How should Gnostic Christians pray

# How to Pray?

## Meaning of Prayer

In this study we will look at the word *pray* and the practice of praying.

The English term *prayer* is from Medieval Latin: *precaria*, literally “petition, prayer.” The Vulgate Latin is *oratio*, which translates the Greek **προσευχή**, which in turn renders the Septuagint translation of the Biblical Hebrew **תְּפִלָּה (tĕphillah)**.

*Pray* means both an **intercession** and an **invocation** (from the Latin verb *invocare*, “to call on, invoke, to give”).

Prayer, therefore, is calling upon the Deity. It is petition, invocation, communion, and conscious approach.

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## What Is Prayer?

Prayer is communion between man and the Deity. This communion takes place in the innermost part of man's being. It is the only way to cleanse and perfect the consciousness and thus permanently heal the body.

Yet we are told:

> “There is no communion with Him at present, in the true sense of the term. Communion is a mutual and reciprocal act between two friends. It is not communion if all the talk or all the letter-writing is on one side. What men call communing with God in nature is only the contemplation of the greatness and the wisdom of His works — which is far from being a profitless exercise, but still it is not of the nature of communion, and is apt to be a vacuous and wearisome effort for mortal mind. What is wanted is response from God to what we say or think, like a father's answers to his children's prattle as they walk through the woods. This could be, for God is everywhere present in the fullness of His universe-filling spirit. It will be yet, for God has promised it. But it is not now, for reasons which man is slow to appreciate.”

True prayer seeks response. It is not mere admiration of creation. It is direct address.

We are told that:

> “prayer is an act of faith which brings the worshipper into the very presence of Yahweh.”

And again:

> “Prayer is communion with Yahweh. It is the most personal act of worship in which we can engage.”

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## Prayer as Worship

What is worship? The word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon *worth-ship*: placing “worth” into something. Effective prayer, therefore, is an act of worth-ship, for it testifies to the value that we place on the Deity.

Firstly, prayer expresses faith in the existence of Yahweh. It indicates awareness of Him as a living Personality. Prayer is not acceptable in the absence of such a virile faith. Paul declared:

> “He that cometh to God must believe that He is” (Heb. 11:6).

This is a first principle of acceptable worship.

Prayer is more than supplication. It is alignment, reverence, communion, and conscious turning toward the Deity.

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## Seven Necessary Conditions for True Prayer

The following conditions are given as necessary for true prayer:

* God should be recognized as Father.

* Oneness with God should be acknowledged.

* Prayer must be made within, in “the secret place” (Psalms 91).

* The door must be closed on all thoughts and interests of the outer world.

* The one who prays must believe that he has received.

* The kingdom of God must be desired above all things, and sought first.

* The mind must let go of every unforgiving thought.

We are instructed:

> “Enter into thine inner chamber and … shut thy door” (Matt. 6:6).

The inner chamber is described as:

> “the secret place of the Most High” (Psalms 91:1).

It is the very depths of a man’s consciousness. To enter it is to turn attention from the without to the within. To “shut thy door” is to still the senses and close the mind against every disturbing exterior thought.

Prayer is described as:

> “the most highly accelerated mind action known. It steps up mental action until man's consciousness synchronizes with the Christ Mind. It is the language of spirituality; when developed it makes man master in the realm of creative ideas.”

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## How to Pray

We are instructed to address the Deity as:

> “Father in Heaven” or “Heavenly Father.”

We are to thank Him for the things for which we are grateful. We are to ask Him for what we need.

Jesus is the mediator between us and the Heavenly Father, so we are instructed to end prayer by saying:

> “In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

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## The Posture of Prayer

How should we set about praying? Should we stand, kneel, sit, recline, or prostrate ourselves upon the ground?

Scripture records various postures:

* Some prayed with hands uplifted like ascending incense (Exod. 9:33; Ps. 28:2; 1 Tim. 2:8).

* Others stood in respect (Mark 11:25).

* David sat meditatively (2 Sam. 7:8).

* Daniel kneeled in humility (Dan. 6:10; cp. Eph. 3:14).

* Ezekiel and Christ prostrated themselves in excess of feeling (Ezek. 9:8; 11:13; Matt. 26:39).

All of these indicate that posture is secondary to sincerity.

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## The Stretching Out of Hands

The stretching out of the hands is an ancient Christian custom for praying.

1 Timothy 2:8 states:

> “I will therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up pious hands, without wrath or reasoning.” (Darby)

This gesture also appears in the *Odes of Solomon*.

**Ode 27** declares:

> “I extended my hands and hallowed my Lord,

> For the expansion of my hands is His sign.

> And my extension is the upright cross.

> Hallelujah.”

**Ode 42** says:

> “I extended my hands and approached my Lord, for the expansion of my hands is His sign.

> And my extension is the upright cross, that was lifted up on the way of the Righteous One.”

Believers therefore should “lift up pious hands in prayer” (Ex 9:33; 1 Ki 8:22, 38; 2 Ch 6:12–13; Ezr 9:5).

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## Individual Prayers

Individual prayers are independent of ritual injunction or priestly regulation. They are voluntary and spontaneous.

Daniel provides an example:

> “But Daniel, as soon as he knew that the writing had been signed, entered into his house, and, the windows in his roof chamber being open for him toward Jerusalem, even three times in a day he was kneeling on his knees and praying and offering praise before his God” (Dan. 6:10).

Prayer was offered three times daily.

True believers are instructed to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times a day.

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## Prayer and Jerusalem

We read in *The Apocryphon of James*:

> “But I myself went up to Jerusalem, praying that I might obtain a portion among the beloved, who will be made manifest.”

And again:

> “I myself went up to Jerusalem, praying that I might acquire a share with the loved ones who are to come.”

The *Gospel of Philip* says:

> “The saints are those who pray always for Jerusalem and love Jerusalem; they are already in Jerusalem and they see Jerusalem now. These are called ‘the saints of the holinesses’.”

Believers are therefore exhorted to pray for Jerusalem.

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## Prayer and the Seasons

A symbolic saying declares:

> “Those who sow in winter reap in summer. The winter is the world, the summer the other Aeon. Let us sow in the world that we may reap in the summer. Because of this, it is fitting for us not to pray in the winter. Summer follows winter. But if any man reap in winter he will not actually reap but only pluck out….”

The statement:

> “Because of this, it is fitting for us not to pray in the winter”

is interpreted as referring to corruption — earthly desires and fleshly distraction.

Prayer must be “in spirit and in truth.” If one is still merely natural in thinking, prayer has little effect except to move one toward guidance and truth.

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## Warning Concerning Presumption

A solemn warning appears in James:

> “O you outcasts and fugitives, woe to you, for you will be caught! Or do you perhaps think that the Father is a lover of mankind, or that he is won over without prayers, or that he grants remission to one on another's behalf, or that he bears with one who asks?”

Prayer is not manipulation. It is not presumption. It is not casual demand.

It is faith, reverence, repentance, gratitude, and disciplined approach.

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## Conclusion

Prayer is invocation, intercession, communion, worth-ship, faith, and disciplined inward attention. It may be offered kneeling, standing, sitting, prostrate, or with uplifted hands. It may be private and spontaneous. It may be offered three times daily. It must be sincere, inward, forgiving, and aligned with the Kingdom.

Above all, prayer is conscious approach to the Deity — recognizing Him as Father, believing that He is, and seeking communion in truth.