The child must be instructed. Begin early. Let it learn to pray as soon as it can speak. … We quote again from Luthardt: ‘Let it not be objected that the child cannot understand the prayer. The way of education is by practice to understanding, not by understanding to practice.
G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, pp. 49-50 (Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887).