Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Texts and Abbreviations
- 1 Introductory
- 2 Intercessory prayer material in Paul's letters
- 3 Intercessory wish-prayers: their background and form
- 4 Function of the wish-prayers in I Thessalonians
- 5 Function of the wish-prayers in Romans, I Corinthians, and Philippians
- 6 Blessings and curses
- 7 Intercessory prayer-reports: their form and function
- 8 Function of the prayer-reports in the thanksgiving periods
- 9 Function of the prayer-reports in the body of the letters
- 10 Requests and exhortations about intercessory prayer
- 11 Concluding statement
- Appendixes
- Bibliography
- Index of passages cited
- Index of authors
- Index of subjects
3 - Intercessory wish-prayers: their background and form
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Texts and Abbreviations
- 1 Introductory
- 2 Intercessory prayer material in Paul's letters
- 3 Intercessory wish-prayers: their background and form
- 4 Function of the wish-prayers in I Thessalonians
- 5 Function of the wish-prayers in Romans, I Corinthians, and Philippians
- 6 Blessings and curses
- 7 Intercessory prayer-reports: their form and function
- 8 Function of the prayer-reports in the thanksgiving periods
- 9 Function of the prayer-reports in the body of the letters
- 10 Requests and exhortations about intercessory prayer
- 11 Concluding statement
- Appendixes
- Bibliography
- Index of passages cited
- Index of authors
- Index of subjects
Summary
Our detailed examination of the material begins with the most direct evidence, the intercessory ‘wish-prayers,’ to which we shall devote the next four chapters. For example,
May the God of hope Jill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
(Rom. 15: 13)The general character of the wish-prayers may be described as the expression of a desire that God take action regarding the person(s) mentioned in the wish. Several of them would seem to be prayers transposed for use in a letter, but suitable also for blessings to be pronounced on the congregation. They maintain the strictly epistolary form of address to the readers current in ancient letter style, while implying that it is God who must carry out the desired action. They may be readily changed back into direct prayers by reversing the words for God from the nominative into the vocative case, altering the pronouns or nouns that name those to be benefited from the second to the third person, and the verb back from the optative into the imperative mood.
Apart from such prayer cries as ‘Abba’ or ‘Maranatha,’ the wish-prayers are the closest approximation to direct praying that we find in the epistles, and are therefore among the most important material for our investigation.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Paul's Intercessory PrayersThe Significance of the Intercessory Prayer Passages in the Letters of St Paul, pp. 22 - 44Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1974