Laetare

Laetare is the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Below is the Collect of the Day for Laetare:

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

As I observe the historic liturgy of the Church, with the depth of riches that we have received through it, I often find myself wondering whether anyone really pays attention to what the Lord gives to us and declares to us through it.

This marvelous prayer holds before us the reason for Laetare, that is, for a Sunday within the season of Lent in which we are called together with the theme: Rejoice!

Lent is a season of the Church Year in which we direct special attention to our need for the repentance or turning that the Lord works for us and within us. It is a season of deep awareness of the proper contrition that we should experience on account of our sinfulness and also for our actual sins both of commission and omission. It is a season in which the Law of God is held before us in ways that cannot easily be ignored, showing us the horrible depths of our lost condition. It is a season in which our need for salvation, for forgiveness, for reconciliation, for justification and sanctification, is made paramount. It is a season for looking to the great mercy of God in Christ displayed and brought to fulfillment in the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Collect for Laetare very powerfully directs our hearts, minds, and souls to this ever needful awareness. It also produces in us Laetare, the rejoicing that is not deceptive, but founded in and upon the very foundation of the one true faith by which we have true cause for rejoicing. The comfort of God’s grace is truly our one reliable source of relief, relief that produces endless rejoicing in the Lord.

It certainly seems to be worthy of continual reflection throughout this week, praying it again and again so as to built up in the answer that God has promised and most assuredly bestows in Christ.

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Terribly Disturbing Doctrine of Prayer

Today I encountered a terribly disturbing doctrine of prayer.  The pastor who posted it imagines this to be godly and helpful.  But it is not the doctrine of the Holy Spirit that He teaches.  Far from it, it is the concoction of one who openly admits that he does not understand how to pray.  The post is entitled, Praying Alone.

Here are the opening statements of the post:

Jesus often spent time praying alone. Throughout the Scriptures we can find pictures of men and women who would go up on a mountain, meditate on God’s Word, and pray. There is great benefit in sitting back, removing yourself from the commotion and distractions of life, and hear what God has to say in His Word, and speak to Him in prayer about what troubles you, confessing your sins, and giving thanks for His mercies.

This is true. I know it is true. But I must admit that I don’t find this a natural practice for me.

To hear this from a pastor is very, very troubling to my spirit.  This poor man lives in a state of depression, according to his other writings.  He finds his life to be dark much of the time.

What he states above is the reason why.  This is very, very sad.

What is even more troubling is his fourth and final word of advice on prayer:

Remember that Christ prays for you even when you don’t pray. If you forget to pray for a day, be at peace! Christ prays for you even when you forget. Jesus is loving and forgiving, and longs to be in your presence. He will pray for you even if you don’t.

This is horrible!  It is absolutely false and destructive!

“If you forget to pray for a day, be at peace!” ???

Are you joking?  Be at peace?  How can I be at peace when I have turned aside from the only source of peace?  How can I be at peace knowing that I have cut myself off from God’s Holy Communion to such a degree that I don’t desire to pray for an entire day?

If this happens to a saint, if one who is baptized realizes that this has happened, the first thing to do is to stop everything and fall to one’s knees and call out, “O Lord, help me!”

Prayer is not something that one tries to do.  It is something that one does!  Trying to pray is ludicrous.  Just do it!  That is how prayer works.

Why pray?  Why did Jesus pray?  He prayed because He needed to hear from the Father.  That is what prayer is all about.

Consider what may perhaps be the most intense prayer ever prayed, the prayer of the Lord Jesus in His time of deepest distress and desperation:

My God!  My God!  Where the hell are You?

That prayer allowed Jesus to hear that the Father had not gone anywhere.  The prayer, prayed from the perspective of the blindness of our sinfulness, gave the immediate relief that Jesus needed.  Notice how His prayer began: “My God!”  That was the answer that He needed to hear.  And He did hear it so that He later prayed, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!”

I don’t have time this morning to do justice to this, but I want to convey at least this much: STOP TRYING TO PRAY!  Prayer is not from you but from God.  It is the outflow of faith, which is God’s gift.  When you need to pray (which is always, by the way) just do it.

If you need a list to remember what you need to include in your prayers, then those things are not really on your heart as genuine needs anyway.  Begin with what is on your heart right now.

