We have completed the Catechism's treatment of the Ten Commandments, and now we move on to the Catechism's treatment of prayer, also in the third section of the Catechism on gratitude, as we consider the Word of God as summarized by the High Libre Catechism. This morning we consider Lord's Day 45, questions and answers 116 and 118. I want to read just a few verses, very pointed verses, in connection with this 1 Thessalonians 5. Familiar verses, indeed. 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 16, 17, and 18. This is at the close of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonian believers where he gives some final instructions about how they are to live, how they are to work. Indeed, as well, what their attitude as Christians ought to be. 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 16, 17, and 18. this is the Word of God. Be joyful always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. If you would turn with me in the back of the Blue Psalter hymnal to page 57, Lord's Day 45. Three questions and answers are found there, but we're only going to consider 116 and 118 this morning. Sorry, four questions. and answers. But 1.16 and 1.18 as we confess together what we believe by reciting these answers. Question 1.16. Why do Christians need to pray? Because prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness God requires of us and also because God gives His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking Him for them. And then 118, what did God command us to pray for? Everything we need, spiritually and physically, as embraced in the prayer, Christ our Lord Himself taught us. beloved congregation of our lord jesus christ what is the necessary ingredient needed to develop and maintain a relationship with someone you might say it's easy it's communication isn't it we need communication to enjoy fellowship with another there must be a relationship that includes communication. If there's no communication, then there's no relationship of fellowship and intimacy. And that's why question 116 can ask, why do Christians need to pray? Christians are servants of Jesus Christ, followers of Jesus Christ who have been brought into a saving relationship with God. And prayer then identifies that relationship as a relationship of fellowship and intimacy. Now generally speaking, I think we would agree that prayer is communication with God. It is an expression of the believer's relationship with the Lord. It is the communion of the heart of the believing child with the heart of the Father of Light expressing what lives in the believer's heart by the grace of God. Through prayer, we enter the heavenly throne room by the grace of God and we sit at His feet and we commune with Him. See, beloved, prayer is the believer's part of that dialogue or conversation between the Heavenly Father and those He has adopted in Christ Jesus. The Father comes to us, speaks to us through His Holy Word, and we respond through prayer. And therefore, true prayer is governed by the work of God in the hearts and lives of His people. It is the believer's response of love and gratitude to the call of God through Jesus Christ. Having considered that introduction, then we consider this Word of God, grateful living, crowned with prayer. And first of all, the place of prayer in the Christian life is that it is necessary in the first place because God requires it of Christians. God requires it. Why do Christians need to pray? God requires it. It is commanded. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray continually. To the Colossian church, he says, continue earnestly in prayer. Psalm 50, verse 15 says, call upon Me in the day of trouble. Psalm 105, verse 1, call upon His name. In Isaiah 59, verse 16, we read, where the Lord was displeased, He was angered because there was no man to intercede, no one to pray. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus said to His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, watch and pray. Why? Lest you enter into temptation. And as well, Luke 18, verse 1, which is the introduction to the parable of the persistent widow, where we have the widow begging the judge to get what she wants, and finally he gives in. There we read, then he spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. And then finally, Luke 11, verse 9, there Jesus says, So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Beloved, very simply, prayer is not an option for the child of God. In fact, it is the most important part of thankfulness, or as the older version of the Catechism says, it is the chief part of thankfulness which is owed to God. And therefore, true prayer is to demonstrate and express our thankfulness to God. Prayer and thankfulness go hand in hand. They are not to be separated. Notice again the verses we just quoted. Those verses in which we find that prayer is commanded. And notice what is to go along with prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5 again. Be joyful always. Pray continually. Giving thanks in all circumstances. Colossians 4 verse 2. Continue earnestly in prayer. Being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. The psalmist says, Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. And then Psalm 105, verse 1 again, O give thanks to the Lord. How? Call on His name. What do we have to be thankful for as God's people? You remember, I trust, the introduction to the law of God, the preamble which was also read this morning. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. We know that the analogy of Scripture is pointing to the fact that it's talking about being caught in a lifestyle of sin, being delivered from that through Jesus Christ and His shed blood. We have been purchased. We have been set free. Delivered from the dominion of Satan. And restored to fellowship with God the Father. Delivered from hell and delivered to heaven. By the grace of God, His people enjoy all the benefits of Christ's atoning work. All those big theological words, regeneration, conversion, justification, sanctification, adoption, preservation, and glorification. Again, the blessing of which the table of the Lord reminds us. Of which we are called to examine ourselves. Do I own the blessing of Christ's saving sacrifice? Do I indeed seek my salvation outside of myself, only in Him? You see, the benefits of Christ, beloved, can be summed up by saying that the believer enjoys a saving relationship with God and fellowship with God through prayer is a demonstration of and proof of that relationship. You see, congregation unbelievers do not and in fact cannot truly pray unless the Holy Spirit of God begins that good work within them, at which point, of course, then they are no longer unbelievers. But God has made and He has redeemed His children for fellowship with Him. And the dialogue between God and His people through His Word and prayer is the lifeline of the Christian. Beloved, true prayer, true prayer by its very nature, means a relationship and fellowship with God. And that's why prayer is rightly considered to be the most important part of thankfulness over the law of God. Not to minimize the law of God in any way, shape, or form. Yet prayer is the most important part even over the law of God. Because the law without prayer means nothing. No one can keep God's commandments without prayer because without prayer there is no fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit. and without that fellowship, God's commandments are absolutely meaningless. True prayer means a living relationship exists. And then obedience to God's commandments gives definition or description to that relationship. Prayer acknowledges that I am dead without God, but that He gives me life through fellowship with Him. And therefore, we can rightly sing, Prayer is the Christian's vital breath. Prayer is as natural for the life of the Christian as breathing is for our physical lungs. And boys and girls, just as plants are drawn toward the light of the sun, plants desire the light of the sun. In fact, in Kalamazoo, I remember there were plant growers. Lilies, Easter lilies. And they would plant them early in the year, but they would cover them up, keep them in the dark, so they wouldn't grow too fast. Because if the light got on them, they would grow. But just as plants are drawn toward the light of the sun or just as a needle of a compass seeks to point to the north, in the same way the soul of the Christian is drawn toward God who gives it life, gives it new life. And those who enjoy new life in Christ recognize by the working of the Holy Spirit that whereas once they were lost, now they are found and therefore they are irresistibly drawn to the source of life. So that as the psalmist says, as the deer pants for the water brook, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Now, beloved, Scripture makes it clear that prayer has always, always been a part of the life of God's people. Of course, before the fall, Adam talked to God face to face, as it were. After the fall, of course, there were the sacrifices which represented prayer to God. But you see, early on, as Genesis 4 verse 26 says, then men began to call on the name of the Lord. In the Bible, the very Word of God includes many prayers for us to read, to meditate upon, to learn from. For example, many of the Psalms are prayers. We find Hannah's prayer. Prayers of David, prayers of Solomon, and prayers of others. And there are different forms of prayer, which include prayers of praise and adoration to God, Prayers of confession of sins and asking for forgiveness. Prayers of thanksgiving. Prayers asking or crying for help or healing and relief from sickness or trouble and also praying on behalf of fellow believers. James 5, verses 13 and 14 says, Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing songs. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. But whatever the form prayer takes, whatever is sought in prayer, whether there is adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication, all of these, you see, are an acknowledgement of God and His attributes. And all of these things are a confession that the Lord is the source, the one and only source from whom all blessings flow. In other words, beloved, prayer is worship. In fact, where do we worship? We worship in God's house of prayer. The Lord says through Isaiah, For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. In prayer, as with all worship, the believer acknowledges that God is God, that God is good, that He is the fountain of life from which we drink and are satisfied. Grateful living is crowned with prayer and acknowledges that it is God alone who makes life possible in all of its different chapters and circumstances. And therefore, beloved, prayer in all of its forms is worship of God and thanksgiving to God for who He is and what He has done. And therefore, when we exalt or adore God in our prayers, that is showing thanksgiving to Him for who He is, the Sovereign, Almighty, Holy, and Only God. When we confess our sins in prayer and ask for forgiveness, that is a demonstration of thanksgiving to Him as the only one who is able to and indeed will forgive our sins for Jesus' sake. When we offer prayers of thanksgiving for all of His benefits, for His grace and mercy in our lives, then that too is a confession that He is indeed the giver of every good and perfect gift. When we come to Him with our supplications and petitions, asking for comfort and sorrow or healing of our hurts or simply bringing our burden to Him. That too is showing thankfulness to the God of our salvation and the confidence that He alone is both willing and able to give us what we need. And that too, you see, is the place of prayer in the Christian life. Asking Him, as answer 118 begins, for everything we need spiritually and physically. Or as, again, the older version of the catechism says, Asking for all things necessary for soul and body. Our prayer is to be that God will give us only what we need for this life and the life to come. And that He would withhold from us, boys and girls, that He would not give to us that which would harm us both physically and spiritually. Have you ever thought about it that way? Asking God not to give us something that we want, if that something would harm us physically or spiritually. You see, we have so many wants and desires. Even the boys and girls know this all too well. There are so many things that we want, so many things that we desire to get our hands on. But the question we need to ask is, are the things that we want and desire, are they all for the welfare of our soul? Are they all for the welfare of our spiritual life? Do they help to build our relationship with God? Or do these things bring us closer to God or do they get in the way of our relationship with God? We must ask ourselves those questions. More importantly, we must answer them as well. And that's why a devotional life, complete with prayer, is a necessity for God's people. What is your prayer life like? What is your prayer life like? Do you take your life to the Lord in prayer? That's where it belongs, doesn't it? How many of life's daily decisions, whether big or small, do you make without bowing your head and bending your knee in prayer, including failing to ask God at the beginning of the day for wisdom to make the decisions and choices that you will be faced with in the day. Remember that a life without prayer is a spiritually dead life because that necessary spiritual breath is missing. Yet those who have prayer properly in place by the leading of the Holy Spirit also possess, in the second place, prayer's blessing on the Christian life. Again, why do Christians need to pray? the second part, and also because God gives His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking Him for them. Of course, we know as we considered in some detail with Psalm 139 that God is omniscient. He knows all things and He knows all things already from eternity and He knows all things completely and perfectly. He knows all that we need even before we ask Him and therefore there are those who say that prayer is useless. it doesn't change anything what's going to happen is going to happen whether we pray or not it's true that God doesn't need us to inform Him of our needs or the needs of others and we must be ever so thankful that our prayers cannot and do not change God's perfect plan but what we need to understand beloved, is that prayer is a part of God's plan. It's very much a part of God's plan. I hope the scripture verses we read earlier tell you that. Just before Jesus taught his disciples to pray what we call the Lord's Prayer, he said, your father knows the things you have need of before you ask. He said that. But then he still goes on to teach them what to ask for and how to ask for it. As well as we quoted a few moments ago, Jesus said, Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. God has not only determined what will happen to me and what He will give me, but He has also determined the means by which it will happen. Prayer is the means by which we are to obtain many of the blessings in this life that God intends for us to have. In Numbers chapter 14, God tells Moses that He's going to wipe out the Israelites because of their sin and their rejection. And in turn, He's going to make a great nation out of Moses. And then in 1 Samuel 7, we read that Israel was in need of repentance. And as the Philistines came to attack, they cried out to Samuel. Well, on these two occasions, both Moses and Samuel interceded for God's people by prayer And God spared Israel, not apart from prayer, but very much in answer to prayer. And we can also consider Ezekiel 36, where the Lord speaks of the renewal of Israel. Verses 36 and 37 tell us, Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus says the Lord God, I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them. Did you catch that? In those verses, God tells what He will do and the means by which He will do it. In other words, the prayers of the people. Beloved God will give His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly asking God for these gifts and thanking Him for them. He does not give these to the unwilling and the unreceptive. Now, our daily experience might suggest something different. As we look around and measure the physical blessings of life, it may seem to us at times that many unbelievers are blessed with much more than many believers. But we need to remember a very, very important truth here, and that is that God's gifts are only truly blessings. When the one who receives these gifts is in a saving relationship with Him. That's the only time that God's gifts are truly blessings. Therefore, all of the common grace or common favor or common blessing, whatever you want to say, poured out on unbelievers if they remain unrepentant, those blessings really will be a curse for them. Because they did not see the hand of God in those blessings. And therefore those blessings will one day rise up against them and testify against them. God will say, you received these from my hand, yet you rejected me. You didn't see me. Whereas, beloved, even the things that are withheld from believers, even the things that we don't get that we want, that God withholds from us, are for our benefit. Unbelievers are not given the higher gifts of grace in the Holy Spirit while believers receive those blessed gifts of grace in the Holy Spirit. To pray continually, to ask, and to thank God is to demonstrate total and complete dependence upon Him. A lack of fervency in prayer is proof that the one who prays in that way is not really interested in what he is praying for. He's simply going to the motions. But by new birth and by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, God's people continually pray and ask and thank Him for what He gives. Now this, of course, isn't talking about initial saving grace. It's not talking about the initial gift of the Holy Spirit. Not one of us asks for that. That's only the work of God. And we are not saved, beloved, because of our prayer, but we pray because we are saved and we are already temples of the Holy Spirit. But God gives His ongoing, sustaining grace and Holy Spirit only to those who ask Him and thank Him. And the Holy Spirit abides with God's