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“… who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: …
‘The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together,
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’”
~ Acts 4:25-26 (NKJV)

In the first part of our series on Hebraic prayer, we began to examine the disciples’ prayer in the face of danger and persecution. Their resulting prayer in Acts chapter 4 followed a classic Jewish pattern of prayer by praising God’s greatness. Despite the fact that they were facing overwhelming threats and danger, they knew the secret of magnifying God above and beyond the problems they faced.

Today, in the second part of our series, we note how the disciples continued their prayer by turning to quoting God’s Word and His Promises, specifically through the Psalms. Through the promises of the Scriptures, they see God not only as the great and mighty Creator, but also as the God who speaks specifically through His Word into their situation.

The Power of Words

The Hebrew word for “word” is also the word for “thing”. In fact, the classic magician’s phrase “abracadabra” comes from Aramaic and Hebrew, and simply means “what I say creates”. While I’m certainly not condoning magic, it is nevertheless a Biblical truth that our Words have power to create. As we speak words of doubt and fear, we become increasingly doubtful and fearful. Hebraic prayer instead focuses on speaking words of faith and power, and that faith must be based in God’s Word.

A story was told of a young Jewish boy in a concentration camp during World War II. One day, a Nazi soldier wanted to punish the boy and placed him in a tight spot between two high-powered electric fences. The boy was told he would have to stand still all night long. If he tipped to the left or right side, he would be instantly killed by the voltage of the fences. If he took a step forward or backward, the soldier would instantly shoot and kill him.

The young boy felt angry, frustrated, and upset, knowing that he was stuck in a death trap. What should he do? As he cried out to God in his heart, he suddenly began to recall some of the Psalms of David. Being raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, this boy had learnt all the Psalms off by heart. So, the boy quietly and methodically began to recite the psalms to himself. And as he did, it gave him peace and enabled him against all odds to keep standing still hour after hour. He kept reciting Psalms all night long and miraculously survived the night. The young boy later said, “The book of Psalms saved my life!”

Praying the Psalms

Just like this little boy, Jewish people around the world will typically pray or sing the psalms during times of need. Through the psalms, they identify with the cries of David, his struggles and challenges – and ultimately the answers to prayer and peace that he found in God.

We find this key repeated in the disciples’ prayer of Acts 4. Instead of focusing on the threats of persecution at hand, they likewise follow the Hebraic pattern of focussing their eyes on the Lord through the Word of God.

According to Bible researcher Dr John Garr, virtually all Jewish corporate prayer is either directly quoting Scripture or paraphrasing portions of Scripture.¹ There is something special about praying God’s Word back to Him, and Jewish people have been aware of this secret to prayer for millennia.

A few years ago, a close relative of mine was struggling with sickness. Day by day, I watched her slowly deteriorate, and she often turned to me asking for prayer. As her condition worsened, I found it harder and harder to pray in faith for her. I felt increasingly powerless and lost for words in prayer.

In this difficult season, I learned firstly to press into God personally, using my gift of tongues as I sought Him for wisdom and direction. Then, as I began praying in English, I found that the best words I could use in prayer were simply God’s own Words.

As I started to pray healing scriptures and healing promises over her, my own faith grew, and I knew deep down that my prayers were having an effect.

Over a period of time, my relative made a remarkable recovery. She was spectacularly healed of several allergies and was, for the first time in many years, able to eat certain foods. Praying God’s Word in this situation changed my outlook on prayer from one of despair and powerlessness to prayers of faith and confidence, which I believe resulted in her healing.

Like the early disciples, may I encourage you to keep your prayers Scripture-based and Scriptural. Declaring God’s Word in prayer will build your own faith and that of those around you, releasing His power into situations that seem completely impossible.

In our next part of this series on Jewish prayer, we will look at how Hebraic prayer is more corporate than individual.

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¹ ‘Bless You’, John D. Garr Ph.D, 2005, p. 143.

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