If you need a list, the Lord Jesus gave us the Our Father and said “pray this.”  He also gave us the Catechism, that is, the 10 Commandments, the Creed, the Our Father, Baptism, Confession, and the Holy Supper of His Holy Communion.  Pray these.  The General Prayer of the Church in TLH on pg. 23 is also a wonderfully inclusive prayer.

Prayer is not hard.  It is as easy as recognizing that one has been baptized into God’s Holy Communion where God has named us as His beloved children, children whom He has commanded to use His name in faith, calling upon Him in every trouble, praying, praising, and giving thanks.  If something goes badly, call out to Him.  When things go well, give thanks.  When temptation comes, pray for help.  When sin overcomes, pray forgiveness and believe His promise that you are forgiven in Christ Jesus.

Don’t forget the “Amen!”  If you cannot say “Amen” to what you have prayed, keep praying till you can.  The Lord will lead you into the awareness of His will if you keep praying until you know that what you have prayed is according to His good and gracious will.  Don’t end your prayers with “If it be thy will.”  Notice how Jesus prayed.  He prayed “if it can be” and “if You are willing” but He kept praying until those temptations went away.  Yes, Jesus was sorely tempted to pray these things, but He did not enter into sin by continuing in these temptations.  He did not say “Amen” to them.  He kept praying until He fully acknowledged the will of the Father and said, “But not My will, but Thine be done!”  To this He could confidently say “Amen” and then rose up and went with joy to face the trials and the beatings and the injustice of the cross.

Pray, dear friend, until AMEN is all that is left to say.  Then, you won’t have to convince yourself that you have God’s peace, for God’s peace will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Wrong Number

Yesterday a call came from a number that appeared on the caller ID several times previously. As with numbers of this type, automated calls, a disconnect occurred on the previous calls. This time, the caller asked for a person whose name was totally unfamiliar to anyone at this number. Surprise was the reaction of the caller when he learned that the number was given or received falsely/wrongly.

The caller sounded like a debt collection person, but did not identify himself, only stating that he would remove my phone number from the records.

This is the result of calling upon someone without being certain that the right means of calling upon that someone is being used. Apparently, as is often the case, this caller had the right name. Apparently he had been assured that the means of contacting this person was correct. The caller apparently used this information more than once, calling upon the name via incorrect means. Finally the person learned that all of his attempts were in vain.

There is a point of comparison to be made to those who call upon the name of the Lord via incorrect means. They call and call and call, using the correct name, but with the same results as the debt collector who called using the right name but the wrong phone number.

It is puzzling to me that among those calling themselves Christians that it is hard to find anyone who truly acknowledges that calling upon the Lord involves more than simply using the name of the Lord. It amazes me that people forget that the Second Commandment was given as a warning against the false notion that using the name of the Lord is without defined parameters. Through Moses the Lord declares,

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

The Lord Jesus states this even more powerfully to His disciples in Matthew 7:21-23,

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Is this not the same as what the caller heard from me when he asked for someone by name but calling for that person at the wrong phone number? Is the Lord not warning that He will hold everyone accountable who calls upon His name not in accord with the way that He has ordained?

Will people calling themselves Christians not listen to this warning from the very lips of the one that they claim to be calling upon? Will they continue with eyes, ears, and hearts closed to His warning? Will they endlessly cry that all that matters is that one “believe in Jesus” even though Jesus Himself sternly warns that this belief must be according to the faith that the Holy Spirit works and not according to what individuals or even churches declare from their own hearts and minds?

James writes in Chapter 5:

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. (James 5:15-20)

How often do people quote this passage while ignoring the point of this admonition? The point is that we be converted from our errors of doctrine and errors in practice of that doctrine so that our prayers are truly prayers of righteousness, prayers that are moved by the Holy Spirit and thus are truly righteous and heard by God. Otherwise it is as though we are simply dialing the wrong number and calling out for one who is not at that number. Calling out more frequently and more loudly and more fervently does not make the wrong means effective anymore than if the debt collector keeps calling my number calling upon the name of a person who is in no way connected with that number.

Effective & Powerful Prayer

Which of the two men in the parable of today’s Gospel reading prayed the “effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man that availeth much”? (James 5:16)

Luke 18:9-14 — “Toward Some Who Continued Being Persuaded Concerning Themselves That They Were Righteous”

Help!

