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Translated by W. Curtis.
104 Pages
Page 34
Request I take to be that form of prayer which a man in some need offers with supplication for its attainment; prayer, that which a man offers in the loftier sense for higher things with ascription of glory; intercession, the addressing of claim to God by a man who possesses a certain fuller confidence; thanksgiving, the prayerful acknowledgment of the attainment of blessings from God, he who returns the acknowledgment being impressed by the greatness, or what seems to the recipient the greatness, of the benefactions conferred. Of the first, examples are found in Gabriel's speech to Zachariah who, it is likely, had prayed for the birth of John: "Fear not, Zachariah, because your request hath been heard and your wife Elizabeth shall beget you a Son and you shall call his name John;" in the account in Exodus of the making of the Calf: "And Moses made request before the Lord God, and said: To what purpose, Lord, are you in anger wroth with your people whom you hast brought out of the land of Egypt in great might?"
In Deuteronomy: "And I made request before the Lord a second time even as also the former time forty days and forty nights bread I ate not and water I drank not for all your sins that you sinned;" and in Esther: "Mordecai made request of God, recalling all the works of the Lord, and said; Lord, Lord, King Almighty," and Esther herself "made request of the Lord God of Israel and said: Lord our King . . . " Of the second, examples are found in Daniel: "And Azariah drew himself up and prayed thus, and opening his mouth amid the fire said . . . ;" and in Tobit: "And with anguish I prayed saying, `Righteous are you, O Lord, and all your works; all your ways are mercy and truth, and judgment true and righteous dost you judge forever.'" Since however, the circumcised have marked the passage in Daniel spurious as not standing in the Hebrew, and dispute the Book of Tobit as not within the Testament, I shall cite Hannah's case from the first book of Kings.
Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/origen/prayer.asp?pg=34