For our scripture reading this evening, we turn to Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9, and we read the first 19 verses, most of which constitutes his prayer. Daniel 9, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments, we have sinned and have committed iniquity. and have done wickedly, and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets which speak in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces as at this day. to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of faiths, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against Him. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed Thy law, even by departing. that they might not obey thy voice. Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words which he spake against us, and against our judges that judge us, by bringing upon us a great evil. For under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem, As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that has brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and has gotten us renowned, as at this day we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain, because for our sins and for the iniquity of our fathers Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear and hear, open thine eyes, and behold our desolations and the city which is called by thy name, for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, hearken and do, defer not for thine own sake, O my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. In the light of that passage, we turn to the instruction found in our Heidelberg Catechism. In Lord's Day 45, with its introduction to prayer? Questions and answers 116 through 119. Why is prayer necessary for Christians? 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. What are the requisites of that prayer which is acceptable to God and which He will hear 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 so that we may deeply humble ourselves in the presence of his divine majesty. Thirdly, that we be fully persuaded that he Notwithstanding we are unworthy of it, will for the sake of Christ our Lord certainly hear our prayer as he hath promised us in his word? What hath God commanded us to ask of him? All things necessary for soul and body which Christ our Lord hath comprised in that prayer he himself has taught us, and then follow the words of the well-known Lord's Prayer. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, having concluded our consideration of the Ten Commandments as that which marks the pathway of the Christian's expression of thankfulness to God, the Catechism now directs our attention to prayer. There's a natural transition to this subject in the Catechism. You'll recall that at the conclusion of the Catechism's consideration of the law, we were pointed to the importance of law preaching. The preaching of the law has no place if it's to be set forth as a means by which we are to attain to salvation. There's nothing to be merited in the keeping of the law. In fact, as we saw, there is no person who can perfectly keep God's law to the satisfaction of the holy and just God. But the law most certainly has a very important place for us. That's because it comes to us as gospel. It is addressed to us who have been redeemed from the bondage of sin and death and whose life, therefore, is in Christ Jesus. And for that reason, the law and faithful preaching of the Ten Commandments serves us. It serves us by reminding us of our sinfulness, by increasing the spiritual consciousness of our sin, But it also moves us as the children of God to lay hold more and more of Christ in whom is the forgiveness of our sins. And consequently, that same law of preaching motivates us to godliness and instills within us a more fervent desire to walk in the way marked out by God for us in his word. the Christian desires to show thankfulness to God. But realizing that we have only a small beginning of obedience and that our life is marked by a continual struggle with our own sinful flesh as well as the world and the devil, We understand that we are entirely dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to fulfill our desire to live in gratitude to God. And so the catechism reminds us that the preaching of the law also moves us to prayer. As we more and more realize our dependency upon God and His Word, we pray to Him for the grace that is ministered to us by the Holy Spirit. Prayer is found extremely important to us. And so the Catechism now pursues that subject. doing so by calling our attention to the model prayer which Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter 6. But before we begin our consideration of that prayer and each of its petitions, we take the time to consider some introductory thoughts concerning prayer. Lord's Day 45 is an introductory Lord's Day to the subject of prayer and to the consideration of prayer's place in our lives, in the life of the thankful Christian. Presupposed in all this instruction is that while prayer is the natural breath of the Christian, It's also very, very difficult. Prayer is absolutely necessary. And we're going to begin by considering its necessity. It's as necessary as the breathing function of your lungs. But prayer doesn't come as naturally as does breathing. Prayer often comes as very labored breathing, if you will. We know, after all, the Bible teaches us clearly that not all prayer is heard by God. That may shock many today, because many look upon God as some genie who's ready to grant our every wish. But there are, in fact, many prayers that God immediately rejects. and casts far from him. Just prior to giving his disciples the model prayer, Jesus told them that they were not to pray as did the hypocrites, for they pray with vain repetition. God will not receive such prayers. Furthermore, we read in Proverbs 28 verse 9, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayers shall be abomination. One who will not hear God's word, one who turns his face from walking in God's ways, cannot possibly approach God in prayer. God will not hear him. So prayer that will be heard by God is often difficult for us. In humbleness of heart it is necessary to approach God as did his disciples with the prayer, Lord teach us to pray. And so we must approach our consideration of the Lord's We come desiring to be taught by God. And we begin by considering the prayer that God hears. As we follow the outline