"When all else fails read the instructions."
        Famous last words from some handyman.... maybe Red Green.
        Words that many of us end up living by, consciously or otherwise. We like to presume that we have a good handle on things and don’t require input from someone else....
        until we have the pieces of whatever we are putting together all over the floor in hopeless disarray.
        Oh well - never too late to learn.

Never too late to learn.
        That is the approach of the catechism as it gives instruction on prayer to all comers, those who are new christians, and those are seasoned veterans of the faith.
        It forms, if you will, a compact instruction manual on prayer.

This morning we answered the question, "Why bother praying?"
Tonight, before we head to the communion table, we move on to inquire about:
        a. When do we pray?
        b. How do we pray?
        c. For What do we pray?

THE "WHEN" OF PRAYER
Question #1 then – "when do we pray?"

Someone once observed that "things which can be done at any time tend to be done at no time." [Kuyvenhoven Comfort And Joy]

Think of some areas of Christian living.
        education, training our youth, fellowship, works of mercy, bible study, evangelism, social action –

We know that these things can be done by individuals or small groups whenever they want. That is very true.
But it so often doesn’t happen.
        Sometimes it does - and praise God for that!
        But..... too often it doesn’t UNLESS there is some sort of structured approach in place.
                We people need structure. So we develop it.
                        In prayer, too.

That’s why there have been disciplines established in different Christian traditions that help to maintain prayer.
        Some, for example, have early morning and late evening prayers during the week as a congregation.
        Reformed folk, among others, have built strong traditions of prayers at meals and before bedtime.
        We also call for special times during the year when the congregation assembles to pray in the Spring for crops, industry and society. And then in the Fall we gather again to give thanks for them.
        And then there are mid-week meetings, prayer rooms with intercessors, and other structured mechanisms for prayer.

Such structure is good.
        It is necessary.
                Without it prayer often falls into disrepair, and eventually crumbles.

That doesn’t mean that these set times and ways become the only times and ways we pray. Think of them as the catalyst, the foundation on which we build a life of solid, ongoing prayer;
the kind of prayer called for in these verses:
        -- "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thes 5.17)
        -- "Be faithful in prayer" (Rom 12.12)
        -- "Keep on praying" (Eph 6.18)
        -- "Devote yourselves to prayer" (Col 4.2)

Verses that call us to stay in step with Christ all along the way, living and moving in the awareness of His constant presence; verses that call us to keep our prayer antenna up so that we can make contact at any time wherever we are, whatever we are doing.
        [Spykman, Never On Your Own p.183]

THE "HOW" OF PRAYER
Which brings us to the next question - "HOW do we pray?"
        How do we go about this life of constant, disciplined prayer?
        One of the keys of continued, planned praying is that we do it from a solid, biblical foundation. God has revealed Himself and His will in the Bible. To pray to Him outside of that knowledge and that will is to pray falsely.

        When we live in rebellion against the will of God, or when we pray for something that is against God’s will
                - say, to have God strike the store owner with blindness so that we can carry out our shoplifting plans with safety and success -
we must not, in all seriousness, expect to have our prayers answered.....
        .....at least not in that way!

Israel heard that message from the prophets:

"From now on, when you pray with your hands stretched out to heaven, I won’t look or listen. Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear, for your hands are those of murderers; they are verd with the blood of your innocent victims." [Is 1.15]

When we pray, "set our minds on things above, not on earthly things." [Col 3]
        In other words - we turn our desires and attention, deliberately, willfully, away from those things that clash with God’s will and plan for creation
        AND
we seek to focus on, to support, to build our lives and prayers around those things that are right;
        that please God;
                that make Him and the angels smile.

How do we pray?
        We pray........ knowing God.

We also pray..... knowing ourselves.
        We pray very aware of our shortcomings; of how we have all disappointed God; where we’ve slipped up, dropped the ball and made a royal mess of things. We pray with the attitude of Psalm 51.4:
        "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight."

We become very aware of:
        - our smallness, and God’s greatness
        - our weakness and His power
        - our finiteness and His infiniteness
        - our impurity and His purity
        - our dullness and His shining glory and majesty.
                It is no little thing to speak to Eternal God!!
                Who are we??

