Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions, Thanksgivings Oh my!

I have a confession. I struggle with prayer. I mean I do pray, and on occasion I have prayed with great focus, but on a normal day-to-day basis prayer is hard for me. My mind seems to wander which leads to my hands wandering and before I know it I am no longer praying. I am cleaning, or working, or doing whatever other task was on my to-do list for the day. Or I will pray and then sit waiting to hear from God only to find myself waking up from a nice cat nap. I know I can’t be alone in this struggle, but as a Christian and a Pastor it isn’t something you openly admit or broadcast to people. Until now. I guess this post is a broadcast of my struggle. But it would be a sad post if it was only my struggle. Enter 1 Timothy 2:1

“First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people.” I count 4 different types of prayer in that one verse. 4 DIFFERENT TYPES! What? I thought prayer was prayer and intersession was when you prayed for others, and supplication was just another word for prayer, and thanksgiving – well that’s the part of the prayer where you tell God how thankful you are for ______________(fill in the blank).

I am a Pinterest junkie, and I have seen all kinds of methods for prayer on that sight, but I don’t know that I have ever understood there are different types of prayer. I mean I know that there are different emotions that surface when you pray, but these are 4 different words that don’t just all mean prayer. They are all for sure connected, but each have their own meaning, depth, and purpose in our pursuit of communion with the Lord.

I began to look into what each one of these words means. I really was hoping that they all would just mean pray, and make it simple, easy, and neat. But when has God ever been simple or allowed His people to take the easy road? Oh foolish me.

What I found was amazing. Explanations of or examples of ways to come before the throne of God with confidence and humility. It was beautiful and new to me. First, supplication is the Hebrew word Deesis (forgive the Hebrish I don’t have a keyboard to type Hebrew letters). It is a heart felt petition arising out of a personal need that is urgent. It is the “Lord Help me!” desperate cry that comes from a place of fear or lack. A place that says, “God if you don’t show up and do something here, I am toast.” This is a common prayer I am familiar with. For me it is what I call the last hope prayer. Which I fully understand prayer should never be our last hope, but let’s be honest. Sometimes we try everything we can think of on our own and then pray. Am I right? But even if it is a last hope prayer, it still pleases God. Verse 3 of this chapter says “This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.” Which (side note) did you catch the word sight? God hears and SEES our prayers. I think that is super cool. Ok, back on topic.

Next is prayers. The Hebrew word for prayers is proseuche (imagine a little hash mark over the last e). Exchange of wishes or an oratory. I will confess I had to look up oratory. It is used mostly in reference to Catholicism. It is a place or building that is used just for priests to pray. In the Jewish culture, it is a place set aside for prayer when there is no temple near by. I remember being taught once that everyone should have their place of prayer, an area you can go that won’t be distracting, that has the supplies you need to get into the presence of God. Stuff like a bible, worships music, a journal, maybe a good smelling candle. It makes me think of the temple with all the utensils used by the priest to offer prayers and sacrifice to God. Maybe if I had a place in my house I wouldn’t get so distracted and if it was a place with no chair I wouldn’t fall asleep.

Then there is intercessions. This was the word that I fell in love with. It is enteuxis. It means intervention, the literal translation is “hits the mark”. It is an intervention led by God marking the intersection between heaven and earth as it reflects the Lord’s specific will for that situation. That is a very cool thought. I envision God in the room with me and the person I am praying for, and God looking at that person with such love and so much concern over the issue, and explaining to us both the best way to move forward from where we are. Him giving us His plan on how to fix the situation and avoid this dilemma in the future. It’s like the best 12 step program that brings total freedom at the end of the meetings. For the one interceding it is the idea of waiting and not doing or even speaking until you feel the Lord tell you what to do or say. He is the one leading the intervention after all.

And lastly thanksgiving, which is the word eucharisto. It means gratitude. It is an action word meaning actively giving God grateful language as an act of worship. It is so much more than telling God I am so thankful for……..

I am going to start approaching my prayer life with this new insight. I am going to make myself a place free of distractions and loaded with all things that make me feel calm and that are inviting to the Holy Spirit. I am going to approach prayer with heart felt cries for God to arise and fill in where I am lacking and for Him to mark the place where heaven invades earth and His will is made clear for all to see. Will you join me? What could our homes, neighborhoods, schools and churches look like if we all approach prayer with a new and greater understanding of what God desires to do in our prayer lives?