The Language Of Prayer

The text of a prayer is only one element important in the act of public prayer. For the way in which a prayer is spoken, the attitudes that accompany it, and the nonverbal gestures which complement it often communicate as much of the meaning of the prayer as the text itself. This article looks at the whole act of public prayer, offering worship planners pastoral, liturgical, and aesthetic guidelines regarding prayer. It is a sign of health and a cause for rejoicing that the shelves of bookstores carry so many resources for prayer in worship and books about prayer. In my reading, however, one crucial part of prayer in worship draws scant attention: namely, the ways that prayers are spoken and experienced in worship. This act of praying in worship is the focus of this article. We have all had the experience of sitting in a congregation and having prayers spoiled by the way the leader speaks them: prayers of thanksgiving voiced in a desultory, dejected fashion; prayers of intercession…