III. Of Prayer and Thanksgiving

Master. You've raised the topic of prayer at just the right moment. Now that we've finished discussing God's law and the Creed (that is, the Christian confession of faith), it's natural to turn next to prayer and thanksgiving, which is closely connected to it. These subjects follow one another in a logical order and fit naturally alongside everything we've already covered.

Scholar. They are indeed very closely connected, since both belong to the first table of God's law and contain the primary duties of godliness toward God.

Master. What order should we follow in discussing prayer?

Scholar. This order, master, if it pleases you: first, to show who should be prayed to; second, with what confidence; third, with what disposition of heart; and fourth, what we should pray for.

Master. Let's begin with the first point, then. Who do you think should be called upon in prayer?

Scholar. God alone, and no one else.

Master. Why is that?

Scholar. Because our life and salvation rest entirely in God's hands, and all things are under His power. Since God gives us everything that is good and that a Christian should wish and desire, and since He alone is able in every danger to provide help and relief and to ward off all harm, it is right that we ask everything of Him. In every time of distress, we should turn to Him alone and seek His help. This is what He asks and requires in His Word, as the worship that belongs uniquely and properly to His majesty.

Master. Should we not, then, call upon holy men who have departed this life, or upon angels?

Scholar. No. To pray to saints would be to grant them omnipresence, or to grant them, even in their absence, knowledge of our innermost thoughts. That amounts to attributing a kind of divinity to them, and worse, it redirects toward them the trust and confidence that belongs to God alone, which is nothing short of idolatry. God calls us to Himself alone, and He has even sworn an oath, promising that He will hear and help us. To turn instead to others is a clear sign of distrust and faithlessness. And as for the holy men who have departed this life, consider what it would mean to abandon the living God who hears our prayers, who is all-powerful, who is eager to help us, who calls us to Himself, who promises and swears in His word of truth that He will defend us with His divine power and care. To abandon Him, I say, and run instead to men who are dead, deaf, and powerless, who have made no promise of help, who are unable to relieve us, to whom God never assigned the role of helping us, and to whom no scripture directs us as a sure foundation for faith, is to be carried away recklessly, trusting nothing more than our own fantasies and delusions.

Master. But God does use the ministry of angels for our salvation. They watch over us, and so they hear us.

Scholar. That is true. But nowhere in the word of God does it appear that He wants us to pray to angels, or to godly men who have died. Since faith rests on the word of God, and whatever is not of faith is sin, I was right to say that it is a sure sign of faithlessness to abandon God, to whom scripture alone directs us, and instead to pray to and seek help from angels or departed saints, for whom there is not a single word of instruction in all of holy scripture.

Master. But since love never fades from the hearts of the godly, even in heaven they care for us and desire our salvation.

Scholar. That cannot be denied; yet it doesn't follow that we must therefore call upon them. After all, we don't seek help from friends who are far away simply because they wish us well.

Master. But we often ask for help from people who are alive and present with us.

Scholar. Granted. Because people genuinely need one another's help, God has given us the ability to assist each other; and He has explicitly commanded every person to help their neighbor as much as they can. We therefore call on other people as instruments of God's goodness, acting in accordance with His will and looking to them for help and support. Even so, all our trust must rest in God alone. Whatever reaches us through human hands, we should recognize as coming from Him, the source of all generosity. Calling on other people is therefore entirely right and proper, and it doesn't interfere with calling on God alone, provided we acknowledge that we look nowhere else for anything truly good, and that we place our ultimate hope in no one other than Him.

Master. Are you saying, then, that we must approach prayer and petition, like every other act of devotion, according to what God's word prescribes, or we cannot please Him?

Scholar. Yes, absolutely; because every offense in religion comes from departing from the order and manner that God has appointed.

Master. So far, then, you have said that God alone is to be called upon, that all our trust is to be placed in Him, and that everything good is to be traced back to Him as its ultimate source. What remains is to explain with what confidence we poor, mortal, and so deeply unworthy human beings should dare to call upon the immortal God.

Scholar. We are, in every way, completely unworthy. But we don't push our way in proudly or arrogantly, as though we deserved to be there. We come to Him in the name of Christ our Mediator, trusting in Him alone. Because Christ has opened the door for us, even the most wretched and lowly among us, burdened by the weight of our own sins and made from nothing but dust and clay, will not be turned away. We will not find the majesty of God difficult to approach, nor will His favor be beyond our reach.

Master. We don't need some human intermediary to represent us before God, then, the way a petitioner might need a spokesman to present his case to an earthly prince.

