Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther For the Senior Department of Lutheran Sunday-Schools and for General Use · George Mezger
LESSON 46.
The Lord's Prayer. The Seventh Petition And The Conclusion. Which is the Seventh Petition? _Our Father who art in heaven, deliver us from evil._ What does this mean? _We pray in this petition, as the sum, of all that our Father in heaven would deliver us from every evil of body and soul, property and honor, and finally, when our last hour has come, grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven._ Which is the Conclusion of the Lord's Prayer? _For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen._ What is meant by the word "Amen"? _That I should be certain that these petitions are acceptable to our Father in heaven, and heard; for He Himself has commanded us so to pray, and has promised to hear us. Amen, Amen, that is, yea, yea, it shall be so._ 1. _"But deliver us from evil." "We pray in this petition, as the sum of all";_ in this petition we sum up all the others. We include in the word _"evil"_ our misfortunes and troubles of every kind, all our wants and needs: all the ailments of our _body,_ such as sickness and the like; everything that is hurtful to our _soul,_ sin with all its fearful consequences; anything that injures or destroys our _property,_ such as is done by fire, water, or bad, evil-minded men; whatever harms our _honor,_ loss of our good name through lies and calumnies, etc. All these things we sum up in the word _evil._
2. We pray that our Father would _deliver_ us from all these evils. We beseech Him to _spare_ us from as many evils as He sees fit. We know that days of sorrow and afflictions will indeed come to us. It is our Father's good will that _"we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."_ Acts 14,22. God sends us afflictions because He _loves_ us, His children, because in His wisdom He knows that it is good and salutary for us. _"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."_ Heb. 12,6. We willingly submit to His will. But whenever the Lord has afflicted us, in every need and distress, we lift our hearts to Him, the Father of mercies, and _pray Him to be with us in our affliction,_ to help _bear the cross_ He has laid upon us. We ask Him that He would turn every affliction _to our benefit_ and in His own good time take it from us. It is our earnest prayer that through everything that seems evil to us He would keep us steadfast in faith to everlasting life.
3. True, as long as we live here on earth, we shall not be entirely free from evil. On earth we are living in a _"vale of tears."_ But the time will come when _"the Lord shall deliver me from every evil and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom."_ 2 Tim. 4,18. And when this time has come, _our last hour,_ the hour of our departure from this world, we pray _that our Father would grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven,_ and thus wholly deliver us from all evil. In that hour we shall say: _"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation."_ Luke 2,29.30. When our dear Father takes us to Himself in heaven, all our prayers will have been granted, all earthly sorrow and affliction will be at an end; we shall have and enjoy with our Father and our Lord all His heavenly gifts. 4. In the Conclusion of the Lord's Prayer we say: _"Thine is the kingdom."_ We mean to say: Thou alone art my Lord and King, from whom I am to seek help, and who certainly will hear my prayer. _"Thine is the power":_ that is, Thou alone art the almighty God, Thou alone hast the power to grant my petitions. And so _"Thine is the glory";_ that is, all glory, all honor, all praise, shall be given to Thee alone _forever and ever._
5. The word _"Amen"_ with which we conclude our prayer means, as our Catechism explains it: _"Yea, yea, it shall be so."_ We express in this word our assurance that our prayers are _acceptable to our Father in heaven,_ and that _He will hear them._ May we really be certain that our petitions are acceptable to God? Most assuredly. _Our Lord Himself has given us this prayer,_ He has taught us these petitions, and _"has commanded us so to pray."_ When in true devotion, in the name of our Redeemer, we come to our Father and pray these petitions, how could it be otherwise than that our Father is well pleased! And He Himself, our Father, has so often _promised that He will hear us,_ that He will grant our prayer. Our Lord has promised us: _"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you."_ John 16,23. How could we doubt that God will hear us when we pray in Christ's name, according to His will?--Indeed, it sometimes seems to us as if God _did not hear_ our prayers. But it only seems so; God hears every true prayer. But we must not forget that God grants us our petitions _in His own manner,_ which we often do not understand. He does not always grant our petitions at once, but _at His appointed time,_ at the time He has appointed for His help, which, indeed, is the best time for us. Confidently we always want to conclude our prayers with, _"Amen; yea, yea, it shall be so."_
1. _We pray in this petition: My dear Father in heaven, lead me through all my afflictions according to Thy gracious will and pleasure, and when my last hour has come, grant me a blessed end and take me up to Thee in heaven, and so deliver me from all evil._ 2. _We are certain that this, our Lord's Prayer, as well as all the prayers we are bringing before God in accordance with it, are acceptable to God, and heard; for He Himself has commanded us so to pray and promised to hear us._ _We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God._ Acts 14,22. _The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom._ 2 Tim. 4,18. _Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation._ Luke 2,29.30.
Ideas discussed in this chapter
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.