Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

Why Don't We Pray Like the Messiah Did?

by Barbara Buzzard

How can we call ourselves Christian when we don't follow the Messiah?

The shema prayer is a crucial prayer included in the Old Testament, one that should have deep significance for YEHOVAH's people today. The Shema Prayer has its origins in the biblical period, but it was formalized as a prayer during the Second Temple period. During this time, the recitation of the Shema became a daily practice for Judahites throughout the then known world. The prayer also gained importance as a symbol of the early Church's identity and perseverance in the face of persecution. But what does it mean exactly?

The Shema Prayer comes from Deuteronomy 6:4, which says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Shema, meaning "Hear" is the first Hebrew word in this verse, and the prayer is named after it. The Shema is the creed of the Messiah and therefore the most important text in the Bible. It is a foundational creed, identified by the Messiah as the Greatest Commandment, the most important of all. The Shema is what the Messiah answered when asked what is the most important commandment: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD [YHVH] our God is one LORD. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:29-30).

It could be said that the Shema was the heartbeat of the Messiah's own worship of his Father. He always pointed us to his Father. When we say the Shema, we are recognizing YEHOVAH God as the Messiah taught us to do. It is a declaration of faith in our Creator, who the Messiah said is the only One who is God (John 17:3). We are declaring that there is only one Person who is God, just as the Messiah did.

We are told to pick up our "cross" daily. That is our work. The Shema is the yoke, the identifying marker of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God. It is also a spiritual and moral obligation which we agree to when accepting and committing to YEHOVAH's teachings. And it is a symbol, a picture of our partnership with YEHOVAH God. The Messiah told us to "Take my yoke and learn from me" (Matthew 11:29). The Shema is that yoke of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God -- a fundamental and tangible expression of the absolute unity of YEHOVAH God. In saying it we reject any idea of multiple gods or idols.

The Shema instructs; it establishes fact; it is a constant reminder of our voluntary commitment to our Creator; it links belief with ethical behavior; and of supreme importance, it creates a relationship between us and YEHOVAH God, a life-long affirmation and agreement with Him. We are living witnesses to this creed of the Messiah.

Dr. Les Hardin is a Professor of the New Testament at Johnson University, Florida. The following is a review of his presentation at the 2014 Piedmont Lectures at Dallas Christian College. His life’s work has been to discover what a serious study of the New Testament can teach us about what it means to be authentically spiritual. Professor Hardin took a sabbatical for the express purpose of researching and writing on prayer, or as he puts it: deciphering what it means to genuinely communicate with YEHOVAH God. He says this:

“I began to notice that a lot of what passes for ‘spirituality’ in the church is nothing more than personality theory sprinkled with holy water.” [1]

"So why is it that the Shema has such little importance, presence, or repetition in our Christian piety [practice] throughout the centuries"?

Dr. Les Hardin notes that he has been in church since he was two weeks old, but that he doesn't remember the Shema ever being taught, explained, emphasized, or in fact dealt with in any way. He began to rethink this void and concluded that "Jesus prayed the Shema twice a day, every day of his life." Why don't we? And why has it been made to seem so foreign and -- dare I say it -- unchristian? Is it possible that we call "Christian" what the Messiah would not? Is it conceivable that we have dispensed with the indispensable?

"Christianity presupposes and takes for granted the Jewish [Judahite] belief in God...And belief in the living God was the gift of Jews [Judahites] to the world." [2]

It appears then that Christianity so altered the main plank, the core of that belief in the one God so as to become its enemy. Why don't we pray like the Messiah? One of the main excuses is "because the Shema is Jewish." However, this excuse does have some merit because the people known today as "Jews" are not related, in any way, to YEHOVAH's people Israel! (See our article, Could the Modern "Jews" Be Israel?)

While the Shema prayer is the central declaration of faith in Judaism, the Messiah actually affirmed the Shema; he did not overturn it, re-invent it, give us a substitute, or dilute it in any way. In actual fact, it was the Messiah's creed. [3 ] Believing in the Shema makes one a monotheist -- a believer in one and only one who is God.

So what are you going to do about all this?

A Daily Declaration of Faith

The first verse of the Shema should be considered the most essential declaration of our faith -- the LORD is our God, the LORD is One. The passage that follows details the particular ways in which that faith should be lived: Love YEHOVAH God with all of your being, teach it to your children, recite it when you wake and lie down, bind it as a symbol on your body.

The Bible specifies what will happen if YEHOVAH’s commands are heeded -- and if they are not. Submission to YEHOVAH’s command will result in rain in its proper season, gathering of grain, wine and oil, grass in the fields for cattle, and abundant food. But if YEHOVAH's will is flouted and foreign gods are worshipped, none of those blessings will come.

