Lutheran Woman's Quarterly
Fall 2022 "Lord, Teach Us to Pray"
Editor's Note
"Lord, Teach Us to Pray."
What do you expect with this request? Prayer can be supplication or intercession. Prayer can be spoken or silent. Prayers can be read from a book or spontaneously uttered. Prayer can be seconds long — arrows shot heavenward — or hours long — praying through your prayer list. Hymns are prayers. Dance can be done in prayer. Some pray through crafts and artistry (pages 2–7) — and we pray in thanksgiving and praise to give glory to our awesome God.
Do you pray using the five-finger prayer method (page 26), the ACTS formula (adoration, contrition/confession, thanks, and supplication), or by praying Scripture (praying the Psalms or other Scripture)? Some pray alone. Some pray with a prayer partner or a prayer chain. While some write their prayers in a book, others go on a prayer walk. Some spend quiet time, sitting alone with God, and some pray while they are driving. Some journal to record answers to prayers, while others do not. We pray before and after meals, but we also can pray and fast. Some pray throughout the day, while others have a set time for prayer — and many pray in each of these ways, depending on the time and situation. How do you pray?
Once, I was in a study which, each week, encouraged participants to use a different method to pray. One week was circle prayer time, but we all were to pray on the same subject. This kept us focused on God and not on “what can I pray for that someone else hasn’t.” Where’s your prayer focus?
Is one of these methods right — or more right — than others? A child once asked if God cared if something was misspelled. While God gave us the perfect example of prayer when His disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray,” He doesn’t count bad grammar or misspeaking against us. He knows we are imperfect, and, even when words fail us and we do not know what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26).
The important thing is to pray — to be in communication with God — and to listen to Him as He continues to teach us to pray.
Sheila Lutz, Editor-in-Chief
FEATURES
4 | Desire to Pray
IN EVERY ISSUE
| Editor’s Note
1 | Praying the Psalms — Psalm 116
9 | INK Spot — Mission Grant Resources
14 | Grants at Work: Phil’s Friends: Prayers and Cares or read it online here.
15 | 2021–2023 Mission Grant Update and Mission Grant Highlights
24 | Shop LWML
29 | President’s Page
| About 2022 LWML Sunday
BIBLE STUDIES
available to download and print
16 | Lord, Teach us to Pray — Part 1 & Part 2 — Leader Guides
20 | Praying Prayers Like Jesus — Bible Study
Praying Prayers Like Jesus — Leader Guide
22 | Orando oraciones como Jesús — Bible Study
Orando oraciones como Jesús — Leader Guide
Upcoming Issues
Share your stories with us at editor@lwml.org.
SPRING 2023: God's Chosen People
Celebrating our heritage as God's children.
(Submit by Oct. 1, 2022)
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man (Psalm 33:12–13).
SUMMER 2023: Proclaiming Christ
What does proclaiming Christ look like?
(Submit by Jan. 1, 2023)
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! (Psalm 96:3).
