The Prayer of Faith
Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” Genesis 22:5
Worship – How unfortunate it is that we are confined with this English translation of the verb hishtahavah. Yes, it’s true that Abraham took Isaac to the mountain to worship. But because we gloss over the underlying imagery, we fail to see what Abraham really has in mind. Havah is a word that describes an act of declaring, but in the form hishtahavah it is the word for prostrating oneself on the ground before a superior. It is not simply an outward, physical act. Hishtahava describes an inner attitude of worship even when there is no associated outward ritual. We see this attitude in the servant of Abraham when he meets Rebekah (Genesis 24:26). We find it in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:5), in David’s desire to seek God’s face (Psalm 5:7) and in the final purpose for all men (Isaiah 66:3). Yes, it’s worship, but it is not the kind of worship that we typically find in today’s congregations. hishtahavah is your soul, spirit, mind and strength facedown on the ground, in humble adoration, and total commitment to the only One Who is worthy of worship. hishtahavah is prayer permeating life.
The paramount place of hishtahavah is verified by the fact that this Hebrew verb is translated by the Greek proskuneo, used throughout the New Testament for “to worship, to prostrate oneself before.” Prayer in the biblical paradigm is worship! Worship in the biblical paradigm is prayer! Now we can appreciate the fact that one version of the Hebrew Scriptures defines Man as the praying being and considers prayer the vehicle that makes a man human.
How could it be otherwise? To come before the Lord of hosts means that we are undone. Isaiah knew it. So should we. There is no prayer (and no worship) without bowing down. Any man who thinks he can stand before the Lord has never understood Who God is. It’s time to leave behind our preposterous assumptions about “praise and worship” and realize that worshipping the God of all creation occurs in prostration. There is a very good reason why the fathers of the faith fell to their faces. Our lack of humility and fearfulness before the God of all life only compounds our spiritual ineffectiveness. We have not because we do not ask from the dirt.
When prayer takes over your life, you will find yourself face down, terrified. Then He will gently lift your eyes to His – and declare you His friend.
Topical Index: havah, hishtahavah, prostrate, worship, Genesis 22:5