Mark 4:3  is an example of how the Messiah used the concept of Shema ("Listen") in his teaching: "Listen! A sower went out to sow..." And verse 9: "He said 'Let anyone with ears to hear listen!'" And again in verse 23: "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" YEHOVAH God advised in Isaiah: "Listen and come to Me; listen and you will live" (Isaiah 55:3). We dramatically underestimate the importance of listening. Listening is not passive. It requires action -- doing what you have heard. It should be intentional and focused. We must do the words that we hear. And not only must we do them, we must make sure that we understand them. We are obligated to understand these all-important words which the Messiah said were the most important of all.

How have we gone from the creed of the Messiah too one which opposes it? Tragically, so-called Christianity has left the Messiah's creed behind as if it were a relic of the past. In praying the Shema prayer, we would have major collisions with the creeds which most churches have adopted since then, e.g. the Nicean Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Could it really be that one would have to choose between the Messiah and the Church? Has Christianity not only abandoned the creed of the Messiah but also adopted a creed opposed to it?

The Messiah and the disciples prayed the Shema at the time of the morning sacrifice (9 am) and at the time of the evening sacrifice (3 pm).

What is the Most Important Verse in the Bible?

When asked what is the first commandment, it appears that many (the majority?) of "Christians" would answer: "Love your neighbor as yourself." This is nothing short of appalling. Note well the Messiah's answer when he was asked what is the first commandment. "Jesus answered, 'The first is: Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is One LORD. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength'" (Mark 12:29-30). Please pause there a moment and note the content of what the Messiah says is the first commandment. The word "neighbor" is not in that first commandment! Then read verse 31: "The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

The sacred first commandment has been subverted, dismissed; it has disappeared as the second has taken its place. It almost appears like sleight of hand, i.e. disappearing in a magical way. Why have theologians, pastors, and churches not corrected this major misunderstanding?

And yet it was a vital part of the Messiah's life! If your pastor/preacher hasn't taught the Shema, he hasn't taught the Greatest Commandment of them all! Any self-respecting Christian should surely marvel at this neglect, and object that the first and most important commandment has, for all intents, disappeared.

The Shema

The Shema prayer comprises three passages: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. All three contain YEHOVAH God’s promises and His requirement for Israel’s obedience to His commands -- to love and serve Him with all their heart and soul as they remember who they are and what He had done for them. Though popular with heathen nations, idols were forbidden for YEHOVAH’s people. Therefore, their wholehearted love for YEHOVAH God was displayed through their obedience to Him and not to man-created images.

When questioned about the summary of the Law, the Messiah answered with what Scot McKnight has come to call the "Jesus Creed": [4] The Shema coupled with the amendment to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). I have included the insights of several others who have focused on this subject, although it is largely ignored by mainstream theologians.

“Traditionally Christian scholars haven’t placed much emphasis on The Shema as a faith-forming prayer. In my research on prayer and on The Shema in particular, I began to notice that a discussion of The Shema is largely absent from our collective Christian discussion of prayer. The thirteen-page entry on ‘Prayer’ in the Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible doesn’t have a single word to say about it...Maybe it’s because the Lord’s Prayer seems to have supplanted The Shema as the formulaic creed of the Christian church. Whatever the reason, it seems that Christians don’t find The Shema -- at least as a form of prayer -- important.” [5]

The Creed of the Messiah

“If this creed, and this prayer, was important to God’s people in the time of the Messiah, and important to the Messiah himself, then it’s imperative that we, as the people of God, give consideration to The Shema, not just as a creed, but as a prayer.” [6]

Professor Hardin asks what is in it to help us to pray and to worship? Implied in the Shema are the actions of learning, following and obeying in a putting-into-practice sense, i.e. if you have heard these words, you must obey them. There is an expectation of action due to listening. Listening entails/demands action.

Since salvation comes from the Israelites (John 4:22) and is for the Israelites, and since the Messiah was an Israelite and was totally blessed and approved of by YEHOVAH God -- ought we not look to this Israelite as our example? After all, it was not YEHOVAH God who was an Israelite, but His first-born Son!

Hardin suggests that we consider the Shema as a creed. I couldn’t agree more; there would be safety there, because that is the Messiah’s creed. However, we would then have major collisions with the creeds which the churches have adopted since then, e.g. the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Could it really be that one would have to choose between the Messiah and the church?

