Amen And So It Shall Be

Text:  Luke 11:1-13 and the Conclusion to the Lord's Prayer

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

We all say the word Amen.  Some people pronounce it ah-men, while others pronounce it ay-men.  There are also phrases that are used in our popular culture in connection to the word Amen.  Phrases such as:

Amen to that!

Amen, brother!

Can I get an Amen?

Furthermore, we say the word Amen in a variety of different contexts.  We say Amen after a dinner prayer in our homes, we say it after praying the Lord’s Prayer in church, we say it after our nightly prayers, and we will even hear it spoken on television and social media when a person wants to express agreement to a particular sentiment.  Indeed, the word Amen is used at least every week in our vocabulary, if not every single day. 

  

Now, with all of that said, I do wonder if we are fully aware of what we are saying when we use the familiar word Amen.  Is the word Amen simply a word that is used to notify the end of a prayer?  Is it a religious gush that pious people say in order to look and appear holy?  Or is it something more?

The word Amen actually comes from a word that means firm, steady, trustworthy, true, and faithful.  The word Amen is a solid word; it is not flimsy.  It is not a word that is to be spoken with a hushful pious sounding whisper, but rather, a word that is to be spoken with a loud, firm, and convicting declaration.  It is a word that communicates sureness, certainty, and confidence.[1] 

Pagans will sometimes use the word Amen from time to time, which really does not mean much; however, when the word Amen comes out of the mouth of a Christian, we must take notice.  Yes, when you say the word Amen, it is not just a bold confident two syllable word, but rather, it is much more. 

Baptized Saints, to put this another way, when we say the word Amen, it is the voice of our faith.  The word Amen coming from our mouths communicates nothing else than the unquestioned faith.  Surely, when we pray and end our prayers with the word Amen, we are confessing that our prayer is not a prayer that is offered as a matter of luck or a shot in the dark, but rather a prayer that is actually heard by the God of the universe!  Indeed, when we say the word Amen, we are actually confidently asserting in faith that God has heard our cry for mercy, help, and grace.  The word Amen is a bold confession that our prayer was not cast out of our mouths into endless space, but heard by our loving Father.    

But why can we be so certain that our prayers are heard?  What gives us the right to say Amen?  Why should we be so bold to boast that God hears us Christians when we pray? 

The answer is this.  We can say Amen because Jesus invites us and teaches us to pray boldly to God as dear children talk to their dear Father.  In other words, if there was no faith and no Christ and no forgiveness of sin and no baptism, there would be no Amen and no prayer.  But there is and that is why we say Amen and that is why we pray.  Yes, Jesus extends this invitation to us because He shed His blood to break down the wall of sin that stood between us and the Father.  Jesus makes us children of God.  The Holy Spirit gives us faith that receives Jesus and His benefits.  Through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith, we are the children of God, the heirs of His Kingdom, and He gives us the right to pray boldly and to end our prayers with the sure word of Amen.

And so we pray and we pray with an Amen at the end of our prayers.  We ask in faith of our needs, knowing that the Lord hears the cries of His children. 

But what are we to do when it seems like the Lord God does not answer our prayers? 

Lord, I don’t have a paycheck, my health is failing, and I am all alone.  Oh, and that neighbor is out to destroy me.  Help me, Lord.  Deliver me.  Preserve me.  Protect me.  Give me this day my daily bread, and forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me.  Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.

Dear friends, even in situations like this, we still say the word Amen!  The reason why?  The Lord typically does not answer prayers the way that we think they should be answered, for the Lord’s ways are not our ways and our ways are not the Lord’s ways.  Frankly, the Lord does not respond to our prayers by saying,

Here is a winning lottery ticket.  That should solve all your problems.  Now go away and be quiet and leave me alone! 

“That’s not how God works.  That’s how we often work.  We try to solve problems—even spiritual problems—not by getting at the root cause of the problem, but by simply throwing money or goods at the problem until it goes away.  Sadly, that’s what we sometimes want from God.  That’s what we sometimes unfaithfully pray for—full bellies and full bank accounts.  Just mask the problem and make it out of sight and out of mind.  But those sorts of loveless, empty materialistic responses don’t make the problem go away, especially when the problem is a trust problem; a trust in God above all things problem.  Those false materialistic crutches and promises are the lies of the devil.”[2]

My brothers and sisters in Christ, when we end our prayers with the word Amen, it is the voice of our faith confessing that we not only know that the Lord has heard our prayers, but that He will answer our prayers in the way that is best.  You see, we must never forget that when the Lord answers yes to our specific requests, it is because He loves us.  When He answers no, it is because he loves us.  And most importantly we must not forget that the Lord always answers our prayers by strengthening our faith in His promises.  Indeed, the Lord answers our prayers by strengthening our faith so that we can hold up the Lord’s promises in the midst of whatever storm we might be going through, and say,

You oh God are enough.  You are good.  You will take care of me, you will satisfy me.  You will get me through this.  You are my treasure.  Whom have I in heaven by you?  And on earth there is nothing that I desire beside you.  My flesh and my heart and my life may fail, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.[3]

The Amen to our prayers is our bold confession of our faith that the Lord is in control.  It is a bold confession of you and me saying that the Lord has heard our prayers.  It is a bold confession that the Lord will answer our prayers as is best. 

Indeed, the church’s word is Amen.  Amen to Baptism.  Amen to the Word.  Amen to the body and blood of the Lord.  Amen to our prayers.  Amen today, tomorrow, and forever, for “the throne room of heaven lies open before us.  [Yes,] God is ready to listen to whatever we have to tell Him.  The privilege of prayer is there for all who believe.  It is one of the many gifts God gives to us with His presence here in time and forever in eternity.”[4]

In the name of Jesus:  Amen.

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[1] New Bible Dictionary: Third Edition, ed. I Howard Marshall, A.R. Millard, J.I. Packer and D.J. Wiseman (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1996), 29.

[2] Jason Zirbel, “Unanswered Prayers?” LCMS Sermons, http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3375 (accessed March 15, 2016).

[3] Paraphrase of Psalm 73:25-26.

[4] James T. Batchelor, “Tenth Sunday after Pentecost,” LCMS Sermons, http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3378 (accessed March 15, 2016).

Forgiveness: Received And Given

Text:  Matthew 18:21-35 and the Fifth Petition of the Lord's Prayer

We will never reach the point in this Christian life that we will not need the forgiveness of sins; therefore, we will never stop praying the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” 

It is true my friends, because we daily sin, we daily need the Lord’s forgiveness.  Furthermore, because we daily sin and are sinned against, our relationships with one another are often “marred by sinful words and actions, some recurring over and over again. In every marriage, in every family, in every friendship, Christians [like you and me] will be faced with the situation in which forgiveness is requested of us [and given to us]—again”[1] and again and again.

And so we pray the fifth petition.

We pray, because forgiveness is not natural to our sinful nature.  Left to ourselves, we tend to limit forgiveness to others.  We are often more interested in justice and keeping score of other people’s wrongs towards us, rather than forgiving.

This is the way that it is with the old Adam.  We want to be let off the hook, but rarely apply that same standard to others.  We don’t want to pay our debts, but expect others to pay theirs.  We want free handouts but expect others to dig themselves out of their own graves.    

It actually gets a lot worse than this though.  You see, when “Satan gets another Christian to sin against us in deed or word . . . Satan gets us to brood over it, like a stuck track or a video loop, repeatedly and obsessively in our minds, with every greater emphasis on the gravity and injustice of it.  As we process the offense and its effect on us, Satan gradually distorts our remembrance and our assessment of it.  He uses this offense to encourage us to bring our mental accusations against the offender in the court of our minds.  There he presides over the proceedings as we hold a secret trial in which we both prosecute and pass judgment on the wrongdoer.”[2]   

Instead of forgiving our neighbor, we end up brooding on the offense.  The more we think over the offense, “the angrier we get against the offender.  We remember all the other offenses that we have ever suffered from that person and all the other people that have ever hurt us.  And that fuels our anger and our desire for justice.  We maintain that we are in the right; we are justified in our judgment of them.  We hold the moral high ground against them.  Then, before we know it, we have [abandoned prayer and forgiveness, which then leads to anger.  This embedded anger does not lie dormant, but] leads to bitterness and resentment.  This, in turn, leads to outrage, hatred, and lust for revenge. And so we end up stewing in our own poison.”[3]  

“When we begin to hate those whom we should love [and forgive], Satan has us where he wants us.  Once hatred sets in, he can slowly and patiently dislodge us from the Church and from Christ.”[4]  

