O holy and righteous God, merciful Father, You are One, eternal, true God in three distinct Persons. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I confess and lament from the bottom of my heart that I, a person conceived and born in sin from my infancy on up to this present hour, have sinned against You daily and frequently. I have sinned knowingly and unknowingly, inwardly and outwardly, in thought, word, and deed. I have sinned against the first and the second table of Your holy Ten Commandments. I have never kept them properly and perfectly. Instead, I have sinned against all of them. I confess that I additionally have made myself a partaker of various sins. As a result, all creation accuses me before Your judgment. Also, my own heart and conscience cause me anxiety for so shamefully abusing Your manifold, great blessings with my sinning. Also, I have stirred up against me Your righteous wrath. And I pray You, O Lord and God, from the bottom of my heart, that You would forgive me all this for the sake of Your beloved Son, my true Savior, Jesus Christ, and for the sake of His precious merit and His perfectly availing payment.
Along with this, I thank You, O gracious and faithful God! I thank You for all Your blessing which You have so richly and abundantly shown me, that You have so wondrously formed me in my mother’s womb and allowed me to be born into this world alive. I thank You that You have graciously sustained me and provided for every need of my body and life in a fatherly fashion. That You have redeemed me from sin, death, devil, and hell through Christ, that You have sent Your only begotten Son into the flesh for my benefit and gave Him up into death—even death on the cross—for me. That You, through Your holy Word, have called me into the fellowship of Your kingdom of grace. I thank You that You waited with great patience for my conversion, that my heart’s conversion through the Holy Spirit was so mighty. That by grace all my sins are forgiven. That You have sustained me with good resolution and have richly bestowed on me all sorts of blessings in body and soul. That in Holy Baptism, You received me as Your dear child into Your covenant of grace. Also that You, in the holy Lord’s Supper, have fed and given me to drink of the true body and blood of Jesus Christ. That You up to now have protected me from many kinds of dangers and misfortunes and that You, by grace, have given me the sure promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus, my Savior.
Furthermore, I ask of You, almighty God and Father, that You would subdue and kill off the old man in me. Give to me and increase in me faith, love, hope, humility, patience, meekness, chastity, and all other Christian virtues. Grant that I, in my heart, spurn temporal thins and truly long for eternal things. Through Your Holy Spirit’s implantation of Your grace confer on me that I may deny and overcome the world. May I at all times find comfort amidst tribulation, true rest for my soul. Grant that I overcome in every adversity. May I be guarded against the devil’s power and cunning. Grant that I may finally depart from this life in peace and joy, and someday arise on Judgment Day to eternal life.
Last of all, I commend to You, O faithful God, Your holy Christian Church. May You graciously uphold it, increase it, and rule over it. Give us faithful teachers and preachers in schools and churches in order to open the hearts of the hearers, and direct them to follow Your Word with child-like obedience. Also, may You also grant that rulers and subjects, house fathers and house mothers, children and relatives, servants and maidens all faithfully fulfill their duties and Your will. I especially commend to You the authorities over me, my relatives and benefactors. May You please reward them for all the good they have shown to me. I also pray to You for all my enemies and persecutors. May You please overcome and convert them. I pray to You on behalf of all those in need. May You graciously grant counsel, comfort, and help to anxious and sorrowful hearts. Also, in general, may You have mercy upon all mankind. O faithful God and Father, would You please give ear to this prayer for the sake of Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son and our Savior and Redeemer. Amen. Schola Pietatis II:128-131 (I cannot commend the purchase of these volumes from Repristination Press highly enough!)
1 comment:
If salvation were by works, Gerhard would be so far ahead of me, that I would not be able to see him. However, since salvation is by grace according to the Gospel, I, a poor miserable sinner, must speak out for this Gospel when it is violated.
From the Prayer: Also, I have stirred up against me Your righteous wrath.
To the best of my knowledge, the New Testament does not show that God ever becomes angry with any of his baptized children. When we read in Jeremiah 31:34, “…I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more,” that excludes the wrath of God towards us. If God, in his unlimited mercy decides to forget our sins, He has no reason for wrath toward us.
The word “chastisement”, or other similar words are used. However, “chastisement” excludes wrath, because it is done in the interest of helping a person, out of love, not out of wrath.
Today’s Epistle, Romans 8:33, “Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God Who Justifies.”
From the Prayer: Furthermore, I ask of You, almighty God and Father, that You would subdue and kill off the old man in me.
Scripture teaches that the Old Man (or Old Adam) will be with us, until we receive perfection as our inheritance from our Lord in Paradise. Therefore, to ask for the old man to be killed is the same as asking to die. I can understand a person in extreme suffering asking God to take him, but to pray for death every day?
Will, please understand, my problem is not with you, it is with Gerhard.
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart
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