This is the second in a series of columns about family faith
practices. Last month was about table
graces. This month is about daily
devotions.
When Martin Luther wrote the
Small Catechism in the winter of 1528-1529 he focused primarily on the five
chief parts: the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, and
the two sacraments. They were first
published as posters to be used in the home or in school. But when the catechism was published in
booklet form, several things were added including Part VII
“Morning and Evening Prayer.” After
writing theological explanations Luther knew that faith is as much a matter of
the heart as of the head, and of practice as learning, so he added both morning
and evening prayer and prayers before and after eating a meal.
In both the morning and the
evening Luther suggested making the sign of the cross as the invocation is
said. He suggested kneeling or standing
as the Apostles’ Creed is recited and the Lord’s Prayer is prayed. Then he suggested a prayer for each time
adapted from ones used for centuries in Latin speaking Europe ,
especially in monasteries. After that he
suggested singing a hymn because Luther loved to sing (he was a tenor) or
“whatever your devotion may suggest.”
Finally, he concluded each devotional time with good advice. In the morning he said “you should go to your
work joyfully” and in the evening he said “then quickly lie down and sleep in
peace.”
In the 21st century
few will be this formal in their devotions, but the practice of daily devotions
is an excellent one that draws one closer to God. In our parish we provide several choices of
quarterly booklets with short daily devotions.
They can be expanded with a longer Bible reading, by following a prayer
suggestion, or by other things, or they can be read in just a few minutes. Our parish provides
- “Christ in Our Home” from
- “Portals of Prayer” from Concordia publishers (LCMS)
- “Spark” with activities for families with young children connected to our Sunday School curriculum.
Of course, there are many other
devotionals that people use including books with 365 daily devotions and a
variety of online devotions that can be accessed or received daily. There are so many that it is hard to keep up
with them all. One person loves a
particular devotional that comes by email daily and is rather disappointed in
me that I don’t read it daily as she does.
I am so pleased that she shares her daily devotion with me, even if I
choose other resources for my own life.
The daily devotion for Monday,
January 26, in “Christ in Our Home” had a comment that reflected Luther’s twin
concerns for daily piety as well as sound doctrine (the heart as well as the
head). The writer, Nancy Raabe of Wisconsin ,
wrote, “Many of us rely on books to get to know God. Books are instructive, but only through
prayer – the cultivation of a relationship with God – do we grow in faith.” How right she is!
Lent is a time of the year when
many people intensify their devotional life or some pious practice. These forty days have a long history of
encouraging such things. Sometimes
people will try a new devotional practice or set aside a new time of the day to
spend with Jesus. This is all good. One of the things that has come before me in
recent years is the practice of silence before the Lord. I have known verses like “be still and know
that I am God,” (Psalm 46) and “for God alone I wait in silence, for my hope is
from him” (Psalm 62) but only recently have neighboring pastors spoken of the
idea of sitting in total silence for a while as one part of worship or as a
devotion or to prepare to pray. And then
in the 40 ways of “Keeping a Holy Lent” from Denver there is #5 “take 5 minutes
of silence at noon.” The purpose of
silence is to clear your mind so you may hear God speak.
Whatever your current practice
and no matter what form of devotion suits you best, I encourage you to have
some form of regular devotion. It might
be early in the morning, at midday ,
or in the evening. It may be with others
or it may be all alone. It may be daily
or on some other schedule. It may utilize the devotionals our parish provides
or something else. You will be blessed
in doing it.
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