I've maintained for some time now that if Lutherans would only plug into our Catechism (Small and Large) then we'd not feel a need to borrow from sources that are not so scripturally-based. Case in point: ponder these words from the Large Catechism on the Lord's Prayer, Seventh Petition (Deliver us from evil). This is the translation from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, found on p. 422.
You see again how God wishes for us to pray to Him also for all the things that affect our bodily interests, so that we seek and expect help nowhere else except in Him. But He has put this matter last. For if we are to be preserved and delivered from all evil, God’s name must first be hallowed in us, His kingdom must be with us, and His will must be done. After that He will finally preserve us from sin and shame, and, besides, from everything that may hurt or harm us.
When someone says, "I'm not going to attend church or otherwise bother to conform my life to God's will, because I don't see where He has ever done me any good," it's the height of foolishness. Worse yet, someone may say, "I see that God has allowed all of these evils to befall me, and now you suggest that I should trust in Him?" That puts the cart before the horse.
The very order of petitions in the Lord's Prayer teaches us what must come first: that God's name should be hallowed, His kingdom come, and His will be done --- all among us, personally. Daily bread (i.e. the needs of life on earth), forgiveness of sins, protection in temptation and deliverance from evil all come later in importance. Expecting God to invert the order is like expecting the sheriff in the next county over to respond to your 911 call. God will hear your prayer when you acknowledge that He is truly your Father by both creation and redemption.
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