Prayer and Faith: Martin Luther

In reading the excerpts from Martin Luther on prayer, the first thing that struck me was his dependence on scripture.  He not only quoted scripture, but he also alluded to it heavily.  Not a paragraph goes by without some direct impact by scriptural language.  This is impressive to me.

His overview of prayer is simple.  Prayer is simply the formal words of expression of requests and more to God. (Devotional Classics, 115) .  He also discusses forms of prayer like supplication, petition, and thanksgiving, all within a biblical context.  While Luther does not introduce any groundbreaking  definitions, he does add his own touch.

Luther's emphasis on faith should not be a surprise.  His search for salvation apart from Roman Catholic Indulgences, and his love for the book of Romans, led him to a saving remedy in faith, the one work that can please God.

So, it is no surprise that Luther writes "Where faith and confidence are not in prayer, the prayer is dead."  (117)  Also, "Faith makes prayer acceptable." (117)  And "We should pray by fixing our mind upon some pressing need, desiring it with all earnestness, and then exercise faith and confidence toward God in the matter, never doubting that we have been heard."  (116)

So, what can Luther contribute to our understanding of prayer, at least in these few excerpts that we have read?

1.  One thing is that Luther, who by all accounts was a passionate individual, sought to infuse prayer with more than just ritual or bland religious expression.  For Luther, passion in prayer was derived from personal requests.  Apparently Luther is fighting against the instinct of his day to pray generic prayers with little feeling or thought about specific outcomes.

2.  Passion in prayer is derived from the person or issue that is brought before God.  Thus, supplication is the key to passionate prayer.  Luther uses the terms like vigorous, desire, confidence in relation to supplication.

3.  Knowing that our emotions and passions can lead us astray, what must we do to remain focused?  Luther argues that we do a couple of things.  Faith is the key--but faith in God, not in the outcome.  More on this in a minute.

4.  Another key to focused prayer is thanksgiving.   Thanksgiving recounts God's faithful track record and gives confidence to the one praying that prayers are heard and answered.  Thanksgiving allows us to wait trustingly for what we pray. (116)  For Luther, I think the idea of thanksgiving flowed directly from his understanding of grace.  "It is amazing that a poor human creature is able to speak with God's high Majesty in heaven and not be afraid.  When we pray,  the heart and conscience must not pull away from God because of our sins and our unworthiness, or stand in doubt, or be scared away." (119)  Thanksgiving reminds us that God has forgiven, and the sacrifice of Christ need not be paid for in order to be experienced.  What a gift prayer is!

5.  Finally, the passionate and effective prayer relies completely on God for the answer--the ultimate expression of faith.  "Faith makes the prayer acceptable because it believes that either the prayer will be answered, or that something better will be given instead."  Also, "we are to lay our need before God in prayer but not prescribe to God a measure, manner, time, or place.  We leave that to God, for he may wish to give it to us in another, perhaps better, way than we think is best."  Again, "You should confidently expect from God one or two things: either that your prayer will be granted, or, that if it is not granted, the granting of it would not be good for you."

6.  Ironically, the book of James under girds his thoughts here.  Luther always felt that James was the weakest book in the Bible, contradicting in some ways the doctrine of salvation by grace found in Romans and Galatians.  Yet, he directly quotes James twice in proof of the need for faith in prayer.

"Let him who asks of God not waver in faith, for if he wavers, let him not think that he shall receive anything from the Lord." James 4:8
"You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss."  James 4:3.

Ultimately, what I see in Luther's writings through this small sample is an attempt to free himself and his listeners from rigid, religious prayer forms and open up their spiritual passions to God's desires.  Luther writes, "I know, whenever I have prayed earnestly, that I have been heard and have obtained more than I prayed for." (118)  And, "When we pray we must hold fast and believe that God has heard our prayers.  It was for this reason that the ancients defined prayer as . . . a climbing up of the heart of God."

Questions for thought:
1.  What is the relationship between faith and answered prayer?
2.  Why do some prayers get answered, while others don't?
3.  Are you more likely to sin by praying without faith, or sin by telling God how he should answer your prayers?