Little Prayer Book, 1522, and A Simple Way to Pray, 1535: The Annotated Luther Study Edition

This volume provides two of Martin Luther's most significant writings on prayer. In Little Prayer Book (1522), Luther seeks to reform the theology and practice of prayer in clear and understandable language for all people by encouraging simple, direct prayer to God, who promises to hear the one who prays. Luther focuses on the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, and Lord's Prayer, giving his treatment of prayer a catechetical feel that would later provide the structure of his catechisms.

In A Simple Way to Pray (1535), Luther offers his barber and all other readers insights into his own prayer life. He organizes his comments around the seven petitions of the prayer Jesus taught to his disciples. He also uses the Ten Commandments and the Apostles' Creed as resources for prayer. He sets out to "kindle a fire in the heart" and increase the reader's eagerness for prayer.

This volume is excerpted from The Annotated Luther series, volume 4 (Pastoral Writings). Each volume and selection in the series contains new introductions, extensive annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luther's context and to interpret his writings for today.

Mary Jane Haemig is professor of church history emerita at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She received her ThD from Harvard Divinity School in 1996. She taught at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington, from 1994 to 1999 and at Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, from 1999 to 2018. She focuses on the study of the Lutheran Reformation. She is the editor of The Annotated Luther volume 4, Pastoral Writings (2016), and an associate editor of the Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions (2017). She serves as an associate editor of Lutheran Quarterly.