This is a collection of 185 prayers by Martin Luther arranged topically with a few brief comments by the editor, Herbert Brokering. The best guide to its use is in Luther's advice to his barber on how an ordinary person could pray without distraction: "I do not want you to recite all these words in your prayer. That would make it nothing but idle chatter and prattle. Rather do I want your heart to be stirred and guided concerning the thoughts which ought to be comprehended in the Lord's Prayer." This may look like a handy collection of prayers for every occasion, but it is more properly an introduction to Luther, for whom life itself was a prayer, and through Luther to a conversational style of prayer "without ceasing." The indexes will prove useful for those who take the editor's suggestion and read the prayers as a commentary on Luther's catechism. The collection itself is a good introduction to Luther's style and the rhythm of his language; he was an ordinary person with an extraordinarily undistracted approach to prayer.
