READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Numbers 21:4-9
James 1:22-27
- St. John 16:23-30
May grace and peace be multiplied to you. (1 Pet 1)
Who speaks to you today, saying:
Thus far from God’s Word in His Gospel, and He includes this for us to hear about His gracious gift of Prayer. “Ask, ask”, He says and points us to a wonderful life of prayer He wants to give us. But we must learn to pray first, and that involves sitting at the feet of our Crucified Savior to receive His gifts of life. So also ought we to pray in the Name of Jesus.
The traditional name of this 6th Sunday of Easter is Rogate and it is Latin for the command “you pray”. The reason this is important is because the Church has found wisdom in using these last Sundays of Easter to focus on the end of Easter, Pentecost. So the Church is to pray and she is to pray for the Holy Spirit to come, as Jesus has been talking about in our Gospel readings.
"There is need every hour without ceasing”, says Dr. Luther, “to pray everywhere with tears of blood to God, who is so terribly angry with men. And it is true that it has never been more necessary to pray than at this time, and it will be more so from now on to the end of the world." In fact, he says, "I have so much to do that if I didn't spend at least three hours a day in prayer I would never get it all done."
That he can say two very such different things about prayer is a testament to the strength that Faith gives. We are told to pray for all people, even our enemies. And we must pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven and that takes strength. That prayer can be both a shield and weapon against the world, and also practical comfort in everyday humdrum, attests to how important prayer is for the Christian.
“When you pray”, Jesus says as He gives us His own prayer, The Our Father. Not “if you pray”, but “when”. That is, you do it. When? Every chance you get. Unceasingly (1 Thess 5:17). How? In perfect, righteous faith, of course (James 5:15-16) which can move mountains and in, literally “in”, the Name of Jesus (Jn 14:14).
Setting aside the necessity of perfect faith for now, ha, praying “in the Name of Jesus” does not mean simply tacking on His Name at the end of your prayer. Although you include His Saving Name in each of your prayers, to pray “in the Name” means to pray according to Jesus’s Person, words, and work.
To pray according to Jesus’s Person means to acknowledge that He is the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the only-begotten Son of the Father. That He is true God, begotten of the Father from all eternity and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary. And that in one Christ, the Chosen One, there is united perfectly those two natures so that we may believe that a man sits at God’s right hand ruling the universe, right now.
To pray according to Jesus’s words means two things. First, that we acknowledge Him as the True Word of God and second that we believe that His Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God, given to us men to hear it, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it. That the Bible is what normalizes our belief and everything we do in faith and that we do not deviate from it.
To pray according to Jesus's work, means that we ever are mindful of dwelling in and having our life fed by His suffering, crucifixion, and death and resurrection. That He has come to secure the forgiveness of sins by His holy, precious Blood and to purchase and win you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil with His innocent suffering and death.
In other words, only those who believe in Jesus Christ may pray to God and expect to be heard.
That the Holy Scriptures, and God Himself, cannot be penetrated by study and talent is most certain. Therefore your first duty is to begin to pray, and to pray to this effect that, if it please God to accomplish something for His glory--not for yours or any other person's--, He very graciously grant you a true understanding of His words. For no master of the divine words exists except the Author of these words, as He says: 'They shall be all taught of God' (John 6:45).
Repent. You must, therefore, completely despair of your own industry and ability to reach God with your words and rely solely on the inspiration of the Spirit. No matter how long or how fancy or how creative your prayers are, unless they are made in faith, they go nowhere.
Now does God abandon His creations? No. How does He deal with those creatures that do not believe? We don’t know. His Word doesn’t tell us. But we do know that He has made a way, the Only Way through Christ and He is merciful.
Thus, the Christian relies on Faith. The Faith of the One Who Prays: Jesus. “I have prayed for you”, He says in St. Luke 22:32, “that your faith may not fail.” Jesus, the God-man, prays. He prays for the glory of God and He prays for you. He doesn’t pray to Himself. He prays, Jesus the Son, to His Father and your Father Who art in heaven.
