Revisiting the Lutheran Confessions Session III: The Lord’s Prayer

God Invites His People to Pray Luther introduces us to prayer in the Small Catechism with the assurance that God “has commanded us to pray, and has promised to hear us.” (SC, III, Conclusion) Consider the commands and promises God gives us in the following verses… Luke 11:9-10 Matthew 7:11 Psalm 50:15 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

To Whom Do We Pray? Read 1 John 2:1-2 In whose name does the Christian Pray? “Therefore, prayer relies upon God's mercy, when we believe that we are heard for the sake of Christ, the High Priest, as He Himself says, [John 14:13]: ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.’ ‘In My name,’ He says, because without this High Priest we cannot approach the Father.” (AP V, 212)

We Need Only One Advocate “The invocation of saints is also one of the abuses of Antichrist conflicting with the chief article, and destroys the knowledge of Christ. Neither is it commanded nor counseled, nor has it any example [or testimony] in Scripture, and even though it were a precious thing, as it is not [while, on the contrary, it is a most harmful thing], in Christ we have everything a thousandfold better [and surer, so that we are not in need of calling upon the saints].” (SA II, II, 25).

How To Pray Read Matthew 6:9-15. What prayer does Jesus teach His disciples? What in this prayer do we ask of our Heavenly Father? 1) Hallowed be your name 2) Your kingdom come 3) Your will be done 4) Give us our daily bread 5) Forgive us our debts 6) Lead us not into temptation 7) Deliver us from evil

The First Petition “Hallowed Be Your Name” What does it mean pray that God’s name may be holy? Is it not holy already? “Answer: Yes, it is always holy in its nature, but in our use it is not holy.” (LC III, II, 37) So, How does it become holy among us? “Answer: When both our doctrine and life are godly and Christian. For since in this prayer we call God our Father, it is our duty always to deport and demean ourselves as godly children, that He may not receive shame, but honor and praise from us.” (LC III, II, 39)

The Second Petition “Your Kingdom Come” “Just as the name of God is in itself holy, and we pray nevertheless that it be holy among us, so also His kingdom comes of itself, without our prayer, yet we pray nevertheless that it may come to us, that is, prevail among us and with us, so that we may be a part of those among whom His name is hallowed and His kingdom prospers.” (LC III, III, 50) Read Romans 14:17 How is the Kingdom of God present now among us? Read Revelation 11:15 What do we pray for that is yet to come?

The Third Petition “Your Will Be Done” What is God’s Will? “Where the Word of God is preached, accepted, or believed, and produces fruit, there the holy cross cannot be wanting.” (LC III, IV, 65) Easy, Right? “We shall have to suffer many thrusts and blows on that account from everything that ventures to oppose and prevent the fulfilment of the two petitions that precede.” (LC III, IV, 61) Read John 15:18 What Assurance does Jesus give those who do God’s Will?

The Fourth Petition “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” Read Matthew 6:25-30. What is God’s promise to us? How does this promise apply to those who are impoverished, chronically ill, or even dying? “To comprise it briefly, this petition includes everything that belongs to our entire life in the world… And there is, indeed, the greatest need to pray for temporal authority and government, as that by which most of all God preserves to us our daily bread.”(LC III, V, 73-74) Read Philippians 2:4 and 1 John 3:17-18 What is our responsibility as God’s children in the civil realm?

The Fifth Petition “Forgive Us Our Debts” Read Matthew 18:21-22 How are we to forgive? “He has promised that we shall be sure that everything is forgiven and pardoned, yet in the manner that we also forgive our neighbor. For just as we daily sin much against God, and yet He forgives everything through grace, so we, too, must ever forgive our neighbor who does us injury, violence, and wrong, shows malice toward us.” (LC III, VI, 93-94). Do we forgive in order to be forgiven? Or do we forgive as we have been forgiven? Read Ephesians 4:32

The Sixth Petition “Lead Us Not Into Temptation” “Although we have received forgiveness and a good conscience and are entirely acquitted, yet is our life of such a nature that one stands to-day and to-morrow falls. Therefore, even though we be godly now and stand before God with a good conscience, we must pray again that He would not suffer us to relapse and yield to trials and temptations.” (LC III, VII, 100) Read James 1:12-15. God does not tempt His people, but invites us to trust in Him.

The Seventh Petition “Deliver Us From Evil” “Hence you see again how God wishes us to pray to Him also for all the things which affect our bodily interests, so that we seek and expect help nowhere else except in Him.” (LC III, VIII, 117) Read Galatians 5:1, 13-15 How does this petition proceed from the sixth? “God has briefly placed before us all the distress which may ever come upon us, so that we might have no excuse whatever for not praying.” (LC III, VIII, 119)

Conclusion Read 2 Corinthians 1:20. Why might we conclude with the “Amen” even if it is not part of Jesus’ original instruction? “All depends upon this, that we learn also to say Amen, that is, that we do not doubt that our prayer is surely heard, and [what we pray] shall be done. For this is nothing else than the word of undoubting faith, which does not pray at a venture, but knows that God does not lie to him, since He has promised to grant it.” (LC III, VIII, 119)

Closing Prayer Next Week: The Creed (Part 1)