We turn together tonight to 2 Corinthians 11, beginning at verse 30 and reading through the 10th verse of chapter 12. It seems before this that Paul is, as some might say, in competition with false teachers who are using their experiences to exalt themselves to gain a following. Verse 30 of chapter 11, hear now the Word of God. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows. And I know that this man, whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, but God knows, was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. And turn with me, if you would, in the back of the Psalter hymnal to Lord's Day 45. Lord's Day 45, page 57 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. I had considered where I would like to start with catechism preaching. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that about the last catechism sermon you may have had was when I was here in November. And at that time, I had the privilege of preaching on the Tenth Commandment, Lord's Day 44. And since prayer is such a beautiful and fitting and important subject for us, I believe it's good that we begin tonight with Lord's Day 45 talking about prayer. And I would ask that after I read the questions together, we confess the answers. This is what we believe. Question and answer 116. 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 pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking Him for them. How does God want us to pray so that He will listen to us? First, we must pray from the heart to no other than the one true God who has revealed Himself in His Word, asking for everything He has commanded us to ask for. Second, we must acknowledge our need and misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in His majestic presence. Third, we must rest on this unshakable foundation. Even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what He promised us in His Word. And 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. And we will end with that one. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Some of the words of that familiar hymn which we hope to sing at the close of this sermon tonight read, Prayer is the Christian's vital breath. Prayer is breath. In other words, since we know that breathing is essential to life, I mean, even the boys and girls know that when one is not breathing, that one is not alive. In the same way, prayer is the spiritual breath of spiritual life. Apart from prayer, true prayer to our Father in heaven, one is spiritually dead. And that's why question 116 of the Catechism can confidently ask, why do Christians need to pray? Or as I believe it's said even a bit more strongly in the older version of the Catechism, why is prayer necessary for Christians? And the answer begins because prayer is the most important part or the chief part of the thankfulness God requires of us. As you know, the subject of prayer and the explanation of the prayer which our Lord taught us is considered in the third and final section of the Heidelberg Catechism. The first section deals with sin or guilt. The second section deals with salvation or grace. And the third section deals with service or gratitude that is to be demonstrated by the believer in response to Christ's salvation of us from our sin. And we also know that the law of God is found in this third section regarding gratitude or thankfulness. The law of God, the Ten Commandments, and prayer. Thankfulness. The Ten Commandments which reflect the holiness of God are the standard of thankful living which is placed before the Christian. Now, the law of God teaches us how to live. It deals with how we are to live before the face of God and how we are to represent God in this world. Those who live according to the law of God demonstrate thankfulness to God in their heart and life. Prayer, then, is called the most important part of thankfulness to God. And that's not to say that it is more necessary than living according to God's law. But it is chief because it is one-to-one communion with the God who saves us. In a special way, true prayer is a confirmation of salvation. And through true prayer, God's children enter the very throne room of God where we speak to Him and we are assured that He hears us. Now, some seem to think that prayer is necessary only when we want or need something from God, only when things are terrible, only when we can't handle life on our own. Then, yes, it's good to bow before God in prayer. But I heard a minister say once, there are no atheists in foxholes. I never served in the military, but boys and girls, I understand that in the time of war, a foxhole is a hole that you dig. And if the enemy comes with bombs or gunfire, you jump into that hole looking for safety. But there are no atheists in foxholes. And that means when the situation is dangerous enough or when things are bad enough, any person, no matter who he or she is, no matter what they claim to believe, will cry out to God for help. We must confess that as Christians at times, there are times as well that when life is good, when everything is going well, when we have everything we want or need, that sometimes we tend to forget God. Sometimes we fail to get down on our knees and pray. But you see, true prayer is so much more than just trying to get stuff from God. But true prayer is the address to God in faith. It is an address to God that flows from faith. Prayer involves intimate fellowship with God in thankful response for the deliverance we as Christians have already experienced through Jesus Christ. Now again, we might also think that the catechism ought to say that prayer is necessary for unbelievers. After all, they are the ones who need to pray for forgiveness, but the Catechism rightly says that prayer is the need of the Christian. You see, unbelievers have nothing to be thankful for. They do not enjoy that relationship of favor with God. And as well as the Catechism rightly says, God requires