Last week you might remember that we started sort of a mini-series on the topic of prayer. Last week, what we talked about primarily was prayer being part of the natural law, or what the Confession of Faith calls natural worship, something that we are commanded to do by God, and indeed something that every man, every image bearer knows that they owe to God, that this is an act of worship that all people are required to render to Him, and know by virtue of their conscience that they are required to offer up We also talked about how prayer, in addition to being a command, is also a joy and a privilege, and that when it is offered up through the Lord Jesus, when we as believers pray, that it's a pleasing incense to our Father, and that He does indeed answer our prayers in accordance with His will. We're going to sort of be picking up there this morning. I wanna cover a little bit of ground, probably not as much as I intended to, and I also will say this just sort of by way of announcement that I had told you about how next Sunday that we're going to be starting our series on anxiety, going through a little booklet that Reformation Heritage Books puts out called How Do I Stop Worrying? We are still gonna do that, but it's probably gonna be in a couple of weeks. As most of you probably know, I'm going up to Emanuel. Rose and I are going up to Emanuel today for me to preach in the evening service. They actually have several copies of that book that they're going to give us free of charge. So obviously I don't have them with me today to give to you to read. So next week we'll continue this study on prayer. And then the week after that, maybe the week after that, depending on how slowly I plod through this material, we'll begin that study. But we will be beginning the study on anxiety after this study on prayer. So let's dive right in. I want to ask the question to sort of get the ball rolling this morning while we're all still waking up, while the coffee's still absorbing into our brains. How does prayer honor God? We talked about how prayer is an act of worship to God last week. I want to just get into that a little deeper. and ask the question, in what ways would you say that when we pray we are honoring God, that we are attributing the glory that is due God in prayer? We know that that is the case, but why is that the case? That's excellent, Justin. That's one of the things that I have written down here. We recognize our absolute dependence upon God when we pray because we recognize that God is all-sufficient. His being is not dependent on anything outside of himself. He has need of no one and no thing, right, as I've heard one man say. We, on the other hand, are dependent upon God for absolutely everything. And we are recognizing that in humility when we come to him and recognize him as the almighty, self-sufficient creator whom we are dependent upon for the next breath that we take, our very being and our existence. We live and move and have our being in him, right? What are some other things? Yes. Yes. Yes, you are recognizing him as God. You are recognizing him as your God. You are recognizing your recognition of him as what James says, the giver of every good and perfect gift. And now Second London Confession 22.3, and I've got some copies of those throughout the sanctuary as well, so if you want to look at this yourself, you can. But in Chapter 22 of the Confession in paragraph 3, it speaks of prayer with thanksgiving, prayer with thanksgiving being part of that natural worship that is owed unto God. So that's implying two things, right, when we engage in this act of worship, whether it be public, you know, in the corporate assembly of the church, or in private, in our family worship, in our personal devotions, that prayer, it has many components, and we'll talk a little bit more about those, God willing, next week, but two of the chief components of it that sort of everything else can be outlined underneath is supplication to God, right, bringing our petitions to him. But with thanksgiving, that means showing forth and offering gratitude to him for the blessings that he has already bestowed upon us, the good gifts that we have already received from his hand. Let's look at a passage of scripture to that point in the book of Philippians. In Philippians chapter four, And if you read verse six and seven, the Apostle Paul instructs the church in Philippi, and of course by extension us, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now, there's obviously much that could be said on that. We can't exhaust it this morning, but I do want to draw special attention to this point, and that is that sometimes, we talked about this last week, we are tempted to neglect praying. We often are, unfortunately, a prayerless people. And so sometimes the only times maybe when we feel compelled to pray is when there is a great need. Maybe some kind of a terrible tragedy has happened or there's something that's, you know, some kind of, a huge life event and we ask God, we lift up supplications to Him to act on our behalf in this or that situation. Now that's certainly appropriate, right? This other component of prayer that unfortunately I think we neglect is that element of thanksgiving. So why do you think that is that so often we neglect offering up prayer to God in order to show gratitude for the good gifts that he's already given us? And maybe even in conjunction with that, consider the question, what are some things that you can thank God for that he has done for