"Give us this day our daily bread… I do not believe a day has gone by for a number of months now but what I have not earnestly with all the spiritual fervor within me, no matter how insignificant the fervor, implored, begged, pleaded, demanded, expected, and petitioned our Father to give us Daily Bread so that the Church might be sustained in this perilous time. If you believe we have more than a meager amount of daily bread—the spiritual bread of the Word—then you are foolish, ignorant or spiritually blind. You might liken our relationship to the Word to that of a man who takes a bride, but is only committed to his adulteries. He believes he is married, but his so-called marriage has not taken root in his heart. I ask you, what difference does it make that he believes he is married?

In like manner, what does it matter that we "confess" so many things about what we believe when our hearts are far from experiencing the impact of these things we confess. The Lord doesn't want just our lips but our hearts. I suppose no matter how much a sham a marriage is, as long as there isn't an outright divorce then there is hope that a true marriage can be created. When a true marriage is created something truly good has happened, but what about the damage which has been done in the meantime to the institution of marriage?

"Give us this day our daily bread." O Lord, help us to see how we are barely being sustained by measly morsels when You have provided such a rich table. Please forgive us for this, our foolishness. Make us realize that we are at fault when we suffer want because we do not ask God for this bread. In consequence, we have ignorant pastors and teachers, who have nothing to give us. And we, in turn, make a bad situation worse by loathing, ridiculing, and despising them. God's wrath brings matters to such a pass! Therefore we should examine this petition closely. In it God teaches us to pray for all spiritual leaders, especially for those who are supposed to offer us the Word of God. It will not be given to them unless we prove ourselves worthy of it and ask God for it. Therefore, when you see incompetent pastors and leaders, do not curse, condemn, or rebuke them, but regard them as a horrible plague from God by means of which he punishes you and us all for not praying the Lord's Prayer and for not asking him for our daily bread. If we would sincerely pray the Lord's Prayer and ask for our daily bread, God would surely hear us and send us fine, capable, and learned spiritual leaders. We are at fault more than they. Nowadays we find people whom God punishes by so hardening their hearts that they not only fail to recognize our untrained clergy as a plague, but even take delight in despising them and making light of this deserved plague of God, whereas they should really be weeping bloody tears, if this were possible, over such a serious and severe plague inflicted on us by God. I want you to know that God has never yet punished the world more harshly than by allowing blind and ignorant leaders to exist, who destroy us by withholding the Word of God and our bread. The abortion of a thousand babies a second is no plague compared with this plague of blindness and hardness toward Scripture.

If we do not learn and believe that we are in the midst of a Terrible Plague, then it will continue until it has eaten not only our souls but also our homes and our very flesh. We will awaken at midnight as if from a horrible nightmare and believe that God has forsaken us. Then we will see clearly how great is this Black Death among us. This will be a mortal blow, the true farewell drink of gall and vinegar, such as Christ tasted on the cross when He cried: "I thirst." The devil has masterly ability to shoot such poisonous, fiery darts (Eph. 6:16) into the heart, especially when he gets a person alone. Then he blasts and destroys everything man has had and has regarded as right and good. Thus—especially during the three days of Christ's suffering and death—he shook and winnowed the apostles as though he had them in a sieve. In consequence, they lost all precious, friendly thoughts they had about Christ; that God had given them the dear, faithful Savior, who had done such great things and had been so friendly and such a comfort to them. He tears all this out of their hearts in one moment, and substitutes nothing but heavy, melancholy thoughts of death and hell, such as: "Now where is your Christ, on whom you relied and of whom you thought that if you had Him, you would have a gracious God and every blessing? There He lies, executed and hanged as a malefactor and a miscreant, cursed not only by men but also by God. And you who clung to Him are in the same condemnation and deserve to share His fate."

If the Disciples went through this even after having been prepared by Christ Himself, what is to become of us, today, based on the preparation we are receiving and open to? Our only hope is that God knows how great and hard this battle is and that flesh and blood is too weak to grasp the comfort of the Gospel, and so we are urged to turn to prayer and to begin to sob and call to God when we feel the weakness that causes us to lack the comfort, the strength, and the ability to bear and overcome the suffering, the anxiety, and the sorrow (John 6:23).

It is not enough for us to have the Word and to know and understand everything we should—both the doctrine of faith and about comfort and victory in every trouble.

Something more is required, and that is action, (I make "action" emphatic here as long as it is remembered that we have lost sight of Christ when we focus on what we do) in order that subsequently we may live as doctrine and knowledge teach and guide us. For thus God declares in Proverbs 8:14: "Mine is the doctrine; Mine is also the power of execution." If the doctrine is to be right, God must reveal and give it; and even if we already have it and know everything one should teach and believe, and need nothing more, this does not mean that the result has been achieved. Much more is still required to make practice conform to our teaching and exhorting. But if the doctrine is predominantly wrong, as it is today, then there is even a far less chance of conformity to Christian precept, which is evidenced today. With all the know-it-alls today, one would think the church would be getting healthier. In fact, about the only thing the church is unified around is the disease of the church.

This is evident in the life and activity of the apostles. Look at Saints Peter, John, and Paul in the Book of Acts, and see how they have to struggle and strive in their ministry before they succeed in disseminating the Gospel. For the devil goes to work with might and main to impede and obstruct the Gospel, he uses every obstacle at his disposal. Besides, he enjoys the advantage of having as an ally within our hearts that great piece of Adam, who is too lazy by nature, too sluggish, and too tired to engage in a battle like this and always draws us back, thus making it especially hard and unpleasant to keep on contending with opposition and obstacles of so many kinds to fight to the finish.

For these reasons, Christ says, "There is no other help than promptly to raise your eyes and heart heavenward and to pray to My heavenly Father. After you have taught and admonished, have done everything your calling demands, and still things will not and can not progress, then seek help, get a fresh relay of horses, and all help one another with grunts and groans to lift and shove the wagon through the mire. That is what God wants. You are not only to recognize the doctrine and what you have already as given to you by Him, but you must also seek from Him what you still need and lack. In this way you will discover that you can do nothing, but that everything—both the beginning and the end, the willing and the doing—must be sought from Him and be given by Him" (Phil 2:13).

Although the ministry is hard and entails much trouble and worry, it nonetheless has the advantage that despite my own unfitness and unworthiness to preach it gives me the courage to take the Book in hand and, on God's behalf, to tell my neighbor: "Dear friend, here it is written; you are hearing God's Word, not mine; your own salvation and bliss are at stake, not mine," When I have said this, I have done my duty; let him answer for his acceptance or rejection. But if I am to speak and pray to God for myself, a hundred thousand obstacles immediately present themselves before I can begin. The devil can put all sorts of reason in the way and can hem me in and hinder me on all sides. As a result, I go my way and never give it a thought. Let him who has never experienced this just give it a try. Earnestly resolve to pray, and you will soon see what varied thoughts of your own come upon you to distract you from beginning in the proper way.

Don't allow anything to stand in your way to prayer, be it unworthiness, doubt, business, or worthiness. Be courageous, and leap over all these things. Even leap over the thought, "Things aren't that bad. God is still in control." If you say this while on your knees shuddering before God, then you may be saying this in the Spirit. Otherwise, you are taking God's name in vain. It is much better to fall on your knees while you are in sin and to pray with all your heart: "Ah, dear Father, forgive me, and deliver me from this sin!" in order that the devil may not push you still deeper into sin and hold you there forever.

Behold, you could repulse the devil and all his false suggestions by basing your prayer on these three things: God's command, His promise, and the manner and words of Christ Himself taught. These things the devil cannot deny or annul. Then begin to pray confidently, and be sure that your prayer is proper and not in vain. You can bet that if you only try to do this and begin, you will be aware of its power and its fruit, that you will like it, and that it will warm and strengthen your heart. Therefore it is best to advance at once and say: "After all, it is necessary to pray; the sooner, the better—no matter in what kind of state I am; whether I am not ready or am unworthy; whether I am depressed, sad, or impatient; whether I am angry, have evil desires, or am burdened with other thoughts."

Let this be said by way of exhortation to prayer, in order that we may accustom ourselves with all diligence and earnestness to pray. For next to the preaching of the Gospel, in which God speaks to us and offers us all His grace and goods, the greatest and foremost work we can do is to speak to Him in turn through prayer and to receive what He gives us. Thus we truly have great need of prayer.

