“Our Father who art it heaven.” What does this mean? With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear Father. (Martin Luther in the Small Catechism)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Do you exercise? I can imagine the responses I’d get if I were to ask this question to each of you. Here are some of the responses I expect I might hear: “Not if I can help it. I hate to exercise!” “Not as much as I should.” “I try to, but it is hard to find the time.” “Yes, I do. I love the way I feel when I am done!” “I am obsessed with exercise! I have to do it—it’s like an addiction for me.” And, I am sure there would be other answers as well. When we exercise we use the muscles God has given us. By working these muscles they build strength and endurance. On the other hand, if you never exercise certain muscles they will lose strength and endurance and possibly the ability to function at all.
I would invite you to think of prayer like exercising your faith. Often people will talk about the “power of prayer.” To me, this phrase can be misleading. Prayer itself does not have power. God has power! Prayer looks to God and receives from Him. The power is God’s not prayer’s. The “power of prayer” is that through prayer we look to, trust in, and depend on the Lord. I like the way that Luther explains this in the Small Catechism when He explains the Lord’s Prayer. He is very clear that God’s name is certainly holy by itself without our prayer, His kingdom comes by itself without our prayer, His will is done by itself without our prayer…etc. But what we pray is that through faith in Christ, God’s name would be kept Holy among us, His kingdom would come to us, and His will would be done among us. Faith in Christ, which comes to us as a gift from God through hearing the Word and receiving His Sacraments, is exercised through a life of prayer which continually looks to and trusts in God like a child would trust in his/her parents.
Think of faith like a muscle the Lord has given to us which holds onto Him. That muscle needs to be worked and used. Prayer, which looks to the Lord in all things, works that faith muscle. When you praise God for His creation, you exercise your faith muscle. When you look to Him for mercy, confessing your sins, you exercise your faith muscle. When you thank Him for blessings like family or forgiveness, you exercise your faith muscle. When you seek His blessing or help for yourself or others by praying for persecuted Christians, our country, or for the sick or grieving, you exercise your faith muscle. Whenever we call on the name of the Lord we are exercising our faith, and that is a good thing!
May 3rd is Confirmation, and this year we have 6 youth getting confirmed. Their names are listed later in this newsletter, but I would encourage you to “get a workout in” on their behalf. Spend some time in prayer for each of them. You could work out for the whole month praying for one on Monday, the next on Tuesday etc. and then repeating it each week. If you have a hard time disciplining yourself to work out that “prayer muscle,” get a workout buddy with whom you meet and pray (in person or on the phone). If you don’t have one, let me know and I’ll work out with you. I love this kind of exercise!