Martin Luther’s Commentary on John 16:23
Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name.” (John 16:23)
Christ’s Closing Exhortation to Prayer
Christ has now delivered His sermon and has told the disciples what they should know. Now He wants to conclude by adding an exhortation to pray. He has spoken to them at great length about many grievous sufferings, about the persecution, the anxiety, and the sorrow that will befall them in the world for His sake. Now He shows them both the comfort and the strength that will enable them to cope with this, and He also promises them help to overcome this through the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, because He knows how great and hard this battle is and that flesh and blood is too weak to grasp this comfort and to be very sensible of this help but often feels that the opposite is true—for this reason He counsels them to turn to prayer and to begin to sob and call to God when they feel the weakness that causes them to lack the comfort, the strength, and the ability to bear and overcome the suffering, the anxiety, and the sorrow.
Knowing Is Not Enough: Doctrine and Practice
Now we have often spoken of prayer, both how necessary it is and what power it has. It is not enough for us to have the Word and to know and understand everything we should—both the doctrine of faith and about comfort and victory in every trouble. Something more is required, and that is action, in order that subsequently we may live as doctrine and knowledge teach and guide us. For thus God declares in Prov. 8:14: “Mine is the doctrine; Mine is also the power of execution.” If the doctrine is to be right, God must reveal and give it; and even if we already have it and know everything one should teach and believe, and need nothing more, this does not mean that the result has been achieved. Much more is still required to make practice conform to our teaching and exhorting.
The Apostles’ Struggle and the Chariots in the Mire
This was evident in the life and activity of the apostles. Look at SS. Peter, John, and Paul in the Book of Acts, and see how they have to struggle and strive in their ministry before they succeed in disseminating the Gospel. For the devil goes to work with might and main to impede and obstruct the Gospel, he uses every obstacle at his disposal. Besides, he enjoys the advantage of having as an ally within our own hearts that great piece of Adam, who is too lazy by nature, too sluggish, and too tired to engage in a battle like this and always draws us back, thus making it especially hard and unpleasant to keep on contending with opposition and obstacles of so many kinds and to fight to the finish.
The prophet Habakkuk speaks of this in his song (3:15) when he says that although your horses and wagons are fortunate and victorious, yet they wade in the deep sea and in the mire of many waters. The administration of Christendom is likened to such horses and vehicles; here horses and chariots must go through nothing but deep puddles, where there is constant resistance, hindrance, and getting stuck, with the result that no progress whatever is possible, and there is nothing but endless trouble and labor. Nevertheless, they must get through and be “chariots of victory” (Hab. 3:8), that is, war chariots that conquer.
The Weakness of Our Flesh
Therefore Christ now says: “Even when the day comes when I see you again and you have eternal joy and no longer need to ask Me anything, since you know all that is necessary for you to know about Me, you will nevertheless lack the power to accomplish what you should and would like to do, not only because of the devil and the world but also because of your own flesh.” Thus St. Paul confesses and laments of himself in Rom. 7:18–19: “To be sure, I have the desire to do what is good according to my knowledge and understanding, and I derive pleasure and joy from this. But I am aware of another master in my body and members; he pulls me back and makes me stubborn. As a result, I do not do what I should.” Furthermore, he says in Gal. 5:17:37 “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would.”
St. Paul, too, would have been happy to have everything go properly everywhere, just as we would always like to be free from sadness, worry, impatience, and evil thoughts; to find constant delight and comfort in the Gospel; to be able to see the grace and the power of the Spirit to make all men pious, be devoted to the Gospel, and act in conformity with its teachings. To that end we pray, exhort, and implore faithfully and diligently, and do what we can. But we are far from achieving our goal. Yet we jog along as best we can. Opposition and resistance are always there to be overcome; in fact, they grow stronger with time. What, then, are we to do, caught as we are in this deep mire, in which we must wade and travel, struggle and fear without being able to get out?
The Only Help: Turning to the Father
“There is no other help,” says Christ, “than promptly to raise your eyes and heart heavenward and to pray to My heavenly Father. After you have taught and admonished, have done everything your calling demands, and still things will not and can not progress, then seek help, get a fresh relay of horses, and all help one another with grunts and groans to lift and shove the wagon through the mire. That is what God wants. You are not only to recognize the doctrine and what you have already as given to you by Him, but you must also seek from Him what you still need and lack. In this way you will discover that you can do nothing, but that everything—both the beginning and the end, the willing and the doing—must be sought from Him and be given by Him,” as St. Paul says (Phil. 2:13).
