Is there any tradition with regards to Zechariah's prayer in Luke?

Question

Luke 1:5-13 (NIV)

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

What was Zechariah's prayer? One easy guess would be that he was praying for a son, but verse 7 states that his wife was barren and that both were very old, so by this point, why would Zechariah still be hoping or praying for a son? His prayer could also have been something else and God just chose to give him a son as something like a bonus, or a reward, or a gift. At a shallow reading, there don't really seem to be any clues as to what Zechariah's prayer was.

Hence, I'm asking: is there any tradition or exegesis from any branch of Christianity that states what Zechariah's prayer was? If there is a small number of different traditions, please list them together in one answer. If there are somehow a large number of different traditions, please say so and give the most widespread/mainstream ones. I expect that there'll be at least a Catholic tradition and/or an Orthodox tradition.

Answer 1

The other interpretation of Zechariah's prayer is related to the specific duty he was performing in the temple that day. The twice-daily incense offering is closely related to the Holy Place and our ability to enter into God's presence. This is especially seen on the Day of Atonement when the incense offering is used by the High Priest in preparation to enter the Most Holy Place.

So the incense offering is related to the atonement of our sins and our entry into God's presence. Since Zechariah was offering one of these daily incense offerings it would be quite likely that his prayer was related to the atonement of his people and their entry into the presence of God.

"May the merciful God enter the Holy Place and accept with favor the offering of his people."

With that idea, perhaps the answer to Zechariah's prayer is that a son will be coming to him to prepare the way for the fully realized entry into God's presence in the physical form of the coming Messiah.

This idea is not original to me. Here is one link to this line of thought that Zechariah was offering the traditional prayer for God's people.

Answer 2

From the Novel The Nativity Story by Angela Hunt, Zachariah was praying to God for a child while he was burning incense.

I don't know how the author came with that idea.

But I think, looking at the context (verse 7-13) the writer (Luke) simply assume that the reader will understand that Zachariah was asking for a child.

This can be understood if we look back at the time of Jesus. Being without a child was painful and disgraceful. Especially, a male child was considered a great blessing. So, obviously, Zachariah was praying for a child.

The verse itself has a proof in it. It says,

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John"

As we see, first Gabriel mentioned about Zachariah's prayer, and the next words the answer to it.

Let me include that story from The Nativity Story:

Page 15: Zachariah inhaled the sweet perfume of incense as he waited for the Levite worship leader's command. He lifted his gaze to heaven. While the worshipers outside this room offered the prescribed prayers, he couldn't but add the habitual plea of his heart: Jehovah my God, your name is from everlasting, and there is no God beside you. If it is possible I have pleased you, my King, once again may I beg you to grant my prayer for a son before I breathe my last-