you just in this last week, maybe even just this morning? Exactly. Yes, and it is unfortunately sort of a propensity of many of us to view the proverbial half-full glass. You know, maybe we become so fixed upon on an on an issue, something that is worthy of lament in our life that we neglect to think about all of the kindnesses and the mercies that God has lavished upon us in our lives. And I think that we would do well to that we follow Paul's command and admonition here, and that is that when we are lifting up our prayers and supplications, which we surely should do, don't misunderstand me, that we are called, as we were just singing in that hymn, to cast our burdens and our cares upon the Lord, that we should also do so with thankfulness in our hearts. Then this brings me to that second question that I asked. What are some things, and please feel free to answer this question aloud. Like what are some things just this week that perhaps you have neglected or that we have neglected to thank God for? Thank you for life, God. Absolutely. Yes, like thank you that you have sustained me another day. that you have protected my going out and my coming in. You protected me on the road this morning to get here to be in Sunday school. You gave me coffee this morning to help me be alert so I could teach Sunday school. You gave me food to nourish and sustain me. You gave me a sweet time yesterday with my family. How about this? You have seeded me with Christ in the heavenly places, such that no matter what is happening to me, that all things are working together for my good. God, thank you. Thank you for raising me out of the spiritual grave. These are the kinds of things that we should be regularly thanking God for in our prayers. And I think that when we do make thanksgiving an intentional part of our prayers, it actually stirs our heart to want to pray more because we recognize how worthy God is of that thanksgiving and that worship. and it inclines our heart to recognize Him, as Rose and Justin were both saying, as our Almighty God, but also as our loving Father, right? Who loves us and desires to do good to us. That will impel us to want to come to the throne of grace when we consider, as we're going to be singing actually in the worship service, His great faithfulness, how He has proven Himself day after day after day, that He is a faithful covenant God who keeps His promises to His people. And so that is why it's imperative that we remember that prayer needs to have both of those elements in it. And Matthew Poole goes so far as to say in his commentary that this is a necessary element of prayer in order for it to be proper that it's accompanied with that element. Are there any questions or thoughts about that before we continue on? Well, let's ask another question this morning. This is one that you might have actually been asked before. Why should we pray if God is sovereign? Why should we pray if God is sovereign? Is prayer pointless? I've heard that before, probably most of you have too, that if God has already declared the end from the beginning and that is fixed, what's the point in praying? What is the point in asking Him to act in this or that situation? How would you answer that? Bingo. Excellent, Justin. Yes, surely the end is known to God. It's not known to us. That's important. We'll get into that a little bit more here in just a minute. And you used the word, and that's the word I was looking for. It is a means. Prayer is a means that God uses. And if you're taking notes, you can write both of these things down. That prayer is a means that God uses in our lives in two ways. that God uses to accomplish His will. That's number one. Number two is that prayer is a means of grace to us. So it's a means that God uses to accomplish His will, and it's a means of grace to us. God willing, we'll unpack both of those. Let's start with prayer being a means God uses to accomplish His will. So God, we know, acts in the world. We know that God has determined the destination, but we also know that God has determined the road to get to that destination. So God has His decree, And He accomplishes that decree through the works of people who know the Catechism. Help me out here. How does God accomplish His decree? Yes, through second causes. That's right. And what are two kind of subsets under that? What does the Catechism say? You can cheat if you want to. His acts of creation and providence, that's right. So, when we think about how God determines both the end and the means, that helps us to understand why prayer matters. Prayer doesn't change God's will, and I want to be clear about that. It's not as if when we pray we change God's mind. So rather than thinking of prayer as something that is changing God's will, we should think about it as prayer being something that God uses to bring his will about. And we see examples of this in the scripture. We're going to look at a couple of them this morning, God willing. We see examples in the scripture of prayers being answered, of God granting something to his people that they ask for. And we also see examples in the scripture of God responding to prayer and in a particular course of events changing because of it. So let's look at those two examples. Let's go to 1 Samuel 1. 1 Samuel chapter 1. This is the story of Hannah in the tabernacle. She is there with her husband and his other wife. She is lamenting, of course, that she is barren, that she is childless. And we will pick up our reading in verse nine of chapter one in 1 Samuel. Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, If you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me, and do not forget your maidservant, but you will give your maidservant a male child that I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall come upon his head." And it happened as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk, so Eli said to her, How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you. But Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink. But I have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace. The God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of him. And she said, let your maidservant find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. Now we come down to verse 19. Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to the house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel saying because I have asked for him from the Lord. So in this passage We see Hannah, this humble servant of the Lord, this believer, her heart is broken that she is childless. She's barren. The Lord has closed her womb. That's the common terminology you see in the Old Testament. She prays to the Lord, Lord please grant me a son. And then when you look here in verse 19, and I love the language that the author of Samuel says here, that the Lord remembered her. That he had regard to this prayer of his child, and that it pleased him to answer that prayer by giving her a son. And Hannah herself acknowledges this by naming him Samuel. It means heard by God. She says that I'm naming him this because I have asked for him from the Lord. Like, I asked and the Lord gave. This is an example of God answering prayers. In other words, I'm trying to get across the point that the text is explicit that Samuel was conceived, this great man of God, this man who is very important in the history of Israel, right? I mean, this is the man who anoints King David. But the text is explicit that the reason that he is conceived in Hannah's womb is because God responded graciously to her prayer and answered it. Now can you read a text like this and come away saying, it doesn't matter if we pray. It doesn't matter that Hannah prayed. That is pointless because God is sovereign. I would submit to you that you could not come away from a text like this with that kind of a viewpoint. Now again, it's not to say that God changed His mind, that Hannah convinced Him. Like, okay, I guess. I guess I'll grant you a son. I've changed my mind now. No. How we should understand this is what I was saying at the beginning of this section, and that is that prayer is a means that God uses to bring His will about. In other words, that it was God's eternal purpose for Samuel to be conceived and to be born and to be this judge and prophet to help raise up King David. And the means that God determined that He was going to use to bring that about were the prayers of His humble maidservant, Hannah. Questions? Comments? Let's continue on to our last example, and that is found in the book of Isaiah. So let's turn to Isaiah chapter 38. We'll begin reading in verse one. In those days, Hezekiah, he's of course the king of Judah, Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord and said, Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah saying, go and tell Hezekiah, thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Surely I will add to your days 15 years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city. Again, an example of God responding to the prayer of one of his children. And here, what we have is an example, as I was saying a few moments ago, of a trajectory of a course of events changing. In other words, you could say that if this continues happening, If events continue unfolding as they are now, you, Hezekiah, are going to die. You're not going to recover from your illness. prays to the Lord, and notice, you know, Hezekiah is pleading with the Lord. He doesn't believe the Lord owes this to him, but he lifts up this supplication, and then explicitly in the text, much like we just saw with Hannah, we read the Lord say, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, And I will add 15 years, meaning because you prayed and asked me to spare your life, King Hezekiah, I will spare your life. I will extend your days in this life. So there, again, much that could be said, but I want to say this, because I think this is important. What Hezekiah did here mattered. It was because he prayed that his life was spared. But does that mean that God's purpose changed? Everyone's saying no. You're right. Why not? How should you be understanding this then? Because God says, Hezekiah, you're going to die. You're not going to get better. Hezekiah prays. The prophet Isaiah comes to him and says, God says, I've heard your prayer. I'm going to have mercy. I'm going to spare your life. How else would you understand that but to say God changed his mind, changed his purpose? That's exactly right. Yes, it was God's will for Hezekiah's life to be extended 15 more years, and this is how it pleased him to bring that about. That's right, Ryan. Right. Oh, and I'm glad that's a good word, because that's something else that I want to say here, like in the last five minutes. Conditional. Because the confession of faith also talks about God bringing about His will through contingencies. And the great French reformer, John Calvin, he does a really good job of walking through this text, and he compares it to, and I think he's right about