Scholar. Not at all, unless we want to imagine that God is like a human ruler, confined to one place, unable to grasp many things without the help of his servants, or occasionally asleep, or simply too busy to listen. As for our unworthiness, we've already addressed that: our prayers rest their confidence not on anything within us, but entirely on the worthiness of Christ, in whose name we pray.

Master. Do you believe, then, that God the Father is to be called upon in the name of Christ alone, trusting in Him alone?

Scholar. Yes, absolutely, Master. Christ loves us more deeply and singularly than anyone else, so much so that He will do all things for our sake. He alone stands with God His Father, seated at His right hand in the highest favor, and is therefore able to obtain whatever He asks of Him. He alone, then, is the one Mediator between God and humanity, the man Jesus Christ. He is the sole Mediator both of our redemption and of our prayers. The holy scriptures explicitly direct us to approach God the Father in His name alone, and they attach to this the promise that through His intercession we will receive everything we pray for. Apart from Christ, the ear and heart of God turns away from us.

Master. And yet, while we remain in this world, we do still help one another through mutual prayer.

Scholar. That is true. But we do not therefore place other mediators in Christ's position; rather, with united hearts and prayers, following the rule of charity and the word of God, we call upon our common Father through the one Mediator.

Master. You are saying, then, that appointing any mediators or advocates before God other than Christ alone is both contrary to the holy Scriptures and therefore contrary to faith, and also does great injury to Christ himself.

Scholar. Yes indeed, master.

Master. Continue, then.

Scholar. The heart of the matter is this: we must come before God the Father in prayer, resting on confidence in the promises He has made to us through Christ, trusting in His intercession, setting aside any thought of our own worthiness, and shaping our prayers as though from Christ's own lips. To do this is both most consistent with the truth of Scripture and most free from any charge of arrogance or presumption.

Master. Do you believe that those who pray to God in the way you describe should have genuine hope of receiving what they ask?

Scholar. The Lord himself commands us to ask with firm faith, and He pairs that command with a promise, even adding an oath, that whatever we ask in faith will be given to us. His apostles likewise teach that true prayer flows from faith. We must therefore always build on this most certain foundation: resting in confident trust in His fatherly goodness, we should be convinced that God hears our prayers and petitions, and that we will receive whatever is truly good for us. Those who come to prayer carelessly and without thought, or who pray while doubting whether they will be heard, pour out empty and fruitless words to no effect.

Master. I understand now with what confidence you say we must call upon God. Tell me, then, with what disposition of heart we must come to Him.

Scholar. Our hearts must be deeply grieved by our awareness of need, poverty, and the miseries that weigh on us, to the point that we burn with a fierce desire for relief from that suffering and for the help of God we are praying for. When our hearts are in that condition, we can't help but cry out with the most intense and fervent attention, in every kind of prayer and petition, for what we truly need.

Master. I see, then, that praying with the tongue and voice alone is not enough.

Scholar. To pray without engaging the mind and genuine attention, without which prayer can never be effective, is not only a futile waste of effort (for how can God hear us when we don't even hear ourselves?), but it also means pouring out empty and worthless words that actually offend God's majesty. Such prayers are so far from appeasing the God we have already offended that they only make things worse.

Master. How do we know this is true?

Scholar. Since God is a Spirit, and (if I may put it this way) a perfectly pure mind, He requires the soul and mind in all things, and especially in prayer, through which we, in a sense, speak and commune with Him directly. He also makes clear that He will draw near only to those who call on Him sincerely, that is, from the heart, and that those are the prayers that please Him. On the other side, God rightly abhors and detests the prayers of those who mouth words with their tongue that they don't actually feel or think in their heart, treating the immortal God with less care and attention than they would give to a fellow human being. So in prayer, the mind is always essential, while the tongue is not always necessary.

Master. But does the tongue have some role in prayer?

Scholar. Absolutely. The tongue should diligently and earnestly use all its strength and ability to honor God, since it is, more than any other part of the body, the very organ God created for that purpose. Beyond this, just as words sometimes burst from us without warning when our minds are deeply focused and intent, so too the very act of speaking aloud, and hearing our own words, sharpens and quickens the mind, strengthens our attention, and drives away the sluggishness that constantly tempts the heart.

Master. Given all that, what do you make of those who pray in a foreign language they don't understand?

