The Disciples’ Prayer 01 – What is Prayer?
09/20/2026
Scripture 1: (Matt. 6:5-13 ESV)
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and
at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But
when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father
who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for
their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q. 98. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with
confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.
Q. 99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
A. The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer
which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 44906
Sermon:
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Praying is something that everyone does. Nobody avoids it forever. People do not need to be taught to pray. It is
something that we all do instinctively. We all have heard anecdotes about prayer like:
“There are no atheists in foxholes.” Or, as certain Marines that I have known prefer them to be called
“fighting holes”.
Or, “Prayer will only be removed from schools when tests and ‘Pop Quizzes’ are.”
Or, even the generic prayer of desperation, “Help!”
People pray even when they do not know how to pray rightly. People pray even when they do not know, or
understand, what they are asking for. People pray even when they do not know to whom they pray and without
confidence that their prayer will be answered.
Again, everyone prays but not everyone understands what prayer is or is meant to be. Even though people do
not need to be taught to pray, we all need to be taught how to pray. Prayer is an element of every religion and
every religion teaches their adherants how to pray. But no religion, except for the Christian religion, teaches a
person how to pray properly, truly, and correctly teaches to whom our prayers are rightly directed.
Islam teaches that prayer, or what they call salah/salat, is the “Second Pillar” (the second fundamental
principle) of their religion. The Arabic term carries an implicit sense of connection (or unity) between
the person praying and the object of their prayer. Salat is an absolute obligation for the Muslim with five
scripted prayers being mandated throughout the day; specifically at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset,
and during the night. Islamic prayers must be performed in a state of ritual cleanliness and involve
bowing as a sign of their humility, obedience, and submission to Allah. Failure by a Muslim to diligently
perform this duty of salat may be considered an act of apostasy.
Buddhist prayer focuses on a person’s self actualization, rather than being a petition to some external
person {being that Buddhism is technically a non-theistic religion; although I would argue that it is the
epitome (and most honest) religion of self idolatry}. Their apparent object of prayer, like a Buddha, is
considered more as an exemplary meditative focus; a figure whom they wish to emulate, echo, and
copy1; and not a God or divine person able to personally help them.
Similarly, Hinduism teaches that prayers, which they call prarthana and japa (chanting), are sacred
expressions of gratitude, devotion, and “inner peace”. These “expressions” focus on connecting the
human soul with divinity. Such expressions take different combinations of form: reciting or chanting
mantras to purify the mind; practicing the assorted “Paths” of yoga, with each path working towards
“the liberation of the human spirit”2; or, chanting their repetitive prayers, japa, each of which are
directed to one of the particular Hindu gods.
Lastly, prayer across the assorted historical streams of paganism: whether Egyptian, Greco-Roman,
Canaanite, Sumerian/Babylonian, or Nordic; was something fundamentally transactional. Prayers were
functionally bargains or “deals” made with the divine. Whenever a person prayed to their god, they often
promised to do X if the divinity did Y. Sacrifices gave the gods something that a person expected them
to want, hoping to influence the divinity to give the person what they wanted.
1https://studybuddhism.com/en/essentials/what-is/what-is-prayer-in-buddhism
2 Gavin D. Flood, An introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0, page 96
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 44906
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Meanwhile, Christians pray. Christians pray a lot. Yet still, many Christians do not rightly understand what
prayer is. Too many people, too many professing Christians, continue to pray just like the pagans we all once
were:
They will experience some kind of crisis which causes them to pray some variation of, “God, if you do
this, then I’ll do that.”.
◦ They pray for healing, whether for themselves or someone else.
◦ They pray for wealth and prosperity.
◦ They pray and ask God to “get them out” of whatever situation they presently find themselves in,
like the “foxhole prayer”.
Then, they make God a promise.
◦ They promise to stop doing something.
◦ They promise to start doing something.
◦ They promise to change and become a “good person”.
◦ They promise to go to church more often.
◦ They promise to donate something to charity.
But once the crisis has passed, they neglect to or choose to not fulfill their promise.
◦ Perhaps because they attribute the successful resolution to some other cause than God such as “good
doctors” or a changing circumstance like the weather.
◦Or, perhaps because they did not really mean it when they made their promise.
◦Or, perhaps it is because they really just do not fear God; neither “fear” in the sense of having honor
and respect for the LORD nor “fear” as being afraid of offending against the omnipotent, sovereign
of the universe.