it of you and me who believe. The Lord through the psalmist commands us, call upon Me in the day of trouble. And in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul issues another command, pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. So beloved, prayer is a matter of spiritual life maintenance. Even as the catechism points to in that first answer which says God gives His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these things and thanking Him for them. Yes, He knows what we need long before we ask Him. He has determined what He will give to us before we ask Him. But our prayer is to be a confession of His fatherly goodness. It is to be a confession of our dependence upon Him for everything. And it is the means that God uses to give us that which we need. Now, that's a long introduction to the subject of prayer. And now that we've taken a few moments to examine in part what prayer is and our need for it, we want to take a few minutes to consider how we ought to pray. I preach to you this Word of God about prayer that pleases God. Question 117 asks, How does God want us to pray so that He will listen to us? And the answer then gives three requirements for prayer, for pleasing prayer. It is faithful, it is humble, and it is trusting. First prayer that is pleasing to God must be faithful. The catechism says we must pray from the heart. If we really want to know what someone is like, we look at their heart, in a sense. We look to see where their heart leads them. Now, even the children know that we can't look at each other's physical heart. We can't see that heart beating just from looking at each other and so forth. But we're talking about the heart which guides and directs life. Proverbs 4, verse 23 says, Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. And the Bible ties the heart to human actions. The heart rejoices in God. The psalmist says, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. The Bible also tells us that iniquity is hidden in the heart. And Proverbs 16, verse 9 says, a man's heart plans his way. You see, the heart of man is home of either faith and belief in God or enmity and hatred toward God. The heart, the innermost being of man, directs the man. We follow the intentions of our heart. In Jeremiah 7 we read, But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. Beloved, our prayers must be heartfelt. That is, they must spring from a believing heart that desires to fellowship with the only true object of prayer, our God, And desires to be heard. Anyone can pray outwardly. We know that. Anyone can give lip service to God. Isaiah 29, verse 13, which we touched upon this morning, says, Therefore the Lord said, Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me. But the truth is, God will not accept mere sacrifice and offering. God is not pleased with mere outward displays of spiritual affection. Prayer that is according to the will of God, which He will hear, is faithful, heartfelt prayer. Prayer that is prayed in sincerity. One commentator said, and I believe it's right, prayers that are not sent up from the heart are like soap bubbles. Beautiful colors, perhaps, but which burst before they reach heaven. The Catechism also says that faithful prayer must be to no other than the one true God who has revealed Himself in His Word, asking for everything He has commanded us to ask for. See, our God has revealed Himself to us in His Word as the great I Am compared to the false gods of the world, which are not. Our God is. He exists. False gods do not. Our God was and is and ever shall be. He is the sovereign Creator and the Sustainer of the world and everything that it contains. He alone hears and answers prayer. The Bible talks about false gods, idols in Psalm 115. And it says that they have ears, but they cannot hear. They cannot even hear our prayer. They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They cannot answer you when you pray. They cannot give you any sort of assurance. Almighty God is the one true God and the one and only who is able to accept our prayers. We don't pray to the Virgin Mary. We don't pray to saints. We don't bow before idols. We don't pray to those things which cannot help us at all. The believer has the comfort of praying to the one Jesus taught us to call our Father. And God has also revealed Himself to us in and through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who has revealed to us the holiness and the righteousness of our God. He is the God of our salvation. And our Lord sent His Holy Spirit that we might also know this God. You see, that's comforting congregation because we don't pray to someone or something that we're unsure of or to someone or something we don't know. True praying is not a game of chance where we throw our prayers up and hope that they get to the right place. We don't pray to an unknown God like the men of Athens did in Paul's day. Faithful prayer is prayer from the heart to the one true God. And as well, it is faithful in the sense that it is coming to Him again and again. Never tiring of coming to this God. Paul demonstrates that in the passage As we read, he brought his need before God three times. And we are called to be faithful in coming again and again to Him who will hear His children for the sake of Jesus, who alone is the way to the Father, who is very God of very God, and those who place their trust in Jesus Christ alone and believe on Him have the confidence that God will receive them and their prayers unconditionally. Beloved, we must pray faithfully to God from our hearts and we must also pray as the publican or tax collector did who, as the Bible says, would not even look up to heaven but beat his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You see, a second requirement of prayer that is pleasing to God is that it is to be humble. We must pray to God humbly, knowing that we are sinners and that only He has the power to forgive us. The second part of Answer 117 says, Second, we must acknowledge our need and misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in His majestic presence. True humility is knowing our desperate need before God. And as well, as a bit of an aside, we need to be reminded, beloved, that prayer is not a right that is owed to us. We live in a rights-driven society. Many of the laws of our land deal with the rights of the citizens. But prayer is not a right that we have earned or that we deserve. On the one hand, prayer is a command. As we notice, prayer is commanded of believers, but also it is a blessed privilege. It is a privilege that God would allow sinners like us to enter into His presence in prayer. It's interesting, again, that in the passage we read together tonight, God kept Paul humble. In 2 Corinthians 11 and 12, Paul is boasting. But as I mentioned at the beginning, in a sense, Paul is saying, well, if you want me to play that game of the false teachers, I will. They boast about their experiences trying to build themselves up, trying to gain a following. Well, I have even more than the rest of them to boast about, as he talks about in verse 11. A child of Abraham, a Hebrew, and so forth. But then most of all, Paul is boasting about his weakness. In chapter 12, then, he talks about this particular man who he says 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven. And then he adds that this man was caught up to paradise where he heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. What an awesome privilege to be a man and have God speak into your ear the inexpressible truth of His Word to come face to face with the heavenly glory of God only then not be permitted to tell these things. Paul was not, or this man was not permitted to boast about these things at all. And then in verse 7, Paul speaks about himself and these revelations, so then it appears that in the previous verses, he is indeed talking about himself as receiving this privilege. But in order to keep him in balance, God sticks a thorn in his flesh. Verse 7 of chapter 12 says, to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations that was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. God didn't want Paul to become conceited. Instead, He keeps him humble and Paul must remember that he lives to proclaim God's Word and not to talk about His privilege. People of God, prayer that is pleasing to God is humble. And this humility comes from knowing our need and our misery. Now, it's no secret that we have physical and material needs, but this is talking about our spiritual need. Apart from Jesus Christ, we are spiritually dead, which Paul makes clear in Ephesians 2. And our need is the cause of our misery. We are miserable because our need is the result of sin. Sin separated us from that necessary fellowship with God and that separation is miserable. Spiritual humility involves knowing ourselves honestly. That we're lost in sin. That we are weak in and of ourselves. That we cannot save ourselves. As well, humility is knowing what God made us to be and how we have failed in that. And then humility is topped off when we see ourselves in comparison to God. And the truth is we cannot compare to God except negatively as opposites. He is the Creator. We are creatures. He is independent. We are completely, absolutely dependent. He is holy. We are unholy. He is the One who saves. We are in desperate need of salvation. And the list can go on and on. It's endless. But humble prayer means, congregation, that when you close your eyes and you fold your hands and when you get down on your knees in prayer before the Heavenly Father, you must remember who you are and you must remember who God is. When you come before God in humility in Jesus' name and then see yourself and see God in the proper roles that we do not deserve to come before Him. Not one bit. that we come before Him only of His grace through Jesus Christ, when we understand that in humility, then Holy Spirit-empowered reverence by the grace of God will follow. And that is pleasing to God. The Lord appeared to Solomon, and He said in 2 Chronicles 7, If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land. Beloved, prayer that is pleasing to God is faithful, it is humble, and as one more, it is trusting. It trusts Him. In the third part, the third part of Answer 117 says, Third, we must rest on this unshakable foundation even though we do not deserve it. God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what He promised us in His Word. God will surely listen to our prayer. Now, Paul's thorn was so bad that he says that it was directly from Satan. It was such a burden for him, it was apparently hard, difficult to live with. Now, we don't know for sure what that thorn was. We know that it was given to him after his experience, his privilege. But Paul says that he pleaded with God three times to take that thorn away. But the Lord said no. Now James 5, verse 16 says, The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. So what's going on here? Didn't God promise to hear prayer, especially the prayers of those who pray continually and faithfully? Well, the truth is, God's answer to the prayers of His people, I believe, is tied to that which we need. Question and Answer 118 teaches us that Christ taught us to pray for that which we need physically and spiritually. And the key, beloved, is what we need. The Lord says to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you. In other words, Paul, you don't need the thorn removed. All you need is My grace to endure it, to get through it. And that I will give you, Paul. But I will not take away the thorn. It's no secret, of course, that we determine our needs differently than God determines our needs or that He knows our needs. And this is even true within families, isn't it? Between parents and children. The parents determine needs differently than the