September 22, 2023
Following Luther's Advice
Martin Luther is known for many things, including being credited (or blamed) for the separation of the “protesting churches” (now known as Protestant churches) from the Roman Church. However, most people do not think him as first being a pastor. Even fewer know that prayer was one of the most important themes in his pastoral writings and preaching. In this season of our church’s life, one of Luther’s thoughts on prayer seems most appropriate for us to heed. Luther said simply but profoundly, “I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.
Luther was quick to point out that prayer was not a “work,” or something done to win God’s favor. Instead, prayer was our response to God’s command for us to pray, and insistence that God would guide our prayers, even giving us words to pray. For Luther, prayer helped conform us to God. Luther insisted that we pray more intentionally when we get busy to make sure that what we are doing is serving God and God’s purposes, not simply following a whim or our self-interests. We pray when we are busy that we might be good stewards of our time and energies.
And so it is with our church these days. We just had a delightful time at the ballpark (score notwithstanding) and we are anticipating an energetic Homecoming Sunday to kick off our Fall programs this Sunday. I trust you will all be there if you are able.
But there is so much more on the horizon. On the pastoral side, there are members and friends of our church family that could use support of our prayers. Likewise in ministry, we have missionaries whom we support financially that we should support in our prayers. We should not forget to pray for our guests at our Saturday breakfast along with those who visit our church’s worship services.
There are also special activities in our church at this time. We will soon be celebrating Pastor Steve and his ministry not just to our church, but many churches in his career. At the same time we are searching for a full-time Associate Pastor to share Christ’s ministry with me in our church. We are also in the process of creating a grant proposal to explore how we might integrate those of you who have gifts in various forms of art into the life of our community and our worship, as well as our outreach to our local community. There is much to keep us busy, and there is much for which we can pray.
With all that is on our plate in the days ahead, we still have our usual autumn activities. We have our regularly scheduled rhythm of Fall Fest, All Saint’s Sunday, Thanksgiving, Advent and Julfest, and, of course, Christmas. Phew!
In the midst of this very full, but very good, time in the life of our church, may we never be too busy to pray—to orient our lives to God and God’s purposes. May our faithfulness in prayer seek to be a reflection of God’s faithfulness to us.
~ Pastor Todd
P.S. If you are interested in a fine article on Luther and prayer, I invite you to read this: