Martin Luther said that when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer “thy will be done,” we are praying against ourselves.  The same pertains to the Prayer of the Day for this Sunday.

My old man, that is, the old man that I need to drown daily in my baptism doesn’t like to admit that we need to pray, “O Lord, by your bountiful goodness release us from the bonds of our sins, which by reason of our weakness we have brought upon ourselves…”

My old man doesn’t mind receiving God’s “bountiful goodness.” But that I need “release from the bonds of our sins?  No, no.  ‘Sin’ is such negative word.  Just give me your bountiful goods and let’s not have all this negative talk.  That’s why I don’t like this judgmental stuff.  I want to hear about love.

Yes, there are times when ‘by reason of our weakness we have brought upon ourselves’ some problems.  But I have ways and methods of taking care of those. I’m sure ‘that I will stand firm until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.’”

So my old man thinks.  But when we apply our baptism to our daily lives then, as Luther writes, “That together with all sins and evil lusts, should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance and be put to death, and that the new man should come forth daily rise up cleansed and righteous, to live forever in God’s presence.”

Yes, that’s God’s way and method to take care of my weaknesses.  All this through Jesus Christ “who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.” Amen.  It is so.