There is no finer prayer for Christians to pray than the prayer Christ Himself has taught us. It has the command, example and promise of the Lord Himself, unlike any other prayer. So, when a friend, or a relative, asks you how to pray, give them the Lord’s Prayer. The Large Catechism puts matters very well, about the real and original “Jesus prayer,” our Lord’s Prayer, which He has given to us:

We should be moved and drawn to prayer. . . God expects us and He Himself arranges the words and form of prayer for us. He places them on our lips for how and what we should pray [Psalm 51:15], so that we may see how heartily He pities us in our distress [Psalm 4:1], and we may never doubt that such prayer is pleasing to Him and shall certainly be answered. 23 This ‹the Lord’s Prayer› is a great advantage indeed over all other prayers that we might compose ourselves. For in our own prayers the conscience would ever be in doubt and say, “I have prayed, but who knows if it pleases Him or whether I have hit upon the right proportions and form?” Therefore, there is no nobler prayer to be found upon earth than the Lord’s Prayer. We pray it daily [Matthew 6:11], because it has this excellent testimony, that God loves to hear it. We ought not to surrender this for all the riches of the world. 24 The Lord’s Prayer has also been prescribed so that we should see and consider the distress that ought to drive and compel us to pray without ceasing [1 Thessalonians 5:17]. For whoever would pray must have something to present, state, and name, which he desires. If he does not, it cannot be called a prayer.

I just bumped into another pastor’s presentation on the classic orders of daily prayer, as featured in Treasury of Daily Prayer. These orders of daily prayer are also known as “offices.” The word “office” comes from the Latin word officium and derives from the term officium divinum meaning “divine office” or “divine duty,” the term used to describe the various orders of prayer used in the Western Church, developing eventually into seven set “hours” of prayer, hence the expression, “The liturgy of the hours.” Here is a PDF file that Pastor Karl Bachman prepared. divine_office (PDF) and here is the Word format of this document: divine_office

Pastor Esget posted some of his notes at a workshop he has given on how to use the Treasury of Daily Prayer. Very useful! Check it out. I particularly love the advice Pr. Esget gives, and other pastors are giving and the advice the Treasury itself offers: if you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up and give up. Remember the words from Luke’s Gospel: “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should pray and not give up.” (Luke 18:1). By the way, if you have been noticing an uptick in posts on this blog about prayer and the devotional life, you have noticed correctly. I’ve been studying and researching Lectio Divina for a number of months and will soon be putting some thoughts down about it and about how Lutheranism has the best approach to Lectio Divina and has the best theological resources for truly Christ-centered prayer and meditation on the Scriptures. Does that surprise you?

I have heard from folks who are enjoying the Treasury of Daily Prayer that they are a bit uncertain about using the order of Matins and Vespers or Compline, in the middle of the book, because they think these orders are really not appropriate for personal/private use, but really for a group of people in a church service. A pastor even recently told me he doesn’t understand how the Order of Matins can be used as a personal order of prayer and mediation on God’s Word. I think this is an understandable reaction, though a mistaken one. Here’s why. I believe that there is among us a fundamental misunderstanding about what precisely we mean when we say we “private prayer and mediation on God’s Word.” When we use the word “private” or “personal” we assume that this means we are actually alone, and truly by ourselves.  The truth is that while we may be “in private” we are never alone when we pray.

First, the Holy Spirit is with us constantly, often providing words and sighs and groans too deep for words, when our words fail, the Holy Spirit strengthens us. Second, the Living Christ and in fact, the Blessed Holy Trinity, is with us in a mysterious indwelling and communion. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who never acts as a “free agent” but is always, and ever, with us, in communion with the entire Holy Trinity. Then, there is the mysterious Body of Christ, the holy Christian Church, in which we are constantly in communion, even when we are physically alone. And so, it is entirely appropriate that we pray Matins, even when we are alone, because at all times we are, actually, in truth, never alone. We are always praying with the Church. We are, in Christ, and therefore, where Christ is, there is His body. Here is how Luther put it, very nicely:

Never think that you are kneeling or standing alone, rather think that the whole of Christendom, all devout Christians, are standing there beside you and you are standing among them in a common, united petition, which God cannot disdain. Luther, AE 43:198

HT: Weedon.

My friend, Pastor William Weedon, several years ago, shared with me a number of daily prayers he has compiled from various sources, mainly from the Eastern Orthodox Church. They have become precious to me and I use them every morning. You might find them helpful too. I have printed them out and pasted them into my copies of Treasury of Daily Prayer, in the back, on the extra pages. I particularly like to prepare for daily Matins by praying the first prayer, then I use the rest of the prayers for petitions later in Matins.

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that your will governs all. In all my deeds and words, guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforseen events, let me not forget that all are sent by You. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, and You yourself pray in me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son , and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen

O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, in Your mercies and lovingkindness You regard the humble prayers of all who call upon You with their whole heart; incline Your ear and hear now my prayer, offered to You in humility:

Be Mindful, O Lord, of Your Holy, Christian and Apostolic Church; confirm and strengthen her, increase her and keep her in peace, and preserve her unconquerable forever.

Be mindful, O Lord, of our Herbert, (your District President’s name) and of William (your pastor’s name), and of all the clergy of the Church, which You have established to feed the flock on Your word. Strengthen them in their ministry and answer their prayers on my behalf and on behalf of the whole Christian Church.

Be mindful, O Lord, of all civil authorities, of our armed forces, of this place in which we reside, and of every city and the countryside; grant them peaceful times, that we, in their tranquility, may lead a calm and peaceful life in all godliness and sanctity.

Be mindful, O Lord, of my parents,(their names), of my brothers and sisters,(their names), of relatives,(their names), and of my friends,(their names); grant that they may have mercy, life, peace, health, salvation and visitation, pardon and remission of their sins; that they may ever praise and glorify Your Holy Name.

Be mindful, O Lord, of those who travel by land, by sea, and by air; of the old and young, the sick, the suffering, the sorrowing, the afflicted, the captives, the needy and the poor; and upon them all send forth Your mercies, for You are the Giver of all good things.

Be mindful, O Lord, of me, Your humble servant; grant me Your grace, that I may be diligent and faithful, avoiding evil company and influence, resisting temptation; that I may lead a godly and righteous life, blameless and peaceful, ever serving You; and grant me at last the grace of etnering the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

O God, our heavenly Father, You love mankind, and are most merciful and compassionate, have mercy upon our children, Your servants, (their names), for whom I humbly pray You, and commend them to Your gracious protection. Be, O God, their guide and guardian in all their endeavors; lead them in the path of Your truth, and draw them near to You, that they may lead a godly and righteous life in Your love and fear; doing Your will in all matters. Give them grace that they may be temperate, industrious, diligent, devout and charitable. Defend them against the assaults of the enemy, and grant them wisdom and strength to resist all temptation and corruption of this life; and direct them in the way of salvation, for the merits of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

My bountiful God, I beseech You, listen to my humble prayer, that I may ever feel that the married state is holy and that I must keep it holy. Grant Your grace that I may never sin against the faithfulness and love of this marriage. Foster between “Name” and me the spirit of understanding and of peace, that no strife, quarrel or misunderstanding, may arise between us. Grant us health and our daily bread, whereby we may serve You more. Amen.

Is there such a thing as Christian meditation? Of course there is. And it is not some kind of odd “import” from Eastern religions. Here is how Dr. John Kleinig describes it. Consider his words carefully, and then consider how you could make use of them in your life of prayer and meditation on God’s Word. I have been personally richly blessed by John’s insights, which follow:

Christian meditation differs from all other kinds of meditation because it concentrates on what Jesus says; it is meditation on His Word as it is given to us in the Scriptures. We meditate on His powerful Word. His Word has an impact on us as we pay attention to it, does its work in us as we listen to it, and reshapes us inwardly as we let it have its say. The words of Jesus actually produce our meditation. Yet that does not happen automatically but only as we put our trust in it.

As Christians, we have all experienced the power of God’s Word in us as a word of judgment and salvation. Its impact on our conscience is described most vividly in Hebrews 4:12–13: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

As we meditate on God’s Word, we stand spiritually naked before God and in His sight. His Word puts us face-to-face with Him. That Word penetrates and exposes the secret reaches of our hearts; it lays us bare before God and holds us accountable to Him. But, best of all, it does all this so that it can give us life and do its work in us.