children. Young people, you may think that you absolutely need certain styles of clothing to fit in with everyone else, or you must absolutely participate in these activities or engage in social life with this particular crowd, because only then will your life be complete. Apart from that, your life is going to be destroyed. Boys and girls, you might think that you need that new toy, because life will not be the same without that toy. And even as adults, we may think that we need that new car or that different house or even more money because life depends upon it. But congregation, just think for a moment of all of yesterday's luxuries that have become today's necessities. What is it that we truly need? Notice what the Lord says to Paul in verse 9. For my power is made perfect in weakness. the glory of God shines forth even more brightly in the weakness of His people. And Paul answers that statement from the Lord. He answers that for his readers by saying, Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses. Why? So that Christ's power may rest on me. Now, I believe that we can summarize this by saying that God determines what we need by the purpose for which He made us. And that is to glorify Him. That is why He made us. To glorify Him. He is to be exalted in congregation. He will give us whatever we need to be what He made us to be. He will give us whatever we need to honor Him as well, I believe. He will keep away from us in the end that which would destroy us as His children. A congregation, God will give to us that which we need to draw us closer to Himself in order to prepare us for heaven and in order to bring us to recognize His majesty and power. But now here's the difficult part to understand. That gift may be in the form of taking away from us that which makes us conceited and self-sufficient, thinking that we don't need Him. That may be a gift, you see. For example, if our health draws us away from Him, He may take it away. If our wealth makes us proud, He may relieve us of it. If we are comfortable with life and somewhat indifferent toward God, He may choose to get our attention and bring us back to our knees through some sort of adversity. He may do that. Won't necessarily do that, but He just may do that. But our comfort, beloved, is that in whatever God gives us, as His children, we can trust Him that He will give to us exactly what He knows we need to serve Him. And how do we know that? The catechism is exactly right when it says, because of Christ our Lord. We end many of our prayers. In fact, boys and girls, you are taught, no doubt, by your parents to end your prayers for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, do you know what that means? For Jesus' sake? It means that we may ask God for what we need and we can expect that He will give us what we need for body and soul because Jesus Christ has earned it for us. Jesus has earned or merited every blessing for us. And therefore, we may also pray as Jesus taught us to pray. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. We may pray for those things knowing that God will hear us because Jesus Christ has earned for us God's ear. That's what for Jesus' sake means. And that's why believers can pray faithfully, humbly, and trusting, praying in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ has destroyed that wall of separation between God and His people. When He died on the cross, we know that the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom to open the way into the Holy of Holies, into the very presence of God for those who believe. And the truth is, those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will pray. Because indeed, prayer is the Christian's vital breath. There's no true life in Christ without it. Those who do not believe in God and therefore do not pray to the Father are dead. They're spiritually dead. And unless they repent of their sins and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith, they will die that eternal death. But the Word of God is clear, and this is our comfort. As Paul says in Romans 10, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that means eternal life. Beloved, a prayer life takes work. It's not easy. It takes a lot of work. It takes time. And our Lord taught us how to pray as we hope to consider in the weeks ahead, the Lord willing, as we consider the catechism's treatment of the petitions of the prayer. But remember, as Christians, there is a may and a must to our prayers. We may pray. That's our blessed privilege. And we must pray for the sake of our lives. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us pray without ceasing. In Jesus' name, prayers that are pleasing to God. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we give You thanksgiving and praise for providing for us that way to come into Your presence. As Your people, we look forward so much to that day when Your whole church will be gathered around Your throne of grace and glory. When evil shall be put away, have been put away with forever and ever. But we praise You that while we still walk this pilgrimage in this life, that You have given to us the blessing of prayer. That we may come before You to have conversation with You. That we may read Your holy word and respond to You in prayer. And we praise You, Father, that indeed You hear us. That what we are doing, even at this moment, is not a vain exercise. It's not for nothing. It's not to no one. But it is to our God who hears us and answers us. O Lord, we confess that often our prayers are flippant. We do not think about what we are saying. And we simply go through the motions. But we ask, O Lord, that You would strengthen our prayer life through the power of Your Spirit. That every day it might be our delight and our great desire to bow our heads and fold our hands and get on our knees in prayer to our God. Hear our prayer, O Lord, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.