Luke 8:21 (KJV)   And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

                                       A Mother Prays

"A very fine example of the power of prayer is provided by Monica, the mother of St. Augustine.  She asked for nothing in her prayer for her son except that he might be liberated from the madness of the Manichaeans [pagans] and be baptized...But the more she prayed, the more stiff‑necked and stubborn the son became, and her prayer seemed to her to have become a sin.  But when the time for hearing her solicitous prayer had come (for God usually defers His help),Augustine is not only converted and baptized but devotes himself entirely to the study of theology and turns out to be such a teacher that he sines in the church to this day, teaching and instructing the church.  Monica had never asked for this.  It would have been enough for her if her son had been freed from error and had turned Christian.  But God wants to give us greater blessings than we can ask for, as long as we do not weaken in our prayer."

            What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald M. Plass, St. Louis:  Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 1094. Genesis 17:19‑22.

 

 

 

                                 Children Given by God

"But He has given and entrusted children to us that we should train and govern them according to His will; otherwise He would have no need of father and mother.  Let everyone know, therefore, that it is his duty, on peril of losing the divine favor, to bring up his children above all things in the fear and knowledge of God and, if they are talented, to let them learn and study so that they be of service wherever they are needed...And because this commandment is being disregarded, God is punishing the world so terribly that there is no discipline, order, or peace.  We all complain of this state of affairs but fail to see that it is our own fault."

            What Luther Says, I, p. 140f.  Large Catechism, Ten Commandments.   

 

                                      How God Helps

"You see, then, that by nature all children are disobedient to father and mother.  Therefore if a child is to honor father and mother from the bottom of its heart, as this Commandment requires, the Holy Spirit must bring this about through grace; nature is not equal to the task."

            What Luther Says, I, p. 143.  Exodus 20:12.

 

                                  Wives Are From God

"A good wife is not found accidentally and without divine guidance.  On the contrary, she is a gift of God and does not come, as the heathen imagine, in answer to our planning and judging."

            What Luther Says, II, p. 906.  Genesis 25:19‑20