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. Thus at the end we become lax and lazy, cool and listless toward prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy or careless, and our flesh is too ready and eager to sin and is disinclined to the spirit of prayer.1 Martin Luther was a pastor-theologian. He worked out his theology in the midst of teaching, preaching, participating in public controversy, and meeting all kinds of pastoral needs. Due to the shape of his life and ministry, his theology has not come down to us in a systematic form.2 We have received his theology through his polemical and pastoral writings as well as his preaching and teaching. Some may lament the lack of systematization in Luther’s theology, but one of the fruits of Luther’s life and ministry is that this eminent theologian, well-trained in the languages with a deep understanding of the Scriptures, wrote on many practical issues that today’s systematic theologians rarely address. For example, Luther’s writings comfort women who had suffered miscarriages, encourage the dying, counsel the tempted, encourage the suffering, and much more.3 In his voluminous works, Martin Luther addresses many “practical” matters with the full-orbed, biblical theology of a theologian, the passion of a persecuted Reformer, and the heart of a parish pastor. One of the issues on which Luther wrote and taught extensively was prayer. The Reformation era witnessed massive theological and ecclesiastical shifts, but it also brought significant changes in the way both church leaders and common Christians viewed prayer and piety. Philip and Peter Krey explain that as the Reformation progressed, Luther’s understanding of devotion “moved away from its professionalization in the monastery into the home.”4 As theology changed, monasteries broke up, canonical hours ceased, and nuns and priests married, there became a need for a new paradigm for prayer. Luther put his pen to paper on many occasions in order to teach people how to pray in a way consistent with the evangelical theology. In 1519, Luther published a sermon entitled On Rogationtide Prayer and Procession. He was concerned about the way the people were observing Rogation week (an annual church festival) and focused his sermon on the proper way to pray during the observances and processions of that week. That same year Luther published An Exposition on the Lord’s Prayer, which teaches “the very nature of prayer in simple terms of everyday human life.” It went through thirteen German editions between 1519 and 1522. In 1522, Luther sought to advance evangelical piety and provide a substitute for popular Catholic prayer books with his own Personal Prayer Book. He followed the form of earlier prayer books but replaced the content with evangelical theology, moving from law to gospel to prayer. After the disappointing visitations of 1527 and 1528, Luther wrote the Small Catechism and Large Catechism as tools for pastors and fathers to use to improve the knowledge and worship of those entrusted to their charge. Luther’s catechism, which was similar in content to the Personal Prayer Book, included an explanation of the Lord’s prayer as well as instructions to fathers for daily family prayers. Several years later Luther’s barber asked him for advice on how to improve his prayer life. Luther’s largely autobiographical advice on how to maintain a daily prayer life was published in 1535 as A Simple Way to Pray.5 Luther dedicated it to “Peter, the Master Barber.” Throughout his ministry, the topic of prayer appeared regularly in his sermons. Nowhere is this clearer than in his 1537 sermons on John 14–16, where Luther’s mature theology and advice on prayer spans over two-dozen pages in the American edition of his works.6 This selection of Luther’s writings on prayer does not come close to exhausting everything he wrote on the subject. It does, however, provide a sufficiently representative sample of his writings on prayer, both in regard to time and genre. It spans from 1518 to 1538 and includes everything from sermons to personal advice to catechisms. This article examines these writings on prayer and answers two questions: What was Luther’s theology of prayer? And what was Luther’s practical instruction for prayer? The first section, which focuses on Luther’s theology of prayer, demonstrates how Luther’s belief in salvation by grace alone through faith alone shaped his view of prayer, and it shows what Luther believed the primary motivations for prayer should be. The bulk of this section, which represents the distinctive contribution of this article, will focus on what Luther thought the role of prayer should be in the context of the spiritual warfare he believed was raging all around him. The second section outlines Luther’s practical advice on how to pray, focusing especially on his catechisms and how he encouraged Christians to develop a spontaneous and continuous prayer life with the help of the Lord’s Prayer. I conclude by drawing a few lessons from Luther’s theology and instruction for contemporary ministry and Christian living.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 12:54:06 +0000
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