Few years ago, I had a conversation with Iris who said “I had a friend who never ever attended any church and she asked me what prayer was.”

That conversation came to me as a shock: There are people who never heard a good Christian prayer in their lives. And we often forget the privilege of prayer: having access to the Father in heaven. And think it’s burdensome. And many of us were taught (implicitly or explicitly): the longer, the louder, the earlier you pray, God will pay more attention to your prayer. Well, that’s a pagan notion of prayer. In fact, most of you learned how to pray by observing someone else praying, not by examining what the Bible says about the prayer. If you care, I encourage you to first listen to: A New Motivation to Pray.

Tonight, before you go to bed (if you are at home), I want you to read what the wise men had taught the people of God back in 1647 regarding the topic of prayer.

This is taken from the Westminster Confession of Faith Larger Catechism:

Q. 178. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit; with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

Q. 180. What is it to pray in the name of Christ?
A. To pray in the name of Christ is, in obedience to his command, and in confidence on his promises, to ask mercy for his sake; not by bare mentioning of his name, but by drawing our encouragement to pray, and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in prayer, from Christ and his mediation.

Q. 181. Why are we to pray in the name of Christ?
A. The sinfulness of man, and his distance from God by reason thereof, being so great, as that we can have no access into his presence without a mediator; and there being none in heaven or earth appointed to, or fit for, that glorious work but Christ alone, we are to pray in no other name but his only.

Q. 182. How doth the Spirit help us to pray?
A. We not knowing what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, by enabling us to understand both for whom, and what, and how prayer is to be made; and by working and quickening in our hearts (although not in all persons, nor at all times, in the same measure) those apprehensions, affections, and graces which are requisite for the right performance of that duty.

Q. 184. For what things are we to pray?
A. We are to pray for all things tending to the glory of God, the welfare of the church, our own or others’ good; but not for anything that is unlawful.

Q. 185. How are we to pray?
A. We are to pray with an awful apprehension of the majesty of God, and deep sense of our own unworthiness, necessities, and sins; with penitent, thankful, and enlarged hearts; with understanding, faith, sincerity, fervency, love, and perseverance, waiting upon him, with humble submission to his will.

Q. 186. What rule hath God given for our direction in the duty of prayer?
A. The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in the duty of prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which our Savior Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s prayer.

I really love WCF & its LC, SC! How succinctly, beautifully, and Biblically these questions are answered!