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Protest of the Princes
121
fear. We shall do more by our prayers than all our enemies by their
boastings.
From the secret place of prayer came the power that shook the
world in the Reformation. At Augsburg Luther “did not pass a day
without devoting three hours at least to prayer.” In the privacy of
his chamber he was heard to pour out his soul before God in words
“full of adoration, fear, and hope.” To Melanchthon he wrote: “If the
cause is unjust, abandon it; if the cause is just, why should we belie
the promises of Him who commands us to sleep without fear?
The Protestant Reformers had built on Christ. The gates of hell
could not prevail against them!
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13
Ibid., bk. 14, ch. 1.
14
Ibid., bk. 14, ch. 6.