Christians have struggled with prayer for centuries. It all seems such a mystical mystery, especially when one sees God as the Almighty Sovereign ready to strike us down for any minor violation.
Yet Jesus urges us to pray "Abba, Father." Abba here is not a Swedish rock group but a Hebrew word that simply means "daddy." If you were to find a German equivalent, it would be "Vater" as opposed to "Herr." In English we might just say "dad" or "papa." Obviously it is a term of endearment and love and without fear of reprisal.
And the disciples definitely had trouble understanding prayer! Understand their plight. The Pharisees made an elaborate show of prayer, going through elaborate rituals and doing it in public. Well, the common man couldn't get the hang of it! They didn't know how to pray!
And that's when Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. Very simply, Jesus showed his disciples how to pour their heart out to a heavenly Father. The disciples could acknowledge the majesty of God—yet also ask their heavenly Father for daily bread!
That should settle it for Christians, right? I mean, if Jesus taught us in the Bible, then we’re taught. Except that the Lord's Prayer becomes another rote exercise to appease an angry God. We have to have a prayer and the Lord's Prayer is handy, so let's use that.
In Luther's day the laity had grown unaccustomed to prayer. Like the Pharisees in Jesus day, the powers that be made prayer almost unapproachable to the common person. The prayers were all in Latin, which very few people actually spoke. They used high-falutin' theological terms that no one could comprehend. And it seemed there was elaborate ritual with the prayers.
Luther's barber was a devout Christian, it seems. Oh sure, he had his problems. In a drunken rage he killed his son-in-law. It took Luther's intercession to keep this barber, Peter Beskendorf, from meeting his end and meeting his Maker. Peter was consigned to exile away from Wittenberg. Thus Luther begins his treatise to the person to whom he wrote it:
How One Should Pray, For Peter, the Master Barber
So how did Luther instruct Peter to pray? What magic formula or fancy words did Luther use? Luther simply told Peter what he does when he prays: Dear Master Peter: I will tell you as best I can what I do per-sonally when I pray. May our dear Lord grant to you and to every-body to do it better than I! Amen.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
