Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

• Matthew 6:5-15

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

• Luke 11:1-4

“In this study of the Psalms, on the one hand, Bonhoeffer has no interest in or patience with the soupy spirituality often linked to the Psalter. On the other hand, he does not linger at all over the usual critical study of the Psalms, though he is of course completely familiar with that scholarly enterprise. In place of any generic spirituality or common scholarly analysis, he drives directly to the main point, which for him is always Jesus Christ. In this focus, he remains faithful to the work of Luther, who had invested great attentive energy in the Psalms.
“The pivot point for Bonhoeffer’s reading of the Psalms is that we are among the disciples of Jesus who asked him to ‘teach us to pray’ (Luke 11:1). Like those ancient disciples, we know a great deal about praying. But we also recognize that much of what we know about praying is inadequate for serious faith. Thus like Jesus’s disciples, we seek to learn to pray in a way that is informed by and responsive to the rule of Christ in our lives. And of course Jesus’s response to his disciples’ request is his offer of what we call the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4). That is Bonhoeffer’s starting point, as it is for Luther in his catechism. He follows the lead of Luther, who declares, ‘It [the Psalter] penetrates the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer penetrates it, so that it is possible to understand one on the basis of the other and to bring them into joyful harmony.’
“This initial connection of the Lord’s Prayer and the book of Psalms provides the ground for Bonhoeffer’s exposition in what follows. The linkage for Bonhoeffer is accomplished through a recognition that the Psalms are the prayers of David, forerunner to Jesus. Bonhoeffer knows that David likely composed some of the Psalms but that he was not the author of the whole book. Bonhoeffer nonetheless opts for the traditional linkage so that it is as follows:
1) David prayed the Psalms; 2) Jesus prayed the Psalms after David; and 3) we pray the Psalms after Jesus, and with Jesus, and through Jesus.”

• Walter Brueggemann, Introduction to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible

Dietrich Bonhoeffer compares the psalms to the Lord’s Prayer and Walter Brueggemann did a great job of summarizing Bonhoeffer’s first chapter.  After some introductory chapters, Rev. Bonhoeffer settles into a series of topics.  This rather tiny book then provides suggestions on how the psalms can be used as prayers.

In a year and a half of anguish after losing my job when in my sixties, I prayed Psalm 13 for months and then I switched to a different psalm.  Why?  I was still out of work, but my despair had lessened.  I was more in the mood of praying that “Hey, God, I am still out of work, but I know you have a plan.  So, what is it?”  I am no longer looking for a job.  I write about God’s answer to that second psalm.

If you pray the psalms, you may not change God, for He never changes.  You may not change the world.  It will be broken until Jesus returns.  But you will change you.

Lord, guide us as we pray.  You are our guide, our shining light.  You give us what we need, and that’s all that we need.  Help us to see the needs of others instead of asking you for stuff we do not need.  Help us to see the unforgiveness in us so that we can let go of that.  Otherwise, our hands will be too full to catch Your Grace.  And thank You for always being there and listening.  In Your name I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.