My friends, this is all quite the opposite of forgiveness and it is the opposite of the fifth petition of The Lord’s Prayer. This “hatred is spiritual suicide, [for it assassinates forgiveness.]  It marks the end of eternal life, the new life we have in Christ.  [You see,] anger is seductive because it makes us feel justified in hating those who have hurt us.  We are right and they are wrong.  We are right in hating them and taking revenge on them because they are our enemies.  The revenge that we take is subtle and hidden.  We don’t usually attack them physically or verbally, but emotionally and spiritually.  We write them off and give them the cold shoulder [keeping forgiveness from them].  We reject them in our hearts, dissociate ourselves from them, and treat them as if they were dead to us.  Sadly, by cutting ourselves off from our brothers and sisters in Christ, we cut ourselves off from Christ as well.  The upshot of that is withdrawal from the family of God and increasing isolation in the darkness of hatred.  That is a kind of spiritual suicide, for hatred opens up a secret place for Satan in our hearts,”[5] while simultaneously driving out forgiveness.

Oh, dear Baptized saints, this lack of forgiveness wreaks havoc in the lives of Christians, churches, and communities.  It is destructive.  It is the wishes of Satan and the results of our sinful nature. 

And this is what we pray against in the Lord’s Prayer.

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” 

Consider the beginning of this evening’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew.  Yes, in this evening’s Gospel reading we hear that you and I have been “rescued and released from an unfathomable, crushing debt that, by legal right, would otherwise have condemned”[6] us to a lifetime in hell.  It is so true, our sin of withholding forgiveness is forgiven by the one who does not withhold forgiveness from us—Christ forgives you and me.  Your sin and mine of putting people on trial in our minds is forgiven by the one who was tried and condemned guilty on our behalf—Christ forgives you and me.  Your sin of limiting forgiveness from others is forgiven by the unlimited forgiveness of Christ-crucified—for you and for me.  King Jesus cancels all of our whopping debt of sin – a liability that you and I could not possibly repay and He does this because He is rich in love and abounding in grace.  He forgives you and me and considers it well worthwhile.

All this stated, we pray in the Lord’s Prayer that we daily remember, receive, and recline in the Lord’s forgiveness for us.  We pray that as God’s forgiven people that we daily forgive others.  Indeed, “only forgiven people can really forgive.”[7]  This is so, because the Holy Spirit through the Gospel will lead you and me to forgiveness while granting grace and peace to our sometimes confused emotions.  Indeed, as forgiven people we pray in the fifth petition that the Father would set us free from harboring grudges and withholding forgiveness, for Christ sake.  As this happens, we rejoice in the forgiveness received by us and given to others. 

As we continually sin against our neighbor though, we continually pray the fifth petition and receive the forgiveness given by the Lord in the Word and Sacraments.  As others continually sin against us, we continually pray the fifth petition and receive the forgiveness given by the Lord in the Word and Sacraments.

Baptized saints, because of the Father’s merciful nature, you and your neighbors have been forgiven an insurmountable debt of sin, ransomed by the death of Christ.  This is true today, is true for the next seven days, and will be true until He comes again—for you and for me.  Therefore we pray,

Dear Father, we come to you and pray that you will forgive us, not because we can make satisfaction or deserve anything by our own works, but because you have promised and have set this seal on it, making it certain.  We pray that you would keep us from the tactics of the evil one; we pray that we would be delivered from spiritual hatred and that all of our relationships be continually placed in your forgiving love. 

In the name of Jesus:  Amen.

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[1] Balge, R. D., & Ehlke, R. C. (1989). Sermon Studies on the Gospels (ILCW Series A) (p. 306). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House.

[2] John W. Kleinig, Grace Upon Grace (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2008), 234-236.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Jeffrey A. Gibbs, Matthew 11:2-20:34: Concordia Commentary, 938.

[7] Francis C. Rossow, Gospel Handles: Finding New Connections in Biblical Texts, 68.

Not Too Much; Not Too Little

Text:  Exodus 16:2-8 and Proverbs 30:7-9

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

What do we mean when we say ‘daily bread?’ 

What do we mean when we ask for ‘daily bread’ in the Lord’s Prayer?

Are we praying for a communion unleavened bread wafer?  Are we praying for flour, flour that is cooked with yeast and water?  Or are we praying for something else other than a wheat product? 