Why Proper Prayer Is the Hardest Work
At this juncture the fight with Satan begins with a vengeance. Just as he resists Christ everywhere and would be happy if the Gospel were not heard at all, were not believed, or were not a guide for life and conduct, so he hinders prayer by disinclining one to resort to it and by putting great obstacles in its path. For he is well aware of the strength and the efficacy of prayer, and that Christians have no greater and no more powerful defense against all his might. I am not speaking now of those who are not Christians, for the only way they can pray is to rattle off the Psalter and to cackle like geese eating their oats. But I do say that it is exceedingly difficult for Christians and believers to pray in the proper manner. For this reason some of the old fathers have said that no work on earth is as hard as proper praying.
Although the ministry is also hard and entails much trouble and worry, it nonetheless has the advantage that despite my own unfitness and unworthiness to preach it gives me the courage to take the Book in hand and, on God’s behalf, to tell my neighbor: “Dear friend, here it is written; you are hearing God’s Word, not mine; your own salvation and bliss are at stake, not mine.” When I have said this, I have done my duty; let him answer for his acceptance or rejection. But if I am to speak and pray to God for myself, a hundred thousand obstacles immediately present themselves before I can begin. The devil can put all sorts of reasons in the way and can hem me in and hinder me on all sides. As a result, I go my way and never give it a thought. Let him who has never experienced this just give it a try. Earnestly resolve to pray, and you will soon see what varied thoughts of your own come upon you to distract you from beginning in the proper way.
The First Hindrance: “You Are Not Yet Ready”
If we confine ourselves here to a consideration of the greatest and chief hindrances, the principal obstacle and impediment is this, that we think in accordance with the devil’s prompting. “Ah,” we say, “you are not yet ready to pray! Wait a half-hour or a day, until you are in a better condition to do so or have first accomplished this or that.” Meanwhile the devil is there to distract you during that half-hour, and during the entire day you no longer think about praying. From one day to the next he keeps you busy with other affairs and thus diverts you. This is about the commonest obstacle; it is the devil’s thoroughly evil knavery and guile. He often tries this on me and on others. Our flesh and blood, which is sluggish and cold enough as it is, gives him an advantage and hinders us from praying as we ourselves would like to do. Even though we may be at the point of praying, foreign and idle thoughts soon cause us to flit away and to forget about it.
The Second Hindrance: “You Are Unworthy”
In the second place, thoughts such as these naturally suggest themselves: “How can you pray to God and say ‘Our Father’? Your daily sinning makes you unworthy. Why not wait until you become more pious, until you have gone to confession and to Holy Communion, until you are not only in a mood and ready to pray, but until you can feel a burning desire to pray and thus are able to approach God with firm confidence and say ‘Our Father’ with all your heart?” That is the real and serious hindrance with which the heart must wrestle and under which it writhes until it has removed the heavy stone and can undertake to step before God and call upon Him despite its feeling of unworthiness. Let everyone try this and then tell me how easy it is for him to banish such thoughts and to say in all sincerity: “My dear Father in heaven”!
In the congregation and in large groups it is somewhat easier to pray, since we all come together and say “Our Father.” But it is not so easy when we are alone and everyone has to pray for himself, when our heart tells us the reverse, and the devil fans these thoughts into a bright flame and says: “You are a despicable person and do not deserve to live. How can you, in the face of this, venture to step before God and call Him Father?” Therefore it is exceedingly difficult and an art above all arts to pray in the right way, not because of the words or the mouth but for the heart to reach a sure and firm conclusion and to step before God with all confidence and say: “Our Father.” He who can gain such confidence in grace even to a small degree has already crossed the highest mountain and has begun to pray. Then everything goes as it should.
The Third Hindrance: “Does God Even Hear You?”
In the third place, the devil delivers an additional blow, in order to make your prayer futile because of thoughts like these: “My dear friend, why do you pray? Observe how quiet it is about you. Do you suppose that God hears and heeds your prayer?” In this way the devil fills you with doubt. It is his purpose to make you despise your praying and to pay no attention to it, to keep you from finding out what prayer is and what it can do. I experienced this and also observed it in others, particularly in St. Bernard, who admonished his hearers with great diligence not to go to church to pray when they had such doubts and on the off-chance that God would regard and hear their prayer.38 For truly one should not trifle with God by coming before Him with “Dear Father in heaven” if one does not believe that He is a dear Father.
