I remember back in the 70’s, Dr. Renald E. Showers at Moody Bible Institute teaching an extra, class on writing a theology. He said all the theology has not yet been written, such as ‘Prayerology’ for one. Well that class has never left my heart or soul and like a man lost in a desert for many days I long to sit and thirst to sip from that well. I am not about to write a prayerology from the Bible, in order to do that you must find every verse, every reference in the Bible, that deals with the subject of prayer and catalog them and put them in order thematically. I simply would like to go on a prayer journey, an adventure, walk on the paths of some of the great ‘Biblical Prayer Warriors’ of the past and dip my cup in their pools and sit awhile and sip. I am not an expert in this field, I was saved in August 1972 and have been serving God full time since August 1976. Webster says an expert is; “One with the special skill or knowledge representing mastery of a particular subject.” I have learned a lot in 39 years but I have so much more to learn especially from, ‘the worm’s eye view’ of things concerning prayer.

“In the beginning prayer.” As we begin our journey to meditate upon the concept of prayer, we must keep in mind what Dr. A.T. Pierson called, “The law of first mention.” The first mention of a Bible truth usually summarizes any further development of that same truth. Many theologians don’t accept, ‘The Law of First Mention’ therefore they must accept the ‘Science of Etymology’ which according to Webster is, “The history of a linguistic form, such as a word, shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language.”

Webster defines ‘Etymon’ as ‘the literal meaning of a word according to its origin and earliest form,’ and ‘Logy’ as, ‘The oral or written expression in doctrine, theory and science.” To summarize it is, ‘The science of the literal and true meaning of a word or phrase according to its origin, history and use in its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found.’  Or to keep it simple Dr. Pierson called it, “The Law of First Mention.” The book of Genesis therefore, is the only book to begin our journey on the road to meditating on the concept of prayer.

Man was described by some as, ‘A Praying Animal.’  In fact according to one author, “With the creation of man, prayer was a dictate of nature, a constituted instinct, in wrought by the Maker.” What is prayer? Simply the desire, the opportunity and the privilege of talking to God! Communing with the Creator, whether audible or inaudible, in public or in private. Don’t make it difficult, He never intended it to be.  In Gen. chapter one we find God blessing His creation and man. If blessing something is a prayer, and it is, then God not man is the first to pray.  In chapter two we find Adam awaking to find Eve and he expresses what is on his heart, but to whom? Obviously it must be to Elohim, his Creator.  After all, that is why God created Adam in the first place, right? Of course right! God created them to fellowship with Him and worship Him in His garden, innocent and bare naked. However this fellowship is broken in chapter three, when they looked, took and ate the poison fruit; the poison being disobedience. In chapter four you find the conversation between God and Cain, defiant, lacking the reverence associated with prayer to a Holy God; Yes, but still conversation, still talking to God.  Sometimes on our prayer journey we will see that ‘Prayer to God’ can become defiant and almost irreverent.

So as we observe the progression of prayer on this journey from Adam, to Cain, to Enos, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to David, to Christ, to you and I, I trust our understanding and appreciation for this privilege and access to God as a ‘Praying Animal’ (to use a phrase) will be broadened. For it is only man, created in His own image after His own likeness, that has been afforded this privilege. Not the animals, nor the angels, or the demons, but to man and man alone is this power and privilege given. “Oh God, help us to understand and appreciate this privilege of access to you. Help us to enter our gardens, our closets, our secret chambers, in the cool of the day, before the sun comes up to scorch us and having shut the door, may we commune and fellowship with You, bare naked. LORD, teach us to pray, not how to pray, but, ‘To Pray!”      In ha Shem Yeshua!                  ‘Between The Lines’

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  (Adam – Part #1)