{"id":371,"date":"2024-08-23T23:20:21","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T23:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/104.193.40.20\/greggfriend-wp\/?p=371"},"modified":"2026-02-08T23:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:21:19","slug":"fixed-prayers-liturgies-prayer-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/?p=371","title":{"rendered":"Fixed prayers, liturgies, prayer books"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each week, I listen to the Undeceptions<\/em><\/strong> podcast by John Dickson. Most times John is either interviewing someone on a topic or sharing his own historical research on a topic. In the middle of a podcast, John will take a diversion that he calls a “Five Minute Jesus.” In this week’s podcast, his “Five Minute Jesus” was on the topic of fixed liturgies and prayers in comparison to contemporaneous liturgies and prayers that a pastor pulls from her\/his own head. I share this small piece of this week’s podcast. I encourage you to listen to the podcast in full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 Minute Jesus on Undeceptions – History Wars podcast Episode 134 pages 25-28<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/undeceptions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/History-Wars-Transcript.docx.pdf\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

FIVE MINUTE JESUS<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s press pause. I\u2019ve got a 5 min Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an aversion in modern Christianity to fixed prayers, liturgies, prayer books and all that. And it is a very modern worry. Hardly anyone in church history would recognise a modern Christian church service or a modern Christian private prayer time or devotional.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demise of fixed prayers like in the Prayer Book coincided with the rise of the seemingly superior values of individualism and authenticity. Unless my devotional practices (public or private) are my own\u2014formed by me, expressing who I am in this moment\u2014then they probably lack true significance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how I think about the prayers of the Prayer Book. They are the best of Christian history. They lift me above my own ordinary self. I don\u2019t want to pray just according to my ever-changing spiritual mood. Praying how I feel in the moment might be authentically \u2018me\u2019; but I\u2019m not sure the best spiritually resides in me! I\u2019m a pretty low bar. Set prayer lifts me. I\u2019ll put in the show notes my favourite Prayer Book prayers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, Jesus himself taught a fixed, permanent prayer, to be said word for word, by anyone who wanted to be his student.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We call it the Lord\u2019s Prayer, or the Our Father, because it begins, \u201cOur Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily break. Forgive us our sins (or \u2018trespasses\u2019 in old language), as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.\u201d Then there\u2019s a little extra bit the church added a few decades later \u201cFor the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a modern evangelical aversion even to seeing the Lord\u2019s Prayer as a fixed prayer. This would seem totally weird to just about every Christian from the first century to the 19th century. I mean, one of the earliest Christian documents outside the NT is the Didache \u2014 from the end of the first century \u2014 and it urges people to say the Lord\u2019s Prayer three times a day.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern aversion to this is sometimes justified by reference to the word \u2018how\u2019 in Matt 6:9 (Jesus introduces his prayer with the words: \u201cThis is how you should pray \u2026 Our Father in heaven, etc\u201d).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some say Jesus just meant, \u201cThis is the \u2018how\u2019, the \u2018style\u2019, the \u2018vibe\u2019 of prayer\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s no \u2018How\u2019 in the Greek. It is literally \u201cThusly you are to pray \u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the Lord\u2019s Prayer recorded in Luke 11:2, it is even clearer. Jesus introduces his Lord\u2019s Prayer with \u201cWhen you pray, say \u2026 Our Father in Heaven\u201d etc \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary culture sometimes dismisses traditions like saying of the Lord\u2019s Prayer daily as inauthentic.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say refusing to pray set prayers\u2014and settling only for my own creations\u2014is evidence I believe in my own soul more than external truths.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve grown tired of chasing authenticity, striving for what is new.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sick of Christian \u2018fads\u2019\u2014faddish books, faddish preachers, faddish programs \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want an anchor. I don\u2019t want to be \u2018at sea\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t want to be captive to my little moment of Christian history\u2014the \u2018blip\u2019 of my culture.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to swim in the great stream of the very best of Christian history.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can press play now.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each week, I listen to the Undeceptions podcast by John Dickson. Most times John is either interviewing someone on a topic or sharing his own historical research on a topic. In the middle of a podcast, John will take a diversion that he calls a “Five Minute Jesus.” In this week’s podcast, his “Five Minute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions\/373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}