Prayers from the Cloud is a compilation of other peoples’ prayers. My premise is that praying other people’s prayers enlarges our prayer life. That’s why pastors took the trouble to write prayer books–to teach their people how to pray.
While Johann Habermann (1516-1590) was a famous preacher and distinguished scholar in his day, his lasting contribution is a lengthy book of prayers for German people. His book with the sizzling title, Christian Prayer for Every Difficulty and All Ranks of the Whole Community was first published in 1567 and became the most widely read and translated Protestant prayer book until the twentieth century. Many contemporary prayer books still include adapted versions of his prayers. The format Johann used was not original with him. Our Catholic readers will delight to know that he borrowed it from the Jesuits. His prayers are divided into two parts. The first section offers morning and evening prayers for every day of the week plus sacred holidays. The second section intercedes on behalf of people in every imaginable life circumstance: pregnancy, widowhood, birthdays, traveling to and from a journey, before and after a thunderstorm.
The desert ascetics retreated from daily life to focus exclusively on prayer. Since many people couldn’t escape to the desert for prayer, Johann wrote prayers to correspond to every facet of daily life. His prayers are intended to connect God’s real presence to everyday life. Johann leads us to pray: