Vol. 1 Issue 5 - May 2014

THE GENERAL PRAYER – PART I

The General Prayer that follows the Offertory in the Divine Service has always fascinated me. As a child I knew it as “the long prayer that we have to stand through.” But as an adult (and pastor) I have learned that everything we say and everything that is said in the Divine Service has purpose. There is not a wasted word or breath on the part of the pastor or the hearers. But to be honest, the General Prayer is long. It can be difficult to remain focused upon the prayer so that the heart is attentive to the petitions we offer. With this in mind, I want to examine the paragraphs of the General Prayer in these pages. I hope that by understanding the content of these petitions and why we pray these petitions our hearts will be more inclined to pray along with undivided focus and fervor.

The General Prayer begins:

Almighty and most merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give Thee thanks for all Thy goodness and tender mercies especially for the gift of Thy dear Son and for the revelation of Thy will and grace.

First we note to whom the church prays. We petition God the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our prayer is directed to God the Father on account of God the Son. Jesus tells His disciples in John 16:23-24:

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Our Lord Jesus teaches us to approach God the Father directly. Approaching God the Father we remember that all prayer must be prayed in Jesus’ name, that is, on account of His advocacy and mediation. We approach the Father in prayer because Jesus has atoned for our sins and given us His Holy Spirit so that we may believe the Gospel and by that faith be made righteous in God’s sight. It is only by faith that anyone can call God “Father.” This is why the Lord’s Prayer is given to the disciples and not to the world. Only those who believe the Gospel can call God “Father” and thus pray to “Our Father who art in heaven.” Praying in Jesus’ name we know that God the Father hears our prayers so we are bold to ask Him for the things the church needs.

Second, we note the first thing the church says to God the Father: “We give Thee thanks for all they goodness and tender mercies.” The church first acknowledges the good gifts of God, which He promises to give. The Psalmist prays, “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love.” (Psalm 25:6) This thanksgiving also recalls the words of the twenty-third Psalm, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalm 23:6) The first act of our prayer is to offer to God thanksgiving for His goodness and tender mercies. Without these we would be lost and have no good thing.

But it is not for general “goodness and tender mercies” that we offer our thanksgiving. It is the goodness and tender mercies shown to us in Jesus. The General Prayer points us in this specific direction with the modifying phrase, “especially for the gift of Thy dear Son and for the revelation of Thy will and grace.” The chief and foremost gift of goodness and tender mercy that God gives is Jesus. All of the promises of God find their origin, culmination, and fulfillment in Jesus Christ. St. Paul teaches, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) All of God’s revelation in the Old and New Testaments rest upon Jesus, of whom St. Paul says that He is the “cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:20) The General Prayer reinforces the teaching that Jesus is the center and fullness of God’s revelation about Himself to sinners, and that without Jesus, we could not know God the Father. St. John writes in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” When Philip asks, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us,” Jesus responds, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:8-9)

What goodness and tender mercies does God the Father show us in His Son? We give thanks for “Thy dear Son and for the revelation of Thy will and grace.” In Jesus, God shows us His will and His grace. St. John wrote that “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) The Lord revealed His holy Law through Moses but salvation was not meant to be given through the Law as St. Paul says in Galatians 2:16, “by works of the law no one will be justified.” God the Father gives us Jesus to show us the grace of God. Jesus doesn’t just teach the grace of God. He is the full manifestation of God’s grace, the Father’s favorable disposition toward us. For Jesus is the “propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) He is, as St. John the

Baptist exclaimed, “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) In Jesus we see that God the Father loves His creation and that His love is what caused Him to send Jesus to take on the form of a servant to die to atone for the sins of the world.

In Jesus, God the Father reveals His grace toward sinners. He also reveals His will for sinners. The will of God revealed in Jesus is that God the Father “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) Those who hear the Gospel promises of the forgiveness of sins and believe the promise of the Gospel are justified before God in heaven. This is God’s will, that we hear the Gospel and that the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts through the hearing of the Gospel.

It is also revealed that “this is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thess. 4:3) God the Father wills His Christians be sanctified, that is, made holy, by the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian fights sin and its temptations “which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

God the Father reveals all this to us by sending His Only-Begotten Son into the world. The General Prayer teaches us to keep the main thing the main thing: that God the Father has treated us with goodness and tender mercy, especially and chiefly in giving us His Only-Begotten Son. It is through Christ alone that anyone can know God the Father and His will for our lives and the salvation He offers in the Gospel.  Let us give hearty thanks to the Lord for this revelation of His will and grace in Christ Jesus our Lord!