Praying for the Food We Eat

Brent Emery has written an interesting article: “On faith: Learning to pray from a Jewish perspective,” in which he discusses Jewish prayers and how Christians can learn to pray from a Jewish perspective.

One section of his article caught my attention:

We as Gentiles have much to learn from our Jewish friends who have been praying for several millennia. Allow me an example of what we can learn from our Jewish roots:

Growing up in a Christian home, we always “blessed the food” before we ate. There are two things that are fundamently un-Biblical about our Christian tradition.

First, one does not “bless” food; rather, one blesses the Lord. In both the Bible and Jewish prayer, one does not bless things but rather blesses the Lord.

In fact, many prayers in Judaism begin with the phrase “blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe.”

Secondly, notice that we prayed a blessing before we ate (which is a good thing) but were ignorant that the Hebrew Scripture commands us to offer a blessing “after” we eat (see Deuteronomy 8:10). So when we eat, we should bless G-d beforehand and afterward.

Careful attention to Jewish prayer brings a needed corrective to prayer at meals and brings us in alignment with the Biblical text.

The concept of “blessing the food” is found mostly in the Roman Catholic tradition. Most Protestants give thanks to God for his gifts, his generosity, and for the food God has provided. Thus, in most Protestant traditions, the prayer before the meal is not an act of “blessing the food,” as is done in the Catholic tradition, but it is a prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “Give us day by day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3). It is because God has provided us with our daily bread that Christians pray a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s generosity. It is in this act of thanksgiving that many Christians pray from a Jewish perspective.

Emery is right: there are many Christians who still need to learn how to pray from a Jewish perspective.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Prayer, Thanksgiving

When Christians Break the Law

Israel Today is reporting that some Palestinians believe that Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount is a violation of international law. This is how Israel Today reported the event:

Taking their misinterpretation of international law to new heights, the Arab League this week accused the Jews of Israel of violating the rules that govern global behavior by praying atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

The incident occurred on Sunday, when the head of the Temple Institute led a small group of Jewish tourists atop the Temple Mount. Israeli police at the site forbid non-Muslims from praying there or making any kind of outward religious gestures, such as kneeling or bowing.

But the Temple Institute told Israel National News that the group managed to hold a very brief prayer session without being detected.

After reading about the Jewish prayers at Judaism's holiest site, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called them "a serious blow to the holiness of the site."

Moussa insisted that under international law, Jews and Christians are forbidden from praying atop the Muslim-controlled Temple Mount.

I have not read Mr. Moussa’s statement nor his interpretation of the law that declares that Jews and Christians cannot pray on the Temple Mount. I have been to Israel several times and I have seen Christians praying aloud and silently on the Temple Mount.

If praying on the Temple Mount is a violation of international law, many Christians are guilty of breaking the law.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Prayer, Temple Mount

Our Covenant With God

When Joshua renewed the covenant with the new generation of Israelites at Shechem (Joshua 24:1-27), Joshua challenged them to be faithful to God. He said: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14).

This beautiful passage speaks of the solemn convocation of the people of Israel at Shechem in order to celebrate the renewal of the covenant with the God who had given them a special place to live: the land of Canaan, their promised land.

In worship, Israel prepared for this solemn occasion. The people came together to renew their vows to God and to dedicate their lives to his service. Joshua demanded three actions from the people before they could present themselves to God.

The first action that Joshua demanded from the people was that they should fear God. The fear of God was the attitude expected of every believer in the Old Testament. Fear of God was the attitude of reverence that children must have before their parents, the attitude of worship that a creature must have before his creator.

The second action that Joshua demanded from the people was their faithful service to God. The NIV Bible has “serve him with all faithfulness,” and the NET Bible has “with integrity and loyalty,” but the Hebrew has “in wholeness and faithfulness.”

Wholeness describes the harmony that must exist between the interior life (the life of faith) and the exterior actions (the work of faith). It is the kind of life that reflects faithfulness in words and actions toward God and other people.

The third action that Joshua demanded from the people was the renunciation of other gods. This exhortation meant that Israel must enter into a personal relationship with God and God alone. The God of Israel demands exclusive and absolute service and worship from his people.

Joshua asked much more than the people could give to God, but God deserves much more than Israel and we can give to him.

Today as you pray and worship him in the beauty of his holiness, let this time of prayer and worship be a time of covenant renewal. Come before God and offer him the same faithfulness and commitment that he has shown to you.

Claude Mariottini

Professor of Old Testament

Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Joshua 24, Prayer, Worship

Barack Obama’s Prayer to God

Arutz Sheva is reporting that the publication of the prayer Barack Obama left in the Kotel (the Jewish name given to the Western Wall in Jerusalem) was a PR stunt. The publication of the prayer has caused a furor in Israel.

Here is an excerpt of the article publish in Arutz Sheva:

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign seems to have purposely leaked the contents of the note that he placed in the Kotel, web magazine Israel Insider wrote Tuesday. While Israel's Hebrew newspaper Maariv came under fire for publishing the note, "it now appears that Maariv had collaborated with the Obama campaign in getting the 'private' prayer, with its 'modest' supplication to the Lord, out to the public, buffing his Christian credentials and showing his "humility," the web magazine said.

Last Friday, on the morrow of Obama's visit to the Kotel, Maariv published a close-up picture of the note written by Obama to G-d, supposedly after a yeshiva boy took it from the crack between the Kotel stones in which Obama deposited it. Maariv's competitor Yediot Acharonot slammed the paper for violating Obama's privacy.