Answering the First Hindrance: Pray Now, Ready or Not
Therefore, as I have already said and as Christ Himself points out here, it requires a battle to resist all such promptings of the devil and of our own thoughts. We must strenuously oppose the voice of our heart and say: “You loathsome devil, if this is your goal, then let some scoundrel and knave follow you! If I am not sufficiently ready, eager, or pious to pray this hour or day, I shall be far less ready a half-hour or eight days from now. Putting this lack of readiness aside, therefore, I shall meanwhile pray an Our Father before I become less ready.” Cultivate the habit of falling asleep with the Lord’s Prayer on your lips every evening when you go to bed and again every morning when you get up. And if occasion, place, and time permit, pray before you do anything else. In this way you get ahead of the devil by surprise and without warning, whether you are ready or not, before he catches up with you and makes you wait. For it is better to pray now, when you are halfready, than later, when you are not ready at all, and to begin to pray only to spite and vex the devil, even if you find it most difficult and inconvenient to do so.
Answering the Second Hindrance: Pray Even in Your Sin
Do this also when the devil assails you and restrains you because of your unworthiness, when he asks you to wait until you have become more pious and purer. For if you do not want to begin until you become worthy, you will never pray. Therefore begin at once, even though you feel unworthy. Be courageous, and leap over both worthiness and unworthiness, even though you are steeped in sin. Yes, even if you had fallen into sin this very hour and were coming directly from committing it, what should you do? Would you want to refrain from praying and wait until you go to absolution? By no means. It is much better to fall on your knees while you are in sin and to pray with all your heart: “Ah, dear Father, forgive me, and deliver me from this sin!” in order that the devil may not push you still deeper into sin and hold you there forever. After all, you are expected to pray when surrounded by death and every adversity; and the greater your misery, the more importunate must be your prayer. What sense would there be in not beginning to pray until you feel redemption and help? Thus the prophet Jonah, as he himself confesses (2:2 ff.), had to pray and call when he was oppressed by the heavy, unbearable knowledge of his sin and felt death and hell while he was in the belly of the whale. Similarly, David prayed his psalms—for example, the sixth, the fifty-first, and the one hundred and thirtieth—while he was properly conscious of and terrified by his sin and his unworthiness.
Answering the Third Hindrance: Standing on God’s Command and Promise
You must likewise withstand the third trial, when the devil is intent on making you doubt that your prayer will be heard and causes you to believe that you are assuming too much when, over against God’s sublime majesty, you boast that He is your Father, that you are His dear child, and that your prayer gives Him heartfelt pleasure. Then you must again defend yourself courageously and base that prayer of yours on God’s Word and promise, yes, on His own command, and say. “Dear Lord, Thou knowest that I certainly do not come before Thee on my own authority and presumptuously, and that I am not impelled by a sense of my own worthiness; for if I were to consider my worthiness, I would not dare lift up my eyes to Thee, and I would not know how I should begin to pray. No, I am approaching Thee in obedience to Thine own command, to Thy earnest request that we should call upon Thee, and also to the promise which Thou hast added. Furthermore, Thou hast sent Thine own Son, who taught us what we are to pray and even recited the words for us. Therefore I know that this prayer is acceptable to Thee. And be my audacity in boasting of being God’s child as great as it may, I must be obedient to Thee. Thou dost want it so, in order that I may not call Thee a liar, thereby adding a graver sin to my others both by disregarding Thy command and by not believing Thy promise.”
Three Foundations: Command, Promise, and Christ’s Own Words
Behold, you could repulse the devil and all his false suggestions by basing your prayer on these three things: God’s command, His promise, and the manner and words Christ Himself taught. These things the devil cannot deny or annul. Then begin to pray confidently, and be sure that your prayer is proper and not in vain. You can bet that if you only try to do this and begin, you will be aware of its power and its fruit, that you will like it, and that it will warm and strengthen your heart. But one is confronted by the most formidable obstacle—or, as the saying goes, by the highest mountain—before one crosses the threshold and has the heart to say “Our Father,” the first words, in true earnestness and faith. Therefore it is best to advance at once and say: “After all, it is necessary to pray; the sooner, the better—no matter in what kind of state I am; whether I am not ready or am unworthy; whether I am depressed, sad, or impatient; whether I am angry, have evil desires, or am burdened with other thoughts.”
Prayer: The Greatest Work Next to Preaching
Let this be said by way of an exhortation to prayer, in order that we may accustom ourselves with all diligence and earnestness to pray. For next to the preaching of the Gospel, in which God speaks to us and offers us all His grace and goods, the greatest and foremost work we can do is to speak to Him in turn through prayer and to receive what He gives us. Thus we truly have great need of prayer; for, after all, it is through prayer that we must act to keep what we have and to defend it against our enemies, the devil and the world. Here we must seek and find what we are to get, in order that prayer may be comfort, strength, and well-being for us ourselves as well as our defense against, and our victory over, all enemies.
Returning to the Text: Christ Commands Prayer
Now we return to the text, in which Christ shows us how to defend ourselves against, and to be able to resist, the hindrances and the assaults with which the devil and our flesh undertake to tear us away from prayer. He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name.” There you hear first of all that Christ commands the disciples to pray. In addition, He takes them to task for their past neglect of prayer. By repeating these thoughts and dealing with this subject at some length He shows that He is in earnest and that He demands prayer as the true worship and the work proper to Christians.
Consider this command well, and impress it on your consciousness, so that you will not think that you may pray or not pray at your discretion, as though it were not a sin if you did not pray but were sufficient to let others pray. No, you must know that God has earnestly enjoined prayer under pain of incurring His greatest disfavor and punishment, just as He has commanded you not to have any other gods, not to blaspheme or misuse the name of God but to confess and proclaim, to praise and to extol it. And he who transgresses this command must know that he is no Christian and no member of God’s kingdom. Now if you believe that God has good reason to be angry with idolaters, with blasphemers and scorners of His Word, and with murderers and thieves, and that He inflicts terrible punishments on the world because of such sins, why, then, do you not also fear God’s anger when you ignore this commandment and go your own smug way, as though you had no obligation to pray?
In the first place, therefore, you can use this text to refute and beat down the devil when he suggests that you are not ready or not worthy. It is not a matter of giving an excuse by saying that you are not ready to believe, to hear God’s Word, to love your neighbor, etc., and that for this reason God’s command amounts to nothing. For you are not to ask whether you are worthy or unworthy. No, the point is that you owe God obedience. I, too, am unworthy to be baptized and to be called a Christian; yes, I am not worthy of the daily bread that I eat. But should I on this account deny my Christ, never be baptized, or not eat and drink? For this reason I say here too: “Even if I am not worthy or ready to pray, should this induce me to disobey God?” No, it is important above all to keep God’s commandment and not to tolerate any hindrance. You must be ready to obey at any moment or hour.
Christ’s Promise, Sealed with a Twofold Oath
In the second place, you must also consider the promise contained in Christ’s words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name.” Lay hold of these words, and impress them on your heart. For you hear that Christ not only gives you the promise but also strengthens and confirms it with a twofold oath. He swears most solemnly: “Just believe Me. As surely as God lives, I will not lie to you.” Surely he Who wants to be a Christian should blush a bit and feel ashamed if he has never prayed from the heart after hearing these words. Is it not an everlasting disgrace before God and all the world that even though Christ must assure us with such a solemn oath, we still do not believe and are not finally impelled to begin to pray from the heart? After all, what are we going to say before God or in answer to our own conscience when we are asked: “Have you ever prayed the heavenly Father earnestly and with an undoubting heart that His name be hallowed? Do you not know how earnestly I have commanded this and how solemnly I have sworn that your prayer will surely be heard if only you pray from the heart?” I say that in all fairness we should blush with shame before ourselves and really fear God’s terrible judgment if we attach so little importance both to His command and to His solemn promise and allow them to fall on deaf ears. It will do no good to excuse yourself and say: “I really did not know whether I was worthy” or “I lacked the desire, and it was inconvenient for me” or “I had to attend to other business.”
When Prayers Seem Unanswered: God’s Order in the Lord’s Prayer
Here you ask: “How can this promise really be true at all times if God often does not grant our prayers? Did He not let David plead in vain for his son’s life?” (2 Sam. 12:16 ff.) I have often said how prayer must be formulated.39 We must not stipulate for God the measure, the term, the manner, the place, or the person. No, we must leave this to His knowledge of what He should give and what is useful for us. Therefore God Himself has established the order in the Lord’s Prayer and has specified three goals which must always have precedence: that His name be hallowed, His kingdom, and His will. Then come our daily bread, deliverance from temptation and all trouble, etc. Preference must be given to God’s name and to His kingdom; if this is done, then our interests will surely follow. Therefore St. John says in his first epistle (5:14): “And this is the confidence which we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.” And St. Paul declares in Rom. 8:26 f.: “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” according to the will of God.
Now it is certainly God’s will, as His Word—for example, the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer—states, to deliver you from every evil and not to leave you in troubles, to give you your daily bread, etc. Otherwise He would not have commanded you to pray. Thus these last four parts of the Lord’s Prayer, which pertain to the temporal needs of our life, are surely also included in His will. But the three items that are specifically His own have priority. Thus you find God’s entire will presented here. He surely has no other thoughts toward you in His heart than those shown you in the Lord’s Prayer. And if you pray in this way, asking His will be done, your prayer is certainly heard. But your prayer must be offered so as not to violate or reverse God’s order or ignore the most important matters.
Therefore if you see that your petition is not being heard and granted, this can surely be traced to the fact that you, as St. Paul says, do not realize what you are asking for and do not know how to pray properly. This knowledge, he states, is too sublime for us. We are unable to ascertain and define what serves the hallowing of God’s name, the promotion of His kingdom, and the fulfillment of His will, nor how God should give you your daily bread and other necessities, deliver you from sin and temptation, deliver when you are in trouble, etc. To be sure, it is recorded what we should ask for and how we should pray; but we are unable to specify or determine the time, the person, the manner, and the measure according to which He should answer our prayers. Therefore if you yourself or others are in distress or danger, you should, of course, pray for deliverance and help; but you must do this as the Lord’s Prayer teaches you. That is, you must ask for fulfillment if this tends to hallow God’s name and to meet with the approval of His will; if not, God should act as He knows and considers best. This is the right way to pray: “Dear Father, give us our daily bread, good weather, and health; and guard us against pestilence, war, famine, etc. But if Thou dost wish to test me for a season and dost not want to grant my prayer at once, Thy will be done. If it is the time and the hour, then deliver me from the evil. If not, then give me strength and patience.”
The Father’s Heart Behind His Delays
Now since it is beyond and outside our knowledge when or how God should help us and grant our prayers, we should leave this to Him and pray nevertheless. We should not stop for this reason or doubt that we are heard; for, after all, everything is done for our benefit. Even if God delays or does not give us exactly what we have mentioned to Him, He is nonetheless well pleased with our prayer; instead of what we have asked for He wants to give us something that is far better than we can understand. He does this in order that we may learn to know His will and be obedient to Him, increase in faith, be strengthened, and conquer in patience. God’s attitude toward us is that of a pious father toward his child. He may not give everything the child has asked for; but he does everything for its improvement, so that it may learn to know the father’s heart and will and be obedient to him. Thus God also punishes us with His angry rod; and although this causes us to cry out and pray, He does not stop at once. This serves to make us more pious, after which He shows us all the more mercy and favor. He likes to hear our crying and sighing. It is the mark of pious children who mend their ways and do not run from Him but want to remain good children.
When God Helps Without Delay
This has been said about instances when our prayer is either not fulfilled or at least not fulfilled immediately. But we also see times when God does not hold off with help and fulfillment, times when the need is so urgent and pressing as not to tolerate delay. Ps. 9:10 calls God “a Stronghold for the oppressed.” It is all-important that we call upon Him cheerfully and with firm confidence; that we leave to His counsel and divine wisdom when, how, where, and by whom He should send aid; and that we do not doubt, even though we fail to understand how we should be helped.
“In My Name”: The Foundation of Prayer
The third part of this text, which is expressed in the words “in My name,” is the most important. It is the foundation on which prayer must rest. These words give to prayer the good quality and the dignity that make it acceptable to God. They also free us from all severe trials and from useless worries regarding our worthiness, worries that hinder our praying and frighten us more than anything else. From these words we gather that we should not be concerned or worried about our own worthiness but should forget about both worthiness and unworthiness and base our prayer on Christ and pray in His name.
Why do you torture yourself for a long time and enter into a debate with the devil, or why do you look for excuses and shrink from praying because you feel cold and unready? You undoubtedly hear that you should not pray in reliance on yourself or in your own name or perhaps in the name of someone else, be he ever so saintly, worthy, and spiritual. But Christ wants you to pray in His name. You have His command and His promise. But by telling you to pray in His name He also exhorts and begs you. It is as though He were saying: “My dear friend, it does not matter in what condition you are. If you cannot pray on your own authority and in your name—as indeed you should not—then please pray in My name. If you are not worthy and holy enough, let Me be holy and worthy enough for you. Just come on My authority and in My name, and say: ‘Dear Lord, I shall and will pray because of Thy command and Thy promise. If I cannot pray well, and if my prayer does not help or have validity when spoken in my name, then let it have validity and be a good prayer when spoken in the name of my Lord Christ.’ ” And do not doubt that such a prayer is pleasing to God and that it is heard as surely as the name of Christ, God’s own dear Son, is pleasing to Him, and as surely as God must say yea and amen to all that Christ asks for.
Praying in Faith Through Christ Our Mediator
Thus these words “in My name” demand faith when one prays. They show that our own worthiness should not demand that we pray or achieve fulfillment, and that our unworthiness should not prevent us from praying; they show that we are surely heard solely for the sake of Christ, our only Mediator and High Priest before God. Therefore our prayer must be centered in Him alone. All Christendom prays in this manner; it concludes and seals all its prayers and cries with the words “through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” In this way it brings its offerings to God in faith. Therefore you should do likewise, in order that you may defend yourself against the terrible thoughts which detain and deter you from prayer. Be sure not to let the devil delude you when he tells you that you are unworthy; but for this very reason fall on your knees when you feel that you are not worthy and cannot become worthy. Cling to Christ, make your prayer dependent on Him, and bring it before God by asking Him to accept and hear it for Christ’s sake. By no means be in doubt or uncertain when you pray; but believe confidently that your prayer has come before God, has reached its goal, and has already been granted. For it has been offered in the name of Christ and has been concluded with the amen with which Christ Himself here confirms His Word.
Doubting Prayer as Blasphemy
It would be one of the worst blasphemies—a blasphemy which calls God a liar—for you to pray because of God’s command and promise, also in the name of Christ, and yet to waver by saying: “Who knows whether I am praying properly, whether my prayer is heard?” No Christian should ever admit such doubts to his heart. “Before making a vow,” says Jesus Sirach (Ecclus. 18:23), “prepare yourself, and do not be like a man who tempts the Lord.” Otherwise this is not praying; it is mocking God and blaspheming, as the pope’s whole rabble, priests, and monks have been doing up to this time and are continuing to do. They jabber, sing, and bellow incessantly day and night. All this is said to be prayer, yet not one of them has thought of faith. They say: “I have prayed, but I leave it to God to decide whether He wants to hear me.” In this way they themselves confess that they do not believe anything. Naturally, their prayer remains unheard. Yes, as Ps. 109:7 states, it is sheer sin and blasphemy. For what interest should God have in a prayer which you yourself offer in doubt and unbelief, thereby stating in words of your own that both you and God are liars?
As Sure as Baptism and the Word: The Certainty of Prayer
A Christian must be as sure of the fulfillment of his prayer as he is of the truthfulness of God. For even though he is unworthy, he has not prayed in his own name, nor does he want to be heard for his own sake; but he has prayed in Christ’s name, and he expects fulfillment of his petitions on the strength of Christ’s worthiness. He must not doubt this any more than he must doubt God’s Word, which he preaches or hears, or Baptism, the Sacrament, absolution, the Ten Commandments, or his own vocation. If he were to judge on the basis of his own unworthiness, he would ultimately have to doubt that he is God’s creature. Such doubting would be a denial of God, and it would be better for him if he did not know any of this.
On the contrary, a Christian must not doubt that he is baptized, that he has heard the Gospel or has received, and should continue to receive, the Sacrament. Much less must he doubt that he has an obligation to do what God has enjoined and that the obedience he renders in his calling is proper according to the Ten Commandments. He must believe and say: “I know that I have God’s Word and that I live in a calling in which I owe God obedience. But if my faith is not strong enough or if I do not do and live as I should, this does not detract from the validity of God’s Word.” Thus we also say here: “Although I do not deserve to have my petition heard, Christ, in whose name I offer this prayer, is indeed very worthy; and for His sake my unworthy and insufficient prayer has to be acceptable and worthy also before God.” St. Bernard was a fine man, one who had Christian thoughts, because he admonished his brethren so faithfully that when they wanted to pray, they should be sure not to refrain because of doubt. “For as soon as we begin to pray,” he said, “the words are already counted and recorded in heaven.”
