Prayer does not make sense from the perspective of merit. Why should anyone approach a Holy God asking for favors expecting anything when nothing worthy can be given in return? Is it right that a sinner would even approach the Holy of Holies?
Consider the fact that we are all sinners. To be a sinner does not simply mean that we make a few little mistakes here and there. It means that we are fundamentally filthy in our soul. Sins come pouring out of us constantly because all sinners are turned away from God in prideful rebellion and selfish action. Even actions we think are good works are soiled by our unclean sinful nature. So even the purest, most selfless prayer coming from one who has sinned is a horrible abomination, an offensive, a screeching noise in the ears of the holy God….Or at least they would be without Christ.
How is it that we can speak our prayers to the Lord? We do not and cannot approach God in prayer because we think we are worthy. On the contrary, we confess that we are unworthy sinners. In fact, because we know that we are sinners, that we are weak and heavy laden, that we are in need and are otherwise worthy of wrath, we know that we need salvation and help. And God, in His mercy, has given us an intercessor, and we believe and hope in Him. For the sake of Jesus Christ, therefore, we come to Him as Our heavenly Father invites us in Christ’s love and stead.
It is Jesus who has atoned for our sins with His Blood. He died on the cross for your sins and mine. He has redeemed us from our sin, rescued us in our damnable condition. He has torn the curtain that separated us from God by giving up His life for us. God has adopted us as His children by the promise given in Holy Baptism, and Jesus Christ has invited us to call upon Him in prayer. “Ask and you will receive,” says Christ to us today. We approach the Almighty as our loving Father who cares for us and wants to help us because of the merits and for the sake of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to pray in the Name of Christ. We base our prayers on His merits. He has earned for us the right to come to God with our requests.
How strange this makes prayer! We should realize and appreciate, from time to time, that God should NOT listen to us based on our merit and worthiness. We are praying to Him based on Someone Else’s virtues. The ordinary, earthly way of doing things is that we do not ask for favors because a different person is worthy of the favor. How would it sound if I said, “Hey, can you give me a thousand dollars? I am a nasty jerk, but I know someone else who is an awesome person. So, give me the money because of how great that other person is.” In everyday life, that does not make sense. But that is how true Christian prayer works. That is the strange principle of how God decides to treat us.
What a good thing it is that God works this way! Because of sin in us, sin in the world, the curs of it hangs about us. Humanity is vulnerable, weak, and destined for mortality. A world that exists without Christ, aimlessly seeks control and power in its own might of reason, science, or brute force, yet the brute forces of disease, hurricanes, floods, fires, famines, earthquakes and the like show that we do not and cannot have ultimate control. There is so much suffering due to disease, fear, anger, and unbelief all a result of sin and rebellion against God.
Our dear Lord knows this: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is patient and loving. God is not a distant, indifferent observer looking down from heaven. God fashioned Adam and Eve in a very personal and specific way. He had made them for life, not death. When Adam and Eve sinned despite the threat of death, God did not destroy them in the curse of sin, but gave them a promise of salvation.
In Mercy, the Word of God joined Himself to flesh to redeem that fallen flesh. Jesus, the Son of God, knows what our human lives are like. He lived it. He knew the ache and trouble of temptation. He knew the pain of suffering illness. He knew the grief of loved ones dying, even though He knew that they could and would be raised from death. He knew the severe pain of injuries inflicted upon Himself, and the pain of dying. But unlike us, He deserved none of it. He was perfect, obedient to the Law, and without sin, unworthy of suffering the effects of sin upon Himself. Yet, Christ allowed Himself to live as a weak Man, a vulnerable Man, a Man who suffered and wept and felt crushing emotions. He knew exhaustion, hunger, and physical weakness.
Why? Because He loves you. He loved His creation so much that He was willing to come and redeem it from damnation: from eternal suffering and separation from God forever. So in addition to His love for you as His redeemed creature, purchased and won by the ransom of Christ’s precious blood and His innocent suffering and death, so that you may be His own and serve Him in everlasting innocence and righteousness forever. Your loving Savior knows what it feels like to be you. He knows everything you experience, except for sin. He knows your weaknesses, He loves you despite your fear and weak faith. He has given you faith now to believe in His love and gives you strengthening of that faith by His Word and sacraments as He descends to give you forgiveness of sin, life, and every blessing by His Spirit.
Know that when you pray to the Lord, the Lord understands. He is not a distant, strange creature who has no sympathy for your troubles. Far from it. He understands and has felt it.
If you believe that God knows nothing of your life and does not care, then prayer is an exercise in futility. But if you know that the Son of God has become Man and lived your life, died for you, and has become your Brother, then you also know that God is your Father who cares deeply for you. Prayer requires this kind of faith. Prayer is a response of faith to God’s Word as He speaks to us and gives us faith. We see this even in our worship and liturgy.
So how does the loving Father answer your prayers? Since He is loving, He wants to give you what is best. But sometimes you and I ask Him for things that are not best for us. We simply cannot always know what is good or not good. What appears helpful may actually be harmful. If only we can remember this. Deep down, our old Adam thinks that he knows better than the Lord. We may impatiently complain when He does not give us what we want.
It is precisely because the heavenly Father loves us that He does not give us everything we desire. As we learn better to be His children in the image of His Son, we pray, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Jesus Christ even prayed this in Gethsemane.
Our sinful mind is sometimes too foolish to do that. Instead, like a little child, we may ask for destructive things without realizing it, and then whine and pout because we did not get our way.
But we may also go to the other extreme. We may be too fearful to ask for something foolish, and so ask for nothing at all. Our timid prayers would refuse to ask for a single blessing.
But the loving Father wants to hear our prayers. Even though our prayers may be stammering and foolish, He wants to hear the desires of our hearts. No petition is too small for His Fatherly care.
By all means, avoid asking for what is obviously sinful. And yes, confess your sinful foolishness to God in your prayers. But then say, “Please give me this thing, if it be Your will.”
When God seems to delay, perhaps He has said, “No.” Or perhaps He is delaying for a good reason and the answer is “not yet”. Whatever happens, let your faith stand fast toward God. Continue to receive His Word and respond to Him with worship Him in your prayers and your lives. Feed those prayers with the Word and Supper, since a plant does not flourish and flower without water and the sun. God uses prayer to strengthen faith, for by praying you are repeating the words and promises of God. You are hearing again God’s promise to you. You are remembering that God is your heavenly Father and you may approach Him as dear children approach their dear Father in Heaven. You are acknowledging your needs and salvation can only come from Him for the sake of Jesus Christ. Know that that is what He wants: your salvation. He wishes only for your good. Pray for that strengthening of faith to say “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Pray for blessings of His Holy Spirit as He feeds you by Word and Sacrament: to that His answer will always be “yes”. He desires that you would be saved and kept in the faith. God’s Gospel of salvation shows you His enormous love in Christ His Son.
Always remember that Jesus did say: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Therefore, dear Christians as His beloved children, redeemed for the sake of Jesus Christ and given faith to believe, you also are overcoming the world. Pray for ongoing strength and peace. Rejoice in His promise to hear you: all for the sake of Jesus Christ your loving crucified and raised Lord and Savior, In Jesus Christ’s Name. It shall be so. Amen.
Pr. Aaron Kangas