‘Laten wij bidden’. Een verkenning van het gebed in de klassiek-gereformeerde kerkdienst

Samenvatting

What characterizes prayer in worship services in the Reformed tradition? This question
is dealt with from an practical-theological point of view using an explorative qualitative
method. As opposed to using ‘collect-prayers’, in Reformed worship free prayer is rather
common practice. This article studies aspects of content and form of free prayer and
presents some of its theological patterns. A brief introduction of the ministry of prayer
in the Reformed tradition is followed by an exploration of four aspects of praying in
worship services, each illustrated by phrases from actual prayers that were collected
for this article: (1) praying as religious speech-act; (2) the congregation between liturgy
and everyday life; (3) the paradoxical presence of God; and (4) subjectivity in prayer as
framed by the Christian tradition.