Luther on Prayer

Matthew 6:9
Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

            Luther wrote; “How should you talk to god? How do you honor the one you pray to? How do you present yourself so that he will be gracious and willing to hear you? No name anywhere makes a more favorable impression upon God in the name of “father”. Calling him father is friendly, affectionate, deep, and heartfelt. It wouldn't comfort us nearly so much to call him ‘lord’, or ‘god’, or ‘judge’, but the name ‘father’ is instinctive and affectionate. This is why hearing is calling father pleases him the most, and moves him to hear us. We acknowledge, ourselves as his children, and stir his heart because there's no more voice dear to a father than the voice of his own children.”

            |It also helps us.” Luther wrote, “when we say ‘in heaven’. These words expressed our distress and need because we are on earth but God is not. Whoever praises the Father in heaven knows that he has a father no longer here, but in heaven. Anyone who prays this way soon feels a heartfelt yearning, like a child who lives far away from his home in the midst of strangers, but knows he has a father in heaven who hears him, acknowledges him, and loves him!. 

            It is as if he were saying, ‘Father, you may be in heaven and I your poor child may live far from you here on Earth in peril, distress, and need; surrounded by enemies, dangers, and demons, but I know you hear me, and I know you love me!’.

            Anyone who prays in this way stands with a pure heart toward God and is able to pray in confidence and move his father in heaven to mercy!”

 Prayer:  Our Father in heaven your name is holy.  Our prayers may not make you any holier, but they make us holier in that we know that you love us and hear us, for we are your beloved children, and you are our God!  Amen.