Lord's Day 44

Prayer is like children coming to their parents. They have the craziest requests, and we may be grieved by the meanness and selfishness of what they say, but we would be all the more grieved if they never came to us at all. We are simply glad they come, as mixed up as they may be. This is how it is with prayer. We will never be pure and right, but we must set these things aside and just pray. It is in the very act of praying – the intimate and ongoing interaction with God – that these matters are cared for in time. 

Our heavenly Father wants to hear us pray. God is ready to respond in love and mercy toward His people, but first we must come to him. In Jeremiah 29:12-14 God says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you…” 

The Greek and Hebrew words for prayer suggest themes of supplication, entreating, petitioning, intercession, and worship. The prayers found in older church worship books use words such as beseech, plead, even beg, expressing our greatest desires before the throne of God. Nothing in your life is too small for prayer, and nothing is too great for God to deal with. We are invited, in Scripture, not to worry about anything, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” Philip 4:6. Prayer is nothing more that offering our desires to God, and it is nothing less than communing in the very presence of God. 

So how do we come to God in prayer? The Catechism teaches that all prayers are to be offered in the name of Christ, for surely there is no other name by which we have been invited to come to the Father, remembering always to confess our sin and giving thanks for God’s mercies. Thankfully, our Lord taught us how to pray, and His prayer will be the focus of our study over the next few weeks.