people to apply God's grace and to continue His work of illumination of light and truth and His work of comforting and strengthening and His work of applying all of the benefits of Christ through His sanctifying and renewing power. And as well, believers enjoy the constant and conscious, conscious possession of the grace of God. It's constant and it's conscious. We must know it. We must be conscious of the forgiveness of sins, of the righteousness of God, of adoption as God's children, of joy in the Lord, of peace with God, and of the hope of everlasting life. And as well, God's grace includes all of God's gifts necessary, every single one necessary for faith and life. And then the Holy Spirit of God also guides us in the appropriate use of God's gifts. Beloved, God's grace is experienced in the lives of His people in God's giving or His withholding, in our sickness or in health, in our riches or in our poverty, in our joy or in our sorrow. But the beautiful truth is that with all that our God sends our way, our comfort is that all things work together for our good toward our salvation. And beloved, praise God that He will always give to us that which is most profitable for our eternal life. Always. While He will always withhold from His people that which would harm our eternal life. Those who truly hunger and thirst for righteousness will seek God in prayer in order to be filled by Him. Again, that's why prayer is such an important part of self-examination. In humility, we are to get on our knees and pray to God, asking Him that once again He would remind us, show us who we are in and of ourselves. That He would remind us of our grave need for a Savior. That He would show us again the beauty, over and over again, and the beauty of salvation in Jesus Christ. And once again, challenge us to know, challenge us to know that we own this salvation by His grace. And that we desire to live gratefully before Him. Grateful living is to be crowned with prayer. Paul says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Prayer is not only to be a part, a segment of our life, but prayer is to be a way of life. Our Lord Jesus Christ has brought us into fellowship with the Father and our God keeps us in fellowship with Himself by His Word and through prayer. We all know, we teach our children, the best way to express thanks to someone for something is simply to say thank you. And that's what the Christian does to God through prayer. Pray continually. Now boys and girls, that doesn't mean to pray every moment of every day. We know that's not possible. What would we do in the evening hours when we're supposed to be sleeping? Pray continually. It means that we are to pray in any and every circumstance. It means that we are to pray for all things. It means that we are to always be ready to fly to God in prayer. And just remember that when everything in this world can be taken away from Christians, prayer cannot be taken away. They can take it out of public institutions, public schools, take it out of certain activities. But they cannot take it out of your heart. They cannot take it out of my heart. It can never be taken away. Satan would like it to be taken away he knows of course how important prayer is he knows that it is the lifeline of the believer to God in his little book called Elijah the Battle of the Gods Howard Hendricks writes these words Satan does not mind your witnessing as long as you don't pray because he knows if you do not that it is far more important to talk to God about men than to talk to men about God. The meaning being that it doesn't do any good to talk to men about God if we do not have God's blessing. Satan does not mind your studying the Scriptures as long as you don't pray, for then the Word will never get into your life. Then you will simply develop a severe case of spiritual pride. And he loves that. Satan doesn't mind your becoming compulsively active in your local church or in some other form of Christian work just so you do not pray. For then you will be active, but you will not accomplish anything. Beloved, new life in Jesus Christ is a life crowned with prayer. A life without true prayer is no life at all. And if you don't enjoy a relationship with God crowned with prayer, or if you claim to be a Christian but you don't pray, then please understand that one who does not pray, who has no communion with God, isn't breathing. And we all know that that means death. Those who acknowledge that they are nothing apart from communion with God and therefore seek His face in prayer for Jesus' sake will enjoy fellowship with God for life. And those who commune with God on their knees today with bowed head and heart by His grace will commune with God face to face in His glory for eternity. But to live apart from God today without repentance and faith is to live apart from Him forever. Is your prayer life truly a life of prayer? Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You for Your great blessing of Your Word through which You reveal Your truth, the truth of who You are, the truth of us, the truth of Jesus Christ and our satisfied need. We thank You for that truth applied to our hearts and lives by the Holy Spirit of God. And we thank You too, O Lord, that You have given to us the most beautiful way to enjoy communication with you that we might give to you and that is our prayer. Father, may we never take prayer for granted. May we always know that you hear the sincere prayers of your people. You will never turn your ear away. We never have to worry about that. And that we might pray directly to you through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And thank you too, Father, that in those times when we do not know what to pray, that the Holy Spirit groans for us. Words that cannot be uttered. And as well, our Lord Jesus Christ intercedes for us, cleansing our prayers that they might be as a sweet aroma rising to Your throne of grace. Father, may we desire to fellowship with You each and every day as we read Your Word that we might respond to You in fervent prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.