Scholar. I think they not only waste their effort, but in doing so they mock God Himself. If to speak means to place each word deliberately and meaningfully, then those who utter words they don't understand are chattering rather than speaking, let alone praying. They are playing the parrot rather than behaving as human beings, much less as Christians. Such hypocrisy and mockery should be far from any godly person. If St. Paul considered it absurd for someone to address others in a language they don't understand, because words only move those who share that language, and he affirmed that both speaker and listener become strangers to each other in such a case, how much greater an absurdity is it when we become strangers to ourselves, using speech we don't know, attempting to express our thoughts and prayers in a tongue to which we ourselves are deaf? The wise men of antiquity rightly judged that people who did this were the most foolish and most deserving of ridicule.

Master. I can see how much a focused mind and genuine, fervent feeling are required in prayer. But tell me: do you think this fervor is natural, something planted in our hearts by our very nature, or is it a lifting of our minds by God?

Scholar. The Holy Scriptures testify that the Spirit of God stirs up inexpressible groanings within us, through which our prayers are made effective. He therefore, without question, moves our minds by His inspiration and sharpens our desire and ability to pray.

Master. But what about those times when this fervent spirit of prayer cannot always be present, and our zeal grows cold or dies out entirely? Should we simply sit idle, half-asleep in our laziness, waiting passively for the Spirit to move us?

Scholar. Not at all. Rather, when we find ourselves spiritually weak and sluggish, we must immediately call on God for help, asking Him to revive our enthusiasm and stir our hearts toward prayer. For even this desire and willingness to seek God comes to us through His own guidance.

Master. Now it remains for me to hear from you what we should actually ask of God in prayer. Is it acceptable to ask God for whatever happens to cross our minds?

Scholar. Consider this: even people who had no knowledge of true faith held such a respectful view of their gods' majesty that they believed it wrong to ask them for anything unjust or shameful. How much more, then, should we as Christians never bring before God in prayer anything that conflicts with His will and character. To do so would be to insult and dishonor His supreme majesty, and such a prayer could neither please Him nor receive anything from Him. Beyond that, human understanding is too limited to know what is truly good for us, and the desires of our hearts are so blind and unruly that we need not only a guide to follow but also restraints to hold us back. It would be deeply absurd, then, to let our prayers be driven recklessly by our own emotions and appetites. Our prayers must therefore be directed entirely according to a clear rule and a prescribed form.

Master. What rule and form is that?

Scholar. The very same form of prayer that the heavenly Teacher gave to His disciples, and through them to all of us. In it, He compressed into just a few petitions everything we are permitted to ask of God and everything we truly need to receive. This prayer is called the Lord's Prayer, after its Author. If we follow this divine Teacher, letting His own words lead us, we will never stray from the right way to pray.

Master. Then recite the Lord's Prayer for me.

Scholar. The Lord says: when you pray, say this: "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

Master. Do you think we are required to use these exact words every time, so that we cannot lawfully change even a single one?

Scholar. There is no doubt that we may pray in other words, as long as we don't depart from the meaning of this prayer. In it, the Lord has laid out certain key and essential points, and unless all our prayers are directed toward those points, they cannot please God. Even so, each person should ask God for whatever the moment and his own need require. He may linger on whichever part of this prayer he chooses, for as long as he wishes, and expand it in whatever ways he sees fit. Nothing prevents this, provided he prays to God with the trust and devotion I described earlier, and with the same intent that this prayer sets out.

Master. How many parts does the Lord's Prayer have?

Scholar. The prayer contains six petitions, but these fall into just two parts. The first belongs entirely to the glory of God and covers the three opening petitions; the second, which covers the three closing petitions, belongs properly to our own benefit.

Master. Do you separate our benefit from God's glory so completely that you divide them equally between the two parts?

Scholar. I'm not separating things that belong together. Rather, for the sake of clarity, I'm distinguishing between things that need to be understood separately, so we can see where each one belongs. In reality, the things that properly concern God's glory also bring us enormous benefit; and likewise, the things that serve our benefit are all directed toward God's glory. That should be the goal to which everything is directed, the standard we aim for: that God's glory be as fully magnified as possible. Even so, I think this division into two parts is reasonable and not arbitrary, since it reflects the nature of the things themselves. When we ask for what properly advances God's glory, we set aside our own interests for that moment, while in the later petitions we may rightly focus on our own needs.

Master. Now let us examine the weight of each word more carefully. Why do you address God as "Father"?

Scholar. There is great significance in that single word "Father." It contains two things we have already said are especially necessary in prayer.

Master. What are those two things?

