Luke Rader was born at the end of the nineteenth century in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the son of Daniel L. Rader. Daniel was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Denver, Colorado, where his children grew up and attended college. Luke Rader emerged from college as an agnostic, but was led back to the faith of his parents after the birth of a son impressed on him the responsibility for spiritual guidance of his children.

Luke became a successful evangelist-pastor working in the River Lake Gospel Tabernacle in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a similar ministry to that of his brother Paul, who was pastor of Chicago Gospel Tabernacle from 1921 to 1933. He was a forceful preacher, particularly interested in prophecy, whose ministry was primarily centered in the Tabernacle rather than in itinerant evangelism, though he did preach occasionally in Chicago at the Gospel Tabernacle. Rader's fine singing voice was a particular asset in his work, which also included a radio ministry. He died in Minneapolis in 1952.