Do you ever wonder about prayer, wanting to know more about it, wanting to pray ‘better’?  Philip Yancey in his book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?, tells of Albert Einstein advising a graduate assistant writing a doctoral dissertation in physics: “Find out about prayer. Someone needs to find out about prayer.” Every Christian I know, new or mature, wants to know more about prayer: we feel we are all beginners.

It was wanting to know about prayer that led Martin Luther’s barber Peter Beskendorf to ask the great reformer, “Dr. Luther, how do you pray?” Luther promptly responded to his barber’s question by writing him a 40-page letter on how he prayed. Luther’s “prayer plan” turned out to be a way of grounding prayer in Scripture. Luther’s letter was intended to be personal advice but was soon spread and printed in various formats through the years, becoming widely popular and translated into many languages.

Luther began his letter, “Dear Master Peter, I shall do my best to let you know how I go about praying. May our gracious Lord help you and others do it better than I. Amen.” Luther then set forth how, with Bible in hand, he liked to ground his praying in scripture, asking of a Bible text four essential questions:

• What does the Bible lesson teach me to do? [INSTRUCTION]
• What does it teach me to be thankful for? [THANKSGIVING]
• What does it teach me to confess? [CONFESSION]
• What does it teach me to ask for? [PETITION]

Luther knew that by praying Scripture, our prayers are aligned with God’s will, echoing His thoughts and desires. He also knew that by praying Scripture we deepen our understanding of God’s Word, transforming our thoughts, attitudes, and action. Luther taught, “The Word of God is the foundation of all true prayer. If we are to pray rightly, our prayers must be rooted in the promises and teachings of Scripture.” Why not try this way of praying by beginning with some favorite passages of Scripture!

Luther’s friend Veit Dietrich heard Luther praying and wrote: “Once I was fortunate to overhear his prayer. Good God, what faith in his words, and with the trust and hope of one who speaks with his father and friend.” (Leonhard Ludwig, Luther Man of Prayer)

With the Word of God as foundation of prayer, I turn to Holy Scripture and begin to pray for our troubled nation:

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
(2 Chronicles 7:14)

Here the Lord gives us clear INSTRUCTION, THANKSGIVING, CONFESSION, and PETITION. We know how to pray!

A fellow traveler,
Tim