This is what makes the Lord’s Prayer so special for us. It is the Lord’s own prayer that He gives to us, in order that we pray side by side with the Creator of all.
Side by side with Jesus, the Church asks for God’s name to be hallowed and God’s kingdom to come. Side by side with His Church, Jesus intercedes for our daily bread, our forgiveness, and our deliverance from evil.
With all this, you would think that He would tell us to pray for any and everything. And while that is included in prayer, because it includes us and our lives, there is one specific thing that Jesus directly tells us to pray for. It is found both in St. Matthew and St. Luke saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:37-38, Lk 10:2)
That is, pray that the Lord send out laborers, Pastors, to us to preach His Word and administer His sacraments. This, really, is the only prayer that all our prayers are asking for. That God’s Name be holy, that His Kingdom come, and that His Will be done among us also. This is what it means to be His Church. To have these things around us and to find our life in them, for they are His gifts to us.
And that makes sense, because you need to learn to pray and what better place to learn than at the Master’s feet as He preaches His Word to you and gives you His Body and Blood. Thus, being a part of His Church and communing with Him is the first step in a life of prayer. You could really say that the Divine Service is prayer lived out in real time.
When Jesus tells us to pray, He is not just giving us words to say, but a life to live: His Life. And the words He does give us are the Holy Spirit’s own words, which interpret our groanings in sin, too deep for words.
To pray is to be invited into Prayer with the Lord. This is why the Apostle Paul can command us to pray unceasingly. Not because we are capable of such a thing, but because Jesus provides us with such prayers that never stop. One, because He intercedes for us unceasingly before the Father and Two, because the life He lives is now life for the whole world, but especially for His Bride, the Church.
This means that you should be certain that your prayers are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by Him; for He himself has commanded you to pray in this way and has promised to hear you. Amen, amen means “yes, yes it shall be so”.
Hear my prayer for you today: that you always have a Laborer in the Vineyard among you; that you trust in your baptism and the Lord’s salvation given to you there; that you rejoice in your communion which brings the one, true God into your hands and mouths for forgiveness; and that you continue steadfast, doing what you are doing here, in Faith.
Alleluia!
Amen.
Who speaks to you today, saying:
“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and
you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
Thus far from God’s Word in His Gospel, and He includes this for us to hear about His gracious gift of Prayer. “Ask, ask”, He says and points us to a wonderful life of prayer He wants to give us. But we must learn to pray first, and that involves sitting at the feet of our Crucified Savior to receive His gifts of life. So also ought we to pray in the Name of Jesus.
The traditional name of this 6th Sunday of Easter is Rogate and it is Latin for the command “you pray”. The reason this is important is because the Church has found wisdom in using these last Sundays of Easter to focus on the end of Easter, Pentecost. So the Church is to pray and she is to pray for the Holy Spirit to come, as Jesus has been talking about in our Gospel readings.
"There is need every hour without ceasing”, says Dr. Luther, “to pray everywhere with tears of blood to God, who is so terribly angry with men. And it is true that it has never been more necessary to pray than at this time, and it will be more so from now on to the end of the world." In fact, he says, "I have so much to do that if I didn't spend at least three hours a day in prayer I would never get it all done."
That he can say two very such different things about prayer is a testament to the strength that Faith gives. We are told to pray for all people, even our enemies. And we must pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven and that takes strength. That prayer can be both a shield and weapon against the world, and also practical comfort in everyday humdrum, attests to how important prayer is for the Christian.
“When you pray”, Jesus says as He gives us His own prayer, The Our Father. Not “if you pray”, but “when”. That is, you do it. When? Every chance you get. Unceasingly (1 Thess 5:17). How? In perfect, righteous faith, of course (James 5:15-16) which can move mountains and in, literally “in”, the Name of Jesus (Jn 14:14).
Setting aside the necessity of perfect faith for now, ha, praying “in the Name of Jesus” does not mean simply tacking on His Name at the end of your prayer. Although you include His Saving Name in each of your prayers, to pray “in the Name” means to pray according to Jesus’s Person, words, and work.
