Dwelling in God’s word: the discipline of daily prayer

What was the first thing that went through your mind as you opened your eyes and woke this morning? And what was the last thing that went through your mind before you went to sleep last night?

Are conversations with God a regular part of your morning or nightly routines?

Read Psalm 5:3, Mark 1:35 and Psalm 55:17.
What do these passages tell us about prayer?

One of the best things my mother did with me and my two sisters was our nightly devotional time. We would read a devotion from Little Visits With God, talk about it, say the Lord’s Prayer and/or the Apostles’ Creed and then recite from memory Luther’s Evening Prayer, ‘Now I lay me down to sleep’ or the last verse of Silent Night.

Years later, as I looked into Luther’s teaching on prayer and the prayers in his Small Catechism, it dawned on me powerfully that our nightly routine was exactly what Luther intended!

What was your own experience – if any – with a childhood prayer or devotion routine?

The discipline of daily habitual prayer is described all through Scripture; from The Shema being said when we lie down and when we wake up (Deuteronomy 6:4–9), to the mid-morning, midday and mid-afternoon practice of prayer that had become Jewish practice in Jesus’ time and was carried on by the disciples and early church. (See Psalm 55:17, Acts 2:15, 3:1, 10:9.) The early church text the Didache mentions saying the Lord’s Prayer at these times.

Read Psalm 119:164. What does this text call us to do?

One of the things I love about Luther’s Morning and Evening Prayers (see them at the bottom of this page) is that my first words of the day are of my faith – committing the day ahead to the Lord – and that my last words of my day are likewise to my Lord.

When we sleep we are vulnerable. We lose conscious control of our bodies and environment. We don’t know what comes next. What will we wake up to? Will we even wake at all?

The genius of Luther’s Evening Prayer is that it encapsulates this sentiment: ‘If this night is my last, well Lord God, that is up to you. I entrust all I love and care for in this present world into your hands. At this gateway of existence, my last earthly thought is of my loved ones, and my last words are words to you, my rock and my redeemer. My future is in your hands – whether in this world or the next. Regardless, I know your angels are guarding me and my loved ones.’

In her later years, when my mum had major surgery that she might not have survived, she was understandably nervous and concerned. So, I reminded her what she did with us kids each night. I said: ‘Let’s pray Luther’s Evening Prayer. And, as they wheel you into surgery and the anaesthetic puts you under, just keep repeating that prayer. Or say the Lord‘s Prayer or the Creed or see how far you get in reciting the Small Catechism.

Mum came through that surgery. When I spoke to her next she was excited at all she could remember of the Small Catechism and the comfort that her last thoughts would be of her Lord and Saviour.

To start this study, I asked a question: What are your last thoughts before going to sleep and what are your first thoughts as you rise in the morning?

I’ve made it my habit to say the invocation as I wake up: ‘In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit’ and then to pray Luther’s Morning Prayer or the Lord’s Prayer followed by other prayers if I feel led. At night, I say the Luther’s Evening Prayer – or meditate on each petition. It’s a simple routine that works for me. Maybe it can work for you, too.

Stephen Abraham is a musician and Lutheran pastor who retired early due to a severe spinal injury and resulting chronic pain, as shared through Lutheran Media (Go to www.messagesofhope.org.au/chronic-pain-2/). As his condition allows, Stephen serves his local church and school. He also writes and records music and Christian meditations, shared at www.youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic 

LUTHER’S MORNING AND EVENING PRAYERS

Before praying these prayers, you may wish to make the sign of the cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, followed by the appropriate prayer below.

Morning Prayer

Thank you, Father in heaven, through your Son Jesus Christ, for protecting me all night from harm and danger. Protect me today from all sin and evil, so that everything I do will please you. I put myself and all I have into your hands. Send your holy angel to be with me, so that the devil will have no power over me. Amen.

Evening Prayer

Thank you, Father in heaven, through your Son Jesus Christ, for being good to me and protecting me today. Forgive me all the wrong things I have done. Protect me tonight. I put myself and all I have into your hands. Send your holy angel to be with me, so that the devil will have no power over me. Amen.