Scholar. First, I am not speaking to someone absent or deaf. I am calling on and praying to God as one who is present and who hears me, fully persuaded that He listens when I pray, since otherwise there would be no point in seeking His help. And this I cannot affirm with the same certainty of any angel or any person who has died. Second, as we said earlier, a confident trust in receiving what we ask is the very foundation of genuine prayer. The name "Father" is precious, and the love it represents is full of hope and assurance. It was God's will, therefore, to be called by the most tender name we know on earth, drawing us to Himself through it, so that we might come to Him without fear, freed from any doubt about His fatherly heart and goodwill. When we settle in our minds that He is our Father, His Spirit encourages us, and we approach Him the way children naturally go to their father. God chose in this place to be called "Father," a name of deep affection and love, rather than "King" or "Lord," titles of dignity and majesty, and in doing so He leaves us, as His children, the richest possible inheritance in that fatherly name.

Master. Should we then come to God with the same confident trust that children bring to their parents?

Scholar. Our trust in God's goodwill is far more certain and unshakeable than any trust we place in other people. Christ, the natural Son of God and the one who knows His Father's mind better than anyone, assures us of this when He says: "If you, being evil, do not let your children ask in vain but grant their requests, how much more will your heavenly Father, who is goodness and generosity itself, be generous to you?" And it is Christ, as we noted before, who brings us all this confidence. For God does not adopt us or acknowledge us as His children on our own merits; by nature we are children of wrath. It is only through Christ that we become His.

Master. What else does the name "Father" teach us?

Scholar. It teaches us to come to prayer with the love, reverence, and obedience that children owe to a heavenly Father, and to carry within us the kind of heart and mind that befits the children of God.

Master. Why do you call God "our Father" in a shared sense, rather than simply calling Him your own Father?

Scholar. Every godly person may, I grant, rightly call God his own. But Christian fellowship demands something more: that each believer care not only for himself but for the common good of all. This is why the prayer asks for nothing privately. Every petition is made in the name of all. Beyond that, when those of the lowest rank and smallest means call upon the same heavenly Father as the wealthy and the powerful, we are reminded not to look down on those whom God has welcomed as His own children. On the other side, even the most despised and overlooked people in this world can find real comfort in knowing that they share the same mighty and loving Father in heaven. And we who trust in God are right to call Him our Father, because the wicked and unbelieving, however much they may fear His power and justice, cannot truly trust in His fatherly goodness toward them.

Master. Why do you say that God is in heaven?

Scholar. Heaven sweeps around everything in a vast, unending circuit. It contains the earth, encompasses the seas, and there is no place or thing that lies outside its reach. It is open and present on every side, so that all things exist, as it were, within its sight. In the same way, we understand that God, who reigns from heaven, holds governance over all things. He is present everywhere, sees and hears everything, and rules over all of it.

Master. Continue.

Scholar. God is also said to be in heaven because that highest heavenly region shines most brilliantly, adorned with His divine and magnificent works. Beyond this, the image of God reigning in heaven tells us that He dwells in eternal and perfect happiness, while we on earth, exiled from our true home like children cut off from their father's inheritance, live in misery and wretchedness. To say that God is in heaven, then, is much the same as calling Him wholly heavenly and entirely divine: incomprehensible, supreme, all-powerful, perfectly blessed, perfectly good, and infinitely great.

Master. What do you gain from understanding these things?

Scholar. These truths drive out of our hearts the low and distorted ideas we tend to hold about God, and they train our minds to think of our heavenly Father in a way that is entirely different from how we think of earthly parents. They call us to approach His holy majesty with the deepest reverence, to look up to Him in worship and wonder, and to believe with confidence that He hears our prayers and desires. They call us to place our complete trust in the One who governs and sustains both heaven and earth. These words also warn us not to ask for anything unworthy of God. Because we are speaking to our heavenly Father, our hearts should be lifted up from earthly things, fixed on what is above, holding the things of this world lightly, meditating on heavenly realities, and pressing continually toward the perfect happiness of our Father and toward heaven as the inheritance He has prepared for us.

Master. Now that this joyful opening of prayer has been set before us, go ahead and recite the first petition.

Scholar. First, we pray that God's name be hallowed.

Master. What does that mean?

Scholar. Simply that His glory be magnified everywhere.

Master. Why do we ask for this first?

Scholar. Because it is entirely fitting that children should above all desire their father's glory, that servants should desire their master's glory, and that creatures should desire the glory of their Creator.

Master. Can God's glory actually be increased or decreased?

Scholar. God's glory is always at its fullest, so it cannot in itself be made greater by addition or lesser by subtraction. It is not subject to change the way earthly things are. What we are praying for, rather, is that God's name would become known and celebrated among people, and that His praise and glory would be honored here on earth as they deserve to be. God's infinite power, wisdom, righteousness, and goodness, along with all His divine works, truly display His glory and majesty. So we are asking that these things would appear noble and glorious to us, that the magnificence of their Author, which is in itself boundless, would also shine with honor and excellence among us, and that He would be praised and honored both in private and in public.

Master. Continue.

Scholar. Beyond this, we pray that God's holy name not be spoken against or dishonored because of our failures, but rather that His glory be magnified everywhere through our devotion to God and our goodness toward other people. We also pray that the names of all those other beings, whether in heaven, earth, sea, or anywhere else, who have been given the titles and honors of gods, who are worshipped in temples through various forms and ceremonies, or to whom people, filled with error and foolish beliefs, have dedicated their hearts as though to a shrine: we pray that all those invented and false gods be utterly forgotten, their names drowned in eternal obscurity, so that the one true name and majesty of God the heavenly Father may be great and glorious. May all people in every nation acknowledge Him, worship and reverence Him with honor and holiness, and with sincere hearts and desires pray to Him, call on Him, and seek His help.

Master. Well said. Please continue.

Scholar. Second, we pray that "God's kingdom come," meaning that He would not allow the divine truth of His word, which Christ also calls the gospel of the kingdom, to remain hidden in darkness. Instead, we pray that He would bring it further into the light day by day, and by His power maintain and defend it: against the schemes, cunning, and strategy of Satan and wicked people; against their manufactured deceptions, which work to obscure the truth and smear it with lies; and against the violence and cruelty of tyrants, who try by every means to stamp out and suppress the truth and tear it up by the roots. May it be made clear and known to all people that nothing can stand against the unconquerable strength of God's truth.

Master. Tell me more about the kingdom of God.

Scholar. We pray that He will bring many people out of darkness and into the light, taught by the truth of His holy word. We pray that, as He draws them into His number and holy community (that is, His church, where He reigns in a special way), He will continually govern them by His Spirit and strengthen them with His help as His soldiers, always fighting earnestly against their enemies: the power of sin and the forces of Satan. We pray that, sustained and made steadfast by His divine power, they will restrain corrupt and disordered desires, subdue and tame their lusts, and conquer, defeat, and drive away all vices, so that they may grow and extend the heavenly kingdom; while God, all the while, reigns and rules supremely in their hearts by His Spirit.

Master. We see this happening every day.

Scholar. These things are indeed happening daily, and we can clearly see that God watches over both the righteous and the wicked, so that His kingdom may seem to have made a fair beginning in this world. Yet we pray that it will continue to grow, advancing further and further, until all the reprobate who stubbornly and obstinately resist God's truth at Satan's prompting, defiling themselves with every kind of vice and grievous sin while refusing to submit to God's rule, are at last subdued and destroyed. We pray that Satan's tyranny will be utterly rooted out, and all God's enemies slain, crushed, and brought low, so that nothing anywhere will dare to breathe against God's authority and power, and He alone will reign in glory, rule with absolute sovereignty, and triumph over all. And just as God reigns through His Spirit within us, giving people a certain communion with Him even in this world, so we pray and hope that He will also, through Christ, bring us into the joy of that most blessed kingdom in heaven, sharing with us a glory that will never fade through all eternity, so that we may be not only children but also heirs of our heavenly Father. We have no doubt whatsoever that our heavenly Father will one day grant us exactly this.

Master. What comes next?

Scholar. The petition that "God's will be done." It is the duty of children to shape their lives according to their father's will, not the other way around, with parents conforming themselves to the wishes of their children.

Master. Do you think, then, that people are actually able to act against God's will?

Scholar. It's plain for all to see that people commit countless sins and shameful acts every day, deeply offending God's will. Yet no force or necessity can compel God; He can bring about whatever He has purposed with perfect ease. We therefore pray not only that what He has already decreed will come to pass (which it must, since God's will always carries with it the certainty of fulfillment), but also because our minds, inflamed by desires, are so often drawn toward the very things that displease Him most. We pray that He will, through the movement of His Holy Spirit, so transform and shape all our wills to align with His own, that we will neither wish for nor do anything His divine will rejects. And whatever we recognize as coming to us by His will, we pray we may receive and endure it not merely with acceptance, but with genuine joy.

Master. Why do you add that God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven"?