Creeds of the Pagan Churches

The Nicene Creed is a foundational statement of the Catholic Church and her harlot daughters, established in A.D. 325, affirming a belief in the trinity and the so-called divinity of the Messiah. The Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. to address the Arian controversy, which questioned the divinity of the Messiah. The creed was later expanded at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D., leading to what is now commonly referred to as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.

The Nicene Creed outlines the core beliefs of Catholicism and most of the Protestant churches ("the image of the beast"), including:

(a) Belief in One God: The Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

(b) Yeshua the Messiah: Acknowledged as the only begotten Son of YEHOVAH God, who is of the same essence as the Father, emphasizing his divinity and role in salvation.

(c) The holy spirit: Recognized as fully God, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, highlighting the doctrine of the trinity.

There are different versions of the Nicene Creed, with variations in wording between Eastern and Western Christian traditions. For instance, the Western churches often include the phrase "and the Son" regarding the holy spirit's procession, which is a point of theological contention between the two traditions.

The Nicene Creed is widely used in Catholic and Protestant liturgy and serves as a unifying statement of faith among various denominations, including the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. It is recited during worship services, reinforcing the shared beliefs of the so-called Christian community.

The Nicene Creed remains a vital part of mainstream "Christian" doctrine, encapsulating their essential beliefs about YEHOVAH God, the Messiah, and the holy spirit. It serves as a reminder of the historical and theological foundations of the pagan Catholic and Protestant churches -- celebrated especially during significant anniversaries, such as the 1700th anniversary of its original formulation in 2025.

In summary, the Nicene Creed is not just a historical document but a living expression of faith that continues to shape pagan Christian worship and belief today.

The Athanasian Creed -- also called the Quicunque Vult (or Quicumque Vult), which is both its Latin name and its opening words, meaning "Whosoever wishes" -- is a statement of belief focused on trinitarian doctrine and Christology. Used by the mainstream so-called Christian churches since the early sixth century, it was the first creed to explicitly state the equality of the three components of the trinity. It differs from the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and the Apostles' Creed in that it includes anathemas condemning those who disagree with its statements, as does the original Nicene Creed.

Widely accepted in Western "Christianity," including by the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches (it is part of the Lutheran confessions set out in the Book of Concord), Anglican Churches, Reformed Churches, and ancient liturgical churches, the Athanasian Creed has been used in public worship less frequently. However, part of it can be found as an "Authorized Affirmation of Faith" in the main volume of the Common Worship Liturgy of the Church of England published in 2000. Despite falling out of liturgical use, the creed's influence on current Protestant understanding of trinitarian doctrine is clear.

Designed to distinguish Nicene Christianity from Arianism, the Athanasian Creed has not been commonly used in the Eastern Church.

The truth is that these creeds violate the Shema. For the Messiah, the Shema was the core principle. Can that be said of the established church? How is it that if one does subscribe to the Messiah’s creed, one can be considered a heretic by the established church? How is it that we have neglected/overruled the greatest commandment of all? “The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Explains Professor Hardin:

“Those of us in the Christian faith have traditionally read this as a Trinitarian statement; we believe that God is three-fold -- Father, Son and Spirit -- and this verse keeps us from believing that there are three gods…In context, though, that doesn’t make very much sense, and this is the theological controversy over which barrels of printer ink have been spilt.” [7]

(The wasted ink seems to pale by comparison to the blood of the many whose lives have been taken because they stood for YEHOVAH God being one and only one, the Father.)

Hardin is correct in questioning what sense is to be found by saying that YEHOVAH God is three-fold. Brave souls through the centuries have had the courage to question this logic. Some lived to write about it:

“It might tend to moderation and in the end agreement, if we were industrious on all occasions to represent our own doctrine [the Trinity] as wholly unintelligible.” [8]

Are we saying that the Master Logician, the One from whom all intelligence emanates, actually validates an unintelligible theory about who He is? Really?

The Constraints

If we are monotheists, certain things are required, but just as importantly, certain things are forbidden. There are constraints and prohibitions and restrictions in order to be true to the concept. One is not free to blur the lines. “The New Testament writers similarly are insistent about the absolute oneness of God, and show no tendency to describe Jesus in terms of divinity; the few apparent exceptions are either grammatically and textually uncertain or have an explanation which, as we shall see, brings them within the constraint of Jewish [Israelite] monotheism.” [9]

“The Church found itself in a dilemma as soon as it tried to harmonize the doctrine of the Deity of Jesus and the Deity of the Father with monotheism. For according to the NT witnesses, in the teaching of Jesus relative to the monotheism of the OT and Judaism, there had been no element of change whatsoever. Mark 12:29ff. recorded the confirmation by Jesus himself, without any reservation, of the supreme monotheistic confession of faith of Israelite religion in its complete form. The means by which the Church sought to demonstrate the agreement of its dogma of the Deity of both Father and Son with monotheism, remained seriously uncertain and contradictory.” [10]

