Power of prayer revealed in Old Testament, Prophets, Psalms

Article 170 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series
Paragraphs 2568-2589

Former prisoner of war and U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd  Class Doug Hegdahl reports that fellow U.S. captives in the Vietnam War would authenticate a new prisoner's U.S. identity by using “Shave and a Haircut” as a shibboleth, tapping the first five notes against a cell wall and waiting for the appropriate “two note” response.

When we pray to our Creator who called us into being, we can say that we use a shibboleth. Although God takes the initiative “tirelessly calling each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer…our own first step is always a response” (ccc 2567). Thus, the shibboleth, at least at first, is God’s initiative and our response.

In the Old Testament, we learn that “prayer is bound up with human history, for it is the relationship with God in historical events” (ccc 2568). In the Book of Genesis, God asks: “Where are you? … What is this that you have done?” (Gn 3:9, 13) and the response of God's only Son on coming into the world is: “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” (Heb 10:5-7) As the Catechism points out, “God has always called people to prayer. But it is above all beginning with our father Abraham that prayer is revealed in the Old Testament” (ccc 2569).

In the Book of Genesis (12:4), we learn that God calls Abraham and he goes forth “as the Lord had told him.” His heart “is entirely submissive to the Word and so he obeys. Such attentiveness of the heart, whose decisions are made according to God’s will, is essential to prayer, while the words used count only in relation to it” (ccc 2570). His prayer “is expressed first by deeds…Only later does Abraham's first prayer in words appear” (ccc 2570).

“Abraham believed in God and walked in his presence and in covenant with him, the patriarch [later] welcomed a mysterious Guest into his tent” at Mamre (ccc 2571). These guests (there were three) are understood to be a visit from God himself. Even the Jews interpreting Scripture see this as a visit from God, and Christians delight in the fact that there were three men – a rich symbol of the Trinity. Abraham offers them hospitality: a time to relax, to cool off, to rest, and to have a fine meal. After they leave, Abraham tells Sarah that she will have a son. Sarah giggled because she was 90 years old! [Later, they did have a son named Isaac, “the Son of the Promise”]. The Catechism explains: “Abraham’s remarkable hospitality at Mamre foreshadows the annunciation of the true Son of the promise” who is Christ Jesus, Our Lord (ccc 2571). Following this, after God had entrusted his plan, “Abraham’s heart is attuned to his Lord’s compassion for men and he dares to intercede for them with bold confidence” (ccc 2571).

The final stage in the purification of Abraham’s faith is when he is asked to sacrifice Isaac, the son God had blessed him and Sarah with. “Abraham’s faith does not weaken…the father of believers is conformed to the likeness of the Father who will not spare his own Son but will deliver him up for us all” (ccc 2572). Thus, we discern how “prayer restores us to God’s likeness and enables us to share in the power of God’s love” (ccc 2572).

God renews his promise to Jacob, the son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham and “the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel” (ccc 2573). Jacob “wrestles all night with a mysterious figure who refuses to reveal his name” (ccc 2573). At daybreak, the mysterious figure says that Jacob has wrestled with God, and tells Jacob that his name will no longer be “Jacob,” but will be “Israel.” “From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of perseverance” (ccc 2573).

Next, regarding Moses (a descendent of Levi – one of Jacob’s 12 sons), the Catechism teaches that “the prayer of Moses becomes the most striking example of intercessory prayer” (ccc 2574). Again, we discern that the initiative is God’s: “From the midst of the burning bush he calls Moses” (see Exodus 3:2). We later see that “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33:11). “Moses converses with God often and at length” (ccc 2576). It is from this intimate exchange with God that “Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession. He does not pray for himself but for the people whom God made his own” (ccc 2577).

“David is par excellence the king ‘after God’s own heart,’ the shepherd who prays for his people and prays in their name. His submission to the will of God, his praise, and his repentance, will be a model for the prayer of the people” (ccc 2579). “In the Psalms David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the first prophet of Jewish and Christian prayer. The prayer of Christ, the true Messiah and Son of David, will reveal and fulfill the meaning of this prayer” (ccc 2579), and “The Temple of Jerusalem, the house of prayer that David wanted to build, will be the work of his son, Solomon” (ccc 2580).

“Prayed by Christ and fulfilled in him, the Psalms remain essential to the prayer of the Church” (ccc 2586). “The words of the Psalmist, sung for God, both express and acclaim the Lord’s saving works; the same Spirit inspires both God's work and man’s response” (ccc 2587).

In summation, prayer is the raising of our hearts and minds to God and listening to his Word through the Lord and Giver of Life, the Holy Spirit, speaking within us. Prayer is likewise reciprocal, likened to a shibboleth. We request good things from God, seeking all according to his will for us.

Father Hillier is director, diocesan Office of Pontifical Mission Societies, the Office for Persons with Disabilities and Censor Luborum