Monday, January 11, 2016

True prayer [Epiphany 1; St. Luke 2:42-52]

Prayers. Supplications. Petitions. Intercession. Asking. Beseeching. Pleading. Begging.

All these words have to do with what you call prayer and what you have heard in the Gospel read today. For Jesus has spoken and says,
“And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.’”

When Sts. Joseph and Mary finally beheld their son, they pleaded with Him and begged Him to give them an answer to why He made them suffer so. This happened only because first they knew they had to care for Jesus and believe He is the Son of God. You too must also learn what you are to do and believe before you can pray.

First, you learn that it is your duty to pray, because God has revealed Himself to you in the 10 Commands and has told you to pray. For to call upon the Name of God is nothing else but prayer. And you have much to call upon God for, because the Commandments have revealed your sin to you also that you can not perfectly keep them.

Second, you must believe that there is a God to pray to and that His commands are just and holy. That He is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That He has created you and all things. That He has sent His Son for you and that He draws you to Himself by His Spirit. Otherwise, why would you pray to nothingness or a false god?

Thirdly, in this one, true faith, to which the Holy Spirit has called you, you pray. In faith you pray; in Christ you pray, for “prayer relies upon God’s mercy, when we believe that we are heard for the sake of Christ…because without [Christ as our] High Priest we cannot approach the Father.” (Triglotta: AP.211:212)

Pray in any other way and you are attempting to do a good work. If you are unwilling to receive something from God, then you are only willing to repay Him. If you are only praying to present your best to God, then you are praying to yourself and not to God.

Daniel says that “… we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (9:18-19)

Thus Daniel teaches us in praying to lay hold upon mercy; to trust in God’s mercy and not our own merits before God (Triglotta: AP.211:210). God would not command you to pray if He first did not intend to answer it. And He would have said, “first get your act together then pray”, if that was the way of things. Instead, the Lord gives His promise and faith believes. First there is grace, then there is response.

Do not think that there is no use to your prayers. Do not doubt that God hears them and do not think it is all the same if someone else prays and you do not. It is not this way. If you would be Christian, it is your duty and obligation to pray.

Of great advantage to sin, death and the devil is it when a son says to his father, “I don’t need to obey you; I can go and do as I please; it is all the same.” If you are not calling upon God in every trouble and need, then you are calling on something or someone else and it is usually yourself.

Jesus has so designed salvation to be a great shield against such things. Prayer is given that you may repel and silence such sin and evil. Prayer is given to you for your advantage.

Jesus does not need to hear prayer to know what you need or what needs to be done in this world. Before your prayer escapes your lips, Jesus already revealed Himself to the whole world as the Lamb of God, silently led to the slaughter answering all the prayers of the world.

And this is the great epiphany. That Joseph and Mary know where to look for God. They know what He looks like, what He sounds like, what He eats, and how He dresses. They know His words and they know His thoughts. Thus they are able to find Jesus in the Temple and beg of Him.

The Word of God also gives us this glad epiphany. That our High Priest, Jesus, has ordained it that we would not come to Him with sacrifices and atonement of our own, but that He would seek us out, dead in our sin, and offer a sacrifice for us revealing Himself as the Messiah.

In this Great High Priest, born under the Law, all are redeemed to God and have received the full rights as sons (Gal.4:4-5). In this great High Priest, you find His sacrifice for your sins, because He knows all your needs and fulfills them, before you ask.

This great high priest still intercedes for you today. He pleads with the Father, interceding on our behalf. And He is the only one to do all this for you and knows you need it before you pray.

And these weapons Christ has bestowed upon you to stand up against the devil. Though the devil and his followers could easily crush us underfoot, the prayer of the righteous, in Christ, intervenes like a wall of iron. For whenever a godly Christian prays, dear Father your will be done, god speaks from on high and says: Yes, dear child, it shall be so in spite of the devil and all the world.


“Therefore you should say: ‘My prayer is as precious, holy, and pleasing to God as that of St. Paul or [any of the other] of the most holy saints.’” (Triglotta: LC.701:16). Your prayer is great and something to be taken seriously. Do not babble, but pray for something because God is the giver. Ask, He says.

So, when you pray, use the words of psalms, hymns, and Scripture. Jesus did not leave you with no words to pray, but causes His own prayer to be written down for you. So pray this:

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever:
Amen.”

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