Pray in the Plural

I am really appreciating Witsius on the Lord’s Prayer (which is what I am currently preaching through at CTK). His insights are striking and perspective-changing, and his analysis is exhaustive.

He is, in fact, the only one I’ve read so far that spends any significant time on the “ourness” of Jesus’ encouragement to pray to “Our Father.” Here’s how he puts it:

“Our Father” expresses likewise Charity towards our neighbor, which we include in our prayer as they partake, either actually or prospectively, of the same grace and adoption as ourselves…. It means that, wheresoever the person praying happens to be situated, even though he may happen to be alone, he must always pray in the plural number.

Or, as WSC 100 has it: we are to pray “with and for others.” Prayer is always corporate, even when it is private.