I.T.C.P. Pray

One of the complaints that I sometimes receive about Confirmation programs is that everything is academic and hypothetical. 

I am trying to take a practical approach with the students while I bring that academic knowledge to them. This means I am trying to help your child learn some habits and disciplines that have been used by Christians for centuries ... millennia! ... to help them put on the full armor of God. Remember that the armor of God is God's armor that He places on His children. This takes place as He works in our lives through the Means of Grace - the Word and the Sacraments. 

I will be teaching your children to read their Bibles and to pray (or grow in his/her ability to pray) through practice, as well as expanding his/her understanding. 

The model I will use is very similar to the model I follow when I do my devotions. It has prayer and readings from the Bible and from Luther's Small Catechism. I will also teach the students an outline for prayer that Martin Luther used, which he, himself, taught his friends to help them pray. 

You can read Luther’s letter about this pattern of prayer here: http://www.se.lcms.org/uploads/simple_way_pray_luther.pdf. It is called, "A Simple Way to Pray." I encourage you to read it so you can help your child, and so you can test his/her understanding. 

The outline for prayer is: 

I - instruction

T - thanksgiving  

C - confession

P - prayer

The exercise is a combination of meditation and prayer. The person who uses this outline listens to God's Word, considers it, and applies it, and then he/she responds to God in prayer on the basis of the Word. 

The devotions are designed to reinforce the lesson we had in class. The Bible readings and Catechism reading will relate to the topic we discussed. This will, hopefully, accomplish the following.

• It will keep the topic in their mind. 
• It will expand their experience of the topic.
• It will allow them to listen to God's Word on the topic.
• It will help them pray about the topic - giving words to the things they've learned. 
• It will expose them to God's Word - one of the Means of Grace that the Holy Spirit uses to create, sustain, and strengthen our faith. 

It is my prayer that, as your student (or you) use these devotions, they will help your faith in Jesus grow and strengthen, and that the growth and strength will translate into lives of witness and service to God.