Today I was driving to deliver a gift from our church to a man I met while walking through a tract of residential house in our Saturation USA evangelism outreach door-hangers. I started saying a little prayer that came to me one line at a time. As I thought about what I said, it was a simple prayer but had a lot of profound deep spiritual meaning of my gratitude to my Maker and Sustainer - God. At the next stop light, I quickly wrote it down, so I would not forget the words [I tend to have a short memory]. The prayer goes like this: “My dear heavenly Father, Thank you for this day. Thank you for this time. Thank you for this life with eternity in mind. Amen.”
I once read that in 1535 Martin Luther was approached about the question of “how to pray” by his barber and friend Peter. In response to the question Luther wrote an open letter he called, “A Simple Way to Pray.” That writing is available today in booklet form and I highly suggest that you purchase and read this great instruction on prayer by the Father of the Protestant Reformation. I bought copies for every member of my Small Group Bible Study. The opening words of that work acknowledge so well the weakness we all face as we try to pray faithfully as Christians: “I’ll do my best to show you how I approach prayer. May our Lord God help us all to do better in this regard. Amen.” It is said that the one thing that all Christ state that they feel can always be improved on in their Christian walk is their praying.
Luther points out that “a true prayer meditates on all the words and thoughts of the prayer, from beginning to end.” He would read and pray through the Psalms, the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, then the Apostles Creed. To pray these familiar and beloved pillars of the Christian faith, first, he read each line, thinking and meditating on the words to consider what it is teaching him, as intended by the Lord, and think about what God is so earnestly communication to him. Certainly the wisdom in such in an approach to meditating and praying is manifold and powerful. In fact, we could use this approach not only in examining the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments and Creed, but all of God’s Moral Law and any Scripture we read.
Luther says, “Likewise, a good prayer should not be long, nor should it be drawn out, but prayed often and fervently. It is sufficient if you work through one point or part of another so that you can kindle a flame in the heart. Now that will, and must, be given by the Spirit, and He will continue to instruct our hearts, if they are cleared out and emptied by God’s Word of distracting foreign thoughts.”
So, I think about my simple little prayer this morning in this detailed way of praying through each line. “My dear heavenly Father. You are in my heart and dear to me. You are in the kingdom of Heaven, were you reign over all creation and my eternal home when this life on earth comes to an end. You are my Maker, my Creator, my Father who cares and watches over me. You made this day and I rejoice in the opportunity to enjoy every aspect of it. You have given me put me in this time and place in history for a purpose and reason. May I seek, find and accomplish the purposes that you planned for me with joy. You are the giver of life and by your will you gave me precious life to live. May my thoughts, words and actions be pleasing in your eyes and may your holy name ever be praised. Thank you and Amen.”
Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Martin Luther writes: “Where the Holy Christian Church is, there one finds God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the Holy Spirit. And there is the Church, where God’s Word is rightly preached regarding such faith. Pray for a genuine strong faith that will endure and remain until you come to that place where it all will abide eternally, that is, after the resurrection of the dead in eternal life. Amen.”
Keep your prayers simple, yet honest, heartfelt and personal. It is a true blessing.
In Christ, Brian
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