Scholar. Simply this: that we may be fully devoted and obedient to God's majesty, following the example of those heavenly beings we call angels. Just as there is no rebellion in heaven, so we pray that no one on earth will resist or struggle against God's holy will. When we look at the sun, the moon, and the stars moving in their ceaseless, perpetual courses, lighting the earth with their beams by God's will, we see a model of obedience set before us to follow. Beyond this, God has declared His will plainly in the holy scriptures, even giving them the name of His testament, His last will. Those who depart from the meaning of scripture are, without question, departing from the will of God Himself.

Master. I think you've said enough about the first part of the Lord's Prayer, which covers the three points that belong solely to God's glory. Now it's time for us to move on to the second part, which concerns things that are useful and beneficial to us.

Scholar. The first point of the second part is, "Give us this day our daily bread."

Master. What do you mean by "daily bread"?

Scholar. Not only the food and clothing that sustain us, but everything else we genuinely need to maintain and preserve our lives, and to live them in peace and without fear.

Master. Is there anything else the word "bread" is meant to teach us?

Scholar. That we shouldn't go chasing after fine delicacies, expensive clothing, or lavish furnishings for the sake of pleasure. Instead, we should reject excess and extravagance, be content with little, and be satisfied with a simple, healthy diet and modest, practical clothing.

Master. If you're asking God to give you bread, how can you call it yours?

Scholar. It becomes ours through God's generosity. He freely gives it to us for our daily needs, even though we have no right to claim it.

Master. Is there another reason you call it your bread?

Scholar. This word reminds us that we must earn our living through honest work or by other lawful means. Being content with what we have, we should never reach for what belongs to others through greed or dishonesty.

Master. If God tells us to earn our living by our own labor, why do you ask Him for bread at all?

Scholar. It is God alone who gives the ground its fruitfulness, who makes the land productive and causes it to bear fruit in abundance. Because of this, we can be certain that all our labor of body and mind will come to nothing unless God chooses to bless our efforts. It is fitting, therefore, that we ask Almighty God daily in prayer for the things we need to sustain our lives. As David's inspired words remind us, the God who created all things also feeds and preserves them. We should receive these gifts with grateful hearts, as though God Himself has placed them directly into our hands.

Master. Do you believe that wealthy people, who already have more than enough of everything, must still ask God for their daily bread?

Scholar. It is pointless to accumulate and store up abundance, even enough to last for many years, whether for our pride, our daily expenses, or our practical needs, unless God in His grace makes that abundance genuinely beneficial to our lives. In fact, it does us no good to fill our stomachs with food unless God's power, which sustains us far more than any meal ever could, gives that food the ability to nourish and the stomach the ability to digest it. For this reason, even after we have already eaten, we still pray to receive our daily bread from God. What we are really asking is that what we have consumed would be made life-giving and healthful to us.

Master. Why are the words "daily" and "this day" included?

Scholar. They are there to pull the thorns of worry about tomorrow out of our hearts, so that we are not tormented by such anxieties day and night to no purpose. With the insatiable greed and almost frenzied craving for excessive wealth driven from our minds, we can focus on doing our duty and ask our most generous Father each day for what He is already ready to give.

Master. Continue with the rest.

Scholar. Next comes the fifth petition, in which we ask our Father "to forgive us our trespasses."

Master. What benefit do we receive from this forgiveness?

Scholar. An immense one. Where God shows mercy to those who humbly seek it, we stand in the same place and enjoy the same favor with Him as if we had lived innocent, holy, and blameless lives in every respect.

Master. Is asking for forgiveness necessary for everyone?

Scholar. Yes, absolutely; because no mortal person lives who does not frequently stumble in fulfilling his duty, and who does not often and seriously offend God. Scripture testifies against us that whoever offends in a single point is plainly guilty of all, and that anyone who tries to clear himself of one sin before God will be convicted of a thousand serious offenses. To obtain forgiveness of sins, therefore, only one hope remains, only one refuge for all people: the goodness and mercy of God through Christ. As for those who refuse to confess that they have sinned, who don't seek pardon for their failures, but who instead, like that Pharisee, boast of their innocence and righteousness before God, or rather against God, they cut themselves off from the fellowship of the faithful, for whom this form of prayer was given to follow, and from the harbor of safety. For this is what Christ says: "I came into this world not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Master. Do you hold that God freely forgives our sins?

Scholar. Yes, entirely; because otherwise it could not be called forgiveness but repayment. Yet we are utterly incapable, by any power of our own, of making sufficient repayment for even a single fault, let alone the smallest one. We cannot, therefore, redeem past offenses and restore peace with God through our works, as though paying a price, or make like-for-like restitution. Instead, we should humbly seek from God pardon for both our guilt and its punishment, a pardon that can only be obtained through Christ alone, and we should earnestly beseech Him to forgive us.

Master. But this, and the condition that follows shortly after, seem hardly to fit together. For we pray that God forgive us just as we forgive our debtors, or those "that trespass against us."

Scholar. God does indeed offer us forgiveness on a most reasonable condition, though we must not take this to mean that by forgiving others we somehow earn God's pardon, as though our forgiveness were a kind of payment made to Him. If that were the case, God's forgiveness would not be freely given, nor would Christ alone have fully paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, as the scriptures teach us and as we have already shown. But unless we are ready to forgive others, and unless we follow the mercy and gentleness of God our Father and so show ourselves to be His children, He plainly warns us to expect nothing from Him but the harshest punishment. He has therefore made our willingness to forgive not a way of earning His pardon, but a pledge to strengthen our hearts with confident assurance of His mercy.

Master. Is there then no hope of forgiveness with God for those who show themselves unwilling to forgive others, who refuse to let go of their grievances and cannot be appeased?

Scholar. None whatsoever. This is confirmed and made clear by many other passages of scripture, and especially by the parable in the gospel of the servant who owed his master ten thousand talents yet refused to forgive a fellow servant the hundred pennies he owed him. Through that parable, Christ gives us a striking warning: the same strict standard, the same example, will be applied in return, and justice without mercy will fall on anyone who cannot find it in his heart to show kindness and mercy to others.

Master. Do you think that lawsuits over matters of right and wrong are condemned here?

Scholar. God's word clearly condemns a vengeful mind and a spirit bent on repaying injuries. Those who pursue legal action should therefore examine their own motives carefully. But the laws and principles of common justice, and their legitimate use, guided by the standards of justice and charity, are not abolished or condemned by the gospel of Christ. In this part of the Lord's Prayer, however, our minds are called to follow the rule of Christian gentleness and love. We must not let ourselves be overcome by evil, meaning we must not allow other people's offenses to drag us so far down that we want to return harm for harm. Instead, we should overcome evil with good: repay harmful deeds with kind ones, and maintain genuine goodwill toward our enemies, even those who are cruel and wish us the worst.

Master. Now move on to the sixth petition.

Scholar. In that petition we pray that He "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Just as we previously asked for forgiveness of past sins, here we pray that we will sin no more. A thousand fears stand before us, a thousand dangers threaten us, a thousand traps have been set and laid for us. And we, for our part, are so weak by nature, so unable to see these dangers coming, and so powerless to resist them, that even the slightest pressure or provocation can knock us down and send us headlong into ruin.

Master. Continue.

Scholar. Since we are so relentlessly and fiercely attacked on every side, by cunning and violent people, by our own desires and appetites, by the seductions of the flesh, by the corrupting influences of this world, and above all by that ancient, crafty, and deceitful serpent, the devil, who prowls like a ravenous lion seeking someone to devour, along with countless other malicious spirits armed with a thousand schemes to harm us, and since our own weakness makes us liable to collapse and be utterly destroyed, we run to the faithful protection of our almighty and most loving Father. We pray to Him in these dangers and distresses not to abandon us or leave us defenseless, but to arm us with His strength so that we may not only resist and fight against the desires of our flesh, the temptations of this world, and the violent assaults of Satan, but actually overcome them. We pray that He would turn our hearts away from sin and wrongdoing, so that we do not fall into them, so that we never fail in our duty, but may always rest safely and without fear under the protection of our most good and most mighty Father.

Master. So by the word "temptation" you mean the cunning and violence of the devil, the traps and deceptions of this world, and the corrupt desires of our flesh, by which our souls are drawn toward sin and held captive.

Scholar. Yes, indeed, master.

Master. Since it is Satan's particular work to catch and ensnare people in temptation, why do you pray that God would not lead you into temptation?

Scholar. Just as God protects and preserves those who belong to Him, keeping them from being caught in Satan's traps and falling into vice and serious sin, so He withholds His help and support from the wicked. Left without that support, they are blinded by their own desires and rush headlong into every kind of deception and wickedness. Over time, through the habit of wrongdoing, their hearts grow hard, as though a thick callus has formed over them. They become slaves, surrendering themselves to the tyrant Satan, and plunge toward their own ruin and eternal destruction.