Consider this command to pray well, and impress it on your consciousness, so that you will not think that you may pray or not pray at your discretion, as though it were not a sin if you did not pray but were sufficient to let others pray. No, you must know that God has earnestly enjoined prayer under pain of incurring His greatest disfavor and punishment, just as He has commanded you not to have any other gods, not to blaspheme or misuse the name of God but to confess and proclaim, to praise and to extol it. And he who transgresses this command must know that he is no Christian and no member of God's kingdom. Now if you believe that God has good reason to be angry with idolaters, with blasphemers and scorners of His Word, and with murderers and thieves, and that He inflicts terrible punishments on the world because of such sins, why, then, do you not also fear God's anger when you ignore this commandment and go your own smug way, as though you had no obligation to pray?

You say, "Sir, I do pray." Good. Do you pray from the heart? Does your very being and depth of your soul groan before the Lord your maker. Amidst these groans are you assured that whatever you ask in His name, He will give it? Surely he who wants to be a Christian should blush a bit and feel ashamed if he has never prayer from the heart after hearing these words. Is it not an everlasting disgrace before God and all the world that even though Christ must assure us with such a solemn oath, we still do not believe and are not finally impelled to begin to pray from the heart? After all, what are we going to say before God or in answer to our own conscience when we are asked: "Have you ever prayed the heavenly Father earnestly and with an undoubting heart that His name be hallowed? Do you not know how earnestly I have commanded this and how solemnly I have sworn that your prayer will surely be heard if only you pray from the heart?" I say that in all fairness we should blush with shame before ourselves and really fear God's terrible judgment if we attach so little importance both to His command and to His solemn promise and allow them to fall on deaf ears. It will do no good to excuse yourself and say: "I really did not know whether I was worthy" or "I lacked desire, and it was inconvenient for me" or "I had to attend to other business."

Here you ask: "How can this promise really be true at all times if God often does not grant our prayers? Did He not let David plead in vain for his son's life?" (II Sam. 12:16ff.) I have often said how prayer must be formulated. We must not stipulate for God the measure, the term, the manner, the place, or the person. No, we must leave this to His knowledge of what He should give and what is useful for us. Therefore God Himself has established the order in the Lord's Prayer and has specified three goals which must always have precedence: That His name be hallowed, His kingdom, and His will. Then come our daily bread, deliverance from temptation and all trouble. Preference must be given to God's name and to His kingdom; if this is done, then our interests will surely follow.

He surely has no other thoughts toward you in His heart than those shown you in the Lord's Prayer. And if you pray in this way, asking His will be done, your prayer is certainly heard. But your prayer must be offered so as not to violate or reverse God's order or ignore the most important matters. Therefore if you see that your petition is not being heard and granted, this can surely be traced to the fact that you, as St. Paul says, do not realize what you are asking for and do not know how to pray properly. This knowledge, he states, is too sublime for us. We are unable to ascertain and define what serves the hallowing of God's name, the promotion of His kingdom, and the fulfillment of His will, nor how God should give you your daily bread and other necessities, deliver you from sin and temptation, deliver when you are in trouble, etc. To be sure, it is recorded what we should ask for and how we should pray; but we are unable to specify or determine the time, the person, the manner, and the measure according to which He should answer our prayers.

Therefore if you yourself or others are in distress or danger, you should, of course, pray for deliverance and help; but you must do this as the Lord's Prayer teaches you. That is, you must ask for fulfillment if this tends to hallow God's name and to meet with the approval of His will; if not, God should act as He knows and considers best. This is the right way to pray: "Dear Father, give us our daily bread, good weather, and health; and guard us against pestilence, war, famine, etc. But if Thou dost wish to test me for a season and dost not want to grant my prayer at once, Thy will be done. If it is the time and the hour, then deliver me from the evil. If not, then give me strength and patience."

We should not doubt that we are heard; for, after all, everything is done for our benefit. Even if God delays or does not give us exactly what we have mentioned to Him, He is nonetheless well pleased with our prayer; instead of what we have asked for He wants to give us something that is far better than we can understand. He does this in order that we may learn to know His will and be obedient to Him, increase our faith, be strengthened, and conquer in patience. God's attitude toward us is that of a pious father toward his child. He may not give everything the child has asked for; but he does everything for its improvement, so that it may learn to know the father's heart and will and be obedient to him. Thus God also punishes us with His angry rod; and although this causes us to cry out and pray, He does not stop at once. This serves to make us more pious, after which He shows us all the more mercy and favor. He likes to hear our crying and sighing. It is the mark of pious children who mend their ways and do not run from Him but want to remain good children.

