Prayer was an established part of Jewish religious life in the first century. People prayed privately and with others, in homes and synagogues, at the Temple, and during moments of danger, illness, thanksgiving, or need.
Not every prayer followed a fixed form. Some prayers drew upon Scripture, especially the Psalms, while others arose from particular circumstances.
The Hebrew Scriptures contain prayers from many periods and circumstances. Psalms supplied a rich vocabulary of praise, lament, confession, thanksgiving, and petition. By the Second Temple period, prayer had become an important expression of Jewish devotion alongside Temple worship.
A person might pray while beginning or ending the day, before or after eating, during trouble, while traveling, or when giving thanks. Prayer could be spoken aloud or offered quietly.
Communal prayer also occurred, although the precise forms and degree of standardization varied during the first century.
Prayer itself leaves little direct archaeological trace. Synagogues, the Temple complex, inscriptions, and other religious settings provide evidence for places in which communal devotion occurred.
Jewish Scripture, Second Temple writings, Josephus, the New Testament, and later Jewish sources provide evidence for prayer. Later rabbinic texts are valuable but must be used cautiously when reconstructing first-century forms.
The Psalms demonstrate the breadth of biblical prayer. Daniel prayed regularly, Hannah prayed in distress, and many biblical figures called upon God in thanksgiving or need.
Prayer appears throughout the Gospels. Jesus prays alone, gives thanks, teaches His disciples how to pray, prays before important events, and criticizes prayer performed merely to impress other people.
Prayer was common and important in Jewish religious life. It could be personal or communal and could include praise, petition, thanksgiving, confession, and lament.
The precise wording and schedule of many prayers cannot be reconstructed with certainty for every Jewish community in the early first century.
Understanding Jewish prayer helps readers recognize that Jesus' teaching on prayer took place within an already prayerful culture while emphasizing sincerity, trust, forgiveness, and dependence upon God.