Praying Luther's Small Catechism

I have been working through this book in my own devotional and prayer time, and I recommend it to others as well. Luther always intended for his catechism to be used as a prayer book throughout one’s life, not just relegated to a confirmation textbook. Indeed, his answers are written in such a way as to be easily modified into prayer form by rephrasing them slightly. This is a wonderful tool for my prayer life. By working through one section a day (2-3 pages each), I can focus on a different Commandment, article of the Creed, or petition of the Lord’s Prayer. I encourage you to consider adding this resource to enrich your own prayer life. It is well worth it! My only criticism of this book is the way it is formatted with the footnotes. To me, they are quite distracting. Some pages have numerous footnotes, and not just for references. There are extra quotes there as well, which breaks up the reading of the main text. I think I’d prefer just inserting those extra quotes into the body of the text, then putting the references into an appendix at the end of the book. Still, the content of the book far outweighs the distraction of the footnotes, and I will be coming back to this book again and again.

Luther’s Small Catechism is a prayer book. It is “a spiritual companion on a man’s journey from cradle to grave; the Christian’s daily prayer and meditation.” (Gottfried Krodel ) “First and foremost the catechism is meant to be prayed, as a daily exercise, as Luther wished it to be.” (Werner Klän) John T. Pless rediscovers this for our time. In his new book, Praying Luther’s Small Catechism, Pless reveals how you can pray the Small Catechism. You can speak to God about the most important things in life and death, in time and eternity. You can do it with simplicity and with a sound form of words. Amazingly, this is much easier than one would think, because in catechetical prayer, God takes the initiative and puts into our mouths the very words He loves to hear. In this kind of prayer, even the commandments are promises, and we pray with faith in God’s promises to give us all things, especially his promises to give us himself. In chapter 1, Pless introduced the basics of praying the catechism. In chapters 2 through 9, he moves through the Six Chief Parts, Daily Prayers, and the Table of Duties. Four appendices treat the Catechism as the handbook for the vocation of the laity in worship and prayer, Luther’s morning and evening prayers as reflections of the Our Father, the Psalms organized according to the Lord’s Prayer, and preparation for Confession and Absolution according to the Ten Commandments. Each section begins with material from the Small Catechism followed by a prayer developed out of that material. Then commentary on the teaching of the passage shows how the teaching shapes praying. Here are a few example prayers in the book. On the Third Commandment: "By Your Word and Spirit, draw us away from our restless labor that we might find rest in You alone, merciful God. Grant that, fearing and loving You above all things, we may never despise the preaching of your Word of Life, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it; through Jeus Christ, our Lord. Amen." On the Second Question concerning Baptism: "Lord Jesus Christ, by Your death You have purchased and won for us forgiveness of sins, rescuing us from death and the devil and obtaining eternal salvation which You now work in Baptism. Give us Your Spirit that we may believe what You have said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” and so receive these gifts of forgiveness of sins, victory over death and the devil, and eternal salvation, as Your words and promises declare. Amen." On how bodily eating and drinking of the bread and wine can do such great things: "Lord Jesus Christ, as we eat Your holy body and drink Your holy blood, draw our hearts to trust in your promise that Your body and blood were given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Give us the confidence that whoever believes Your words has exactly what they say: “forgiveness of sin”; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God. Amen." Praying to God from the catechism