Praying as a Family

From Pastor Peperkorn (pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church, Kenosha WI), as published on his Lutheran Logomaniac blog:

Prayer isn't something that just comes naturally. Prayer must be taught. Our Lord Himself demonstrates this when He teaches the disciples how to pray. He says,"Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…" (Matthew 6:9 ESV) We know that God both hears and answers our prayers. We know that it is a great benefit and blessing. But thanks to our old sinful flesh, we pass on our desire to hide from God and refuse to talk to Him. Our children learn not to pray from us.

Praying as a family can be almost as hard as praying alone or praying in your marriage. In some respects, it is even harder. How do you find the time? What if I don't want to pray? What if the kids are acting up or there's a game on that I want to watch? The reasons not to pray seem to go on and on.

The great thing about the Christian faith, though, is that it is never too late. Each day begins anew. Things can and do change. They can get better. How important is that to remember, as we bask in the glow of the resurrection!

So then, let's get to it. Here are a few simple steps to help make prayer a part of your common life together as a Christian family:

• Do it. Nike got it right. You don't debate whether to brush your teeth or eat breakfast in the morning. Christians pray. It's that simple. Think through how to make this a habit . It typically takes about six weeks to establish a habit. Give yourselves that six weeks. Make reminders. Put a note on the steering wheel or on the fridge (or on the remote control!). Make a commitment that as a family, we are going to pray together once a day (plus meals, which we will cover next month).

• Keep it simple. The Lord's Prayer and Luther's Morning or Evening prayer would be a great place to start. We've done that for years in our family, especially while our children are young. But by making that a part of our life as a family, it has slowly been ingrained into us and our children.

• Teach the words. Children learn how to speak from their parents. They learn how to pray from their parents, too. Give them the language of faith. Be deliberate about it. By being deliberate about it, you are telling your children that this is important, and that it is worth learning and doing. Start with the Lord's Prayer, and then work your way out to other prayers.

• Give yourself the context to succeed. You know your own family. When are they going to be the most likely to actually hear and pay attention? Nine o'clock at night? Right after supper? Right after breakfast. Each family is different. I would encourage you to think about what is prime time for your family, and then figure out how to work prayer into that prime time. If your children are tired, crabby and just want to either go to bed or fight with each other, that may not be the best time to work on praying.

• Don't despair! It is very easy to get discouraged with children. It's work. But it is totally worth it.

This is a gift you can give to them that will literally last forever. Pray for patience for yourself and your spouse. Pray for your children, that they learn how to receive God's Word and speak back to Him what He has given to them.

The blessings will flow from this. Believe me. I hope you're ready!

+ God be with you +

Pastor Peperkorn

[From the April 2010 Messiah's Messenger

The Collect during Lent

HT: the idea for this post comes from Weedon's blog


One aspect of the Divine Service that often people don't understand is the role of the Collect. The Collect of the Day is a historic, short prayer that the pastor prays on behalf of the gathered congregation during the Service of the Word. These are prayers that (in modified form) have been handed down to us over the centuries from the pre-Reformation unified Catholic Church. Typically, they take up the Gospel theme of the day- taking its note from the assigned reading of the Holy Gospel.


I have copied out the actual petition component of each collect below for the entire season of Lent. As you read them, consider what it is that each petition is asking of God. To my mind, these prayers are not only beautiful and well-crafted, their content is breath-taking and goes right to the heart of everything we need from our loving and gracious Triune God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

"Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness" (Ash Wednesday)

"Guide the people of Your Church that following our Savior we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come" (Lent I)

"By Your might power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul" (Lent II)

"Be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word" (Lent III)

"Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience" (Lent IV)

"Mercifully look upon Your people that we may be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul" (Lent V)

"Mercifully grant that we may follow the example of His great humility and patience and be made partakers of His resurrection." (Sun. of the Passion)

It truly is a season of bold requests to present at the throne of grace! May these prayers of the Church be your prayers throughout Lent - today - and every day.

The Discipline of Lent, Part III

Part III of the this series on Lenten Discipline: "our Lord's call to intensify our struggle against sin, death, and the devil— all that prevents us from trusting in God and loving each other" (Maundy Thursday litany). When we come to today's topic, prayer, we finally come to one that all Christians can agree on. Not all Christians are united their understanding of such God-given tools as repentance and fasting, but prayer is one of God's gifts that nearly all Christians agree upon.
The Discipline of Lent is four-fold: repentance, fasting, prayer and works of love. Today, then, we'll touch base on the third Lenten Discipline: prayer.
Prayer First of all, we need to answer the question of what prayer is. I like to answer it by stating first what prayer is NOT. Prayer is not mysticism. Prayer is not some sort of mystical activity in which we are drawn closer to God in contemplation and communication. If we want to be drawn closer to God, we go to God's Word and God's Sacraments. Prayer, by contrast, is us talking to God. It's a communication with God that naturally finds its anchor and focus in God's Word... and the best prayers are prayed with an open Bible in front of us. But prayer is not listening TO God, it's TALKING to God.
Daily prayer might include these things:

1. Begin by making the sign of the cross upon yourself in remembrance of your baptism as you speak the words of invocation ("in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen").
2. Use a devotional aid such as Portals of Prayer, the Treasury of Prayer, the Lutheran Hour, or CPH as a guide for prayer and meditation.
3. Use one of the Daily Prayer or Responsive Prayer services in the Lutheran Service Book (pages 294-298), following the lessons in the Daily Lectionary (pages 299-304).
4. The Psalms are a wonderful treasury for prayer. Use them. Sing them. Pray them.
5. Luther's Small Catechism is also is a wonderful tool for meditation and prayer. If you'd like, check out this unique resource: the Small Catechism in Prayer Form.
6. Use the Ten Commandments as a tool to examine yourself. Read each commandment one by one and hold yourself up to the mirror of God's Law. As it reveals to you your sins, turn to God in repentance and pray for forgiveness — knowing also that God's absolution certainly comes to you without delay.
7. Close your prayer time with the Lord's Prayer and with this little Lenten prayer: "Lord God heavenly Father, thank you this day and for this time of prayer. Through the Discipline of Lent, help me to grow in my faith in Your works; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen."