Though we may not recognize it in 21st century American Christianity,
the Psalms have been considered the prayerbook of the bible for
thousands of years. Patristic, Medieval, and Reformation era Protestant Christians
all used the Psalms as the anchor of their daily prayer life.
It's a practice that is almost unheard of as we pray today, in 21st century America. In an attempt to re-investigate the Psalms as
our
personal prayers, I'd like us to look at a short writing of Deitrich
Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was an early 20th century German Lutheran
theologian, and is famous for his martyrdom at the hands of Nazi
Germany (For those unfamiliar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, here is his
Wikipedia entry).
As a Lutheran, Bonhoeffer practiced praying the Psalms as part of his
own daily spiritual formation. This was a practice held and advocated
by Martin Luther, and continues to be a key component of Lutheran
spirituality.
Bonhoeffer wrote a short but profound work entitled
Psalms: The Prayerbook of the Bible and argues, among other things, that we need to learn the language of God for our prayers. That we ought to pray the very words of God in our prayer lives.
Bonhoeffer's thoughts on prayer (that as children we need to learn the language of
our father, and that our heart alone cannot guide our prayer) is very
shocking to American Evangelicals nearly 100 years later. What do you
think? Do you think he's way off or is this something we need to hear? What do you think about the
church's historical approach to prayer?