this, the threat of destruction towards the city of Nineveh. that Jonah is preaching. In 40 days, Nineveh is going to be destroyed. So in other words, if you don't repent Nineveh, in 40 days you are going to be destroyed. But of course what happens, much to Jonah's chagrin, Nineveh does repent, they do turn to the Lord, he relents, he has mercy, and they are not destroyed in 40 days. we can understand this text in being a very similar way. And it really all goes back to much in the sense of what you had already said, Justin, about how we do not know the end from the beginning. that we are faced with contingencies and things to us that are, you know, you come to a fork in the road and we make real decisions and real choices. Now those things, of course, are not contingent to God, but He works in those things and has predetermined those things to bring about His will. So in the case of Nineveh, it was obviously the will of God to have mercy on Nineveh. And the means, the second cause, that he had determined to bring about that, his having mercy on them, was the preaching of the threat of annihilation to them from Jonah, and then their turning to him and asking his. forgiveness. Similar thing going on here with Hezekiah. Calvin talks about how it was the will of God for Hezekiah to be kind of brought low and humbled, sort of into the valley of the shadow of death at this point in his life, and to cry out to him in the midst of that, and then for God to raise him up, to take him by the hand and be like, you know, my adopted son, I hear your prayer. I will be gracious to you. that's right exactly and so in this this goes back to where we have to we have to keep two biblical truths in mind. It is the absolute sovereignty of God and the freedom of man and our ability to act on choice. And in other words, we make decisions that really matter. Such that, and what I'm gonna say here might actually shock you, but hopefully given everything else we've said, it will make sense. If Hezekiah had not prayed, he would have died. Right? That's what I'm talking about with this course of events was changed. Like this was a contingency for Hezekiah, just like Nineveh. If they had not repented, they would have perished. God would have brought the hammer down on them in 40 days. which should be instructive to us, brethren, that prayer does matter, right? Because it is a means God uses to accomplish His will. And Dr. Sam Waldron, he used the example in one of the, I think it was in his Symbolics class at CBTS, and I really liked it, in the story in Acts of the shipwreck, that Paul, before they even set out, Before everything starts going haywire, Paul says, God has revealed to me that we're going to make it. None of us are going to perish. In that case, God has even revealed what the end is. And generally, we don't know. We don't know what the end is. But in this case, God revealed to Paul what their end would be. They would all be brought through safely. But what happens? Some men are trying to, I think, go overboard. They're trying to get away from the ship. And Paul says, no, you can't do that because if you do, then we aren't going to be saved. We're going to perish. Well, then you could say, well, it doesn't matter what they're going to do because God's already told them that they're going to make it safely. No one's going to die. So what do you mean, Paul, that we're going to perish if they go off into the water, if they get off the ship? It doesn't matter. No, that's the wrong way of looking at it because why? I've said it many times, so now I'll let you say it. Why? Why could Paul say, if they do that, we're going to perish? They cannot get off the ship. Why? It was a contingency for them, and them staying in the ship was God's appointed means of bringing out that end that He had foreordained. Now again, that was surely going to come about. Don't misunderstand me. God governs all things. We read about that in chapter 5, towards their appointed end. So He will accomplish His purpose. My point is that we do make real decisions with real consequences because God uses means to accomplish His ends. And that should motivate us to prayer because, as we have seen in the case of King Hezekiah and in the case of Hannah, God answers the prayers of His people. He acts on their behalf through prayer. Any final thoughts or questions about that before we close? All right, well hearing none, we will just close with a brief word of prayer and we'll begin preparing our hearts for the worship service. Our Father in heaven, we would thank you for the gift of being able to come before you in prayer. I know, God, that you have promised to listen to us and that we have the encouragement, Lord, that even when you do not answer our prayers in accordance with how we perhaps would wish them to be answered, that your spirit is working and that you are transforming us in prayer But we also remember the teaching of the scripture, dear Father, that we have not because we ask not. And so would you stir in us the faith to come to you and to pray, knowing that when we cast our cares upon you, when we lift up our desires to you, that when they are in accordance with your will, that you will send the lightnings and the thunderings as we see in Revelation, and that you will act. O God, please prepare our hearts now as we prepare to enter into the worship service, and may our minds and hearts be completely focused upon giving honor to you, our great God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.