Biblical Words Related to Prayer
Prayer is communication between the soul and what that soul considers divine. For me divinity is found in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Christianity’s Trinity. To whom the soul prays matters.
שָׁאַל, shaw-al’ or _ shaw-ale’; To Inquire
שָׁאַל, shaw-al’ or _ shaw-ale’; a prim. root; to inquire, by impl. to request; by externs. to demand; – ask (counsel, on), beg, borrow, to charge, consult, demand, desire, *earnestly, inquire, greet, obtain leave, lend, pray, request, require, salute, wish.
αἰτέω ahee-teh’-o; To Ask
αἰτέω ahee-teh’-o; of uncert. der.; to ask (in gen): – ask, beg, call, for, crave, desire, require
ζητω, dzay-teh’-o; To Seek
ζητω, dzay-teh’-o; of uncert. affirm.; to seek (lit. or fig.) spec. (by Heb.) to worship (God), or (in a bad sense) to plot (against life): – be (go) about, desire, endeavor, enquire (for), require, (*will) seek (after, for, means).
ἐρωτάω, er-o-tah’-o; Ask, Beseech, Desire, Entreat, Pray, Question, Request
ἐρωτάω, er-o-tah’-o; appar. from _ρέω to interrogate, by impl. to request: – ask, beseech, desire, entreat, pray, question, request.
Nygren’s Agape and Eros: A Transvaluation of Love
In Greco-Hellenism the gods do not love man. In Christianity, not only is God Agape but Agape is His very nature. In Greco-Roman world the gods do not take part in a fellowship with man, Christianity places fellowship in the middle of the Agape motif. Finally, Christianity is theocentric while Greek thought is egocentric.