Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Matthew 7:7–11
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Matthew 7:7–11
From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession
Concerning the Invocation of Saints
There is such a promise concerning Christ. “If you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name” (John 16:23). There is no such promise with the saints. Therefore consciences cannot be firmly confident that we are heard by invoking the saints. Such an invocation, therefore, is not made from faith.
Pulling It Together
Jesus is teaching us to have confidence in God each time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, saying “Our Father.” Who else addresses the Father than his children? And because we have faith that “He is our true Father, and that we are His true children...we may ask Him confidently with all assurance, as dear children ask their dear father” (Small Catechism). A true father gives his children those “good gifts” that they need. This is the promise of God in Scripture. Ask of the Father in the Son’s name, and your prayer will be answered. Who is able to ask with such confidence of Paul or Peter or any other saint?
Prayer: Increase, O Lord, my confidence in your will to answer my prayers. Amen.
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Author
Rev. Mark E. Ryman serves as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC. Previously, Pastor Ryman has served other congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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