A Simple Way to Pray

.   A SIMPLE WAY TO PRAY

Recently I have been trying to improve my prayer life. While reading Tim Keller’s book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, I found him directing me to a little book written by the reformer Martin Luther titled A Simple Way to Pray. It seems that Martin Luther’s barber, a man named Peter, once asked Luther for some advice regarding how to pray, and Luther responded by writing A Simple Way to Pray. There Luther advised Peterto begin by meditating on some portion of Scripture—perhaps the 10 Commandments, the words of Christ, or some other portion of the Bible because this should warm his heart and incline it toward prayer. Luther then urged Peter to pray through the Lord’s Prayer and then, if time and opportunity permitted to do the same with the 10 Commandments. He urged Peter to think of each commandment first as instruction.  Afterward he should turn it into a thanksgiving, followed thirdly by a confession, and finally into a prayer. Let me illustrate that using the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 ESV).

First, seek to find the instruction of the text. In the first commandment you will probably conclude that God expects and teaches you to trust him in everything and that he desires to be your God. Now turn that into a thanksgiving by expressing your gratitude to God for being good enough to tell you that he intends to be your God, and thank him that he did not leave you to seek many gods. Next, turn it into a confession by acknowledging your great sin and ingratitude for despising his teaching that he is the only God you should have, and for having provoked his wrath by devoting yourself to idols of various kinds. Finally, turn it into a prayer by pleading for forgiveness and then asking God to help you to understand the commandment better as well as for the ability to obey it. 

This simple plan is helpful because it guides you to pray according to the Scriptures.  Instead of struggling to figure out what to pray for, pray about what the Scripture says and you will know you are praying for the kinds of things God wants for you, for surely he wants your life to conform to the teachings of Scripture. So, as you do your daily Bible reading, take a verse or a few verses and think through what they really teach, then thank God for it, confess to him all the ways you can think of that you have failed to embrace that teaching, and then ask him to help you understand the truth better and to obey it. You are going to be hard pressed to find a simpler, yet better way to pray. I know I am very glad God led me to it.