How Protestants Pray

An open hymnal. The Letter of James says that anyone who is cheerful should sing praise (James 5:13). Protestants praise God in prayer and in song. The Evangelical Church of Vietnam has its hymnal, Thánh Ca, used in worship, and its General Assembly runs a hymnal website. The icon shows an open hymnal with a note of music.

A plain cross. Scripture says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Protestants confess directly to God in prayer. The cross at the library's Protestant shrine is a plain cross with no figure on it. The icon shows exactly that.

The bread and cup of the Lord's Supper. The apostle Paul records that on the night he was betrayed the Lord took bread, gave thanks and broke it (1 Corinthians 11:23 and 24). An article on the site of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam calls the Lord's Supper a feast of thanksgiving. Bread and cup are the two real objects of that rite. Daily thanksgiving needs neither. The icon only points to the scriptural root of giving thanks.

Two hands pressed together. Intercession is prayer for someone else. Ephesians tells believers to pray for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18). A lesson of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam names neighbours, pastors, the country and its leaders. Hands pressed together are a familiar gesture of prayer. The library has found no source that prescribes a position for the hands.

A flask of oil. James writes that the sick should call the elders of the church, who anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over them (James 5:14). The oil comes from that very verse. Anointing belongs to the elders of the church. At the library's shrine a visitor only offers a prayer for the sick. No anointing takes place.

A house. Vietnamese Protestants keep family worship (gia đình lễ bái), when the household prays together. The lesson of 1 September 2025 from the Evangelical Church of Vietnam calls it a spiritual discipline that sustains a godly way of life. A house is not an object of worship. This is an illustration.

A chapel with a plain cross. The instruction to pray for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18) is an instruction to pray for fellow believers. The lesson on intercession from the Evangelical Church of Vietnam mentions praying for pastors. The icon shows a small chapel with a plain cross on its gable. It is an illustration and does not copy any particular church building.

A dove carrying an olive leaf. Paul urges supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that life may be quiet and peaceable (1 Timothy 2:1 and 2). The Evangelical Church of Vietnam publishes lessons on interceding for the nation and its leaders. The dove with an olive leaf comes from the story of Noah (Genesis 8:11) and is commonly read as a sign of peace after the flood. Here it does not stand for the Holy Spirit.

An open Bible. The Psalm says that God's word is a lamp to the feet and a light to the path (Psalm 119:105). The lesson on praying according to God's will from the Evangelical Church of Vietnam says the Holy Spirit guides the believer in praying as God wills. An open Bible on the pulpit is also what stands in the library's Protestant shrine.