Question 116. Why is prayer necessary for Christians?
Answer. Because prayer is the most important part of the
thankfulness which God requires of us.[1] Moreover, God will give His
grace and the Holy Spirit only to those who constantly and with
heartfelt longing ask Him for these gifts and thank Him for them.[2]
[1] Psalm 50:14, 15; 116:12-19; I Thessalonians 5:16-18. [2] Matthew 7:7, 8; Luke 11:9-13.
1. What is prayer?
Prayer consists in calling upon the true God, and arises from an
acknowledgment and sense of our want, and from a desire of sharing in
the divine bounty, in true conversion of heart and confidence in the
promise of grace for the sake of Christ the mediator, asking at the
hands of God such temporal and spiritual blessings as are necessary for
us; or in giving thanks to God for the benefits received.
The genus or general character of prayer consists in invocation or
adoration. Adoration is often used in the sense of the whole worship of
God, since we regard Him as the true God, whom we worship. Prayer is a
species or part of invocation, for to call upon the true God is to ask
of Him such things as are necessary both for soul and body, and to
render thanks to Him for benefits received. It is here used of the
general character of prayer.
There are, therefore, two species or parts comprehended in
prayer---petition and thanksgiving. Petition is a prayer asking of God
those blessings necessary for the soul and body. Thanksgiving is prayer
acknowledging and professing and magnifying the benefits received from
God, and binding those who receive these gifts to such gratitude as is
pleasing to God. Thankfulness in general consists in acknowledging and
professing what and how great is the benefit received, and in binding
those who are the recipients thereof to the performance of such duties
as are mutual, possible and becoming. It comprehends, therefore, truth
and justice.
The Apostle Paul, in his first Letter to Timothy, 2:1, enumerates
four species of prayer, saying, "I exhort, therefore, that first of all
supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made
for all men." The first includes prayers against evil things; the
second, petitions for good things; the third, intercession for others;
and the fourth, thanksgiving for benefits received and evils warded
off. This distinction is drawn from the end or design of prayer.
Zacharias Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism (1591), p. 619
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