What Makes A Prayer Christian, Or....

Before President Obama's inauguration people wondered what the prayers would be like. Three very different Christian pastors, Robinson, Warren, and Lowry, had been asked to pray. Specifically, some people wondered if Pastor Warren would end his prayer in a very common way among evangelical Christians, saying something like, "In Jesus' name we pray. Amen."? Some people would be offended by such a prayer finding it too exclusive. Others would be offended if he did not end his prayer this way. All of this started me thinking. What makes a prayer a certain kind of prayer?

Is it the content of the prayer that makes it a certain kind of prayer? Is it the person who originated the prayer, for example Jesus in the "Our Father," that makes the prayer a certain kind of prayer? Is it where the prayer is first found that makes it a certain kind of prayer? Is it the intent of the prayer that makes it a certain kind of prayer? Is it the formula with which the prayer begins, or with which it ends that makes it a certain kind of prayer? Is it the person who prays the prayer that makes it a certain kind of prayer? Is it all of these? Is it none of these? Is it something else?

I heard that at one Jewish rabbi remarked that the "Our Father" was a Christian prayer because it was found in what Christians call the New Testament. Yet I, as a Christian pastor, remarked to my wife that the most common prayer prayed by Christians in many congregations every week is a prayer taught by a first century Jew named Jesus, one whom we Christians proclaim as Lord, Savior, true God and true man. There is nothing in the prayer, with perhaps the exception of the words, "Our Father" which might be construed as being strictly Christian. The prayer does not begin with a formula often identified with a Christian prayer, and it certainly does not end with the formula often associated with a Christian prayer. So, again I ask, "What makes a prayer a certain kind of prayer?"

Is a Christian prayer one that is prayed by a Christian, non-ordained or ordained, with, or without a specific formula? When Bishop Gene Robinson opened his prayer with "O God of our many understandings" was he praying a prayer that was a Christian prayer? There were some people who insisted Bishop Robinson's prayer was not a Christian prayer. He certainly did not begin with a common formula of "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," or "Gracious and loving God." He ended the prayer with a simple, "Amen." "Let it be so." Again I ask, "What makes a prayer a certain kind of prayer?"

One might argue that it is the content of a prayer that makes it a certain kind of prayer. Thus, a Christian would/could not pray for the death of one's enemy. After all Jesus said to pray for one's enemy, to bless those who persecute you, and not to return evil for evil. What about during times of war? Did the Christian chaplains on the USA side pray for victory over, and the death of enemies during World War II? What about Christian chaplains in the German army? "What makes a prayer a certain kind of prayer?"