Master. There is still one final part of the Lord's Prayer to consider.

Scholar. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

Master. Why did Christ want this conclusion added?

Scholar. First, to help us understand that our confidence in receiving everything we have prayed for rests entirely on God's goodness and power, not on any merit of our own or anyone else's. These words declare that there is nothing the One who rules and governs the world cannot or will not give us when we ask rightly and with genuine faith. He holds all things in His dominion; He shines with a glory that is vast and eternal, surpassing everything else without limit. No room is left for doubt in our hearts, and this is further confirmed by the word "Amen" at the close of the prayer. Beyond this, since God alone can freely give whatever He has appointed, it is perfectly clear that all these things should be asked of Him alone and can be obtained from Him alone. There is no danger or evil we face, however great, that He cannot overcome and remove from us with ease, through His boundless power, wisdom, and goodness, turning even that evil to our benefit.

Master. Why is the glory of God mentioned at the end?

Scholar. To teach us to close all our prayers with praise to God. That is the ultimate purpose to which everything should be directed, the goal that we Christians should always keep in view in all our actions and thoughts: that God's honor be magnified as fully and gloriously as possible. And yet, among people whose hearts have not been shaped by the Christian faith, you will hardly find anyone who, after undertaking great ventures and facing real dangers, does not seek personal glory as a reward for his deeds and virtues. But that kind of glory is not true or genuine; it is mere vanity and self-promotion, and the Lord earnestly commands those who belong to Him to avoid it.

Master. Then, having dealt with prayer, is this a fitting moment to say something about praising God and giving thanks?

Scholar. Absolutely, and fittingly so. Not only does God's glory appear at the close of the Lord's Prayer, but the very opening also begins with His glory and praise. When we pray that God's name be hallowed, what are we really asking for, if not that all His works establish His glory? That is, we ask that He be recognized as merciful in forgiving sinners, righteous in punishing the wicked, faithful in keeping His promises, and supremely good and generous in heaping daily blessings on those who don't deserve them. We ask that whatever we see or understand of His works would move us to honor His glory with praise. This is why God willed that His glory be so closely bound up with prayer. It is fitting that just as we run to God as humble petitioners when we are pressed down by trouble and distress, we should also honestly acknowledge that it is through Him that we are delivered from every evil and grief, and that He alone is the source of all good things. For to receive pardon and every blessing from God and then fail to offer Him genuine thanks, in both heart and speech, would be a profound ingratitude. We should therefore continually offer God the thanks He deserves, with a grateful heart and proper reverence, to the ever-living God.

Master. Continue.

Scholar. Furthermore, praising and magnifying God's goodness, justice, wisdom, and power, and giving Him thanks on behalf of ourselves and all humanity, is itself a form of worshipping God. It belongs to His majesty just as properly as prayer does. If we fail to worship Him rightly in this way, we will not only prove ourselves unworthy of His many and great blessings through ingratitude, but we will also deserve eternal punishment for acting wickedly against God.

Master. Since we also receive benefits from other people, is it not also right to give them thanks?

Scholar. Whatever benefits people give us, we should recognize them as coming from God, since He alone is the true source, working through human hands. For this reason, even though people should not be generous with the intention of earning gratitude but rather to honor God's glory, it is still entirely right to thank those who, moved by genuine kindness, do something good for us. Both fairness requires it and the natural law of human decency binds us to it. Indeed, God Himself, by connecting us to one another in this way, wants us to acknowledge what others have done.

Master. So you do think gratitude toward other people is appropriate?

Scholar. Yes. Our gratitude toward people flows back to God Himself, because He channels His blessings to us through human hands, much like water drawn from a spring and directed through a network of channels. If we fail to show gratitude to people, we are, in effect, showing ingratitude to God as well. The one thing we must be careful about is this: the full glory must return to God alone, as the author and source of everything good.

Master. Is there a set pattern or prescribed form we should follow when we praise and honor God, or give Him thanks?

Scholar. God's word contains countless examples of praise, and as long as we don't stray from that pattern, we will always have a reliable model for giving God His glory and honor and for offering Him thanks. To put it simply: since the holy scriptures teach that God is not only our Lord but also our Father and Savior, and that we are His children and servants, it is entirely fitting that we devote our whole lives to honoring His glory. We should give Him the honor and worship He deserves, pray to Him, hold Him in reverence, and thank Him continually, both in heart and in word. This is, after all, the very reason He created us and placed us in this world: so that His eternal glory would be held in the highest honor among people and rise to the greatest magnificence.