I recently read “Prayer Takes Us Home,” a book on prayer by German Catholic New Testament scholar Gerhard Lohfink. This isn’t a “how to” book as much as it is a “why” book. Lohfink deals with questions like: To Whom do we pray? Does it make sense to ask for things in prayer? What do the Psalms teach us about prayer? How can Christians meditate?

Lohfink makes an interesting observation about the Psalms: they are filled with praise of God, but the praise is always for a reason. Psalm 98 begins “O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things.” The same thing should happen in our prayers. Praise God for what God has done for us.

One of my problems in prayer is addressed in the book. My mind wanders when I’m praying. It’s especially noticeable in extended prayers, but sometimes my mind has gone walk-about even on a short, set prayer like the Lord’s Prayer. Lohfink writes: None of us can control the wanderings of our thoughts. Complete attention can only be brief, and God does not desire any kind of mental acrobatics. It suffices to turn one’s thoughts to God before praying and to say ‘Now I want to be wholly with you and nowhere else.’ And when our mercurial imaginations quickly fly away, we calmly haul them back and continue our prayer without worrying about it” (pp. 196-197).

This is the sort of book that requires several reading to extract all the substance. I commend it to you.

Read Jude 20-21 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne