The Complete Guide for Prayer

Catechetical sermons preached in PCC Evening Worship Services, Feb 2013 to Dec 2017

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1And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him

1 John 5:14-15

WSC 99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?

A. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer;1 but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s Prayer.2

11 Jn 5:14; 2Mt 6:9–13, cf. Lk 11:2–4.

Once upon a time, there lived a king. One day, a man accused of stealing a loaf of bread was brought into his presence by the baker. The baker says, “I am a Christian man; I will never tell a lie.” Then he claims that he caught the thief red-handed. The accused declares, “I am also a Christian, and I am being falsely accused!” He explains that he was walking by the store when someone threw a loaf of bread in front of him, which he promptly picked up. The baker counters: “You are lying. Why would anyone take the trouble to steal and then abandon his loot?” The accused has no answer.

The king decides to test their sincerity. He tells them: “Go back and think about this question. Tomorrow, I want to hear your answer. Since both of you claim to be Christian, What is the easiest thing for a Christian man to do?”

The next day, the baker comes before the king and answers: “The easiest thing for a Christian man to do is to tell the truth.” The king asks him, “What is truth?” The accused then gives his answer. “The easiest thing for a Christian man to do is to pray,” he says. The king sneers, “Well, you better start praying! Your answer does not help you.”

The king decides to give them another test: “Go back and think about this other question, and come back tomorrow with your answer: What is the most difficult thing for a Christian man to do?”

The next day, the baker comes before the king and says: “The most difficult thing for a Christian man to do is to tell a lie.” The king says: “How do I know you are not telling a lie?” The baker says, “Because I am a Christian!” The king seems impressed with the answer.

The accused then comes in. He tells the king: “The most difficult thing for a Christian to do, O king, is to pray!” “What?” demands the king, “Yesterday, you said that prayer is the easiest thing, and today you say that prayer is the most difficult thing.” Are you trying to mock me? Do you not know I have the power to send you to prison?

The accused says, “No, O king, I am just trying to answer your question as honestly as possible. Prayer is to a born-again Christian what crying is to a newborn baby. I have not ceased to pray since the baker accused me of stealing even though I am innocent.”

“But when you ask what the most difficult thing is for a Christian, I thought about it, and I wondered why I even needed to pray if God is all-knowing, perfectly just, fair, and powerful. If He knows all things and is all-powerful and perfectly just, why do I need to pray to be delivered out of this bind I am in? This doubt makes it difficult for me to pray with faith and not faint!”

I think you can guess who the king ends up believing. The alleged thief is obviously a man who fears God and is serious about his faith. It is hard for such a man to steal and lie about it.

If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you will no doubt agree that prayer is, indeed, the easiest and yet the most challenging thing for a Christian to do.

What is prayer?

According to our Shorter Catechism, Question 98,Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.

We can recall the six elements that make up true prayer with the acrostic we used as our sermon outline:

  • Prayer must be directed to God alone.
  • Raise your desires sincerely to Him.
  • Agreement to God’s will is a must.
  • Yes, pray in Christ’s name, but not mechanically.
  • Engage in confession of sins sincerely.
  • Remember always to give thanks.

This is the what of true prayer. But in this follow-up message, we want to consider the how of true prayer. How should we pray?

The next question in our Catechism provides the answer:

WSC 99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?

Answer: The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s Prayer.

We know the Lord’s Prayer is a special rule to teach us how to pray because the Lord’s disciples asked Him: “Teach us to pray?” Our Lord responded by reiterating the Lord’s Prayer, which He had already taught them in the Sermon on the Mount. So, it’s clear that the Lord’s Prayer is intended to be a special rule to direct or teach us to pray.

But why does our catechism say, “The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer”? Well, the answer is found in 1 John 5:14-15:

14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Remarkably, the first epistle of John was written to encourage his hearers to see evidence of new birth in their own lives and, therefore, obtain assurance of salvation in Christ. Why, then, does he talk about prayer only towards the end of the letter?

Because prayer is both easy and challenging! A lack of prayer is indicative of unregeneracy.  However, a lack of answers to prayer may indicate a failure to pray correctly. Thus, John boldly asserts that if we pray correctly, God hears our prayers and “if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

It is difficult to interpret what John is saying apart from the obvious, which is that God will give us the desire of our heart according to our prayers. The Lord may not immediately give us our request, but if we pray correctly, He will give us the desire of our heart sooner or later. But what is it to pray correctly?