To pray according to Jesus’s Person means to acknowledge that He is the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the only-begotten Son of the Father. That He is true God, begotten of the Father from all eternity and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary. And that in one Christ, the Chosen One, there is united perfectly those two natures so that we may believe that a man sits at God’s right hand ruling the universe, right now.
To pray according to Jesus’s words means two things. First, that we acknowledge Him as the True Word of God and second that we believe that His Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God, given to us men to hear it, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it. That the Bible is what normalizes our belief and everything we do in faith and that we do not deviate from it.
To pray according to Jesus's work, means that we ever are mindful of dwelling in and having our life fed by His suffering, crucifixion, and death and resurrection. That He has come to secure the forgiveness of sins by His holy, precious Blood and to purchase and win you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil with His innocent suffering and death.
In other words, only those who believe in Jesus Christ may pray to God and expect to be heard.
That the Holy Scriptures, and God Himself, cannot be penetrated by study and talent is most certain. Therefore your first duty is to begin to pray, and to pray to this effect that, if it please God to accomplish something for His glory--not for yours or any other person's--, He very graciously grant you a true understanding of His words. For no master of the divine words exists except the Author of these words, as He says: 'They shall be all taught of God' (John 6:45).
Repent. You must, therefore, completely despair of your own industry and ability to reach God with your words and rely solely on the inspiration of the Spirit. No matter how long or how fancy or how creative your prayers are, unless they are made in faith, they go nowhere.
Now does God abandon His creations? No. How does He deal with those creatures that do not believe? We don’t know. His Word doesn’t tell us. But we do know that He has made a way, the Only Way through Christ and He is merciful.
Thus, the Christian relies on Faith. The Faith of the One Who Prays: Jesus. “I have prayed for you”, He says in St. Luke 22:32, “that your faith may not fail.” Jesus, the God-man, prays. He prays for the glory of God and He prays for you. He doesn’t pray to Himself. He prays, Jesus the Son, to His Father and your Father Who art in heaven.
This is what makes the Lord’s Prayer so special for us. It is the Lord’s own prayer that He gives to us, in order that we pray side by side with the Creator of all.
Side by side with Jesus, the Church asks for God’s name to be hallowed and God’s kingdom to come. Side by side with His Church, Jesus intercedes for our daily bread, our forgiveness, and our deliverance from evil.
With all this, you would think that He would tell us to pray for any and everything. And while that is included in prayer, because it includes us and our lives, there is one specific thing that Jesus directly tells us to pray for. It is found both in St. Matthew and St. Luke saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:37-38, Lk 10:2)
That is, pray that the Lord send out laborers, Pastors, to us to preach His Word and administer His sacraments. This, really, is the only prayer that all our prayers are asking for. That God’s Name be holy, that His Kingdom come, and that His Will be done among us also. This is what it means to be His Church. To have these things around us and to find our life in them, for they are His gifts to us.
And that makes sense, because you need to learn to pray and what better place to learn than at the Master’s feet as He preaches His Word to you and gives you His Body and Blood. Thus, being a part of His Church and communing with Him is the first step in a life of prayer. You could really say that the Divine Service is prayer lived out in real time.
When Jesus tells us to pray, He is not just giving us words to say, but a life to live: His Life. And the words He does give us are the Holy Spirit’s own words, which interpret our groanings in sin, too deep for words.
To pray is to be invited into Prayer with the Lord. This is why the Apostle Paul can command us to pray unceasingly. Not because we are capable of such a thing, but because Jesus provides us with such prayers that never stop. One, because He intercedes for us unceasingly before the Father and Two, because the life He lives is now life for the whole world, but especially for His Bride, the Church.
This means that you should be certain that your prayers are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by Him; for He himself has commanded you to pray in this way and has promised to hear you. Amen, amen means “yes, yes it shall be so”.
Hear my prayer for you today: that you always have a Laborer in the Vineyard among you; that you trust in your baptism and the Lord’s salvation given to you there; that you rejoice in your communion which brings the one, true God into your hands and mouths for forgiveness; and that you continue steadfast, doing what you are doing here, in Faith.
Alleluia!
Amen.
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