Theology on Thursday

Last year I noted my family and I had the blessing of visiting with some old family friends, the Rev. Dr. Doug Nicely and his wife, Vicki (my “adopted Mom”). Doug is Chief Chaplain at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Illinois, former pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Fairview Heights, IL, and is a long-time radio host of KFUO’s “Do You Have a Minute?” and “In His Steps.” Last year Doug gave me a copy of Robert E. Webber’s Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail. A couple of weeks ago we got to visit with our friends again and Doug generously handed me a copy of The Lord Will Answer: A Daily Prayer Catechism.

Drawn from Holy Scripture, the Church Fathers, and Luther’s Small Catechism, The Lord Will Answer follows the Liturgical Calendar and serves as a wonderful devotional work. During this week, the ninth week after Pentecost, it contemplates the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The text inquires, “What does this mean?” and answers:

“The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also. How is God’s will done? God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.”

One of the prayers given for the week, which encouraged me greatly and has brought about serious meditation, comes from Martin Luther:

“O dear God and Father, You know that the world cannot completely banish Your name and destroy Your kingdom. This world is engaged day and night in malice and evil deeds. Filled with all manner of malice, they oppose Your name, Your word, Your kingdom, and all Your children, to destroy them. Therefore, dear God and Father, convert and restrain. Convert those who are yet to know Your gracious will, that together we may be obedient to Your will and patiently and gladly endure all evil, the cross, and every tribulation. May we thereby acknowledge, test, and experience Your good, gracious, and perfect will. Restrain those who would not stop their rage, fury, hatred, threatening, and evil plans. Bring their counsels, wicked plans, and practices to shame.”