Luther on Crying Out

Galatians 4:6
Because you are God's children, God has sent the spirit of his son into us to cry out, Abba! Father!

Luther writes, "Paul might have said God sent the spirit of his son into us to pray Abba, Father! But he says instead to cry out, Abba,. Father! This indicates the anguish of a Christian who is still weak and needs to grow in their faith. Romans 8:26 describes this 'crying out' like groans that cannot be expressed by words. In the middle of trials and conflicts it's sometimes hard to cry out to God. It takes a lot of effort to cling to God's Word. There are those times when it's hard to see Christ, to feel His presence, or know He is helping us during a time of attack. Sometimes we think that Christ is angry at us or has left us to our own devices. So much so that when the attack comes, we feel the power of sin, the weakness of our body, the sapping of our spiritual strength through doubt, but not the comfort of his nearer presence."

Luther hoped that when we experience what Paul wrote about in Ephesians 6, the "flaming arrows of the devil and the terror of death". We feel His wrath in the judgment of God. and this raises powerful and horrible shouts from us that rail against God because it does not appear that there is anything left to do but despair and give ourselves into death.

But, in the middle of all these terrors of the law, in the midst of all this thundering of sin, in the midst of all this shaking of death, this war with the devil - the Holy Spirit in our hearts begins to cry out, ""Father!" And his cry is stronger than any other, it drowns out even the poor, horrible shouts of sin, death and the devil. It penetrates the clouds surrounding it and reaches all the way to the ears of God!

Prayer: Abba, Father! We cry out to you in the midst of life's uncertainty. And we do this in the confidence given us by the one who cried out to You from the cross. We know that you hear us, and you will act, for you have raised him from the dead! Amen.