Home Reception of the Lord’s Prayer in Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity in Ghana
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Reception of the Lord’s Prayer in Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity in Ghana

  • Michael F. Wandusim ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: April 13, 2022
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

The liturgical reception of the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9–13 par. Luke 11:2 b–4) is well-attested and still evident in Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox circles. For instance, in reformed worship it is usual to hear varied versions of the statement: “And now as our saviour Christ has taught us, we humbly pray: ‘Our Father who art in heaven (…)’.” It is striking, however, that such a liturgical use of the text is scarce in Pentecostal-Charismatic Christian worship. Such is the case in Ghana, where Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity forms the largest and most popular stream of the tradition. It only takes a visit to a Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic church during a worship session to ascertain this fact. This article investigates this liturgical phenomenon in Pentecostal-Charismatic worship by analyzing a selection of popular literature written on the text of the Lord’s Prayer and through personal interviews with some of the leaders of Pentecostal-Charismatic churches. Before engaging in reception analysis, a brief exegetical study of the text is undertaken. The article concludes that the Lord’s Prayer does not appear in Pentecostal-Charismatic liturgy because it does not conform with the Pentecostal-Charismatic understanding of prayer. Instead it is conceived of as a pattern or model and hence chiefly employed as a means of instruction on effective prayer rather than for recitation each Sunday, as manifest in Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox circles.


Corresponding author: Dr. Michael F. Wandusim, Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, E-mail:

Correction Note: Correction added after online publication on April 13, 2022: by the editors’ decision, the previous version of the article has been revised due to inconsistency in grammar and style.


References

Agyinasare, C. 2013. Power in Prayer: Taking Your Blessings by Force, 2nd ed. Accra: Self Publication.Search in Google Scholar

Amanor, K. J. D. 2009. “Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Ghana and the African Culture: Confrontation or Compromise?” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 18 (1): 123–40. https://doi.org/10.1163/174552509X442192.Search in Google Scholar

Anaba, E. 2015. Jesus Christ Is Praying for You. Bolgatanga: Desert Leaf Publication.Search in Google Scholar

Anderson, A. H. 2016. “Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity.” In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity, edited by L. Sanneh, and M. J. McClymond, 1st ed, 653–63. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781118556115.ch49Search in Google Scholar

Anim, E. 2009. “Prosperity Gospel in Ghana and the Primal Imagination.” Trinity Journal of Theology 17 (2): 30–42.Search in Google Scholar

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K. 2005. “Anointing through the Screen: Neo-Pentecostalism and Televised Christianity in Ghana.” Studies in World Christianity 11 (1): 9–28, https://doi.org/10.3366/swc.2005.11.1.9.Search in Google Scholar

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K. 2010. “Pentecostalism in Africa.” In African Theology on the Way: Current Conversations, 56–67. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) International Study Guide 46. Great Britain: SPCK.10.2307/j.ctv1v09024Search in Google Scholar

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K. 2013. Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity: Interpretations from an African Context. Akropong-Akwapem: Regnum Africa.10.2307/j.ctv1ddcp37Search in Google Scholar

Baëta, C. G. 1962. Prophetism in Ghana: A Study of Some “spiritual” Churches. World Mission Studies. London: Student Christian Movement (SCM) Press.Search in Google Scholar

Bediako, K. 2014. Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. Trends in African Christianity. Akropong-Akwapem: Regnum Africa.Search in Google Scholar

Dumitraşu, N. 2013. “The Lord’s Prayer in Eastern Spirituality.” Dialogue: A Journal of Theology 52 (4): 349–56.10.1111/dial.12071Search in Google Scholar

Ekem, J. D. K. 2007. “Interpreting the Lord’s Prayer in the Context of Ghanaian Mother-Tongue Hermeneutics.” Journal of African Christian Thought 10 (2): 48–52.Search in Google Scholar

Frey, J. 2016. “Das Vaterunser im Horizont antik-jüdischen Betens unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Textfunde vom Toten Meer.” In Das Vaterunser in seinen antiken Kontexten: Zum Gedenken an Eduard Lohse, edited by F. Wilk, Vol. 266:1–24. Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.10.13109/9783666540523.1Search in Google Scholar

Gifford, P. 1994. “Ghana’s Charismatic Churches.” Journal of Religion in Africa 24 (3): 241–65. https://doi.org/10.2307/1581301.Search in Google Scholar

Gifford, P. 1998. African Christianity: Its Public Role. London: C. Hurst & Co. Ltd.Search in Google Scholar

Gifford, P. 2004. Ghana’s New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalising African Economy. London: Hurst and Comp.Search in Google Scholar

Haar, G. t. 1994. “Standing Up for Jesus: A Survey of New Developments in Christianity in Ghana.” Exchange 23 (3): 221–40, https://doi.org/10.1163/157254394x00046.Search in Google Scholar

Hemer, C. 1984. “Έπιούσιος.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 7: 81–2294. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142064X8400702205.Search in Google Scholar

Heward-Mills, D. 2013. How to Pray. Accra: Parchment House.Search in Google Scholar

Jeremias, J. 1967. Das Vater-Unser im Lichte der neueren Forschung, 4th ed. Calwer Hefte zur Förderung biblischen Glaubens und christlichen Lebens 50. Stuttgart: Calwer Verl.Search in Google Scholar

Kahl, W. 2015. “Jesus Power Super Power-Productive Friction in Intercultural Hermeneutics: A German Perspective.” Journal of Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics 1 (1): 78–109.Search in Google Scholar

Kloppenborg, J. S. 1987. The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections. Studies in Antiquity and Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.Search in Google Scholar

Konradt, M. 2015. Das Evangelium nach Matthäus. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.10.13109/9783666513411Search in Google Scholar

Lohse, E. 2012. Vater Unser: Das Gebet der Christen, 2nd ed. Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchges.Search in Google Scholar

Lord Prayer. 2018. “Lord’s Prayer,” In Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception Online, Vol. 16:1121–48. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. Available at https://db.degruyter.com/view/EBR/MainLemma_7590.Search in Google Scholar

Luz, U. 2002. Das Evangelium nach Matthäus: Mt 1–7, 5th ed, Vol. 1. Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 1. Benziger: Düsseldorf.Search in Google Scholar

Luz, U. 2008. “The Contribution of Reception History to a Theology of the New Testament.” In The Nature of New Testament Theology: Essays in Honour of Robert Morgan, edited by C. Rowland, C. M. Tuckett, and R. Morgan, 123–34: Blackwell Pub: Malden, MA.10.1002/9780470773789.ch8Search in Google Scholar

McClymond, M. J. 2016. “Christian Revival and Renewal Movements.” In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity, edited by L. Sanneh, and M. J. McClymond. 1st ed, 244–62. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781118556115.ch20Search in Google Scholar

Metzger, B. M. 1957. “How Many Times Does ‘Epiousios’ Occur Outside the Lord’s Prayer?” The Expository Times 69: 52–254. https://doi.org/10.1177/001452465706900208.Search in Google Scholar

Oduro, T. A. 2016. Church of the Lord (Brotherhood): History, Challenges and Growth, 2nd ed. Accra: SonLife Printing Press.Search in Google Scholar

Omenyo, C. 1994. “The Charismatic Renewal Movement in Ghana.” Pneuma 16 (1): 169–85. https://doi.org/10.1163/157007494X00166.Search in Google Scholar

Omenyo, C. N. 2002a. “Charismatic Churches in Ghana and Contextualization.” Exchange 31 (3): 252–77. https://doi.org/10.1163/157254302X00425.Search in Google Scholar

Omenyo, C. N. 2002b. Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism: A Study of the Development of Charismatic Renewal in the Mainline Churches in Ghana. Mission: Missiologisch Onderzoek in Nederland 32. Zoetermeer: Uitgeverij Boekencentrum.Search in Google Scholar

Pobee, J. S. 1979. Toward an African Theology. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon.Search in Google Scholar

Robinson, J. M., P. Hoffmann, and J. S. Kloppenborg, eds. 2000. “The Critical Edition of Q: Synopsis Including the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Mark and Thomas with English, German, and French Translations of Q and Thomas.” In Hermeneia – a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.Search in Google Scholar

Sanneh, L. 1994. West African Christianity: The Religious Impact, 4th ed. MaryknollNew York: Orbis Books.Search in Google Scholar

Sanneh, L. 2016. “African Christianity: Historical and Thematic Horizons.” In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity, edited by L. Sanneh, and M. J. McClymond. 1st ed, 468–87. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781118556115.ch35Search in Google Scholar

Schattner-Rieser, U. 2015. “Das Aramäische zur Zeit Jesu, ‘ABBA!’ und das Vaterunser: Reflexionen zur Muttersprache Jesu anhand der Texte von Qumran und der frühen Targumim.” In Jesus, Paul, and the Qumran Texts. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 2 390, edited by J. Frey, E. E. Popkes, and S. Tätweiler, 81–144. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Search in Google Scholar

Tuckett, C. M. 1996. Q and the History of Early Christianity: Studies on Q. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.Search in Google Scholar

Wehnert, J. 2016. “Ein Gebet für alle christliche Gemeinden: Zum Vaterunser in der Didache.” In Das Vaterunser in seinen antiken Kontexten: Zum Gedenken an Eduard Lohse, Vol. 266, 143–62. Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten Und Neuen Testaments. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.10.13109/9783666540523.143Search in Google Scholar

Wilk, F. 2014. “Vater… Zur Bedeutung der Anrede Gottes als Vater in den Gebeten der Jesusüberlieferung.” In The Divine Father: Religious and Philosophical Concepts of Divine Parenthood in Antiquity, Vol. 18, edited by F. Albrecht, and R. Feldmeier, 201–31. Themes in Biblical Narrative: Jewish and Christian Traditions. Leiden, Boston: Brill.10.1163/9789004264779_012Search in Google Scholar

Wilk, F. 2016. “‘So sollt ihr beten …’: Das Vaterunser als Element der frühen Jesusüberlieferung.” In Das Vaterunser in seinen antiken Kontexten: Zum Gedenken an Eduard Lohse, 83–102. Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.10.13109/9783666540523.83Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2022-04-13
Published in Print: 2022-05-25

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 9.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jbr-2020-0011/html
Scroll to top button