But that is not how Christians ought to pray. That is not how true, godly prayer works. Therefore, despite not
needing to be taught that we should pray, we do need to be taught how to pray, properly. Even the 1st Century
Jews and Jesus’s disciples understood this need. That was why they asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray, as
John taught his disciples.” (Lk. 11:1 ESV). So, what is prayer and how should we pray, properly?
Question number 98 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism helps us find the answer by asking, “What is
prayer?”. Then the Catechism answers, explaining that “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God3, for
things agreeable to his will4, in the name of Christ5, with confession of our sins6, and thankful acknowledgment
of his mercies7.”.
First, prayer is properly a conversation with God. It is or, at least it involves, our telling God whatever it
is that we want and need, since after all, Jesus told us in Matthew 7, “Ask, and it will be given to you…”
(Matt. 7:7 ESV). Yet this is not as if God needs to be told what we need or want, because He knows
3Psalm 10:17, 62:8; Matthew 7:7-8
41 John 5:14
5John 16:23-24
6Psalm 32:5-6; Daniel 9:4-19; 1 John 1:9
7Psalm 103:1-5, 136; Philippians 4:6
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 44906
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before we ask (Matthew 6:8). Instead, we pray and we ask Him because He told us to. We are
commanded and invited to pray and ask through our relationship with God; through our adoption as His
sons and daughters.
◦ We know that we have been told to “Ask” and we have been given assurance that we shall receive it.
Except, Jesus does qualify our receiving. He limits it to just the “good things” that we ask for. Jesus
explained by rhetorically asking them, “…which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give
him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?” (Matt. 7:9-10 ESV) because,
obviously, of course not! Furthermore, the opposite is also true. If your child asked you for a rock to
eat, of course you would not give it to them. Instead, you would give them good bread. Or, if you
child asked to play with a venomous snake or a poisonous frog, you surely would not allow them to.
Instead, you would give them a hamster or a goldfish.
◦ Therefore, we understand that when we pray, God only gives us what we ask for if/when it is
something good, beneficial, and/or helpful for us to receive.
Second, when we pray, we believe that we should only pray for things in accord with God’s will. We
should not and cannot rightly pray for things that are contrary to God’s revealed will or, which we may
deduce and interpret as against His will according to good and necessary consequences (WCF 1.6).
◦ The Apostle John tells us plainly {in his first epistle} that we are assured and confident that “…if we
ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (1 Jn. 5:14 ESV). Similarly, he also recorded Jesus
telling us, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my
disciples.” (Jn. 15:7-8 ESV). Thus Jesus explained that by our union with Him and, through our
becoming sanctified and, becoming more closely conformed to His image (by the work of the Holy
Spirit) that when we “…ask whatever [we] wish…”, we will be asking for what Christ wishes and
wills and also prove or Christ-likeness.
◦ Therefore, when we pray according to His divine will, then “…it will be done for [us]…”. Through
such godly prayer, we bear good fruit and so, prove ourselves as Christ’s disciples for our Father’s
glory.
Except, there is an obvious objection which we must raise against the idea of “always” praying for God’s
will: Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. During the night of His betrayal, fully knowing what
was about to happen to Him, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…”
(Matt. 26:39 ESV). Jesus, God the Son, prayed to God the Father asking/begging/pleading for the
necessary cup of wrath to pass away from Him. We often interpret this to understand that the desire of
this prayer was birthed from Jesus human will, not His divine will. Jesus, in His human nature, did not
want to suffer all that He knew He was about to experience but, in His divinity, He knew that He was
born for this suffering. He knew that He had already covenanted and agreed to suffer it for us. Therefore,
in His divine will, Jesus wanted and desired to experience the cup of God’s wrath for us, in love.
Jesus, in this example, was heard praying for something that initially seems to be contrary to God’s
revealed will. Yet after asking for the cup to pass and after praying for a reprieve and a commutation of
God’s wrath, Jesus stillconcluded His prayer with “…not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39 ESV).
Thus even though Jesus, the human man, asked God to “…let this cup pass from [Him]…”, ultimately He
still prayed for God’s will to be done.
◦ Therefore, this example reminds us that our human will shall continue to desire things contrary to
God’s divine will. But, by praying in Jesus’ name, we naturally subordinate our will and desire to His
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 44906
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as every earnest prayer (whether spoken or not) implicitly adds Christ’s qualifier, “…not as I will, but
as you will.”. So, even when our consciously prayed desire is contrary to the LORD’s will, purpose,
or plan we are still praying according to His perfect will.
Third, as Christians, when we pray we know that we are supposed to pray “in Jesus’ name”, because Jesus
promised us that “…whatever [we] ask of the Father in [His] name, [God] will give it to [us].” (Jn. 16:23 ESV).
