Not By My Own Efforts

I thank You, my dear God, that I have learned not to begin faith by my own efforts, nor attempt to destroy my sin with my own repentance. I might do this before men and be accepted by the world and its judges. But with You, O God, there is an eternal wrath, which I cannot satisfy, and before it I must despair. Therefore I thank You that Another has seized and carried my sins and has made atonement for them. With joy I wish to believe this. It seems so very right and comforting to me. But I cannot persuade myself to believe it, and I find no power in me to convince myself. I cannot comprehend it as I ought. Lord, lead me. Help me. Amen. (Martin Luther, 1483-1546).

Quoted from the devotion for Tuesday, Pentecost 5, in The Lord Will Answer: A Daily Prayer Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 2004) p. 287.