Professor Hardin’s answer to this great divide is that we are to worship YEHOVAH alone. But, with respect, this leads us into a dilemma because “The New Testament writers are really quite careful at this point. Jesus is not the God of Israel. He is not the Father. He is not Yahweh.” [11]

Violation of the Messiah's Creed

"The Athanasian Creed is a very instructive document in that it shows when an attempt was made to state the Christian faith...all that could be done was to set down a series of contradictions and say that you would be damned if you did not believe them...The first impression produced on the mind by hearing this doctrine of the Trinity is that it is quite incredible." [12]

How ironic and strange that today's situation is that one's loyalty to the Messiah's creed will cause one to be seen as a heretic and decidedly NOT Christian. Thankfully, some theologians are honest enough to say:

"It might tend to moderation and in the end agreement, if we were industrious on all occasions to represent our own doctrine [the Trinity] as wholly unintelligible." [13]

Another important question arises when we consider this: How is it that the Messiah, since he is thought to be God, prays? Who would he pray to? This would create a situation where God is praying to another -- an impossibility!

There is certainly no corroboration for the orthodox view of YEHOVAH God as being three-in-one in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6: “There is no God but one…For us there is but one God, the Father.” This Scripture is brilliant in its simplicity -- the one God is the Father. Paul is repeating the Shema. The difficulty comes when the latter part of the verse adds “and one lord, Jesus Christ.” With our western non-recognition that the term “lord” can go all the way from the gardener to YEHOVAH God -- we make major mistakes in our thinking.

It is imperative that we know that Abigail referred to David as lord, that the gardener at the tomb was addressed as lord, that it commonly means “sir.” It was the Gentile church which failed to distinguish the significance between “lord” as applied to the Messiah and “LORD” as applied to YEHOVAH God. Without this knowledge we imagine that the Messiah is being called God, a disaster for us as we would have, at that point, two who are called God. That would constitute a breaking of the Shema. And a breaking of the Shema would be the greatest of crimes one could commit.

“For Jesus the Shema is evidently fundamentally determinative of the whole orientation of life…The implication is clear that for Jesus God alone is worthy of worship and of such devotion, because God alone is the source and definition of all goodness.” [14] When the Messiah quotes the Shema, are we to believe that he was referring to himself when he said “The LORD our God is the one and only LORD”? (Mark 12:29).

What was the Messiah’s theology?

“Jesus’ words are so clear that no complicated linguistic techniques are needed to explain them. What Jesus states with crystal clarity is that there is only one God, the One he called ‘Father,’ and asked his disciples to call upon Him in the same way…Jesus speaks of himself as the one sent by ‘the only true God.’ It should therefore, have been perfectly obvious to anyone truly listening to what Jesus said that if the Father is the one and only true God, then no one else can also be God alongside Him.” [15]

Sir Isaac Newton passionately desired to rid Christianity of its mythical doctrines, “this strange religion of ye West, the cult of three equal Gods.” He believed “the spurious doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity had been added to the creed by unscrupulous theologians in the fourth century.” [16]

The Benefits

A very interesting section of Hardin’s lecture is his discussion of the benefits of praying the Shema. Having been asked why he recited the Shema, he answered: “Because Jesus did. And I want to live like he did.” A great answer, I think, but why does it seem so foreign? Isn’t it because that core principle of the Messiah has been erased, replaced, removed from the equation? Dare I say, it might even sound un-Christian?!

Hardin finds that praying the Shema focuses his attention on YEHOVAH God and away from self, and he notes how selfish and how self-centered our prayers can be. Professor Dunn found this same benefit in recognizing who the Messiah is: “This allows for a fuller recognition of the other emphases in the New Testament writings -- Jesus as Jesus of Nazareth praying to God, Jesus as last Adam and eldest brother in God’s new creation family, Jesus as heavenly intercessor, or God as God of the Lord Jesus Christ.” [17]

Secondly, Hardin notes that the Greatest Commandment is communal, corporate and group-oriented. He then of necessity must label some of what we have in worship as shallow in the extreme, with worldviews that are narcissistic, individualized and custom made to suit. Hardin points out that the pronouns for YEHOVAH's people Israel in the Greatest Commandment are not singular but plural.

And as noted previously we should understand the importance of pronouns as when the Messiah prayed, “The LORD our God.”

While I am very grateful for Professor Hardin’s emphasis on the Shema and praying like the Messiah, his study raises an enormous question: How is it that the Messiah -- since he is thought to be God -- prays? This would create a situation in which one God is praying to another -- an impossibility!

The Messiah never abandoned the Shema. It appears that the church has abandoned it. The fact that the church has not taught it is very serious.

“Christianity presupposes and takes for granted the Jewish [Israelite] belief in God. Its distinctive spiritual dynamic is lost whenever for practical purposes the living God of religion is lost behind the abstraction of philosophical theology. And belief in the living God was the gift of Jews [Israelites] to the world.” [18]

The Problem Remains

“But the fundamental problem created by elevating Jesus to the level of deity is that a situation is created in which there are at least two persons who are both equally God; this brings trinitarianism into conflict with the monotheism of the Bible…In regard to the N.T. it is trinitarianism that is on trial; it will have to explain why it has taken the monotheistic Word of God and interpreted it in polytheistic terms, thereby utterly distorting its fundamental character.” [19]

Could it not be that this distortion is the reason for the disastrous disappearance of the Shema from our prayer lives? This distortion or redefining of the core principle in the Messiah's teaching is not a valid excercise.

This observation is interesting: the Greatest Commandment is community-oriented and corporate, not individualistic. Is it possible that some of what we have in worship is shallow in the extreme with worldviews that are narcissistic and unbiblical? Note this: the pronouns for YEHOVAH's people in the Greatest Commandment are not singular but plural, and so we might have this possibility, at least in the southern United States: "YHVH is OUR God. And y'all will love YHVH y'all's God with all y'all's heart, and all y'all's soul and all y'all's strength." [20] This certainly does make the point!

We have turned upside down who or what is plural -- i.e. the Christian body of believers is plural, but certainly NOT the God and Father of the Messiah! When the Messiah quotes the Shema, are we to belive that he was including himself when he said, "The LORD our God is the one and only LORD"? (Mark 12:29).

So there you have the answer as to why we pray the Shema. The Messiah was a thorough-going, monotheistic, Shema-reciting Israelite. Ought we not to pray as he prayed? When we pray the Shema prayer, we align ourselves with the Messiah. There is safety and security in that. It appears that the so-called Christian churches of this world have taken a deviant path from the Messiah's teaching, but cleverly masked it so that only those who really love the Truth can detect it.

Praying the Shema Prayer Back to YEHOVAH God

"Heavenly Father, I thank You that You are the One True God. I never need to worry about what others proclaim because I trust You and Your Word. People of many nations worship the created rather than You, the Creator. I pray YEHOVAH God that You will make Yourself known to them in a powerful way as the One and only sovereign God. I pray that You will dispel all the lies Your enemy uses to kill and destroy.

"You commissioned the Messiah to die on the tree and save Israel from its sins. And we of Israel, for whom he died, praise You for making way for our redemption. Our joy is complete in the Messiah, and as we die to ourselves daily, we seek to love You with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Thank You, YEHOVAH, for loving us. In the name of the Messiah, our elder brother, I pray." (21)

-- Edited by John D. Keyser

Footnotes:

[1] “Praying Like Jesus: The Shema,” Piedmont Lectures at Dallas Christian College, Dr. Les Hardin, p. 1, https://www.dallas.edu/StudentLife/Forms/Piedmont Lecture/Praying the Shema.pdf

[2] Ibid., p. 3.

[3] The Spirituality of Jesus, Dr. Les Hardin, pp. 26-38.

[4] Scot McKnight, The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others, pp. 5-13.

[5] “Praying Like Jesus: The Shema,” p. 3-4.

[6] Ibid., p. 4.

[7] “Praying Like Jesus,” p. 6.

[8] Ibid., p. 7.

[9] A. E. Harvey, Jesus and the Constraints of History, The Bampton Lecture, 1980.

[10] Dr. Martin Werner, Formation of Christian Dogma, 1957, p. 241.

[11] James Dunn, Did the First Christians Worship Jesus? p. 142-144.

[12] Christian Faith and Practice, Eerdmans, 1950, pp. 78, 80. The word "incredible" is being used in a negative sense, not as it is used today.

[13] Dr. Hey, Lectures in Divinity, 2, p. 235.

[14] Ibid., p. 142-144.

[15] Eric H. H. Chang, The Only True God: A Study of Biblical Monotheism, p. 2.

[16] Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God, p. 69.

[17] Did the First Christians Worship Jesus? p. 142-144.

[18] Dr. Rawlinson, Essays on the Trinity and the Incarnation, p. 3.

[19] The Only True God, pp. 4, 30.

[20] Les Hardin, "Praying Like Jesus."

[21] Is the Shema Prayer in the Bible?

 

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