

“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 also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:9-13).

Jesus was not only teaching the disciples how to pray, but just two verses earlier he states, “And when you pray… (Matthew 6:7),” indicating that they were also expected to pray. Additionally, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, taught the Thessalonian church to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). These instructions indicate that prayer was to be a part of early Christian life and that it was to be a regular occurrence. Even so, there were some within the church who claimed to be Christians that had been persuaded to believe that prayer was unnecessary.

The article is by Tye Rambo, a Ph.D student specializing in the area of Patristic Spirituality, at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Born and raised in Texas, Rambo holds a B.A. in History from West Texas A&M University and an M.Div from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

To continue reading his article, click here.