John says: “If we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.

What is the will of God that John is referring to? He cannot be referring to the secret will of God. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God.” There is no way we can pray according to the secret will of God since it is secret. Therefore, John must be referring to the revealed will of God. What is the revealed will? Moses continues:

But those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

So basically, the revealed will is what God has revealed to be our duties in His Word; or more broadly, what is revealed in the Scriptures to be immediately pleasing to God from a human standpoint.

Where is this revealed? No doubt, it is the whole of Scripture:

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

The will of God for us is revealed everywhere in the Scripture. This is why we are taught in the catechism, “The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer.”

How does the whole word of God direct us? Well, if we search the Scripture we will find many instructions on prayer. Let’s do a quick survey of some of these verses.

We’ll organise them into three categories as they relate to the manner, time and content of prayer, or the how, when and what of prayer.

We will not try to organise the verses in each category, but if you like, you may attempt to write meaningful acrostics for each category.

1. Manner or the How of Prayer

a. Firstly, the Lord Jesus Himself teaches us to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven…” (Mt 6:9); and when He prays in John 17, He addresses God as “Father” (Jn 17:1). So, we know that we should typically address our prayers to God the Father even though we pray to God-Triune.

b. Secondly, as we have also learned in the previous sermon, we should pray in the name of the Son or on the basis of His finished work on the cross. “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you,” says our Lord (Jn 16:23).

c. Thirdly, the apostle Paul teaches us to Pray “always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18). What is it to pray in the Spirit? Simply stated, it is to pray with a conscious reliance upon the assistance of the Spirit. “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26).

d. Fourthly, the Scripture teaches us that we must approach God with reverence. Although we may come before the throne of grace with boldness through Christ (Heb 4:16), we must realise that we are coming before a great and holy God. The apostle to the Hebrews reminds us that Christ “was heard in that he feared” (Heb 5:7). Let us, therefore, imitate Him and approach God with godly fear.

e. Fifthly, the Scripture teaches us that we must not harbour unconfessed sins in our hearts when we approach God in prayer. The Psalmist says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Ps 66:18; cf. Prov 15:29; Prov 28:9).

f. Sixthly, as we also saw previously, the Scripture teaches us to approach God with thanksgiving in our hearts. “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God,” says Paul (Phil 4:6).

g. Seventhly, the Lord Jesus teaches us to pray with importunity and perseverance. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint,” He says (Lk 18:1).

2. Time or the when of Prayer

a. It is evident in this regard that, first of all, there are times when we ought to be doing rather than praying. When the Israelites first lost the battle against Ai, Joshua rented his clothes and prayed until the evening. But instead of receiving the Lord’s approval, he received a gentle rebuke for continuing in prayer: “Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?” (Jos 7:6-10). There was sin in the camp. Instead of praying, Joshua should investigate and rid the camp of the offending party. In the same way, remaining in prayer after we fail an examination is not very helpful. Instead, we should begin to study for a re-examination as soon as possible.

b. Secondly, there are times when it is God’s will that we cease to pray for certain things. The Lord told Moses to stop asking to be allowed into the Promised Land (Dt 3:26). He had determined not to allow it. In the same way, we ought not to continue to ask God for something He has indicated by His providence that He will not give. We must, for example, cease to pray for an unbelieving man—that he will go to heaven—once the Lord takes his life.

c. Thirdly, the Scripture also teaches us that we must not imagine that the longer we spend in prayer, the better we are. This is especially so in public prayer. We must consciously avoid padding our petitions with empty words or even pious platitudes. The Lord Jesus charged the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy in making pretentious long prayers (Mt 23:14). Therefore, do not think your petition for something will be heard just because you spend a long time asking for the same thing.

d. Fourthly, in terms of time of prayer, the Scripture teaches us that we may pray at any time. But it is not a bad practice to have committed times of prayer. Daniel prayed upon his knees three times a day (Dan 6:10; cf. Ps 55:17). No doubt this is in addition to the spontaneous prayers that He must have uttered throughout the day. He must have prayed as Nehemiah did at every difficult moment.

Again, the Lord teaches us by example to give thanks in prayer before our meals. He did that at the Passover and when He performed the miracles of feeding the four and five thousand (Lk 22:19; Jn 6:11; etc). What about returning thanks after a meal? No doubt, it was a practice amongst the Jews and the early Christians. Moses declares: “When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee” (Dt 8:10).