◦ When we pray in Jesus’ name, we do not use His name as a “cheat code”; His name is not a “magic
word” to be used in order to get whatever we want. Instead, praying in Jesus’ name means that when
we ask for something through prayer, we are asking “as if” Jesus is the one personally asking.
Praying and asking God for something in Jesus’ name further emphasizes how and why we may only
rightly pray for things that are in accord with God’s will and therefore, expect to receive our desired,
positive response.
◦ Therefore, ultimately, praying in Jesus’ name is a practical expression of our union with Him and, by
praying in Jesus’ name, we are reminded of what a great privilege and terrible responsibility our
prayers truly are.
Fourth, when we pray for things in accord with God’s revealed will, following the examples shown in
Scripture: which is God’s Holy and Perfect Word; we believe that we have a wide variety of options and
obligations to pray for.
◦ We should pray intercessory prayers, praying on behalf of others: praying for their good benefit (1
Samuel 2:25; Jeremiah 7:16; James 5:16).
◦ We should pray and confess our individual sins (Psalm 32:5, 38:18; 1 John 1:9) as well as our
corporate sins (Leviticus 16:21; Daniel 9:4). We should also pray and confess sins that we may not
personally be guilty of, further interceding for those who might not yet be aware or able to confess
such sins for themselves.
◦ We should offer prayers of thanksgiving (Psalm 50:23), thanking the LORD for His goodness and
great providence. Beyond other forms of prayer, as Christians, our thankfulness ought to meet or
exceed our prayers of confession and contrition because of how we better understand the extent to
which we have been forgiven.
◦ We are also commanded to pray “…for those who persecute…” (Matt. 5:44 ESV) us. We should pray
that we do not harbor hate for them, but love (agape) them instead. However, from the example of
the Psalms: which are God’s inerrant and Holy Spirit inspired Word and which were prayed by Jesus
during His earthly life; we know that it is not wrong for us to also pray imprecations against them. It
is not wrong for us to pray for the LORD to execute His justice and punish the wicked (Psalm 3:7,
9:5, 10:15, 31:17, 37:38, 58:10, 75:10). Under both the old and new covenant administrations, the
“right” of vengeance is justly claimed by the LORD (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; Hebrews
10:30). He is the one who ensure justice is done: vindicating His righteous children and destroying
the sinful wicked. It is not our place to seek revenge against them. But instead, we may still pray to
the LORD and ask Him along with Abraham, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
(Gen. 18:25 ESV).
After answering the question of “What is Prayer?”, with the understanding that “Prayer is an offering up of our
desires unto God…”, we must next consider how to rightly pray as well as how not to pray.
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 44906
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Question 99 of the Shorter Catechism asks, “What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?” and
answers with, “The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that
form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.”.
Now, everyone who has been a Christian for any length of time should be very familiar with the Lord’s Prayer.
We pray it together, every Sunday as the conclusion to the pastoral prayer. However, Christians do not pray it as
some sort of religious mantra or, as good luck “charm” or, because we believe it to be “the best” or “most
effective” prayer. Neither do we pray it simply because Jesus commanded us to pray this specific prayer, over
and over again. But rather, we pray this prayer because it is the perfect “model” of prayer. We pray this prayer
in conjunction with other prayers, which are hopefully following its example, because Jesus actually
commanded us to “Pray then like this…”.
However, before Jesus taught us to “Pray then like this…”, He intentionally taught His disciples how not to
pray. He told them, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in
the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received
their reward.”. Jesus used the 1st century Greek, technical term of “hypocrite” and redefined it; thereby
establishing our modern use and understanding of the technical term. During the 1st century, a hypocrite was a
professional actor, and Jesus used it to describe somebody that is “two-faced”; someone who is a professional
pretender, publicly pretending to be something they were not.
The hypocrite described in Jesus’ example was someone pretending to be religiously devout and faithful;
someone who made a show of their religiosity. Although such describe expressions of faith were laudable when
genuine, Jesus used this to explain that it is the posture of a person’s heart that matters to God, not their works
of religion.
The hypocrite put on a religious show.
They did their devotional works with the express purpose of being seen doing them.
They did them so that other people, by seeing them doing it, would know how religious (how “good”
and “righteous”) they were and then, applaud them for it.
Thus, after being seen and applauded as they desired, Jesus said, “…they have received their reward.”
