Jesus prays in what Eugene Peterson calls “the middle voice.”1 In the active voice, I (the subject) am the actor. I initiate the action. “I give advice.” In the passive voice, I (the subject) am being acted upon. I receive the action. “I am given advice.” In ancient Greek, the language of the original New Testament, there’s a third way of speaking—the middle voice. “I take advice.” The middle voice means, “I am an active participant, but the action did not begin with me. I am joining the action of another.”
