Day 15: A Simple Way to Pray

Scripture
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:9-13

Devotion
Martin Luther lived about five hundred years ago—long before modern technology and modern distractions. Yet, he also experienced the whirlwind like we do. At one point he supposedly said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” The overwhelm of tasks and productivity weighed on him, but he didn’t rush into getting tasks done. Instead, he seems to think that this means he needs to prioritize prayer even more!

Reflecting on Luther’s thoughts on prayer, Nick Aufenkamp writes in his article titled “A Simple Way to Pray Every Day,” “It is strangely encouraging to be reminded that our temptation toward distraction from prayer for the sake of seemingly ‘more productive’ tasks is not unique to the digital age. The problem of our prayerlessness is not simply with our smartphones or schedules. The problem is with our hearts. So, if we really want to grow in our prayer life, we must take aim at something much deeper than surface distractions: our most inward affections and desires.” In other words, we can blame our age, but instead we should probably blame our own hearts. The frightening reality is that our desire for productivity, tasks, and accomplishments is occasionally stronger than our desire for God.

Now, admittedly, life sometimes feels like I am juggling multiple important plates that can’t be dropped in order to go pray. You probably feel that way too! So, I thought I would recover an ancient prayer and an ancient practice for us today.

First, the ancient prayer is the Lord’s Prayer. It comes from Jesus himself. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us how to pray by using the Lord’s Prayer. Can it be recited as it is? Yes! Can it be used as a model for prayer to pause after each phrase and pray spontaneously? Yes! In fact, Luther recommends that we do both! He says that it helped him to recite the Lord’s Prayer and then go back through it and use each phrase as a springboard to jump off.

Second, the ancient practice is to pray the Lord’s Prayer multiple times per day. In a document called the Didache—that was likely written only a few decades after the New Testament—the writer says, “Pray this three times each day.” There are numerous examples in Scripture of people praying multiple times per day (including: Daniel, David, and the apostles). Early Christians seem to have kept this pattern but with the Lord’s Prayer.

Maybe it would be helpful for us today to return to the simplicity of early church prayer—praying the ancient prayer in an ancient method!

Application
Try praying the Lord’s Prayer three times today! It may be helpful to spread them out! For example: morning, noon, and evening.

Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.