now of Lord's Day 45, I want you to notice four things about the prayer that God hears. In the first place, we're going to notice, as I said, it's necessity. Secondly, it's possibility. Thirdly, its characteristics, and finally, its answer. So those four things. The necessity of prayer ought to be evident to us. Christian is compelled to pray out of thankfulness. Thankfulness to the God of our salvation. The necessity, therefore, is one of desire, It's true, as the Catechism says, that that expression of thankfulness is also required by God. He expects it of us. He has formed us to show forth that praise. He gives us command in Psalm 50, verse 14, offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows unto the Most High. It's good for us to be reminded from time to time that it's not only in what we do, it's in what we speak that God is thanked and glorified. He will be glorified in what we do to be sure, and we've considered that in connection with Lourdes A32. That was also our whole approach to the law of God. Our actions of obedience to God must be the expressions of thankful hearts if they are to glorify God. We obey the law with all its precepts out of love for God. But let's also understand that Christian life is not merely one of action. God is glorified also in that which we think and speak. when that thinking and speaking shows our love for Him and our dependence upon Him. From that point of view, prayer is the chief part of thankfulness which God requires of us. Prayer, even though taking on many different forms, forms of supplication and petition and worship, even crying, True prayer is always an acknowledgement that God alone is our Redeemer, our Savior, our Helper, our Lord, and the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The psalmist in Psalm 116, after recounting the grace and mercy of God and telling of how God has delivered him from the depths of sin and death, asks himself the question, what shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? And this is the answer. I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His people. to thank the Lord is to express our adoration of Him, not only privately before His face, but also publicly before His people, beginning in our own homes. Thus, the Lord would have us confess His name also by calling upon Him in prayer. But that necessity of prayer is also a necessity of requirement. The Catechism reminds us that 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. Daniel understood that very truth. Spiritually Daniel understood that truth. Having heard the amazing prayer that he uttered in Daniel chapter 9, we see Daniel laying hold of the promises of Jehovah. He had just seen the light of God's word that Jeremiah had prophesied some 70 years before. Israel would be taken captive into Babylon, And that was Daniel's life. But that captivity would be a captivity limited to a definite time period by the sovereign God. For 70 years they would be held. And now Daniel saw that the time of fulfillment was at hand. God would open the way for the people to return to the promised land and to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. And Daniel, in studying Jeremiah's inspired prophecy, found his soul flooded with excitement. But what must be his reaction? He fell on his knees in prayer. It wasn't that he questioned the faithfulness of Jehovah. But this we must see. The faithful children of God do not sit in slothfulness. At their confidence in Jehovah's faithfulness, they're moved to prayer. Daniel's knowledge of God's promise became a stimulus moving him to pray even more earnestly than he had been known to pray. The activity of faith, after all, is not a simple and careless belief that God will do what he said. The activity of faith lunges for and embraces what God has promised. and which bears witness to our expectation of Him. And we do that in prayer. So the Catechism is absolutely correct when it says that 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 understand the catechism's not speaking of the immediate ministrations of God's grace and regeneration. It's speaking of the constant and conscious possession of the blessings of grace and the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. You see, God doesn't deal with his people As a doctor sometimes has to deal with a sick patient. Some of you have had that miserable experience of being so sick you're not able to eat. And if you're not able to eat, that can cause all kinds of problems physically. And so the one who can't eat, will be hospitalized and the doctor will see that nourishment is administered intravenously. The sick one doesn't even taste his food and drink. God doesn't work that way. He gives us grace as a conscious, rational children of God. He wants us to hunger and thirst after righteousness and then will we satisfy. He would have us drink consciously at the fountain of His grace that we might taste His goodness and be refreshed and He will have His people glorify Him with thankfulness. And so he moves us to pray and to ask and to seek and to knock. He calls us to prayer saying, ask and it shall be given you. Seek and he shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. But in order for our prayers to be prayers that God hears, it's necessary that they be prayers from a regenerated heart. Now you'll notice if you look at the instruction of the catechism that when I include this point under the necessity of prayer, I'm including one of those elements that the catechism speaks of as a characteristic of true prayer. In fact, the first characteristic. Even so, I must emphasize the truth that a prayer that will be acceptable to God must necessarily be the speech of a regenerated heart. That means, you understand, that one who is not born again, one who is not a member of Christ by faith, cannot possibly pray. Oh, they can put on a show of prayer. And especially in times of distress and calamity, there are many who will fervently cry in prayer. But when we speak of a prayer that God hears, immediately excluded are all prayers that are not uttered out of a true faith in Christ. Prayer that doesn't proceed from a true faith in Christ is, before God, nothing more than the drum beating of the heathen. So when we talk about prayer, we certainly want to know where we stand before God. And we want to know that we're coming before Him as His redeemed people. in thankful hearts. When Jesus said in