Praying Through the Shorter Catechism 

As a confessional church that subscribes to the Westminster Confession of Faith, along with its Larger and Shorter Catechisms, we regularly confess our faith during worship using these standards. While subservient to the Scriptures, these confessional standards summarize what we believe Scripture teaches on a particular doctrine and as such are a great aid to the believer. But their benefits go beyond the didactic. When considering the teaching of Scripture, a believer is naturally and regularly brought to a place of deep conviction, humility, gratitude, and praise. Because of this, it is no wonder that many have used the Standards as an aid in their devotional life.

My hope in this section of Praying Through the Shorter Catechism is to show how the Shorter Catechism can be used to guide us in our prayer life. For many Christians (myself included) praying is very difficult. Sometimes we sit down with the desire to pray but we can’t seem to think of what we should say, or we feel like our prayers just aren’t good enough. Beloved, Jesus taught his disciple to pray by saying, Our Father who art in heaven… Much can be said about this but for now, I want to remind us that when we pray, we are praying to our Heavenly Father. We are His children. He loves us and wants to hear from us. So beloved, pray.

If you would like a copy of the Shorter Catechism to use as a guide in prayer or simply to better familiarize yourself with it, you can find a link to it on our church website. If you would like a hard copy of it, please come see me at church. I will be glad to give you one.

James

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Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Heavenly Father you are the creator of all things visible and invisible. All that exists, does so because you have brought it into being. You have made us in your image and as part of your creation, we are made to bring glory to you. This is what we are made for, and this is how we will find our greatest fulfillment. 

Forgive us for seeking glory for ourselves and not seeking to glorify you. Forgive us for not delighting in you. We try to find our delight and joy in the things of this world even though they prove themselves time and time again unable to satisfy us.

We thank you for Jesus who glorified you completely and has been glorified by you. We thank you, not only for the example he has given us but for the salvation he has secured for us. We thank you that because of the grace and mercy we have received through faith in Christ that we can have the assurance that we will be able to realize our chief end for all eternity as we glorify and enjoy you forever.

Lord help us to see your glory as our greatest good and to only look to you for real and lasting joy.

In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

 Heavenly Father your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. While you have revealed yourself to us through creation, the heavens declaring your glory and the sky your handiwork, it is in Scripture that you have most clearly made yourself known and in your son Jesus through whom you have fully revealed yourself to your people.

Forgive us for not turning to your word as we should and not trusting in the promises that you have made to us through it.

Give us greater love for your word. Cause us to long for it more and more. Help us to see that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Apply your word to our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit that we may be conformed to the image of Christ, that we would love you more fully, and that we would seek to serve you more faithfully.

Let all our worship, devotion, and service to you be done according to the commands given to us in your word. Keep us from devising our own methods of glorifying and enjoying you. Remind and convince us that your word is sufficient to direct us how we are to glorify and enjoy you.

Sanctify us in the truth, your word is truth.

This we ask in our Savior’s name, Amen.

Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

Heavenly Father, how gracious you are to us your people in revealing yourself to us through your Word. Were it not for your Word we would not know what we must believe concerning you. As sinful people, we would continue on in the futility of our thinking and our foolish hearts would remain darkened. But you have given us your word and your Holy Spirit applies its truths to our hearts. It convinces us of our sin, your holiness, and your love.

From your Word, you tell us how we can be saved from the penalty our sins deserve and we are told how we are to live as believers who have been saved by your grace and adopted as your children. You have clearly shown us that, as your children, we are commanded to love you with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Lord cause us to always walk in your ways. Forgive us when we stray from the clear commands that you graciously give us in your Word. Help us, as your people, to always do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before you. Let us never experience a famine of your Word. Cause us to always turn to it as our ultimate source of truth.

In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Q. 4. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Lord, you are without limits all of creation cannot contain you. As creatures, we look at the vastness of your creation and must recognize that our understanding of even its size is not complete, and yet however big we find your creation to be, we know that you Father are infinitely larger. You have always existed. It is not that you are the first thing to exist, but that you have always been. Before you created time as we experience it you existed in your complete glory. There is no shadow of turning with you. Because you are perfect in all your ways change is not necessary for you. You have never been in a process of becoming, but you have always been “I am.” You are the source of all wisdom and there is none wiser. You have complete power. There is nothing within your holy will that you are incapable of doing. You are holy. There is no blemish in all of who you are. You are right and just in your being and all your actions. Goodness rains forth from you. Your blessings abound on the just and the unjust and you cause all things to work together for the good of those who love you and have been called according to your purpose. Every word from your mouth is true. Your word is truth and we, your people, must be sanctified in this truth.

Praise is always due to your great name Lord. You are infinitely higher than our highest thoughts of you yet you condescend to make yourself known to us. We can have no greater blessing or privilege than to know you and be known by you. Thank you Father. Help us know you more fully and cause our knowledge of you to produce in us a greater love for you and a greater understanding of your love for us.

This we ask in our Savior’s name, Amen.

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

You and You alone are God. There is no other. There is none besides You. Father, none can stand before you. You are the God who speaks the one living and true God. You are not an idol that can be fashioned by the hands of a man and worship according to his desire and imagination. You are the God who speaks truth and calls to yourself those who are to give you worship and praise. And you declare how you are to be praised and what you will accept as worship.

