Listen here.
Welcome to Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the
appointed Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday. Thank you for being with
me today.
I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in
Hudson, OH.
On Fridays we explore some devotional thoughts, habits, and
practices, by looking at what others have written on devotion. We’ve kicked off
this series by looking at a great document written by Martin Luther called A Simple Way to Pray.
Before I get to that, though, I want to remind you of what I
mean when I say the word. Devotion is the deep reverence a person has
for a particular teaching of the Christian faith and it can be expressed in a
variety of ways – some contemplative and individual, others active and communal
– all of which show that the Holy Spirit is at work in that time and place.[1]
The particular form of devotion we are engaged in on this podcast is devotion
to God’s Word and prayer, and that is what we exploring in Luther’s letter. We
will explore some other forms in the future.
This document, A
Simple Way to Pray, is a letter that Luther wrote to his friend and barber,
a man named Peter Beskendorf. It might seem strange to have such a conversation
between a pastor and a barber … in fact that sound like the beginning of joke, “A
pastor and a barber were talking ….” But in the 1500’s barbers didn’t just cut
hair, they also provided medical care for their clients and those relationships
could be very close.
Let’s dive into this letter to learn how Luther taught his
friend to pray. I’m going to be reading from the American Edition of Luther’s
Works, vol. 43. This version of A
Simple Way to Pray was translated by Carl Schindler, and the copyright
belongs to Fortress Press. I am grateful that they have given me permission to
share this with you.
A Simple Way to Pray – paragraphs 3-6 – I did not ask for
permission to print A Simple Way to Pray,
but there are many versions available on line. Here is a link to one of them. A Simple Way to Pray.
Prayers –
O God, we thank you for your Word and for the gift of
prayer. We pray that you would help us grow in our devotion to meditating on
your Word and responding to you in prayer, and we ask that our devotion would
be rooted in your love for us and our love for you. We put ourselves, our
friends, our loved ones, and our enemies into your hands. Help us to walk with
you all our days. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Memory Verse: Matthew 18:12 - What do you think? If a man
has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the
ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
(Matt. 18:12 ESV)
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you can learn more and donate to help.
Thank you so much for using Devotions for Worship, I pray
that our time together has blessed you and given you something to meditate on –
some reminder of God’s grace to rattle around in your brain – for the rest of
the day.
Would you do me a favor? If you got something out of this
devotional time, would you like and/or share it on Facebook, Twitter, or
wherever you do social media? That would help me get the word out, and
hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to others.
God bless you!
[1] I
am heavily indebted to Dr. David Schmitt of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis for
this understanding, in fact what I just said is basically a paraphrase of his
definition of devotion in his essay in Inviting
Community, Devotion and
Community: Thresholds of Faith. He helped me to broaden my understanding of
devotional practices and habits.
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