John 3, you must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God, stands to reason that spiritual rebirth is also necessary for prayer. Prayer, after all, is to focus on the Kingdom of God and His will. Prayer is to see God. Only the one whose life is in Christ will seek God and His glory. What drove Daniel to prayer was his deep desire to make God's cause his own. The issue before his mind was entirely the name of Jehovah and the cause of his God. Is that the focus of your prayers? The possibility of such prayer apart from being the breath of Christ's life coming to expression in us, is the living spiritual knowledge of Him to whom we pray. We have to pray to the one true God only who has manifested Himself in His Word. True prayer is not a mere expression of emotionalism divorced from the Scripture. There can be much emotion expressed in prayer at times, but true prayer has emotion guided by the Word. It's the expression of fellowship with the one true God, whom we know intimately, with the knowledge of a living relationship to Him. Daniel approached Jehovah in that confidence. That was possible only because he prayed to the God whom he knew in love. He gave thought to God before he dared enter his presence. I prayed, said he, unto the Lord my God. And Daniel's account of his spiritual conversation with God revealed his consciousness of the Lord's identity. In fact, Daniel opened his prayer with the words, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments. in the consciousness of praying to God who reveals Himself in His Word, we approach the Almighty who's always accomplishing His purpose. Great and terrible He is, no doubt about that. And for those who continue in their sin, His wrath will not abate. His fury will see no end. But He is my God by His sovereign will of election in Christ, the righteous God who extends mercies and forgiveness to those who are His. And therefore I approach Him in prayer confident He will hear. To Him do I cling and to His righteousness and it's in that consciousness you and I are to pray. That's the prayer that God hears. But this living spiritual knowledge of God also implies that prayer is the expression of those who know their own needs and misery. What powerful instruction is found in this prayer of Daniel. The possibility of our offering prayer that God hears is that we appear before Him only in Christ, the head and mediator of the covenant between God and men. To appear before God is to appear in the presence of Him who is perfectly holy and just. It is therefore to recognize our own need and misery and deeply to humble ourselves before him. It's worthy of note. Daniel's prayer began with a heart-rending confession of guilt. That ought to leave a deep impression on our souls. Daniel was going to seek Israel's deliverance according to the promise of God, but he realized that the very state in which Israel found itself was because of their sin. And for that reason, before seeking deliverance, Daniel looked at the cause and he prayed, we have sinned. You notice he didn't make that abstract. He didn't say Lord Israel has sinned. After all, Daniel was in Babylon all this while. living godly in the palace of the great king. Nevertheless, recognizing corporate guilt, corporate responsibility, he confessed, we have sinned. The Lord would teach us something here, beloved. Our greatest need is never something outward. It's always something inward. Our greatest need is spiritual. And we dare not ask God for His mercy and deliverance. We dare not ask God to supply our needs unless we do so from our knees. in repentance before Him. All our desire must be for God's glory and God's honor. It's easy to look upon God as one who is there just for us in time of need. Almost everyone will take on the appearance of prayer in times of calamity and distress. But at the same time, many of those who don't hesitate to run to God in times of trouble won't face the very causes of their trouble. And because they won't acknowledge the sinfulness of sin and the holiness of Him who is God alone, they don't appear before God in the righteousness of Christ. God won't hear them. The prayers of the wicked are an abomination to Him. When we heard the call to worship this evening from Psalm 51, we heard in verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. That's the attitude we have to bring before God. A broken and a contrite heart. You see, people of God, what distinguishes us from the wicked? It's not that we are less wicked. It's that by the grace of God, we've come to see our wickedness for what it is. And we've come to confess our guilt and sins before God, seeking the mercies of Christ. Only when David had begged forgiveness could he go further and ask that the Israelites be delivered from their bondage in exile and that the city of God be destroyed. That and that alone is the expression of faith. Even in the dreadful consciousness of sin, Daniel prayed in the consciousness of God's unbreakable fellowship with his people. He could only know that by the gospel. By faith, in other words, he laid hold of God's Word. And therefore, in that deep sin consciousness, Daniel also perceived by faith that the covenant relationship of God to His people is never broken. And so Daniel concludes his prayer, Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, O my God, Incline thine ear and hear. He's God. That's why we must approach Him with deepest reverence. And reverence is an attitude of the heart and mind. A lot of people like to make attitude merely an expression of words. Attitude is an expression of the heart and mind. Reverence is that. An attitude of the heart and mind. Prayer approaches God. But prayer lays hold of the gospel. In Christ Jehovah is my God. and therefore I may come before him in a holy nearness and familiarity." Did you hear those words of David? Of Daniel? He said, Oh my God! That's an expression of familiarity and intimacy. When unbelievers use that language, they blaspheme. But when the heart of a child of God is right, how near he draws to God. In the consciousness of our needs and misery, in the living knowledge of our faith in Christ, we pour out our hearts before Him. What are the characteristics of that prayer that God hears? In the first place, such prayer is prayer according to the will of God. The catechism reminds us that we, from the heart, are to pray for all things He has commanded us to ask of Him. That