February 17, 1999

Some of you might remember that last year I attempted a series on the Lord’s Prayer. I never got all the way through it. So I decided to try it again. Only, this time, during the midweek services.

God is Jesus’ Father. It seems quite revealing that Jesus speaks of, or prays to, God as his heavenly Father no less than 11 times in the Lenten narrative. He talks about 1“my Father’s Kingdom” (Mt 26:29) and about how he must 2“leave this world and go to the Father” (Jn 13:1). Jesus prayed, 3“My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Mt 26:42). On the cross he prayed, 7“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34), and 8“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46).

Only once does Jesus address the Father as “God”! “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). Up to and after that dreadful moment there was an intimacy with and a trustful dependence on his Father to see him through the agony he was appointed to endure. And for what reason? His agony and death mean nothing if it has no purpose. But God attaches divine purpose to all suffering. Through his suffering, Jesus paid in full the ransom price for all the sins of the whole world.

God is our Father. That Jesus did this is one thing. But it has no benefit to those who are not connected with it. It is faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord that joins us to the family of God; to be called the very children of God (Gal 3:26; 1 Jn 3:1).

That relationship with God as our father has some special implications. Let me illustrate with the story of a Roman emperor leading his army home after a victory. To keep the crowd back, Roman soldiers lined the streets. When the emperor approaches the platform where the empress and her children are sitting, the youngest son jumps down and tries to run to him. But an officer grabs him by the arm. “You can’t do that, boy,” he shouts. “Do you realize who that man is? He’s the emperor!” The boy pulls away, shouting back, “He may be your emperor, but he’s my father!”

Because God is our Father, scripture says we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb 4:16). There is a need, I think, for all of us to learn to trust our heavenly father with our prayers.

Pray Continually. So, let’s look at the manner of our prayer life. Crucial is the “when and where” of prayer.

Consider the prophet in the Babylonian and Persian Empires. Even though he was a captive, it was his custom to go to the upstairs room in his home and pray three times a day. He even risked death rather than give up this practice. One could almost say that for him a life without prayer wasn’t worth living. That tends to follow the example Jesus left us with.

Jesus prayed alone at regular intervals. There are 17 references to his practice of prayer in the gospels. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mk 1:35). Just before his suffering and death, in Gethsemane, “he withdrew about a stones throw beyond [his disciples], knelt down and prayed” (Lk 22:41). He encouraged his followers, “when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Mt 6:6).

Prayer Changes Things. But have any of you noticed how hard it is at times to pray? We ask, will it do any good? Does prayer really change things? Does prayer change God’s plan of handling things? Or does prayer change us so that we accept what God has planned for us?

Consider the persistent confidence of Abraham. After the Lord decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sins were so great, he told his chosen servant Abraham. There follows what must be the longest bargaining session recorded in Scripture, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” Abraham pleads. “What if there are fifty righteous people in it? … Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen 18:23, 25).

The Lord agrees to spare the city if he finds 50 righteous people. The bargaining doesn’t stop there. Abraham suggests 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, then 10. The Lord agrees. But, Sodom and Gomorrah, of course, are still destroyed, except for those directed by angels to leave the cities.

To teach the effectiveness of being persistent in prayer, Jesus told his disciples a parable about a widow who came to the judge with a plea for justice. “For some time,” said Jesus, “he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘… because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice’” (Lk 18:1-5).

The parable concludes with the admonition to persist in prayer as Jesus promises so that “God [will] bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night” (Lk 18:7). Personally, I believe the foundation of every prayer is trust in God as our dear Father.

Prayer Commanded. Secondarily, and out of response to the promise there is the command of God to pray.

In his Large Catechism, Martin Luther makes much of prayer being “strictly and solemnly commanded as all the other commandments.” (LC III, 6).

We should be … encouraged to pray because God has promised that our prayer will surely be answered, as he says in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you,” and Christ says in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask and it will be given you,” … “For everyone who asks receives.” Such promises certainly ought to awaken and kindle in our hearts a desire and love to pray. …

Furthermore, we should be encouraged and drawn to pray because, … , God takes the initiative and puts into our mouths the very words we are to use. Thus we see how sincerely he is concerned over our needs, … Thus there is no nobler prayer to be found on earth [than the Lord’s Prayer], …” (LC III, 19-20, 22-23).

As Jesus prayed to his Father in heaven, he encouraged us to pray, continuously, persistently, believing his command and promise. Consider this word from St. Paul: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving , present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philp 4:6-7). Amen.