The Shema Prayer comes from Deuteronomy 6:4, which says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Shema, meaning "Hear" is the first Hebrew word in this verse, and the prayer is named after it.
Christians and Jews have prayers, songs, and Bible passages with precious meanings. Our Christian traditions stem from what our Lord taught us throughout the Old and New Testaments, and prayer for Christians is personal. Judaism also has rich religious customs, including prayer, sacrificial celebrations, and feasts as ordained by the Lord. Observant Jews particularly value the Shema Prayer, taken from the Torah (the Bible’s first five books). The Hebrew word shema means “hear” or “obey” and is also mentioned as a person’s name in Joshua 15:26, 1 Chronicles 2:43-44, 5:8, 8:13, and Nehemiah 8:4.
What is the Shema Prayer and What is its Purpose?
The entire Shema prayer includes Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
"These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
The website Chabad calls the Shema Prayer the Jews’ daily declaration of faith. The website explains, “Indeed, this succinct statement has become so central to the Jewish people that it is the climax of the final Ne’ilah prayer of Yom Kippur, and is traditionally a Jew’s last words on earth.” Jews consider the Shema Prayer’s twice daily recitation a biblical command and recite it in the Kedushah service on the Sabbath.
In its context, Deuteronomy 6:4 is an exhortation to proclaim the truth that there is only one God (God alone). It is also translated as “the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.”
The word “one” used here is the Hebrew word ‘eḥāḏ, meaning unity. It stresses monotheism—God is one (even the Trinity says that God is one in three, not three separate gods). The Shema prayer was so important that 2 Kings 23:25 shows us it was the criterion by which Josiah the king was judged.
Does the Shema Prayer Quote the Bible?
The Shema prayer comprises three passages: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. All three contain God’s promises and His requirement for Israel’s obedience to His commands—to love and serve Him with all their heart and soul as they remember who they are and what He had done. Though popular with heathen nations, idols were forbidden for God’s people. Therefore, their wholehearted love for God was displayed through their obedience to Him and not to man-created images.
In one of the New Testament’s interesting moments (recorded in Mark 12:29), Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4. We will discuss later why Jesus quotes from it.
The Shema Prayer in the New Testament and Jesus' Example
The whole Bible is ours to learn about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As we meditate upon God’s Word, we love Him more, praise Him, and learn how to live a godly, obedient life. The Bible comes to life for all who have confessed their sins, repented to the Lord, and sought and received forgiveness. Our new life as Christians is intimately connected to our time in God’s Word.
Therefore, we have myriad ways we can pray the Scriptures back to God in any season of life. 1 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us all Scripture is useful for many purposes, including teaching and training in righteousness. All includes all. The Old Testament belongs to Christians as much as the Jewish people.
Therefore, if our goal is to praise God, using the Shema Prayer can be a faithful action, and using it doesn’t disparage Jewish heritage.
During Jesus’ interaction with a Jewish scribe in Mark 12:29-31, the scribe asked Jesus the greatest commandment. Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Jesus spoke in Greek, but the words had the same meaning as the Hebrew words in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Since Jesus spoke the Shema as part of the greatest commandment, we know it is fine to pray the Shema Prayer. The prayer provides a powerful way to acknowledge God as the one and only Sovereign Lord God.
Aside from 1 Timothy 3:16-17, we will consider three passages that speak of who we are in Christ, members of the kingdom, and fully encouraged to pray as He prayed (see also Luke 11:2-4).
“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” (Romans 3:29-30)
The Greek word used here for “one” is heis, the same word Jesus used in Mark 12:29. Paul tells us that the God of the Jews is the God of the Gentiles, too. That’s great news for everyone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father (Ephesians 4:5-6).
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Christians have been grafted into God’s family (Romans 11:17-24). We are one with everyone who knows Jesus as Lord. And we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20-21).
“... for God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:11)
Since God shows no favoritism, neither then should we nor anyone else. Christians are now children of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Ephesians 3:6). All who surrender to Him as Lord and Savior are God’s children (1 John 3:1).
The Shema Prayer encapsulates what the Lord tells us in His Word—He is one, and we are to love Him with all we are.
Praying the Shema Prayer Back to God
Father God. I thank You that You are the one true God. I never need to worry about what others proclaim because I trust You and Your word. People of many nations worship the created rather than You, the Creator. I pray, my Lord God, You will make Yourself known to them in a powerful way as the one and only sovereign God. I pray You will dispel the lies Your enemy uses to kill and destroy.
You sent my Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross and save the world from its sins. And we for whom He died praise You for making way for our redemption. Our joy is complete in Christ, and as we die to ourselves daily, we seek to love You with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Thank You, Lord, for loving us. In the magnificent name of Jesus, I pray.
Amen.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/MiniMoon Photo
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