The words, ‘daily bread,’ seem to refer to simple baked bread; however, when we pray for our daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer, we are actually making a very comprehensive request.  In other words, when we ask for daily bread, we are asking for everything that is necessary for us to live and exist in this earthly life.  This includes bread and it also includes all other foods, as well as water, clothing, land, shelter, shoes, money, coats, beds, supplies, and even air to breathe.  That is right, when we pray for daily bread we are praying to the Father for everything that has to do with the support and needs of our physical bodies.

Now, even though the Lord provides and gives these blessings bountifully, even to pagans, the Lord wishes you and me to ask for these physical blessings, so that we may realize that we have received all of it from His hand.[1]  Yes, we pray in this fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer that God would lead us to realize that He is the one that gives daily bread and that we can receive this daily bread with thanksgiving.[2]  

And yet, even though the Lord provides daily bread for you and for me – exactly what we need and not what we think we need – we grumble.  Tragically, the daily bread never seems to be enough for us poor miserable sinners; we always feel as if we are shortchanged.  On the other hand, if we are not complaining about being shortchanged, it seems that we complain about having too much daily bread for us to handle.  Indeed, we either complain due to not having enough daily bread or we complain with having too much.  We grumble and grumble and grumble. 

We see this grumbling in our Old Testament reading from Exodus 16 as well.  In Exodus 16 we hear that the Israelites are full of grumbling; a grumbling that turns into complaining unbelief – even accusation against the Lord.  As a result, God hears their grumbling and graciously provides them manna –that is bread - from heaven.  This manna – this bread – was provided so that the Israelites would know that it was the Lord that brought them out of Egypt.  It was provided so that they might see the glory of the Lord.  It was provided as a gift to sustain Israel’s need of food and nutrients.   

Though you and I do not get special manna from heaven delivered upon our front lawns, we are really no different from Israel – the Lord daily provides for our bodily needs.  For starters, the Lord has blessed us with the absence of contention, murder, sedition, war, famine, drought, plagues, and catastrophic storms.  He has also given us shelter, clothing, protection, food, and drink.  All daily bread; all gifts; all for you and for me!  However, this daily bread is not good enough for us.  We grumble and want more.  We want today’s manna; we want tomorrow’s manna; we want our neighbor’s manna, as well.  And in seeking to keep our bellies full of manna, we hoard and scrape and store it up for ourselves, only to find that we are holding on to moldy bread with clinched grumbling fists, rather than open hands gratefully receiving the gift of daily bread.  We can so easily resort to grumbling bitterness of unbelief.

For grumblers, like you and me, it is not enough to be spared from natural calamity and it is not enough to have a regular fill of daily bread, we want our daily fill and our neighbor’s as well.  And then when we have accumulated daily bread from every nook and cranny of life, we complain because we have too much.      

Because of this we pray the Lord’s Prayer.  We pray in the third petition that we would see and realize the divine providence of God who provides us our daily bread.  We pray that we would be freed from our grumbling to see our daily sustenance as coming from God.  We pray that our selfishness would be crucified, so that we might share with those who are unable to work and those in need.  We pray that we would be able to see that God makes the earth fruitful and blesses us with the ability to work and receive all things from Him.  We pray that we would be freed from worrying about the future, freed to live contently in the confidence that the Lord will give us what we need day by day.

Dear friends, stated bluntly, everything that we have – from the air that we breathe to the socks on our feet; from the clothes that we wear to the food that we eat – is all divine gift!  We can take zero credit for any of it.  It is all gift.  If God were to withdraw His hand, nothing would prosper or last for any length of time.  Therefore, when we grumble over wanting more daily bread, we are not only communicating that we don’t trust God for our daily needs, but we are also inadvertently communicating that God somehow owes us our daily bread.  We demonstrate our unbelief and we are actually accusing the Lord.[3]    

O Lord have mercy on us. 

There is another reason why we pray this petitions of the Lord’s Prayer and that is due to the evil one.  You see, the devil’s whole purpose is to either take away or interfere with God’s gift of daily bread or to give us so much daily bread that we no longer trust the Lord.  In other words, the devil not only attempts to kill, steal, and destroy our faith through spiritual lies, but he also attempts to overthrow and obstruct the gifts of daily bread.  If murder, war, famine, unrestful governments, and rampant diseases, can prevent and impede daily bread for people, the devil is all for that.  On the other hand, if the devil can convince you and me to unjustly take our neighbor’s daily bread; he may be able to get us to a place of security where we trust in the daily bread itself and not the giver of the daily bread.

And so, we pray.  We pray against our grumbling and against the devil.  We pray for our daily bread.  We pray that we would realize that our entire life and all that we have depends on the Lord.  We pray that our grumbling flesh would be crucified.  We pray that the devil would be subdued.  We pray that the Lord would give us daily bread, just like He did for the Israelites, so that we would daily rest in the good gifts that are given to us, gifts for our physical needs. 

Blessed Baptized Saints, the Lord is so very good to us.  All that we have is gift.  Gifts given to us.  Not too much that we become full with riches and then tempted to rely on these things, rather than God.  And not too little, that we are tempted to steal.  But just enough to sustain us day to day, as we continually receive the gifts of Word and Sacraments for the forgiveness of our sins. 

Air, food, water, clothing, shelter, shoes, land, money, goods, peace, eternal life, salvation, and forgiveness:  all given for you and for me from our Gracious Lord.       

Lord, teach us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” as you surely do give to each and every one of us our daily bread as well as daily forgiveness. 

In the name of Jesus:  Amen.

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[1] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism , Part III: The Lord’s Prayer. The Book of Concord Edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert (Fortress, 2000), 451.

[2] Ibid. 304.

[3] Ibid, 451.

Praying Against Ourselves?

Text: First, Second, and Third Petitions of the Lord's Prayer

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

What are we praying when we pray the Lord’s Prayer?

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, one of the things we are actually praying against is the old sinner in each of us.  Yes, we are praying against the old Adam – the sinful flesh – the sinful nature – who would rather die than do what is good, right, and true according to the Lord.  We are praying against the old Adam whose whole mission in life is to work and lie and cheat and steal on behalf of what we desire and what we want and what we think is needed.  We are praying against the old Adam who daily attempts to build our own kingdoms.[1]   Simply stated my friends, in the Lord’s Prayer (especially in the first three parts) we are praying against ourselves.  That’s right, we are praying for God’s name to be glorified, not the glorification of our own names.  We are praying for God’s kingdom to be realized in us, not the realization of our own insignificant kingdoms.  We are praying that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven, not the doing of our own wills. 

The harsh reality is that we have this sinful old nature until the day we die; we carry the old Adam around our necks from birth to death.  Yes, even we Christian have this sinful nature, for we are simultaneously sinners and saints (Sinners at birth; saints by our baptismal rebirth).  This means that we are at war with ourselves – a civil war – where we experience the struggle between the old Adam and the new life we have in Christ.  Indeed, from the time that we are joined to Christ in baptism until the day we die, we will always be in conflict with ourselves – the civil war within will never end, which means that we are people of prayer; praying against ourselves – praying against our sinful nature. 

We can really thank our first parents, Adam and Eve, for this most un-blessed gift of our sinful nature, for it was Adam and Eve who believed the lies of Satan, resulting in them being coated with this muck of sin, which then resulted in this sinful condition being passed down to each and every one of us.     

Make no doubt about it, we are born addicted to sin; once addicted, always addicted, until death.  Even our best of intentions are marred by this disease – this viral infection of sin that has corrupted our thoughts, words, and deeds. 

More specifically, this sin condition that we all have is much like ancient Israel in the Old Testament.  Like ancient Israel, we are stiff-necked people who are stubborn.  We do not easily budge and are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love, while wanting what we want and wanting it right now! 

And so, we pray. 

We ask the Lord to teach us to pray.  And He does when we are invited into the Lord’s Prayer. 

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are praying that God’s name would remain holy among us.  We pray that God’s name would be kept holy in our Christian teaching and preaching.  We pray that God’s name would be kept holy in our Christian living as well.  We pray the same thing that God demands in the Second Commandment: that his name should not be taken in vain, but used rightly to the praise and glory of God. 

With that stated though, we sinners like to misuse God’s name.  We profane God’s name when we teach about God incorrectly – when we say things about God’s character and actions that are simply not true.  We also disgrace God’s name when we openly live an evil life, when we live in a way that is contrary to the name that was applied upon our head in our baptism.  Because of this, not in spite of it, we pray.  Yes, because of our this sinful nature we pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name!”  Our prayer is then heard as a constant shout and cry against all – includes ourselves – who preach and believe falsely; it is a prayer against all who would attack, persecute and suppress our gospel and pure doctrine. 