Luther’s Insight
Martin Luther explains the power of meditation on God’s Word most memorably in a sermon that he preached on Christmas Day in 1519. There he speaks about “sacramental” meditation on the Gospels and their stories about Jesus:

“All the words and stories of the gospels are sacraments of a kind, sacred signs by which God works in believers what the histories signify. Just as baptism is the sacrament by which God restores us; just as absolution is the sacrament by which God forgives sins, so the words of Christ are sacraments through which he works salvation. Hence the gospel is to be taken sacramentally, that is, the words of Christ need to be meditated on as symbols
through which that righteousness, power, and salvation is given which these words themselves portray. . . . We meditate properly on the gospel, when we do so sacramentally, for through faith the words produce what they portray. Christ was born; believe that he was born for you and you will be born again. Christ conquered death and sin; believe that he conquered them for you and you will conquer them.” (WA 9:439, 442; author’s translation)

When Luther speaks of the words of Christ as sacraments, he is not using the term in its narrow sense, but more broadly as a divine enactment, a sacred sign that conveys what it signifies. Neither God’s Word by itself nor faith in itself produces the kind of meditation that God desires. Rather, meditation is the exercise of faith in Christ and His performative Word, for faith receives what Christ gives to us through His Word. We receive, as we believe. . . .

Our Spiritual Director
Luther, in his teaching on meditation, highlights this role of the Holy Spirit as our teacher and guide. His basic assumption is that the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures still animates them and us through them. Thus he says:

“You should meditate . . . not only in your heart, but also externally, by actually repeating and comparing oral speech and literal words of the book, reading and rereading them with diligent attention and reflection, so that you may see what the Holy Spirit means by them. . . . For God will not give you his Spirit without the external Word; so take your cue from that. His command to write, preach, read, hear, sing, speak, etc., outwardly was not given in vain.” (AE 34:286)

So we receive the Holy Spirit from God the Father by meditating on the external Word, the Word that comes to us from outside, the Word that speaks to us from the Scriptures. This understanding of how God’s Spirit is given through God’s Word shapes the evangelical practice of meditation. Before we meditate on what is written for us in the Scriptures, we do well to pray to God the Father through His dear Son for the gift
of the Spirit to guide, enlighten, and empower us. Yet we do not just pray for the Holy Spirit to direct our meditation on His Word; we actually receive the Holy Spirit as we meditate on the Word. Thus we meditate on the Word so that the Spirit will tell us what God the Father has to say and to give to us through His Son.

The Preaching of the Holy Spirit
This gift of the Holy Spirit is most evident in what Luther calls the preaching of the Spirit. By this he refers to the occasional flood of inspiration and enlightenment, jubilation and empowerment that breaks in on us as we meditate on God’s Word. We can’t force inspiration but can only receive it when it happens. Enlightenment is given as we attend to the Scriptures and become engrossed in them as they speak personally to us. Luther gives this advice about the enlightenment that comes in meditation:

“If such an abundance of good thoughts comes to us, we ought to . . . make room for such thoughts, listen in silence, and under no circumstances obstruct them. The Holy Spirit himself preaches here, and one word of his sermon is far better than a thousand of our prayers.” (AE 43:198)

Source:

John W. Kleinig, Grace upon Grace: Spirituality for Today (St. Louis: Concordia, 2008), 100–102, 110–11.

Also by John Kleinig:

Lutheran Spirituality: Prayer

Commentary on Leviticus: The Concordia Commentary Series

HT to Dr. Veith at Cranach for this one. Words fail. Except to say that if it is a Macintosh doing the praying, I can see it as being more helpful since "the prayer of a righteous computer, avails much." The picture here is from the web site. I thought this comment, from the web site in question, was priceless:

About Information Age Prayer

Information Age Prayer is a subscription service utilizing
a computer with text-to-speech capability to incant your prayers each day.
It gives you the satisfaction of knowing that your
prayers will always be said even if you wake up late,
or forget."

