Not Day 140 - Catch-Up Day

Audio: Why a "Catch-up Day?"

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I'm declaring today a "catch-up day." Those of you who are behind schedule can catch up if you wish.

Yesterday I said I would pick up a couple of questions from the Larger Catechism on the Law of God, then consider the Exposition of the Lord's Prayer and the doctrine of prayer.

This was based on an earlier outline of our 180-day study based on a couple of Harmonies of the Westminster Standards which, as I mentioned before, were based on the Confession of Faith rather than the Larger Catechism. I had thought that the proper place to categorize the Doctrine of Prayer would be after the Tenth Commandment, "Thou shalt not covet." James talks about those who covet, and suggests that the answer to coveting is prayer:

James 4:2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
James 5:1 Come now, you rich, 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, 16 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

So this seemed like a good transition to the material in the Larger Catechism on prayer, as well as some material in the Confession from chapter 21.

Following this would be the doctrine of the Communion of Saints, Larger Catechism 82ff., and then we would return to the last chapters of the Confession, on eschatology:

Chapter XXXII -- Of the State Of Men after Death, and Of the Resurrection Of the Dead

Chapter XXXIII -- Of the Last Judgment

Personally, I like the material on prayer in the Catechism better than the material on eschatology in the Confession. The Confession ends with eschatology, which is certainly not inappropriate (what better position for eschatology -- the study of "last things" -- than ... last). But I find that the section on prayer is encouraging and ending on this note will leave us with a positive agenda to walk away with, while the section on eschatology, I think, will not have as positive an impact. I'll explain that when we get there.

Today I'm going to be thinking about whether to follow the Confession and end with Eschatology, or follow the Catechism and end with prayer. If you have thoughts, post them to the blog or respond to this email.

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Question 178: What is prayer?

Question 179: Are we to pray unto God only?

Question 180: What is it to pray in the name of Christ?

Question 181: Why are we to pray in the name of Christ?

Question 182: How does the Spirit help us to pray?

Question 183: For whom are we to pray?

Question 184: For what things are we to pray?

Question 185: How are we to pray?

Question 186: What rule has God given for our direction in the duty of prayer?

Question 187: How is the Lord's Prayer to be used?

Question 188: Of how many parts does the Lord's Prayer consist?

Question 189: What does the preface of the Lord's Prayer teach us?

Question 190: What do we pray for in the first petition?

Question 191: What do we pray for in the second petition?

Question 192: What do we pray for in the third petition?

Question 193: What do we pray for in the fourth petition?

Question 194: What do we pray for in the fifth petition?

Question 195: What do we pray for in the sixth petition?

Question 196: What does the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us?