(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) O’Kennedy, D. F.
Prayer should be an intrinsic part of theology because the way in which people
understand the nature of God determines the nature and content of their prayers.
This article poses the following question: In which way is prayer discussed in Old
Testament theologies? This question is discussed by an investigation into ten
prominent Old Testament theologies: Eichrodt; Vriezen; Von Rad; Zimmerli;
McKenzie; Westermann; Clements; Childs; Preuss; en Brueggemann. It is significant
that the systematic discussion of prayer is ignored or neglected in many theologies,
especially theologies of English scholars. There are a few deficiencies in theologies
discussing prayer, inter alia the negligence of non-Psalmic prayers and intercessory
prayers.