How foolish it is to look to another for what you and you alone can provide. Forgive us for having other “gods” that we call on and place our trust in. These are no gods at all. They are powerless to do what we hope they can do. You are the God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is. We must trust in You. We must worship and love You with an undivided heart.

Help us Father to be faithful to you as you have been faithful to us.

Q. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead?

A. There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

Triune God we praise you for being the one eternal unchanging God. Magnificent and glorious in all your ways. You have revealed yourself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons yet one God equal in power and glory. Our finite minds cannot fully comprehend you and though we will be with you for all eternity we will never fully comprehend you. But you have graciously condescended to reveal yourself to us.

We thank you Father for sending the Son, and we thank you Son for willing coming to redeem the elect, and we thank you Holy Spirit for applying the Son’s work to us. Holy Spirit you have given us new life. The life we now live we live to bring glory to our triune God.

Help us Father as we seek to live our lives filled with love for you and our neighbor. Keep our eyes on Jesus as the example we are to follow and take not your Holy Spirit from us. We depend upon you for life and breath and everything else.

Continue to bless us we ask in Jesus’s name,

Amen

Q. 7. What are the decrees of God?

A. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

What peace there is in knowing that you, our Heavenly Father, are in control of all things. In a world filled with what seems to be random and often unexplainable events we, your people take comfort in knowing that all things are working out according to your eternal decree. And all things are working ultimately for your glory and the good of your people.

Everything that you have said will stand and with this, your people can rest. There is no shadow of turning with you. There is no need for you to change your plans. Your decree established in eternity past within the counsel of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was perfect in its institution and continues to be in its execution.

Help us, your people, to endure the hard providences that we face with you as our refuge, Christ as our shepherd, and the Spirit as our comforter.

Q. 8. How doth God execute his decrees?

A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

Lord, it is good for us, your people, to remember that you are always at work. You are never absent but are constantly executing your divine decree using your creation, and even the sinful actions of man to accomplish your holy will. You have created all things and by your will, they live and move and have their being. For those with the eyes of faith, Your hand of providence can be seen guiding all the events of this world to the end that you have determined.

There is no god like You. There is no other god but you the true and living God, who spoke creating into being and now governs it for your glorious purposes.

Q. 9. What is the work of creation?

A. The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

Oh to consider the power of our God. Our God, who created all things. And you did this by speaking all things into being. Bringing creation completely from nothing. There is no god like you. There is no other who makes these claims for himself. Only you have the power, might, and wisdom to make the world and everything in it in the span of six days, leaving nothing undone.

Q. 10. How did God create man?

A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

Father, how gracious you are to have made man in Your image. You filled your creation with creatures, but You only made man, male and female, in Your image. You did this for Your own glory and so that man could have fellowship with You. There is nothing greater for man than to know the one true living God. We thank You that You have made us to know You. We bear Your image and there is no higher honor that can be bestowed upon man than this. This makes our rebellion toward You all the more heinous. How gracious you are to have sent Jesus, God in the flesh, to redeem your people from our sins.

Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?

A. God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

Heavenly Father all of your actions are good, holy, and just. It is beyond our ability to comprehend the majesty of all your works. Those works of creation but also the governing of all your creatures. In your providence, your people experience the greatest of joys and the deepest of sorrows. In both we worship you. We may not have answers for why you have ordained some of the events in our lives that cause us sorrow and pain, but we rest in knowing that all your ways are good. There is not one thing that will befall your people that you will not use to produce glory for yourself and good for your people. And there is not one thing that will befall your people that you will leave us to endure alone. We also find great comfort in that you are active in your creation and our lives. We do not go through life experiencing random acts. We instead have a God who is at work. A God who never slumbers or sleeps. A God who cares for and preserves his people.

Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created?

A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.

Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?

A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

Heavenly Father you are right to demand of man perfect in perpetual obedience to your law. Your commands for your people have always been for the good of your people and for your glory. But we your people have not obey your commands. We have not kept your law. We see this from the very beginning. In Adam, we all fell and were plunged into an estate of sin and misery. His rebellion caused all his descendants to be born into that same rebellion. Apart from your grace, none would seek after you. You are completely justified in condemning all mankind because of our sin. But you are gracious and merciful and because of this, you sent your son the Lord Jesus Christ to do what the first Adam failed to do. Jesus Christ showed forth perfect obedience to all of your law. And you count his righteousness as our righteousness. We thank you for the imputed righteousness of Christ, the atoning sacrifice that he has made for sins, and the full salvation that is ours through faith in him.

Q. 14. What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

Lord, we know that we have transgressed your law. We have not fully conformed to it. We do not delight in it as we should. We know our sin has separated us from you and has left us spiritually dead. Your word tells us there is none righteous no not one. Because all have sinned and fallen short of your glory. We are without hope apart from your grace and your mercy. Father help us to see your law as beautiful and to see your law as good. Help us, those who have been made alive and who are now united to Christ to strive for obedience to your law, knowing that our obedience does not secure our salvation or add to the finished work of Christ but is the right response to your commands. Our obedience to your law is the evidence that we have been saved and have been made alive together with Christ Jesus.