Pray Means to Beg God?

The Bible For Today represents their DEFINED King James Bible as the unaltered King James Bible with archaic, obsolete, difficult, or uncommon words defined. I will get to the unaltered assertion later but for now we will look at the "uncommon words defined" claim.

Pray is a common word. The Bible For Today published a copyrighted King James Bible that defines not only uncommon words, but many common ones too. The practice of "defining" words so as to skew or distort the meaning results in change, confusion, and subversion—which God is not the author of.

Christians have always believed that "pray" (in the context of worship) means to talk to God. "In Bible terminology prayer means calling upon God for things we desire, asking things of God." [1] Praying includes petitions, intercession, penitence, thanksgiving and praise. The Bible is filled with examples of prayer.

The best way to understand the meaning of the common word, "pray" is use the bible itself. Since the Waites used dictionaries, I decided to see if I could find any dictionary that defined "pray," (in the context of communication with God) as "beg." I did not find one.

The Webster's 1828 Unabridged Dictionary defines prayer in worship of God:

"In worship, to address the Supreme Being with solemnity and reverence, with adoration, confession of sins, supplication for mercy, and thanksgiving for blessings received." [2]

In addition to the context of communicating with God, "pray" can also mean to ask someone for something with earnestness or zeal or to ask in a formal manner.  Of course the context is crucial for arriving at the honest definition for the word, "pray."

D. A. Waite, Jr., author of The DEFINED King James Bible, defined the common word, "pray" in such a way as to cause you to believe that a Christian's relationship to his or her Heavenly Father is that of a beggar.

The Bible For Today Gave the Word, "Pray" a Negative Connotation

The word, "pray" has always had a beautiful meaning for Christians. Even unbelievers, in this present day will sometimes ask Christians to pray for them. Contrary to what D.A. Waite Jr. wants you to think, "pray" is not an uncommon, antiquated, rare, [3] or negative word.

Mr. Waite, who wants his readers to think the word, "pray" is rare (!) has "defined" this precious word as "beg," giving it a negative connotation. [4]  Even though God's people have always understood the word, "pray" to mean presenting requests to God, Waite Jr. wants them to think the number one definition for the word, pray (in any context) is beg.

Danger: Waite's wrongful use of the word, "beg" as the main definition for pray, sends a message, and it is not a Christian one.

Pray defined as "ask" (in reference to God) has a positive emotional connotation

Pray defined as "beg" (in reference to God) has a negative emotional connotation

D.A. Waite Jr. defined the word, "pray" in every context, as "beg, implore, beseech."

Granted, all praying to God must be done with the utmost humility, but his placing the word, beg at the top of his list of definitions screams CHANGE—as do many of the other word choices The Bible For Today's D.A. Waite Jr. chose to "improve" the King James Bible.  

It is interesting that D. A. Waite Jr. did not use the word, "ask" in his DEFINED King James Bible (not even in the 2011 printing!) but did use "earnestly ask or beg" in his definition for "pray" in the book, 4,114 Definitions from the Defined King James Bible, which was published on September 1, 2003. He definitely favors the word, "beg" in reference to a Christian's communion with God. [5]

Beggars Have No Right to Expect Anything, But God's Obedient Children Do

All true prayer must be offered with a humble heart, but know this: it is the enemy of our souls who wants Christians to think that "beg" (which is only one kind of asking!) defines the word, "pray." To Beg has the connotation of asking for alms or charity. Satan wants Christians to be reduced to nothing but beggars with no expectation of receiving anything. Genuine Christians are sons of God who (because they are led of the Spirit) know how to pray in the will of God and thus can properly expect God to fulfill their petitions.

Beggars have no right to receive anything. Sometimes God kindly grants the requests of the unsaved but it is they who are "beggars" in the sense that they are not in the family of God, and really have no right to expect God to answer and care for them as his children.

It is Satan and his followers who want readers of the King James Bible to think the Lord Jesus Christ lied when he said,

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." John 14:13

If the Christian asks anything according to the will of Jesus Christ, his Heavenly Father will grant it so that he may be be glorified in the Son. Saints who pray in the will of God, expecting to be answered, glorify God! Satan wants to give the impression that God is loathe to grant his children's petitions.

Jesus used the word, "ask" and taught his disciples to expect an answer:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Matthew 7:7,9

John defined prayer as asking:

If any man see his brother sin a sin which not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 1 John 5:16

There is no begging here! Provided that his conditions are met, God promised healing and forgiveness of sins.

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. James 5:15,16

See more examples that prove "beg" is a false definition for "pray."

 Review

Beg is NOT the meaning of pray.

The basic definition of the word pray is to ask.

God's obedient children may pray with confidence:

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1 John 5:14,15)

Notes:

[1] Quoted from The Weapon of Prayer, Chapter 2 by E.M. Bounds

[2] http://www.webster1828.com/websters1828/definition.aspx?word=Pray

[3] The Bible For Today's publication, 4,114 Definitions from the Defined King James Bible by D.A. Waite Jr. dangerously misleads the reader into thinking that "pray" is a rare word! (See page 54)

pray ~  Rare earnestly ask or beg, implore, beseech

[4]  A connotation is a commonly understood subjective cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the word's or phrase's explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation.

A connotation is frequently described as either positive or negative, with regards to its pleasing or displeasing emotional connection. For example, a stubborn person may be described as being either strong-willed or pig-headed; although these have the same literal meaning (stubborn), strong-willed connotes admiration for the level of someone's will (a positive connotation), while pig-headed connotes frustration in dealing with someone (a negative connotation).  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connotation

[5] 4,114 Definitions from the Defined King James Bible by D.A. Waite pg. 54

 pray ~  Rare earnestly ask or beg, implore, beseech

complete list of articles:  DEFINED King James Bible: Definitions For Change Index Page