Christian prayer foundations: Jewish Torah

Saturday, 20 February 2016

Prayer and the heart

In the Torah, God promises that the people of Israel will be 'his very own people', if they will in turn show allegiance to their Maker by keeping and observing his laws and commandments with all their heart and soul. And that means trusting entirely in what God teaches and provides for a blessed life. The law of God safeguards some freedoms while requiring duties and responsibilities of his people. This covenant with God asks that people not only live by the law, but love what it offers as well.

The longest Psalm 119, is an extended poetic meditation on the value of God's law and its observance. It begins thus:

'Happy are those whose life is blameless, who follow God's law!

Happy are those who do his will, seeking him with all their hearts.'

Once again the idea of seeking God appears, in the setting of engagement in a way of life governed and stabilised by higher social and spiritual values. Blind obedience, unthinking adherence is not asked for, but rather conscious understanding, motivated by love.

'LORD, what love have I unto thy law : all the day long is my study in it.' (Psalm 119:97)

The heights and depths of communion with God in prayer may indeed take us beyond understanding, but this is not where the journey begins. Heartfelt prayer is rooted in the effort to seek God with as much understanding as each person is capable of, given their level of education and experience.

Understanding is attained by the exercise of reason, emotion, memory and will. The degree to which each is active in prayer at any time will vary, but none can ever be excluded, for prayer involves the whole person, mentally, physically and spiritually.

'Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship.' (Romans 12:1)

In the context of Hebrew language 'offering your bodies' here refers to the whole self, in the same way as it does in the words of Jesus at the Last Supper 'This is my body given for you'.

In Christian tradition 'prayer of the heart' carries a similar meaning, where the heart, as the central organ of the body, stands for the whole person in relation to God and others. Only God, who sees the whole picture of our lives in all its complexity, is able to perceive the real motives and intentions of the whole person

'For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.' (Hebrews 4:12)

'Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.' (Psalm 139:23)

Our acts of worship acknowledge this when they commence with this prayer:

'Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit .... '

Monday, 15 February 2016

How to be holy

Holiness is a word that refers to what humans experience as sacred, special and unique about God, that makes God worthy of awe and reverence, which above all calls for worship and obedience from those who become aware of it. Isaiah's vision of God's presence in the temple (Is 6:1-8) well describes this experience. Remarkably the Jewish Torah makes it clear that human beings are regarded by God has capable of possessing the same qualities. "Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Lev 19:2) It follows from God's declaration about human nature in the first Genesis creation story "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness." The potential for holiness is in each person, to be realised.

The notion of holiness described by an experience offers no guidance about how to become a holy person, however. The Jewish Torah is very clear about this. Holiness belongs to those who live genuinely by God's Law and Commandments. What this requires is obedience to the values of morality and justice embodied in the laws that give the Torah its name. These were summed up by Jesus in the saying that captures the essence of a huge code of social and religious regulations; 'You shall love God ... and your neighbour as yourself.' (Mark 12:30-31) Paul speaks about love being 'the fulfilment of the law'. (Rom 13:10)

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus uses the image of separating sheep from goats in his parable about the last judgement, when all people must account for their lives. (Matt 25:31-46). He doesn't speak about the Law or laws as such, but gives concrete practical instances of what loving God and neighbour means, and what the consequences of action or inaction will be. It gives an everyday example of love in action, and from that can be gained an idea of how to recognise true holiness.

"Anything you did for the least of my brothers you did for me" says the Lord in the parable.

Loving service of others can thus be an expression of worship and devotion to God. It is the good example which Jesus set in the way he lived from start to finish, of obedience to God's law in letter and spirit i.e. in practical essentials and right intentions. He distinguishes between trivial elaborations generated by false piety, and core moral and spiritual values.

"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matt 5:18)

Matthew's Gospel especially presents Jesus as the New Moses, who fulfils the law by his obedience even to death on the cross. His sacrifice reveals the true difference between the trivial and the essential in what God requires of his children.

Longing for God is inseparable from striving to follow wholeheartedly the path of obedience to God's way of holiness. Thus the Psalmist writes, and we can pray

          'I long for your salvation Lord, and your law gives me delight.
          Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.
          I have strayed like a lost sheep, Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commandments.' (Ps 119:174-176)

         'Lord, may my ways be steadfast, in doing your will' (Ps 119:5)

About this blog

The basis of Christian Prayer.

Christianity born of Judaism, owes its spiritual mother an immeasurable debt in many dimensions of faith; e.g.

Belief in one living eternal God, infinitely just, true and good, creator, source of all that exists.
Belief that time and the cosmos, despite the repeated cycles of nature, is a process of change with a beginning and end.
Belief that human beings are made in the divine image and likeness of their creator.
Belief that each person is called to find the meaning and purpose of life in relation to God, and develop this by means of prayer and worship throughout life.
Belief in the essential value and importance of understanding who and what we are as spiritual and moral beings, conveying this understanding through stories told about God in relation to humans.
Belief that remembering the story humans tell about themselves in relation with God is at the core of the personal relationship each has with God.
Belief that the rich record of these stories in sacred scripture has a life of its own and can inspire those who read and study them with a sense of meaning and to creative responses that nurture human existence intellectually, morally and spiritually.
Belief in the value of repeating the same annual pattern of scriptural story telling, in response to the cycle of the seasons, as a prime means to development as human beings as our creator envisaged.

Jewish believers derive their core sense of identity and cohesion from remembering the Exodus story and performing the rituals of Passover, and belonging to their ancestral homeland, Israel. Christian believers, keep Lent, Holy Week and Eastertide, to remember the ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, two thousand years ago.

This story is understood as the foundation of personal relationship with God. It imparts a sense of belonging to a global fellowship of believers not dependent upon a specific homeland. The land of Israel plays a central part in the Christian story of faith, yet it's a story that's considered relevant to life, wherever it is told and awakes people to faith.

Forty days of Lent, fifty days of Eastertide is a season to work with the essentials of the Christian story and rediscover their meaning and relevance to lifes today. It is a time of returning and renewal, offering an enriched understanding of faith, and way to deepen the life of prayer.