This article is the third in a series on congregational prayer practices. We hope that these articles inspire congregations to correct this imbalance of liturgical priorities, especially as it regards intercessory prayer. You can catch up on the conversation with the second article here.

 

In these articles I am making the case that the church should be interceding more robustly as a part of its gathered worship. This is because the church is the body of Christ and, according to Augustine, Christ’s priesthood, headship, and deity draw us as worshipers into dynamic and interactive conversations with him, with each other, and with the world. Unfortunately, the church has struggled to use its voice to pray loudly and courageously. In this article we look at the first of three historical case studies that examine the pressures churches have faced in this regard. We begin with the first centuries of church history, looking at how the church has interceded from the beginning. In the process we will see that the pressure to limit the amount of time devoted to prayer has been a struggle within the church for a long time. 

Apostolic intercessory prayer

There is little concrete evidence available which shows exactly how the early church prayed together. Some have supposed, quite reasonably, that in the days following Pentecost the apostles prayed in similar ways that they did prior to it—that is, using Jewish temple and synagogue prayers. Records detailing Jewish prayer in the early first century do not tell us exactly what those prayers sounded like, but by the end of the first century it is clear that daily prayers included a litany known as the Prayer of Eighteen Blessings (Shemoneh Esreh). These most likely accompanied the Shema, the ancient statement about the nature of God that accompanied Jewish worship: “O Lord God,… Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41). Of these eighteen blessings, we know that thirteen were petitions for various topics that included forgiveness, healing, the gathering of exiles, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It is altogether likely, therefore, that intercessions resembling these were a part of the regular prayers that the apostles included in the earliest Christian worship services.

Early patristic intercessions

According to Justin Martyr, intercessory prayers were certainly a part of Christian worship in the second century. By this point in history there was a growing distinction between two parts of the time for congregational worship: a service of Word that was open to the unbaptized, and the Mass of the Faithful that excluded those not yet officially initiated into the church. The intercessions were a part of the service reserved for the baptized (Justin’s Apology i.65). These intercessions, later called the Prayers of the Faithful, were initially separate from the prayer of thanksgiving offered by the one who presided over Communion. 

Early medieval intercessions

This basic pattern of prayers was maintained by the church in Rome and the other churches that followed its liturgies. That is, two separate times of extended prayer were included in the weekly worship on the Lord’s Day: a time of intercession in which the baptized believers prayed for the church and the world, and a time of thanksgiving offered by the priest in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. The problem with this arrangement was that the worship service was becoming quite lengthy. 

This was not just because the prayers were too long—it was also a function of moving from an oral style of leadership to one that was governed by written orders of worship. As society, and therefore the church, became more literate, worship services began to rely less on memorization and extemporaneity and more on specific and set forms. When worship services, or any rituals, are written down, it becomes easier to add components than to discard them. As the church moved from the patristic period to the earlier medieval era (circa 500 AD), worship services became longer because the written liturgies kept adding more components. As a result, worship was becoming an endurance test, for both clergy and laypersons. One way of providing some relief was to eliminate some of the lengthy prayers. It was decided the first of these two prayer times, that is, the congregational intercessions, could be cut out. The rationale was that the priest’s prayer over the eucharist could incorporate some of the intercessions that had previously been lifted up by the entire congregation.

I want to focus on two things that were lost as these Prayers of the Faithful were removed from the liturgy. For one, the number of categories that were prayed about was greatly reduced. The original litanies included a variety of topics: the ministers of the church, the members of the congregation, the weather, the faithful departed, those preparing for baptism, the sick, the imprisoned, and travelers. When the prayers got folding into the Communion prayer, this breath of topics was cut down.

Second, the number of people who were invited to participate in the prayers was cut drastically. The original intercessions took the form of bidding prayers, which means that for each of the categories of needs, the congregation would give a standard response such as, “Kyrie Eleison” (“Lord have mercy”). Even though this response was limited to two words, the congregation had a role in the prayer. When the intercessions were moved to the eucharistic prayer, then the priest was the only one who voiced any of the petitions.

While these changes were made many centuries ago, this reduction of intercessory prayer represents a pressure that is still at work in today’s churches. There is only a limited amount of time available for a given service, and other aspects of worship are often given priority over intercessory prayer. As we saw in the second article in this series about Augustine’s description of the totus Christus, the elimination of the Prayers of the Faithful damages the role of the body of Christ. Specially, it mutes the voices of the congregation that are called to pray to Christ as God.  

Naming a litany of categories that the church is praying for is a clear declaration of the congregation’s theology: Christ is Lord over these things. When the church lifts up a series of needs, it is stating, explicitly or implicitly, that we trust Christ to make these things right. He is over all things and in all things (Colossians 3:11; Ephesians 4:6). He was present at the creation (John 1:1-4), and he rules right now from the Father’s right hand (Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20). The listing of categories for prayer is an inherent declaration that Jesus Christ is over all these systems and structures that exist on earth and in heaven.

The good news is that intercessions can be reincorporated in our worship services without taking too much time. The litany form is actually quite efficient. The pastor or worship leader only needs to say something like, “Lord, we lift to you all those who are awaiting or recovering from surgery,” or “We pray for those who guard and protect or communities and or nation.” After a short pause for the congregation to name, silently or aloud, those who fall into those categories, a brief response can follow—something like, “Lord, hear our prayer.” Naming just a few categories each Sunday would allow for a broad spectrum of needs to be presented in a relatively short a time. If just three categories of intercession were offered per week, that adds up to a dozen over the course of a month.

Consider adding categories of intercession, with a brief congregational response, to your worship service. Those need not be stuffy or formal. They can happen between songs in a contemporary worship set. They can come as part of a prayer over the offering. They can even be incorporated into the prayer over Communion. Let’s be creative in thinking about ways that our congregations can pray to Jesus Christ as their God.

 

For further reading

• Paul Bradshaw, Daily Prayer in the Early Church
• ---- The Seach for the Origins of Christian Worship
• Andrew B. McGowan, Ancient Christian Worship
• Justin Martyr, First Apology
• Theodor Klauser, A Short History of the Western Liturgy
• G.G. Willis, Essays in Early Roman Liturgy