The Heidelberg Catechism (45) (Explained for Children)

This Lord’s Day speaks about prayer; in the remaining Lord’s Days, the subject is the Lord’s Prayer.

Question 116: Why is prayer necessary for Christians?

Answer: Because it is the chief part of thankfulness which God requires of us; and also, because God will give His grace and Holy Spirit to those only, who with sincere desires continually ask them of Him, and are thankful for them.

You probably remember the three words of Lord’s Day 1: misery, deliverance, and gratitude. What are we now discussing? It is gratitude, and this we have been doing since Lord’s Day 32. Thus prayer is a part of gratitude or thankfulness.

In the first Lord’s Days we learned how miserable we are. If someone is delivered from this misery, he is thankful; it cannot be otherwise. How can this thankfulness be seen? It is evident from the time of deliverance because that person desires to serve and obey the Lord. This thankfulness will also be noticed in his prayers because prayer is a part of thankfulness; indeed, it is the chief part.

Should only those who are delivered from their sins pray? By no means; it is necessary for every person to pray daily, especially if he or she is still unconverted, for conversion. The Lord is willing to give much. He will bestow mercy and will give the Holy Ghost. To whom are these given? They are given to persons who truly plead unto Him with their whole heart and who do so without ceasing.

Think of the woman of Canaan. She followed after Christ and cried unto Him. At first the Lord acted as if He did not want to help her. What did she do then? She continued to cry and pray until He did help her. That is true praying. We cannot do this of ourselves, but the Holy Ghost can teach us true prayer. We may ask Him for it.

When we pray, we may think, “I have prayed so often, but the Lord does not hear me. I will not continue to pray.” Indeed, that is also what the devil whispers to us. He does not want us to pray. However, the Lord tells us to continue praying—without ceasing.

Question 117: What are the requisites of that prayer which is acceptable to God and which He will hear?

Answer: First, that we from the heart pray to the one true God only, who hath manifested Himself in His Word, for all things He hath commanded us to ask of Him; secondly, that we rightly and thoroughly know our need and misery, that so we may deeply humble ourselves in the presence of His divine majesty; thirdly, that we may be fully persuaded that He, notwithstanding that we are unworthy of it, will, for the sake of Christ our Lord, certainly hear our prayer, as He has promised us in His Word.

The Lord is the only true God to whom we must pray. He has said this in His Word. He Himself has said that we may pray for all things. He desires that we pray to Him from our hearts. What does that mean? Well, He sees whether we rightly know our need and misery and whether we truly feel that it is our own fault that we are so miserable. If we experience this, we will feel ourselves to be very insignificant before the high and holy God. Then we will be truly lowly and humble, and we will kneel reverently before Him.

Those who truly pray from their heart acknowledge honestly before God that they are totally unworthy of His hearing them. Yet, God will hear them which He does for Christ’s sake. This indicates that the Lord Jesus has merited this for them, and for that reason God hears such praying ones. He does so at His time. It is firm and certain that He will do so, for God Himself has promised it in His Word.

Question 118. What hath God commanded us to ask of Him?

Answer: All things necessary for soul and body, which Christ our Lord has comprised in that prayer He Himself has taught us.

Thus God has commanded us to pray. For what may we pray to the Lord? First and foremost, we may pray for all things needed by our soul but then also for what our body needs. This the Lord Jesus Himself has said when He was upon earth. The disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and then the Lord did teach them. He not only taught them but provided this prayer in the Bible. Therefore we also know that prayer.

Question 119: What are the words of that prayer?

Answer: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The prayer begins by addressing the Lord as “Our Father, which art in heaven.” This part is called the address of the prayer. Then there are six particulars for which prayer is made. We call those the six petitions. At the conclusion God is acknowledged and thanked, and this conclusion we might call the thanksgiving and exaltation in the prayer.

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