LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 104

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I believe that Ciciliamma kept that picture close to
remind her to pray for me. She did that for all those
years without knowing how I was doing, but trusting in
God’s perfect plan for me. She had no idea that the Lord
had heard her prayer and allowed her to do this loving
work on His behalf. She has taught me that prayer is
one of the greatest gifts we have and can use to
encourage and support our children, especially when
we have to let go, trusting that our prayers will be used
to fulfill God’s perfect plan in their lives.
A few months after my return, I received a letter in the
mail. It was her obituary. You see Ciciliamma had no
idea until the end of her life the impact of her prayers.
Yet, she fully embraced what it meant to pray without
ceasing and found great joy in praying for those whom
God had placed along her path.
LEARNING TO PRAY IS LEARNING ABOUT JESUS
Prayer at times can be difficult — and often times it
only gets harder as we strive to live the Christian life in
the broken world. Prayer can also be difficult because of
Satan. Anytime you or I push against darkness, the
darkness eventually pushes back. It’s personal actually,
because Satan is prowling, looking for prey like us.
Remember, the devil has no greater joy than preying on
our doubts that the heavenly Father actually cares
about our prayers.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand
of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for
you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith,
knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being
experienced by your brotherhood throughout the
world. And after you have suffered a little while, the
God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal
glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm,
strengthen, and establish you. To him be the
dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:6–11).
Prayer is also difficult because of us. I serve a growing
parish in rural Southern Illinois and I remind my
members all the time that we are called to be spiritually
disciplined. While prayer can be tough work that brings
great joy and draws us into the will of Jesus, it is also
tough because sometimes we get in our own way.
I am reminded of a member who came to me because
he was angry with his neighbor. He said, “Pastor, I can’t
let go of the anger I am feeling towards my neighbor.
He has hurt my family in very deep ways.” I encouraged
the member to pray for his neighbor, and told him that
104 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

is hard to be angry with someone you are praying for;
just try it. I guided the member to read Matt. 5:44–45,
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your
Father who is in heaven.”
A few weeks later he said, “my neighbor has still not
asked for forgiveness, but my prayer now is that the
Lord would be forgiving and merciful to him and I no
longer harbor any anger.” Luther said it best when he
said: “There is no harder work than prayer … But the
Christian’s prayer is easy, and does not cause hard
work.” 1 This reminds us that prayer is learning more
about Jesus. Learning to pray is learning about Jesus.
“Growing in prayer is not simply acquiring a set of
special spiritual skills that operate in one bit of your
life. It is about growing into what St. Paul calls ‘the
measure of the full stature of Christ’ (Eph. 4:13). It is
growing into the kind of humanity that Christ shows
us. Growing in prayer, in other words, is growing in
Christian humanity.” 2
PRAYER IS GOD’S GIFT TO US: OUR HOPE,
HEALING AND JOY
My parents adopted nine children whom the world
may have labeled unwanted. They fostered even more.
At one point, they took in three Hispanic children
whose mother abandoned them and moved to Mexico.
Years later, my mother saw one of them and asked,
“What was one of the best memories you made while
living at our house?” He said that you took me to church
and told me about Jesus. The young man now, in his
20s, proceeded to tell her about some dark times when
he wanted to hurt himself and how he remembered
hearing about Jesus’ love in Sunday School and
vacation Bible school. It was through the prayers of the
faithful that this young man realized that Jesus loved
him and that Jesus was essential for him to move on
with his life. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that
will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Ps. 27:4).
Prayer is also a balm and gift for the troubled
conscience. Prayer is giving Jesus permission to bind up
our wounds and to use His almighty power to lighten
our distress.
Often, when I hear private confession and absolution or
when I counsel with people, they tell me that they have
a guilty conscience. When we “pray without ceasing”
we are pointed away from our sinful selves and our
need for control. Prayer is where our focus is restored
on the gift of forgiveness that Jesus secured for us
through His death and resurrection. James 5:16 says,
Convention Essays