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Introduction and Conclusion From the commandments, we learn what God expects of us, and from the creed, we learn what He has done for us. However, knowing what we are to do and believe is not enough. The problem is that we neither do what is right nor believe the truth on our own (Romans 7:7-25, 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:14). Not only does our old sinful self get in the way, there is also the devil and the world who try to get us to doubt God’s promises and discard His gifts. Therefore, as Luther says in the Large Catechism, “Nothing is so needful as to call upon God constantly and to din our plea into God’s ear that He would give, preserve, and increase in us faith, and thus obedience to the Ten Commandments, and that He would clear away everything that stands in the way and is a hindrance to our obedience.” Prayer is a vital part of the Christian life, and yet all too easily we abandon it. For example, we are tempted to say to ourselves, “God is in charge, and what will be will be. Since my prayers will not really change anything and God already knows what I need, why pray?” We should not forget, however, that God has commanded us to pray. When we looked at the second commandment, we saw that God wants us to call upon His name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks. Since God tells us we should pray, we should resist the temptation to think it is pointless. If He says that it is something we should do, then surely it is something we should treasure. We are also tempted to think that God does not want to listen to us. We imagine that since we are imperfect and deserve punishment, He will not hear us. We should put away all such thoughts. For as Luther says, “if [God] did not intend to hear you, He would not have told you to pray nor nailed His words down with such a strict commandment.” Besides all this, God has given His promise that He will hear us. Therefore, we can be confident when we go to Him that our words will reach Him and He will answer us. It would be quite arrogant to go to the White House and expect to see the president immediately unless, of course, you had been invited there and had a promise that he would listen. We have such an invitation and promise from God. Our confidence that He will hear us is not based on our importance or worthiness, but on His command and promise. God does not hear us because we use flowery language or impressive words. It is also not the number of people who make the request or the number of times we say it that guarantees an answer. Jesus, our Savior, has gained God’s ear for us. He ushers our words into God’s presence. This is why we can be confident that God will hear us. Jesus taught His disciples to pray by giving them the Lord’s Prayer as an example. His prayer is a pattern for our prayers. The seven petitions or requests from that prayer show us what we should pray for. |