Here is Dr. Veith's post:

Thanks to Rich Shipe for alerting us to Information Age Prayer,
a site that will pray your prayers for you–audibly and regularly–for a
subscription fee. For $3.95 a day, your computer can recite the Lord’s
Prayer for you. It can pray for your child for only $1.99. From the
site’s FAQ:

Are the prayers meaningless, will subscribing really make a difference?
As with all prayer, the final results are up to God as everything
follows His will. We make no claims regarding the efficacy of the
service, however it is our opinion that the omniscient God hears the
prayers when they are voiced, as He hears everything on this Earth. The
omniscient God knows exactly who has subscribed and who each prayer is
from when their name is displayed on screen and their prayer voiced. He
is also aware of all donations to charity from each subscriber and we
can surely make a difference in these charities supported.

Are prayers blasphemous when voiced by a computer?
We recommend you contact your local clergy for a personal answer,
however we think that Information Age Prayer is a new and exciting way
to connect with God.

How exactly will my prayer be voiced?
We use state of the art text-to-speech synthesizers to voice each
prayers at a volume and speed equivalent to typical person praying.
Each prayer is voiced individually, with the name of the subscriber
displayed on screen. If the prayer is for someone else, then that name
is displayed on screen instead. For more information see our terms of
use.

Can I purchase a subscription for a friend or relative?
Yes, simply list their name as the person the prayer will belong to.
Start by choosing their religion from the links on the top left. [The
choices are Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Unaffiliated, and
Other Religions.]

Is it wrong to charge for prayers?
The fees assure our customers that we are the most reliable service
provider for Information Age Prayer. While most companies only donate a
small portion of profits to charity, Information Age Prayer donates a
full 10% of revenue to charity before subtracting  our operating costs.
For more information see our terms of use. If you are a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization and would like us to donate to you see this
page. . . .

Can I get a direct Peer to Peer connection with God?
God is not your peer, His connection with you is ever-present. What we
offer is a way you can tell God that you think of Him every day with
our Information Age Prayer Services.

This reminds me of the medieval practice of hiring monks and nuns to
pray for you, which Luther was so irked about. Only now you don’t even
need monks and nuns.

Let's be sure to remember our pastors in our prayers as they are preparing to preach on the Nativity of our Lord during these coming holy days of Christmas. Here is one such prayer, for you to consider using. And, be sure to tell your pastor you are praying for him, and when you do tell him that, then be sure to pray for him! God bless all those called to shepherd the flock of God over which the Holy Spirit has appointed them overseers.

O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, my Lord and my God, I humbly pray that you would pardon my sins, and my pastor's sins. Look not on our unworthiness but on your great mercy, by which you have appointed my pastor to be your ambassador in Christ's stead. Put your word in his mouth and speak with his tongue. Bring forth fruits through his ministry and let not the preaching of your word be without effect in my life and in our congregation.

Based on a prayer in the Pastoral Care Companion, p. xix.

Oh, boy. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it: Treasury of Daily Prayer. As I mentioned a month or so ago, this is going to be a tremendous resource. Just today the CPH team working on the project met to talk about a really nice web site devoted to Treasury. We are pulling together a great mailing on it, including the usual sign-up posters, and a great introductory price for this beautiful book.

I was able to take a look at several sections of the book in final layout. Beautiful! This is truly a first in Lutheran publishing, in any language, let-alone in English. It is the most comprehensive single-volume resource for those who are hungering for a deeper life of intentional prayer, anchored in the treasures of the church’s historic orders of morning and evening prayers, with a keen focus on meditation on the Word of God.

Here is yet another “teaser trailer” to whet your appetite for this resource.

THE COMPREHENSIVE ALL-IN-ONE RESOURCE FOR INTENTIONAL DAILY DEVOTION

In over 1,500 pages, presented in a beautifully designed and
well-presented sturdy volume, Treasury of Daily Prayer provides
everything needed every day, for the entire year in one place:
• psalmody • Scripture readings • hymnody • devotional readings from the church fathers • prayers •
As well as: • the full liturgy for Matins, Vespers, and Compline • the
short orders for Daily Prayer for Individuals and Families • seasonal
Invitatories and Responsories • a selection of daily and occasional
prayers • Luther’s Small Catechism • all 150 Psalms • Old Testament
canticles • and several other resources for daily prayer and piety •