Q. 107 What doth the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us? A. The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer (which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen) teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise Him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to Him. And in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen. Today we come to the last question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. In the last part of the Catechism, we have been looking at the means of grace— Most recently, we have been studying about prayer, and in particular looking at the Lord's Prayer where Jesus taught us the things we need to pray for. Today we come to the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:13).

Q. 106 What do we pray for in the sixth petition? A. In the sixth petition, (which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil) we pray, that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted. As those who are in Christ, we do not want to be drawn away from the Lord. We love Him. From Him we have new life. We do not want anything to disrupt our communion with Him. That is why we pray that God will not lead us into temptation. In this prayer, we recognise that we are totally in God's hands for deliverance.

Q. 105 What do we pray for in the fifth petition? A. In the fifth petition, (which is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors) we pray, that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by His grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others. Forgiveness is letting go of wrongs that have been done to you. You all know about this. God describes forgiveness as not holding our sins against us in His word.

Q. 104 What do we pray for in the fourth petition? A. In the fourth petition, (which is, Give us this day our daily bread,) we pray, that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy His blessing with them. You will notice a change that comes with the fourth petition from the use of the word "Your" to the use of the word "our." Here we begin to pray for our own needs. This shows that prayer for the things due to God comes first, for our needs, second. It is the same emphasis that we find in the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments concern our duty to God and the last six our duty to each other. But though it comes second, we are to pray for our needs.

Q. 103 What do we pray for in the third petition? A. In the third petition (which is, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven) we pray, That God, by His grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to His will in all things, as the angels do in heaven. As with last week, my text for this sermon is simply the words in Matthew 6:10, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Q. 102 What do we pray for in the second petition? A. In the second petition (which is Thy Kingdom come) we pray, that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. As we consider what it means to pray for God's kingdom to come, we will begin with a foundational question: What is the Kingdom of God?

Q. 101 What do we pray for in the first petition? A. In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name) we pray, that God would enable us and others to glorify Him in all that whereby He maketh Himself known; and that He would dispose all things to His own glory. You see how important it was to Jesus that God's name would be hallowed. Today, we will see how this desire is foundational to all proper praying.

Q. 100 What doth the preface to the Lord's Prayer teach us? A. The preface to the Lord's Prayer (which is, Our Father, which art in heaven) teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others. Why does Jesus tell us to use the plural word Our when we address God? Our Father in heaven instead of My Father in heaven?

Q. 99 What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer? A. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught His disciples, commonly called The Lord's Prayer. Does it seem strange to talk about a rule for prayer? Isn't real prayer supposed to be spontaneous and free? It is to be a sincere expression of our desires, but it is also to be according to God's will.

Q. 98 What is prayer? A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies. Today in our sermon series based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we come to a new section pertaining to the means of grace. Remember that the means of grace are the means God uses to bring grace to us. We have seen how He uses the word read and especially the word preached. We have seen how He uses the sacraments. Today, we are going to begin the section on prayer.