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The following reading from the CONCORDIA edition of the Book of Concord is for the LSB series ABC, Gospel, Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 for the Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011. It is from Large Catechism, Part III, pages 408-409. Prayer is not to be used to empress others with our piety. Because the Lord asks us to call upon Him in the day of trouble, prayer is an act of worship as we seek God's help for ourselves and others in need. Click here for the reading formatted for the back of a standard CPH bulletin. Pastor Doug May
Prayer is just as strictly and seriously commanded as all other commandments: to have no other God, not to kill, not to steal, and so on. Let no one think that it makes no difference whether he prays or not. Common people think this, who grope in such delusion and ask, "Why should I pray? Who knows whether God heeds or will hear my prayer? If I do not pray, someone else will." And so they fall into the habit of never praying. They build a false argument, as though we taught that there is no duty or need for prayer, because we reject false and hypocritical prayers [Matthew 6:5]. But it is certainly true that the prayers that have been offered up till now, when men were babbling and bawling in the churches were not prayers. Such outward matters of prayer, when they are properly done, may be a good exercise for young children, scholars, and simple persons. They may be called singing or reading, but not really praying. But praying, as the Second Commandment teaches, is to call upon God in every need. He requires this of us and has not left it to our choice. It is our duty and obligation to pray, if we would be Christians, just as it is our duty and obligation to obey our parents and the government. By calling upon God's name and praying, His name is honored. This you must note above all things, so that you may silence and reject thoughts that would deter us from prayer. (pars. 6-8)
These are excerpts from the Book of Concord.
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