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)

O Lord! O Lord! O Lord!

To the child of God who truly knows the Lord and fears, loves, and trusts in Him above all things, this is a true prayer.

There have been times where I have found myself praying:

The Lord is my Shepherd.
The Lord is my Shepherd!
The Lord is my Shepherd!!

For me, one who has been baptized into Christ Jesus and into His death and resurrection, one who knows and communes in the Holy Communion of Christ’s body, one who knows what it truly means that the Lord is my Shepherd, this is a true and complete prayer.

I have prayed this way at various times when my heart was troubled and I could not attain peace. My spirit was overwhelmed by the many troubles popping up around me. My heart felt as though it was racing toward the point of exploding. My mind could not focus. I was in trouble.

With those five words, all of the Twenty-third Psalm was at my heart’s assistance. All of the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures was flowing through my heart, mind, and soul. The confidence of a good conscience was restored in connection with the name of the Lord, the name given to me, as God’s baptized child. All of the assurance and comfort of the Holy Communion surrounded me as these words reminded me of God’s promise that for Christ’s sake I am a true and worthy partaker of His body and blood and of all that these heavenly gifts convey.

This is why the true faith is of absolute necessity in the Church. This is why compromise of doctrine and practice are forbidden by Our God and Father, the Good Shepherd. We need to be free of doubt concerning our relationship to God, the relationship that exists purely by the reconciliation that is worked through the pure administration of the means of grace. When we know that we are truly members of Christ’s body, when we have rightly discerned the body of the Lord so that we commune in the confidence of His body and blood regularly, then in moments of weakness and fear our hearts know instinctively where to turn, just as a frightened child instinctively cries out, “Daddy. Daddy! Daddy!!”

Anyone can cry out. Anyone can cry out, “O Lord, help me!”

However, when the person has not feasted upon the steady and pure diet of the pure and unadulterated Gospel, the prayer is not a cry of true faith. It is a prayer mixed with doubt, which is a prayer that has no power, no effect. For such a prayer is not truly in the name and power of Jesus. Rather, it is in the confusion of the person’s jumbled beliefs. It is a prayer based upon the person’s own faith and feelings. The person’s own faith and feelings have already failed. That is why the desperate cry for help is needed in the first place. Turning back again to one’s own faith and feelings has no power to help.

But the prayer of faith, true faith, the faith that comes from hearing the pure Gospel, this prayer is powerful in its effect. Such a prayer is called the prayer of the righteous man, for it is in the name and by the faith of the one true Man of righteousness. Therefore this prayer cannot fail, even as Jesus cannot fail.

The true faith can be known with absolute certainty and this faith never fails, for it is not produced by one’s own reason and strength and is not worked by oneself, but it is the gift of God by His grace. This is why we can pray without doubting. This is why our prayers are effective. God’s faithfulness is the source of our confidence. God’s faithfulness is our hope.

This is why the Lord Jesus teaches us to pray with petitions that are statements of what God has declared rather than with petitions that flow from our own perspective and desires and thoughts. Recite the Our Father and try to find a question or a request. You won’t find one. What you will find is what God has already promised in Christ Jesus. This is why we are commanded to pray believing that we WILL receive what we ask in the name of Jesus. We are to pray according to what God has declared is His will. If we pray according to what He has already declared to be His will, where is there any room for doubt?

The Lord is my Shepherd.
I shall not want!

This is not wishful thinking. This is a statement of fact. If we truly understand all that this declares to us, it is all that we need in our times of trouble.

God’s peace to you all in Christ Jesus, the Lord!

Effective Prayer

When you pray, do you believe that your prayers are effective? When you say, “Amen” do you believe that what you have prayed will be done?

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8)

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:22-24)

Many people do not know what it means to pray as the Lord and the Scriptures have declared. When you pray do you really mean “Amen” or do you pray “if it be Your will”?

Most of us have been taught for much of our lives that we should pray “if it be Your will” which leaves us unchanged. When we learn to pray “Amen” our prayers become truly effective.

Which way do you pray?

If you would like to read more on this subject, I have prepared an exposition entitled, “What Is Prayer?”

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