Instead of being like such hypocrites, Jesus told His disciples, “…when you pray, go into your room and shut the
door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”. Yet, Jesus
was not hereby prohibiting public prayer, when it is done appropriately, at the proper time and in proper places
(as in Ezra 9:5-10:1, for example). Rather, He was reminding them of Daniel’s example when, according to his
ordinary habit, he prayed privately at home (Daniel 6:10) and so, became condemned under the law of King
Darius. As normal, Daniel “…went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward
Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God…” (Dan.
6:10 ESV). Daniel did not pray as if he were hiding, just merely in private. Jesus used Daniel’s memory as an
example of faithfulness and true devotion, born purely from his earnest desire to worship and glorify God;
worshiping and praying to the LORD without regard for whether or not anyone was watching him {since Daniel
surely understood that the law under which he was condemned, was put into place to entrap him or force his
compliance}. Thus Jesus also commends private and personal prayer, but not as the absolute preference, nor as
having a greater assurance of being answered preferably.
Then, Jesus further explained, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they
think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need
before you ask him.”. But I know that we have all heard long-winded, vapid, and superficial prayers before.
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 44906
Prayers that are filled with countless, repetitious instances of “Father God” or other expressions.
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Prayers which are overly familiar or casual towards our divine Sovereign.
But, Jesus was not condemning lengthy prayers in general.
He condemned prayers that are lengthy for the sake of length.
He condemned prayers that are unnecessarily wordy or repetitive.
He condemned prayers that are overly complex, confusing, or convoluted.
He condemned prayers that are empty of true devotion or faith-filled purpose.
Jesus was teaching His disciples that prayer should be as simple and straightforward as necessary. God, our
heavenly Father, does not require or want superfluous puffery but rather, God simply wants us to ask Him.
Just ask Him for whatever we need or want. That is all. Nothing more and nothing less. God does not
need or want us to “butter Him up” beforehand. He does not need or want empty flattery from us. We
cannot hope to persuade Him or improve the chance of receiving our preferable answer.
Just ask Him.
Just ask Him because, our Father knows what we need before we even ask Him. Ask Him, even though
He already knows.
Just ask Him because, by asking, we are submitting ourselves to His will and His good providence.
Just ask Him because, by asking, we are trusting Him to answer and setting ourselves to rely upon His
response.
Just ask Him because, by asking, we are demonstrating that we know that we need help; that we know
that we cannot do it all on our own, alone.
Just ask Him because, by asking, we are demonstrating that we know that we need God; that we need
Jesus.
Therefore, since Jesus took the time to teach His disciples how to pray and since He taught them (and us) this
prayer, we shall spend the next while learning more about prayer and how we may become better praying
persons. Since Jesus taught His disciples to “Pray then like this…”, we shall consider the Lord’s Prayer as an
exemplary whole. However, despite the fact that Jesus prayed this prayer first, because He taught it as a model
prayer, an example for His disciples to follow, it should more rightly thought of as “The Disciples’ Prayer”.
We shall consider the Lord’s Prayer alongside the Shorter Catechism, which is a faithful expression of what we
believe is taught by Scripture. We shall consider each petition in regards to what it actually asks for, why it asks
for it and, how it asks. Then, once we better understand how we should pray and what we should be praying for,
we will consider how we may improve our own personal prayers and devotional lives.
Lastly, what we most need to understand from this prefatory introduction to the Lord’s Prayer is that:
First, prayer is not optional for the Christian. It should be a key part of our lives and it is a critical
response, exemplifying our faith in Jesus Christ because it is an exceptionally obvious fruit of faith.
◦ Some Christians may feel like they pray better (or worse) than other Christians.
◦ Some Christians surely pray more often than other Christians.
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 44906
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◦ But, a person who does not pray willingly or gladly to God: Father, Son, or Holy Spirit; is unlikely
to be proven a Christian.
▪ A person who does not talk to someone or, who does not want to talk with someone, cannot be
said to have a good relationship with them.
Second, we need to remember that there are both correct or proper ways to pray and wrong ways to pray.
Since there are prayers which are clearly pleasing and acceptable to the LORD (Psalm 19:14; Proverbs
15:8; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 12:29; 1 Peter 2:5), we know {according to the principle of “good and
necessary consequences”} that there are also unacceptable prayers.
Third, finally and, most importantly, when we pray we need to remember to whom we are praying.
◦ We pray to God, the: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
◦ We pray to God: the Universal Sovereign and the only King of the Universe.
◦ We pray to God: our Father in heaven and to Jesus, our eldest Brother and our best Friend.
AMEN
Reverend Joseph A Yerger, Mansfield 1st Presbyterian Church: 399 S Trimble Rd; Mansfield, OH 4490
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