In a statement issued following the public outcry over the leak, Maariv said that "Barack Obama's note was approved for publication in the international media even before he put it in the Kotel, a short time after he wrote it at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem." A third newspaper, Haaretz, quoted Maariv as saying that "Obama submitted a copy of the note to media outlets when he left his hotel in Jerusalem."

Apparently unaware that the leaking of the note was coordinated by the Obama campaign and Maariv, Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz called the publication a "sacrilegious action" which "deserves sharp condemnation and represents a desecration of the holy site." He stated: "Notes which are placed in the Western Wall are between the person and his Maker; Heaven forbid that one should read them or use them in any way. The custom of placing notes between the stones of the Western Wall is ancient and is used as a means of expression by a person praying to his Creator."

If this report is true and Obama’s prayer was a PR stunt, then, I have to conclude that he forgot the words of Christ:

“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. 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” (Matthew 6:5-6).

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

UPDATE:

Zvika Krieger, in a blog posted in The New Republic said that the story is false. I want to thank Iyov for calling my attention to this update. However, I have read and heard others say that the prayer was made public for political purpose. After you watch the YouTube video above, you must decide whether the release of the prayer was politically motivated.

Tags: Barack Obama, Kotel, Prayer, Wailing Wall

God, Prayer, Physicians, and Medicine

Fox News is reporting that a child in Weston, Wisconsin died because her parents refused to take her to a physician. They believed the power of prayer would heal the child. The following is an excerpt from the news report:

An 11-year-old girl died after her parents prayed for healing rather than seek medical help for a treatable form of diabetes, police said Tuesday.

Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said Madeline Neumann died Sunday.

"She got sicker and sicker until she was dead," he said.

Vergin said an autopsy determined the girl died from diabetic ketoacidosis, an ailment that left her with too little insulin in her body, and she had probably been ill for about 30 days, suffering symptoms like nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.

The girl's parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, attributed the death to "apparently they didn't have enough faith," the police chief said.

They believed the key to healing "was it was better to keep praying. Call more people to help pray," he said.

The mother believes the girl could still be resurrected, the police chief said.

Some people would commend the parents for their faith because they believed in the power of prayer. Although their intention was good, the decision to hold treatment was wrong and in the end it cost the life of their daughter.

Christians have to understand that God answers prayer to heal the sick but he also uses physicians and medicine to do his work.

The book of Ecclesiasticus, also known as Sirach, has a good statement on God, physicians, and medicine. It reads:

Honor physicians for their services, for the Lord created them; for their gift of healing comes from the Most High, and they are rewarded by the king. The skill of physicians makes them distinguished, and in the presence of the great they are admired. The Lord created medicines out of the earth, and the sensible will not despise them. Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that its power might be known? And he gave skill to human beings that he might be glorified in his marvelous works. By them the physician heals and takes away pain; the pharmacist makes a mixture from them. God's works will never be finished; and from him health spreads over all the earth. My child, when you are ill, do not delay, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you. Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly, and cleanse your heart from all sin. Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of choice flour, and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford. Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; do not let him leave you, for you need him. There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians, for they too pray to the Lord that he grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life. He who sins against his Maker, will be defiant toward the physician (Sirach 38:1-15).

So, when Christians get sick, they must pray for healing, but they also should go to the doctor and take whatever medicine is prescribed by the physician.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Doctors, Healing, Medicine, Prayer, Sirach

The Minister's Covenant

A few days ago, I received a catalog announcing the sale of a book, The Valley of Vision. This book is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, edited by Arthus Bennet. The book was published also with an audio edition containing 7 CDs.

The publisher, The Banner of Truth, offers an audio sample on line. The sample, “The Valley of Vision,” is a beautiful prayer that shows the devotion and piety of those who composed these prayers. Click here to hear the sample audio.

The following is the daily devotion for Monday, 09, April 2007:

The Minister's Covenant

Lord Jesus,
True God, everlasting Life,
Redeemer of sinners,
I give my body, soul, intellect, will, affections
to thee.

I call the day, sun,
earth, trees, stones,
wind, rain, frost, snow,
my home, bed, table, food,
books, drink, clothes,
to witness that I come to thee for rest of soul
from the thunders of guilt
and dread of eternity.

Grant me
a circumcised heart that I may love thee,
a right spirit that I may seek thy glory,
a principle within which thou wilt own,
an interest in the blood that cleanses,
the righteousness that justifies,
the redemption that delivers,
that I may not be found a hypocrite on
Judgment Day.

For the sake of thy cruel death take my time,
strength, gifts, talents, usefulness, piety,
which in full purpose of heart I consecrate to thee.
Let not sin find a place in my heart to becloud my
vision,
and may no foolish act wither my gifts.

Preserve me from the falls by which others stumble,
that thy name may not be blasphemed or wounded,
that thy people may not be grieved,
that thine enemies may not be hardened,
that my peace may not be injured.

Give me a heart full of love to thyself and to others.
Let me discover in this life what I am before thee,
that I may not find myself another character
hereafter.

Prepare me for death,
that I may not die after long affliction or suddenly,
but after short illness, with no confusion or disorder,
and a quiet discharge in peace, with adieu
to brethren.

Let not my days end like lumber in a house,
but give me a silent removing from one world
to another.
Inscribe these petitions in thy book,
present them to thy Father,
Set thine Amen to them, as I do on my part
of the covenant.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Covenant, Devotion, Ministry, Prayer