Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 04:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: Praying Together As A Family: Corporate Prayer In Philemon
Author: Michael A. G. Haykin

Eikon 4.1 (Spring 2022) p. 46

Praying Together As A Family: Corporate Prayer In Philemon

Michael A.G. Haykin

Michael A. G. Haykin is Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality and Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“The family that prays together stays together.” This very catchy phrase was created as a motto in 1947 for the Roman Catholic Family Rosary Crusade, which was led by an Irish priest named Patrick Peyton (1909–1992). Inspired by the fact that prior to the world-changing naval Battle of Lepanto (1571), soldiers and sailors of the Holy League — a coalition of Roman Catholic states — had prayed to the Virgin Mary through the rosary for victory over the Muslim fleet of the Ottoman Empire, Peyton came up with the idea of praying the rosary as a way of combatting Communism. An advertising copywriter by the name of Al Scalpone (1913–2000), later a successful television executive, is actually credited with the creation of the motto.

Despite these interesting origins, the phrase does capture an element of the New Testament’s theology of prayer, namely the importance of praying together. Think about Paul’s letter to Philemon in this regard. In the main, it appears to be a private letter, in which the Apostle Paul takes up the subject of Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus with discretion and tact. The opening of the letter teems with familial terms. The letter is being written by Paul and his “brother” Timothy to Philemon, whom they consider a “beloved co-worker” (v 1), as well

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as to “the sister Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church in your house.” In his commentary on this verse, John Gill (1697–1771) plausibly suggested that Apphia was the wife of Philemon. As for Archippus — was he their son? Archippus is also mentioned in Colossians 4:17, where Paul urges him to “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.”

After this salutation and initial benediction, Paul addresses himself in the body of the letter to Philemon. Thus, underlying all of the words translated by the English “you” or “your” from verse 4 to 22a is either a Greek verb in the second person singular or a form of the possessive adjective or personal pronoun in the second person singular. But, without warning, in the middle of verse 22 there is a sudden shift from the second person singular. Paul asks Philemon to prepar...