It would be one of the worst blasphemies—a blasphemy which calls God a liar—for you to pray because of God's command and promise, also in the name of Christ, and yet to waver by saying: "Who knows whether I am praying properly, whether my prayer is heard?" No Christian should ever admit such doubts to his heart. A Christian must be as sure of the fulfillment of his prayer as he is of the truthfulness of God. For even though he is unworthy, he has not prayed in his own name, nor does he want to be heard for his own sake; but he has prayed in Christ's name, and he expects fulfillment of his petitions on the strength of Christ's worthiness. He must not doubt this any more than he must doubt God's Word, which he preaches or hears, or Baptism, the Sacrament, absolution, the Ten Commandments, or his own vocation.

Even if your faith is not strong enough or if you do not do and live as you should, this does not detract from the validity of God's Word in Baptism, the Gospel, and the Sacrament. In like manner, we say here: "Although I do not deserve to have my petition heard, Christ, in whose name I offer this prayer, is indeed very worthy; and for His sake my unworthy and insufficient prayer has to be acceptable and worthy also before God." St. Bernard was a fine man, one who had Christian thoughts, because he admonished his brethren so faithfully that when they wanted to pray, they should be sure not to refrain because of doubt. "For as soon as we begin to pray," he said, "the words are already counted and recorded in heaven."

Anything, then, that is to qualify as true prayer and worship must be stamped with the simple words, "in My name." This separates it from all other worship, including that found in the Old Testament and observed by the holy patriarchs. Everything becomes new in this Christ, even the prayers of the dear patriarchs, because they called upon this very same Christ, who has now come and has fulfilled what they believed and looked for. Now Scripture and the Psalms ring just as new on our lips, if we believe in Christ, as they did when David first sang them.

It is true that the victory has been won, that all peril and anxiety have vanished. It is no longer necessary for us to wrestle and fight. All this has already taken place. The world, the devil, and death have been defeated and lie prostrate. Heaven, righteousness, and life are victorious. All that remains for us to do is to spread this news throughout the world and to intone the song of victory and to sing joyfully "Christ is risen." He has accomplished all this and has given complete victory to those who hear and believe this. But we must preach, confess, and speak highly of this news before the entire world; we must rely on it and say to anyone who wants to attack us: "What do you propose to do, tyrant, world, and devil? Are you robbing me of my property, my honor, my life? Then what? The victory has been won; yes, it has been won. For here is Christ, who lives and conquers and answers my prayer in His name. My dear sir, do not try and rob me of Him. Or if you can, try your power on Him once more, and see what happens."

Yes, now, however, there must be bitterness in this life to such an extent that anxiety and sadness will impel us to pray and to cry out, in order that comfort may taste better to us and we may become all the more desirous of joy. But a Christian must accustom himself to think about Christ's victory—the victory in which everything has already been accomplished and in which we have everything we should have. Henceforth we live only to spread among other people the news of what Christ has achieved. We must do so by exhorting them with words and with our example to give thought to the victory Christ has won for us and has given us. For this Victor has accomplished everything. There is nothing for us to add to what He has done—neither the blotting out of sin nor victory over the devil and death. Everything has already been laid low.

Henceforth our suffering and fighting and praying are no real battle; they are only a prize or part of the glory of this victory. For our suffering, yes, the suffering and the blood of the martyrs and saints, would not gain the victory for us. It is impossible for us to defeat and trample underfoot sin, death, and hell by what we do. The pope and the Baptists lie when they say that we can do this; by making such a statement they insult and blaspheme Christ. Here my fighting comes too late. If I am to have comfort and peace, the battle must have been won beforehand, and the victory must be there. "I," says Christ, "have already accomplished this. But accept it, and make use of My victory by singing about it, glorying in it, and making a show of it. Just be of good cheer."

Yes, be of good cheer. As the Spirit begins to open your eyes to the "terrible plague" in our midst; as you fall before your Lord in the name of Christ; and as you weep and mourn not only for the plight of the church, but more importantly for your own deteriorated spiritual condition, be of good cheer! The battle has been won. The agony is just part of the glorious victory.

To God be the glory for the great, mighty, and wondrous things He will be doing among His people. He will purge us in love. He will present us to Himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle.