Martin Luther's Prayer

-
Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach. The Protestant...Image via Wikipedia
On the night of April 18, 1521, before his final stand at his heresy trial where he was asked to deny sola fides, Luther offered this humble prayer:


O almighty and everlasting God! How terrible is this world! Behold it openeth its mouth to swallow me up, and I have so little trust in Thee! How weak is the flesh and how powerful is Satan! If it is in the strength of this world only that I must put my trust, all is over! 


My last hour is come, my condemnation has been pronounced. O God! O God! O God! Do Thou help me against all the wisdom of the world! Do this; Thou shouldst do this; Thou alone, for this is not my work but Thine! I have nothing to do here, nothing to contend for with these great ones of the world! I should desire to see my days flow on peaceful and happy. 


But the cause is Thine, and it is a righteous and eternal cause, O Lord! Help me! Faithful and unchangeable God! In no man do I place my trust. It would be vain—all that is of man is uncertain, all that cometh of man fails. O God! My God, hearest Thou me not? My God, art Thou dead? 


No! No, Thou canst not die! Thou hidest Thyself only! Thou hast chosen me for this work. I know it well! Act then, O God, stand at my side, for the sake of Thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who is my defense, my shield, and my strong tower.


Lord, where stayest Thou? O my God, where art Thou? Come, come! I am ready to lay down my life for Thy truth, patient as a lamb. For it is the cause of justice—it is Thine! O I will never separate myself from Thee, neither now nor through eternity! 


And though the world may be filled with devils, though my body, which is still the work of Thy hands, should be slain, be stretched upon the pavement, be cut in pieces, reduced to ashes—my soul is Thine! Yes, I have the assurance of Thy word. My soul belongs to Thee! It shall abide forever with Thee. Amen. O God! Help me! Amen.




Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. Th...
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness....
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, bu...
Read more