Again, the Psalms teach us to pray when we first get up in the morning and before we retire for the night. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Ps 5:3). “I remember thee upon my bed” (Ps 63:6).

3. Content Or What of Prayer

a. First, we must pray for things we know are pleasing to God.

For example, our sanctification is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus (1 Th 4:3). Therefore, we should pray for our sanctification, or in other words, for more holiness and for victory over the world and strength to keep God’s commandments.

Also, as God has commanded us to keep the Sabbath holy, we can and should pray that our friends and brethren will learn to keep the Sabbath. This is pleasing to God.

Likewise, we know that, in general, God is pleased to heal the sick, which is why the Lord Jesus went about to heal the sick. Thus, James reminds the sick to call for the elders to pray for them (Jas 5:14).

b. Secondly, we must pray for things promised.

For example, we may pray that God will supply us our daily necessities because we have a promise in the Word of God that He will add all these things unto us if we seek first His kingdom (Mt 6:33). Also, we may pray for the conversion of our covenant children because the Scripture teaches us that the promise is unto us and to our children (Acts 2:39).

c. Thirdly, to pray according to God’s will, we must pray for the things the Lord teaches us to pray for.

For example, the Lord’s Prayer teaches us that we should pray: (1) that God will be glorified; (2) that His kingdom makes advance; (3) that His will be done on earth; (4) that He will provide us our daily bread; (5) that He will forgive us our sins as we forgive our debtors; (6) that He will keep us from temptation.

We may learn a lot more from the Lord’s Prayer, but we will look at that separately since our Catechism deals with it separately.

Elsewhere, the Lord teaches us to pray for the peace and unity of the church: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps 122:6). Again, He teaches us to pray for the Holy Spirit, or for the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Lk 11:13).  Likewise, He reminds us to pray to “the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38).

Similarly, both John and James, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, teach us to pray for our brethren who have fallen into sin that they may repent of their sin (1 Jn 5:16a; Jas 5:16). Paul teaches us to pray that the preaching of the Word of God may have free course (2 Th 3:1).

d. But fourthly, if we are to pray according to God’s will, we should learn to pray according to the examples of godly prayers in the Scriptures. We think of the prayer of contrition of David in Psalm 51. We think of his prayer of imprecation in Psalm 7.

We think also of the numerous examples of the apostle Paul’s prayers recorded for us. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, he says: “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” From this we learn that we should pray for perseverance for one another. Again, in Philippians 1:9, Paul informs his readers of how he prays that their “love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment” (Phil 1:9). And again in Ephesians 1:15-23, he tells his readers that he is praying for them that they might grow spiritual maturity and knowledge of the love of God in Christ.

Conclusion

Is this how you have been praying? Although prayer is an outpouring of our heart unto God, we must not pray haphazardly if we want to pray effectually. We cannot pray ignorantly if we want to pray by faith, believing that God will hear and answer our prayers.

And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Thus, if you are praying according to God’s will, in manner, time and content, you must believe that God will hear and answer your prayers in His perfect time. But you must also believe that if your prayer is not answered according to your will, it will be answered according to the will of God, which is better than yours.

The Lord Jesus prayed that the cup might be removed from Him. But He knew that God had a higher plan. Therefore, He qualified His prayer with “yet not my will but thine be done.”

This is how we ought to pray, too. We must always pray with confidence that the Lord will answer our prayers. But if you have reason to think that the Lord may not answer the desires of your heart because it may not serve the glory of God or the good of His church, then ask the Father to do His own will as our Saviour did.

Can you see now that prayer is not as easy as it appears at first sight? At least, it is clear that we can’t pray effectually until we know how, what and when God wants us to pray in His Word. What is God’s complete guide for prayer? It is the whole word of God!

Therefore, let us seek to know the word of God and pray more and more according to this guide. The more we are enabled to do so, the more we shall be able to enjoy praying with the assurance that God is a prayer-hearing God who will always answer our prayers, and delight to give us the desires of our hearts for the sake of His son who came for us.

Indeed, Christ came to make it possible for us to have a relationship with the Father. This relationship is mainly enjoyed in prayer. So, if you forget everything, think of Christ and how He prayed. Imitate Him. Pray in the morning and evening. Pray at all times. Give thanks for meals. Pray for deliverance. Pray for help. Pray with faith. Pray with humble submission to God’s will. Pray as your elder brother prayed. Amen.

—JJ Lim

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