Prayer Is Calling Upon the Father

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites” (Matthew 6:5). Praying is an essential discipline of the Christians life. It is not if you pray but when you pray.” The Lord’s concern here is how we pray when we pray. It is not a ritual performance requiring some special technique that must be learned.

There is no formal instruction in the Old Testament on praying because it is a rather natural activity and there are abundant examples to prove this. The first mention of prayer is in Genesis 4:26 where the ESV reads, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Seth, who replaced Abel, had a son, Enosh (meaning a male or mankind; Isaiah 56:2), and at that time (probably Enosh’s birth) Seth began to call on the name of Yahweh. There is a problem here with English translations because there is no word for people in the Hebrew and the verb began is singular. The LXX reads, “He hoped [or, had faith] to call on the name of the Lord God.” The text teaches that Seth trusted God and began to call on Yahweh, the name of the true God. The implication is that Seth regarded Yahweh as a Father to whom he could pray.

Moses remarked, “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7). When Paul wrote that the believers at Corinth should be separated from the world because the church there was the temple of the living God, he cited as proof a general quote compounding many passages in the Old Testament, the end of which reads, “I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18).

Prayer is not intended to inform God, “for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (v. 8). Psalm 17:6 states, “I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words.” This verse provides a clear explanation of prayer—childlike crying out to God, recognizing that one is wholly dependent on Him. Prayer is to be spontaneous, personal, motivated by need, and unconditioned by time or place. It defines the relationship a child has with his father. This is the foundation of Jesus’ instruction: “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). Do no miss the wonderful significance of these words, “your Father.” Those who have been born again and have “believed in His name” are given the right to be called “children of God” (John 1:12). These children are assured that they have the ear of their Father. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).