It says something about Luther that his barber would be willing to ask him such a question, doesn’t it? Apparently, they spoke about spiritual matters while engaged in a common earthly matter – which is often the best way.
Here’s Luther’s response, written in 1535:
Dear Master Peter: I will tell you as best I can what I do personally when I pray. May our dear Lord grant to you and to everybody to do it better than I! Amen.You can find the rest of his response in multiple books, including one called “Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings” published by Augsburg Fortress. Google has indexed his entire response as well.
First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my Book of Psalms, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do.
Luther’s humility is admirable, isn’t it? He wants his barber, and everybody else, to exceed him in prayer. He admits to being cool and joyless in prayer. And he admits to being distracted. Can you relate? Me too.
I love how he didn’t depend on himself to jumpstart his prayer life. He didn’t try harder, or make promises to himself that he couldn’t keep. Instead, he turned to the Psalms, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed, various New Testament passages, or the church to get back on track.
The Book of Common Prayer and The Valley of Vision have been the two most common resources I have used when my own prayer life needs a boost. Although, I have to be careful about falling into the trap of believing my prayers must sound so eloquent that I do not leave room for the most basic cry: “Lord, help me.”
What do you do to get back on track when your prayer life has been cool and joyless?
I experienced a very dark season several years ago. Praying was mostly a groan. I started reading through Psalms and writing down every section that mirrored my emotions at the time. I found that I was praying along with the writer of the poem, and the connection between our emotions helped to validate and encourage me in that dark place. It have me hope.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's good stuff Ron. Did you write your own thoughts after you made the connection?
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