means you realize there are limits for what we may pray. It's not true as some say today, we may pray to God for anything. That's not true. We may pray for all things He has commanded us to ask of Him. That means our prayers are to be circumscribed by the Word of God. The content isn't determined by us, but by God. And that means if we're going to pray, we have to know Him and we have to know His Word. We are always to stand before the question, are my prayers in harmony with God's Word? The contents of our prayers are to be very broad. God has commanded us to ask of Him all things necessary for soul and body. And He spelled out the nature of those contents by giving us the prayer which we intend to study for the next several weeks. But as we study the Lord's Prayer, one thing that must come to focus is this. All the contents of that prayer find their focus in God and in His glory. Everyone. That's what makes this a difficult prayer. It isn't difficult to learn. Our small children can learn the Lord's Prayer. My three-year-old grandchildren can recite the Lord's Prayer. But as we shall see, to speak this prayer from the heart and to lay hold of this prayer with all its implications requires a deeply spiritual activity of faith. We're going to see once again that prayer is crying unto the Lord. Do you have difficulty with prayer? You should. Prayer belongs to the struggle of faith. You may be sure that prayer which causes no struggle isn't much of a prayer. But that prayer, which we intend to consider, finds its focus in the glory of God. For you and for me who are so earthly, the focus of our prayer is to be entirely heavenly. The focus is to be heavenly. That's not natural for us. That's why we need the guidance of the Word. And then our request, in whatever circumstance or situation, will be that God be God. Also in my life, it will be a prayer for His counsel, a prayer that His kingdom may come, a prayer that His will be done. Also in my heart, Even our requests, because surely we are to make requests of Him, are to be subject to His glory and purpose. That marks the prayer that God hears. Such prayer, prayed in the confidence that God will certainly hear us for Jesus' sake, is also fervent prayer. You realize, people of God, fervency in prayer comes quite easily when we are praying for our own cause or welfare. Fervency in prayer comes rather easily in times of great trial or distress. But what about when the issue is God's cause? The needs of God's church surround us daily. The needs of our own congregation are ever present with us, as are the needs of the church throughout the world. All it takes is an open Bible and an open church directory, and you know many of the needs of God's church right here and around the world. Some very particular needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ are known by you. Other needs are not known or known only to immediate family or a few. But the very needs and trials that you face from day to day are often faced by many of your brothers and sisters in Christ. You mustn't forget that. News of our own denomination is readily available today. in bulletins, in the Acts of Synod, in the Standard Bearer, do you read those? As well as the newsletters that are distributed from our various mission committees and mission fields and so on? Do you read those that you might pray knowledgeably? Do we take those needs and make them matters of fervent prayer? Or do we find it easy to take a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to the things of God and the needs of His church? Somebody else can always pray for that. One of the characteristics of the prayer that God hears is that it's fervent prayer. Prayer not offered mechanically. Prayer which presses the cause with our Heavenly Father. As we read in James 5 verse 16, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Yes, the prayer that God hears, He also answers. He answers as He has promised us in His Word. We can always rely upon Him. What He's spoken, He will do. Now you understand, that doesn't mean that God always answers us according to our fleshly desires. There are many times in which God answers our prayers in exactly the way we didn't want, according to our flesh. And sometimes His answer is no, according to our desire. Before we continue on in our study of prayer from the catechism, I intend to call your attention next week, Sunday evening, God willing, to God's denial of Moses' prayer request in Deuteronomy 3 verse 26. That's recorded for our instruction. But let's not forget true prayer and that which prayer which God hears is prayer by which we willingly subject ourselves to God's will. We may express our desires, God would have us pour out our hearts before Him. But prayer is always subject to God's will. And that's because prayer seeks God's glory, not our own. That was also clearly expressed in Daniel's prayer. That's why our Heidelberg Catechism, in the scripture references footnoted to this Lord's Day, refers to Daniel 9 verses 17 and 18. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. that is, for the sake of thy name and glory, O Jehovah, answer this petition." And the God-fearing Daniel sums it up in verse 19, when he says, O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O LORD, hearken and do, defer not for thine own sake, O my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." Will you pray seeking God's glory? He most certainly will answer your petition. And He will do so by causing His face to shine upon you. The prayer that God hears, He answers also with peace. Peace in knowing that God is God and that He is our Father for Jesus' sake. That's the peace that passes all understanding. It's the peace that keeps our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. It's the peace that lays hold of the answer to our prayer knowing that the answer is good even if it differs from our own earthly desires. We serve the sovereignly wise and good God, beloved. Do you believe that? Seek his face in that knowledge. And in the coming weeks, may we approach Him with this request. Lord, teach us to pray. Amen. Heavenly Father, when we consider prayer, the weakness of our own prayers and how our prayer life is so hindered by our sinful flesh. We humble ourselves before Thee and pray, Father, forgive us. And as we again are taught by Thee, because Thou knowest we need this instruction, Teach us to pray. For Jesus' sake, amen.