Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 13.1

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: If Jesus himself prayed and received what he asked through prayer, none of us should neglect to pray.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:325–326

Εἰ δὲ Ἰησοῦς προσεύχεται καὶ μὴ μάτην προσεύχεται. τυγχάνων ὧν αἰτεῖ διὰ τοῦ εὔχεσθαι, τάχα οὐκ ἂν αὐτὰ εἰληφὼς χωρὶς εὐχῆς, τίς ἡμῶν ἀμελῇ τοῦ εὔχεσθαι; Μάρκος μὲν γάρ φησιν ὅτι „πρωῒ ἔννυχον λίαν ἀναστὰς ἐξῆλθε καὶ ἀπῆλθεν εἰς ἔρημον τόπον, κἀκεῖ προσηύχετο, “ ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς· „καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐν τόπῳ τινὶ προσευχόμενον, ὡς ἐπαύσατο, εἶπέ τις τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν“ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις· „καὶ ἦν διανυκτερεύων ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ“· ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης εὐχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀναγράφει λέγων· „ταῦτα ἐλάλησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὑτοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἶπε· πάτερ, ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα· δόξασόν σου τὸν υἱὸν, ἵνα καὶ ὁ υἱός σου δοξάσῃ σε“· καὶ τὸ „ᾔδειν“ δὲ „ὅτι πάντοτέ μου ἀκούεις“ παρὰ τῷ αὐτῷ ἀναγεγραμμένον ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου εἰρημένον δηλοῖ ὅτι „πάντοτε“ εὐχόμενος „πάντοτε“ ἐπακούεται.

English · Claude translation

And if Jesus prays, and prays not in vain, obtaining through prayer what he asks for, which perhaps he would not have received without prayer, which of us will neglect to pray? For Mark says that “in the morning, while it was still very dark, he rose and went out and departed to a desolate place, and there he prayed”; and Luke, “And it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him”; and elsewhere, “And he continued all night in prayer to God.” And John records a prayer of his, saying: “These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said: Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you.” And the words, “I knew that you always hear me,” recorded in the same Gospel as spoken by the Lord, show that one who “always” prays is “always” heard.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:325–326 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.
Scripture
Topics
Prayer, Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Mark 1:35, Luke 11:1, Luke 6:12, John 17:1, and John 11:42.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 13.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/13/1/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 13.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/13/1/).

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