I find that there is nothing more irritating than to read or listen to someone who carries a very flippant attitude towards God - treating Him as a backyard barbeque buddy or the average neighbour down the street.
        God is much more than that.
        He deserves to be treated accordingly.

HOWEVER

We don’t want to also walk around being terrified of God –
        To be so overcome by our smallness that we scarcely dare to look to heaven let alone speak.
It is sad when people can do nothing but drop to their knees in a posture of grovelling smallness.

And that’s why the Catechism calls fora third component in answer to the question - "HOW should we pray?"
        a. We know God.
        b. We know ourselves.
And
        c. We end our prayers, and fill our prayers, with a knowledge of the Saviour.

Jesus said, "Ask anything in my name and I will do it." (John 14.14)

The promise of scripture is that, through Jesus, we are children of God.
        God sends His Holy Spirit to connect with the very deepest parts of our consciousness - our soul -
        and He lets us know that we are sons & daughters of God (Rom 8:16)

As family members we have the privilege of entering the throne room of the awesome and powerful, living and working Creator of the Universe without the fear of being struck down because we are not wanted or welcome.

The door is
        never
                closed......
                        ......to children of the Father.

We don’t have to be afraid.
We can come with confidence to the Father, says John Calvin, "climbing the ladder of God’s promises on prayer." [Institutes III.20]

"Before they call, I will answer...I will hear." [Is 65.24]

"He shall call to me, and I will answer Him: I will be with Him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him." [Psalm 91.15]

"The Lord is close to all them that call to Him....." [Ps 145.18]

In that frame of reference:
        - knowing the Father
        - knowing ourselves
        - knowing our Saviour
we lift our constant prayers towards heaven.

THE "WHAT" OF PRAYER
The final question we want to consider with the Catechism is:
        for WHAT are we to pray?

For WHAT? On that note, I suggest, let’s check the difference between praying for our wants and praying for our needs.

I’ve said it before - we live in a day when the Consumer is king, and as one person put it - "Greed is his courtier."
        We constantly find ourselves asking for more, and are in danger of being swallowed up by the "gimme, gimme" mindset.
        And then it becomes tempting to make prayer simply a manipulative lever to extract our desired goodies from the treasury of heaven. Getting our wants.
......as opposed to our needs.

        Let’s enter prayer in the knowledge that we do so as children of the Great Creator who made us and knows our needs better than even we do.

With the Holy Spirit’s help let’s seek to build our prayer life on the basic understanding of what prayer is all about.
        Prayer is Jesus the Saviour bringing we the redeemed sinners into the throneroom of Majestic God.
        Prayer is people meeting God.
        Prayer is...... about relationships.

And THAT is our greatest need!
        We need God to live at all..... let alone to live in a joy-filled, wholesome, and peaceful manner.
        More than anything else, that is what we need to pray for. Up front.
                Everything else follows after that.

When.
How.
What.
Leading us to stand beside the disciples and say, "Lord, teach us to pray."

As you consider all this stuff, and as you join the disciples in their request, remember –
        God is NOT interested, first of all, in the form of our prayers.
        He is MUCH more concerned about the person praying.

These instructions are in the Catechism to help us pray better.
These instructions are goals we can set for ourselves to develop over time.
        Developing as we grow closer to God.

And please remember - God doesn’t come to the praying person as the proverbial Russian judge with scorecard in hand, ready to give low marks.
        God isn’t a judge, first of all.
        He is our Father.

Father isn’t concerned with grammar.
He understands "wilst thou" ever as much as "will you".

Jumbled thoughts are no problem.
        He can and DOES unravel the deepest mysteries and concerns of our heart far better than even we ourselves can.

Father isn’t watching, first of all, to see how well you remember what all is involved with prayer.
        He simply wants you.

Remember – Prayer is relationship.
        The person praying
                and
        God.

Prayer is the tie that binds heaven and earth.
Prayer is Father and child, hand in hand.
Prayer is heart to heart connection.
Prayer is reaching out to touch heaven...... and being touched.

Prayer -
        Our privilege!
        Our joy!
        Our riches!
        God’s gift!

Waiting......
        .....right now....
                ..... for all takers!

Including you – and me.