LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 81

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The M & M Prayer Life
LUKE 18:1–8; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:17

LCMS Third Vice-President Rev. Nabil Nour
67th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod • July 23, 2019 • Matins
“Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of prayer. May
our petitions be coated with praise, covered with royal
requests, and crafted by Your Word. We ask this is the name
of the M & M, Mediator/Messiah, Jesus our Lord. Amen.”

ends of the world. Pray with thanksgiving to the Lord
for paying the price for Your redemption and salvation.
Pray as His beloved child, that you would seek Him to
be your guide, your guard and your God ALWAYS.

Beloved saints, greetings in the marvelous majestic
messianic name of Jesus our ONLY Lord and Savior,
Amen.

The second M is Messiah Jesus, the One Mediator.
Every prayer ought to be offered to the Messiah, who in
His earthly ministry taught us the value and place of
prayer. From front to finish, Jesus’ ministry was
directed by communion with His Father for strength to
do His Will.

M & M’s are candy we love to eat! A friend of mine keeps
them in his office, both for himself, and to welcome all
who come to see him.
Paul bids us by the Mercies of Messiah — the heavensent Savior — to “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING”! Prayer
is His heaven-sent gift, resource, and holy habit that
like M & M’s candy, yes, and with far greater blessing,
can make the day go better. It is such an important gift
from God that Paul enjoins us to pray at all times.
Morning. Noon. Night. Pray and give thanks! St. Paul
desires that our prayer be as regular as our breathing,
even greater than our eating, even greater than
snacking on human M & M candy!
To encourage the exercise of this wonderful gift that
lays hold of the perfect powerful promises of God, I
recommend to you an M & M approach to prayer. So
that your prayers are heavenly healthy and spiritually
muscular, by the Holy Spirit recall the two monumental
M & M’s of prayer.
1.

The first M — Remember the mother of prayer.

2.

The second M — Remember Jesus the Messiah,
the Mediator of prayer between God and man.

Like our Savior, we need to commune in prayer with
our heavenly Father, that He would sustain us to face
the challenges and tasks that confronts us, knowing He
hears and answers our prayers.
In Baptismal grace we are bid to come to our gracious
and loving God at all times; especially in times of
trouble and trials, in the hours of sadness and sorrow.
For the Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave us this
invitation:“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
As precious children of our Heavenly Father, yes, and
with Christ as our Brother and Mediator, we certainly
should come to Him with the greatest joy asking Him to
hear our prayers whether they be in the high or low
times of our lives. By so doing, we are declaring to Him,
“Lord, I am weak, I can’t do it on my own. I NEED you
in my life. I need Your direction and wisdom. Help me
to live a life that is pleasing in Your sight.”

The mother of prayer is Scripture. Learn to use the
Scripture as the blueprint of your prayer life for your
well-being and health. The Psalms are a great place to
start! As you go through Scripture, let the Word of God
be upon your hearts and lips to make these petitions,
pleas and prayer request to the God of all grace who
always bends His ears to hear us as we cry to Him.

Today, beloved saints in Christ, as Joyfully Lutheran
brothers and sisters, I remind you of the Messiah the
“mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which
is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Tim. 2:5–
6). Jesus is OUR Mediator. He is the One who took upon
Himself the load of all of our sins. Suspended on the
cross of Calvary, God’s wrath was unleashed upon Him
to pay for our sins.

I implore you to pray the Scriptures as daily you take a
handful of M&M’s from the plate of life. Pray that the
message, ministry and mission of Jesus would go to the

For this reason, we run to Him, pray to Him, and ask
Him to intervene in our lives because He is the bridge
between the sinner and the Holy God. As the Apostle

Convention Sermons

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 81