We also pray in the Lord’s Prayer that the Lord’s kingdom may come among us – that God’s kingdom, rule, and authority would invade our world and invade us, rather than having the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I be the ruler and king of our small petty individualized kingdoms.  Indeed, we pray that the Lord’s kingdom would be realized in us that the Lord may permeate us, through the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.  We pray that the Lord would have His way with us, so that the devil’s kingdom may be destroyed and so that our stiff-necks and stubborn wills would be recreated anew and softened. 

Dear friends, we pray the Lord’s Prayer, because by our own strength we cannot do or fulfill the will of God, nor can we do that which has been taught to us.[2]  Yes, we pray because our wills and abilities are weak; we pray that the Lord would give us strength to do the good things that are according to His will.  We pray that the Lord would create in us a new heart, that He would take away our stony heart, and subdue and abolish our sinful nature.  We pray that the lusts and sinful desires of our old Adam would be crucified daily.  We pray that we would be conformed to the will of God.  We pray that we would be moved to desire and covet that which is well pleasing and approved by God. 

The Lord’s Prayer is and must be our protection and defense today, tomorrow, and until our death.  Thus, let the world rage and try their worst.  Let the heretics, worldly governments, and flaky culture, plot and plan how to oppress the Lord God.  Let the evil one growl and hiss his pathetic and cowardly message.  Against all of this and against our sinful nature, we pray and all is dashed to pieces, for the Lord is good and He hears our cries for mercy and care.[3] 

Yes, in the face of the devil, the ideologies of the world, and our sinful nature, we pray; not out of fear, but because our heavenly Father has invited us into prayer; He has invited us to respond to Him with all of our needs because He cares for us.

Most certainly, we pray because of God’s character, graciousness, strength, and steadfast love.  We pray because the Lord is for us today and until the end of our lives.  We pray because prayer is the voice of faith, faith that is created by and clings to the Word and Sacraments that are given and shed for you and for me.

Lord, teach us to pray as your kingdom continually comes, as your will is continually done, and as you name is glorified among us:  Amen.

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[1] James Nestingen, The Lord’s Prayer In Luther’s Catechism (Word & World Volume 22, number 1, Winter 2002), 41.

[2] Martin Chemnitz, Enchiridion, The Lord’s Prayer. Translated by Luther Poellet (Concordia Publishing, 2007), 43.

[3] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism: The Lord’s Prayer.

Prayer Is Not A Bargaining Chip, But A...

Text:  Matthew 6:5-18

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

When we sinners try to open our mouths to pray, what typically happens is this: instead of humble praise and thanksgiving, out comes a confession to God of our own greatness and accomplishments.  It is this way because our tongues and mouths are coated with the dirty ashes of sin.    It gets worse though.  Instead of Godly requests for mercy and pleas for grace, we typically attempt to bargain with God through prayer.[1]  That’s right; we create a barter system where we try to exchange God’s favor for our works: 

Oh God, if you could please heal my illness, then I will serve you with all my heart. 

Oh God, if you could help me with this job promotion, I will then increase my giving to the local church.

Oh God, if you could help me win this game, then I will make sure to proclaim your name to all my classmates.

You do your part for me and I will do my part for you.

Unfortunately, when we use prayer as a means to bargain and barter with God, prayer becomes nothing more than a tool of our unbelief.  Yes that is right, you and I will use prayer to help our own self-serving attempts to pry from the hands of God the answer that we want, rather than the gifts that our good Heavenly Father would give us.[2]

If we are left unchecked, prayer becomes a weapon against God as well.  It becomes a way for us to hoist up our demands to God where we try to ‘force’ God’s hand to act according to our will.

If we do not go the route of bargaining or using prayer as a weapon, then there is a chance that we can turn prayer into a theatrical production where we make a big show out of our prayers, hoping that other people will recognize our super spiritual powers. 

Oh, my dear friends, this way of prayer is certainly messed up.  It is this way because we are people who have rolled around in the soot of sin.  We have been ruined by sin, which means we will constantly ruin the gifts of God, gifts such as prayer. 

Lord have mercy on us for using prayer to barter; Lord have mercy on us for using prayer as a weapon; Lord have mercy on us for using prayer as a way to show off, for it is none of these things. 

You see, prayer does not originate out of our unbelief or out of our fear.  It is not a weapon to be brought forth towards God.  It is not the place where we attempt to bend the Lord’s arm to our own desires.  But rather prayer is something that the Lord invites us into.

Permit me to explain. 

Because God is our Heavenly Father, He tenderly invites us to believe that we are His true children – you are His true children despite the fact that you are smeared with the ashes of sin.  And as His true child, by your cleansing baptism, you may approach Him and call upon Him in prayer.  Most certainly, you may ask Him to help you with your needs, as a dear child asks His loving father.[3] 

Remember that our God is not unjust but He is just; our God is not uncompassionate but He is compassion; our God is not one who is deaf but One who listens.  Our God is good not evil!  Therefore, as baptized believers, we pray not to overcome or persuade an evil God, but rather, we pray because God is good and just.  We pray not to overcome an uncompassionate, ruthless and worthless God; we pray because we already have a compassionate, caring and worth-ful God.  We pray because the Lord invites us into prayer and then shapes our prayers by His Word spoken to us.  We pray because we have been given faith, forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Prayer then is the voice of faith, faith from the faithful that cries out, “Lord may your will be done,” and God responds from above, “Yes, dear child, it shall be done indeed, in spite of the devil and all the world.”[4]

The implications of this are phenomenal!  Yes, when we are troubled and tortured by our own stains of sin and when we are confronted by the hellish attacks of the evil one and when we are pounced on by the ideologies of the world, nothing is so necessary as to call upon our Father in prayer, so that He may give, preserve, and increase in us faith and remove all that stands in our way from receiving Him. 

Simply stated, this Ash Wednesday we remember that we are simply too weak against the devil, the world, and our own sinful desires.[5]  Therefore, we are invited and taught to pray the Lord’s Prayer.  And when we pray this Lord’s Prayer, we are effectively praying against the old sinner in each of us, as well as praying against the Devil and the world that continually attempt to kill, steal, and destroy our faith.  We are praying that we would be strengthened in faith, sustained, and protected.

This is all good, for God wants you and me to cry out and grit our teeth to Him about our concerns, concerns that come about from the sinful nature, the world, and the devil.  He desires us to pour out our anguishes upon Him, not because He is unaware of them, but in order that you and I may be unburdened and moved to open our arms to receive the Lord’s gifts.[6] 

And what are those gifts?  Those gifts are the Word and Sacraments – spoken, given, and shed for you.   They are the Lord’s immediate, continual, and potent answer to our prayers.   

Furthermore, as we lay vulnerably before the Lord in prayer, we are reminded and remember God’s promises that He has spoken to us and know that when the Lord answers yes to our specific situations, it is because He loves us, and when He answers no, it is because He loves us, and when He provides neither a yes or a no, it is because He loves us. 

Dear Baptized Saints, tonight we remember and confess that we are dust and that we will return to dust.  We remember also that God put on human flesh – dust – and joined to our temptations and sorrow.  Yes, Christ Jesus welded our death, was roasted to death by the Father’s wrath, was reduced to ashes and laid to rest in a tomb.   However, we also remember that Christ rose from the ashes of the earth and from the ashes of sin – He lives today and intercedes for us.[7]  Therefore, as the Lord’s beloved and forgiven, we can and do pray vulnerably for all things, knowing that our confidence is not to be found in the strength of our prayer, but the strength of the Lord who works all things for the good of those who love Him. 

We pray, because Christ died for sin; we pray because Christ rose from the grave; we pray because the Lord cares for us. 

Lord, teach us to pray.  Lord, teach us to listen and receive your Word and Sacraments in all the events of life. 

Lord, open our lips and our mouth in prayer that our prayers may be the voice of faith – faith that confesses our struggles in this life and faith that clings and receives all gifts from you.

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] Rev. John Pless, “Prayer: The Voice of Faith,” PM Notes, http://www.pastormattrichard.com/2010/06/prayer-voice-of-faith.html (accessed February 9, 2016).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Martin Luther: The Small Catechism (The Lord’s Prayer Introduction)

[4] Ibid.

[5] Martin Luther: The Large Catechism (The Lord’s Prayer: Introduction)

[6] Ibid.

[7] David H. Petersen, Thy Kingdom Come: Lent and Easter Sermons (Fort Wayne, IN: Emmanuel Press, 2012), 15.