A Simple Way to Pray, Thoughts from Martin Luther on Prayer…

I mentioned in today’s sermon Luther’s small little booklet, A Simple Way to Pray, that he wrote in response to a question from his barber on how to pray in the year 1535. This was written several years after that important October date in 1517 when he nailed those 95 theses, and it shows that even though Luther was deeply concerned about theology, he was also very focused on practical Christian living and helping his parishioners with practical piety. Here are several things from this brief essay that I found to be helpful as we consider how to pray:

First of all, Luther speaks about the priority of prayer. He writes, “It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last at night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, “Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.” Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs which so hold your attention and involve you that nothing comes of prayer for that day.”

How many of us awake each morning, or go to bed each night, with so much on our mind that we don’t stop first, or at the end of the day, to pray? Luther encourages us not to wait or put off praying. Don’t get out of bed in the morning, don’t drift off to sleep at night, until you have prayed! Let it be the first, and last thing, we do! He writes, “We must be careful not to break the habit of true prayer and imagine other works to be necessary which, after all, are nothing of the kind.”

Secondly, Luther says the next important thing about prayer is getting your heart in the right state before you pray. Often, our hearts, he says, “become cool and joyless in prayer” because of the things we have on our mind, or the plethora of tasks we have before us that day. In such cases, we need to position our hearts rightly before God first in order to pray effectively. Luther encourages taking the psalms, going to a private room, and spending as much time as necessary, to warm your heart toward God. He also uses “Christ or Paul” (the New Testament letters) and even the “Creed” (which by that he means the Apostle’s Creed) to do this.

Most importantly, he is using God’s Word and truths about God to guide him and stir his affections for God before he sets out in prayer. This would be a good habit and practice for us, Beloved. I recall John Piper saying once, “if you close your Bible [as you pray] you won’t last more than three minutes in prayer [probably].” That is probably true! The reason we get bored or run out of things to pray about is because we pray the same ol’ things about the same ol’ things. Allow God’s Word to stir your heart and guide your prayers! So use the Scripture to warm your heart each day. Luther says, “use them as flint and steel to kindle the flame in the heart.”

Third, Luther even focuses on the posture of our praying. He says that once your heart has been warmed, kneel or stand with your hands folded and your eyes toward heaven. Now, that might seem too extreme to you! “That’s silly, pastor! Does God really care about the posture of our bodies or position of our hands as we pray?” Well, the psalmist sure does mention his posture in prayer quite a bit, so take that for what it is worth! But I think, more importantly, he means it needs to be a private, focused, intentional time of prayer.

Maybe its a closet for you. Maybe its your favorite chair. But the same spot, perhaps the same time each day. Young mothers, maybe you do like John Wesley’s mom did who would sit at the table with her apron over her head because it was a “sign” to the rest of the family [she had 18 kids!!!] that this was mom’s prayer time and they weren’t to disturb or interupt her!

Fourthly, when you’ve got your heart warmed, and your place of prayer, Luther says, “speak or think as briefly as you can.” Now, of course, it isn’t bad to pray long prayers or for long periods of time. Cherish those opportunities! But it also isn’t necessary either. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him”(Matthew 6:8). Unlike you, God doesn’t have to be “roused” to act. He is always present, always available, always listening, and already knows what you plan to ask Him for before you ask it — AND! — He wants to answer! He isn’t a reluctant heavenly Father! Therefore, you can pray brief, short prayers. In fact, if you pray short prayers, it is amazing how many more things you can actually pray for!
Next, Luther suggests using the Lord’s Prayer as an outline or template for your daily prayers. This is what we will be looking at over the next few weeks together. He says go through the whole thing, word-for-word, but as you pray each of the six petitions, expand on each one and fill it in with your own prayers.

As you do this, Luther says, sometimes you may “get lost among so many ideas in one petition” that you can camp out or pause there and not move beyond the first or second petition, etc. That’s okay! He says, “Listen in silence…the Holy Spirit preaches here, and one of the Spirit’s sermon is far better than a thousand of our prayers.” In other words, use the Lord’s Prayer as a guide, but if the Spirit prompts you to continue on praying in a certain way, keep at it and don’t stop. It’s okay if you don’t get through the entire thing. But use the Lord’s Prayer as a guide. He writes, “To this day I suckle at the Lord’s Prayer like a child, and as an old man eat and drink from it and never get my fill.”

Then, after you have prayed each petition, “you must always speak the Amen firmly,” he says. “Never doubt that God in his mercy will surely hear you and say “yes” to your prayer,” he writes. It is always a yes, when it is prayed according to God’s will. Luther goes on to write, “Do not leave your prayer without having said or thought, “Very well, God has heard my prayer; this I know as a certainty and a truth.” That’s what “Amen” means.

Beloved, how often after we have finished praying, do we remind ourselves firmly that God has heard our prayers and that God will answer our prayers?

But then, he doesn’t stop with the Lord’s Prayer. He says that if you have had time to work through the entire thing, and you want to continue on, he offers the helpful suggestion of praying through the Ten Commandments. “Do the same with the Ten Commandments,” he says. He then divides each of the Ten Commandments into four parts: (1) the instruction (2) turned into thanksgiving, (3) followed by confession of sin, (4) a then ending with a prayer for God’s strength and grace to obey and walk in His ways.

In other words, he, first, considers what the commandment means, and what God expects and is teaching in it. Then, he gives thanks for God’s infinite compassion and grace by which He has come to me in such a fatherly way, care for me, and reveal to me Himself and His ways.
Next, he confesses and acknowledges his own sin in how he has broken God’s commandment, and repents—asking for His grace. Finally, he prays, “O my God and Lord, help me by your grace to learn and understand this commandment, …,  more fully every day and to live by them in sincere confidence. Preserve my heart so that I shall never again become forgetful and ungrateful.”

He does this, working his way through the Ten Commandments as time permits. Now again, he is using the Ten Commandments as a guide. What I would emphasize, and Luther as well, is that those four categories are a framework in his mind to guide his prayers and even make prayer times more fruitful, dare I say, more interesting? You could just as easily do this with other portions of Scripture — the psalms, the prayers of Paul, etc. The point is, allow God’s Word to guide and shape your prayers.  
In his closing advice, Luther reminds us (and Peter the Barber!) to be careful not to undertake this, or attempt all of this, in a way where you become “weary and burdened” by it. Prayer isn’t meant to be burdensome, but is meant to be liberating and a delight! He also writes, “Likewise, a good prayer SHOULD NOT be lengthy or drawn out, but frequent and ardent (intense).”

Beloved, that is meant to encourage you practically in your own prayer life. And Luther says to YOU, “May our dear Lord grant to YOU and to everybody to do it better than I! Amen.”