Geneva Catechism (231 - 240)

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Q. 231. Do you think that he alone is to be invoked?

A. Certainly; for he requires this as the proper worship of his Divinity.

Q. 232. If it is so, how can we beseech men to assist us?

A. There is a great difference between the two things. For when we invoke God, we testify that we expect no good from any other quarter, and that we place our whole defence in no other, and yet we ask the assistance of men, as far as he permits, and has bestowed on them the power of giving it.

Q. 233. You say, then, that in having recourse to the faith and help of men, there is nothing that interferes with our invocation of God, seeing that our reliance is not fixed on them, and we beseech them on no other ground, than just because God, by furnishing them with the means of well-doing, has in a manner destined them to be the ministers of his beneficence, and is pleased by their hands to assist us, and draw out, on our account, the resources which he has deposited with them?

A. Such is my view. And, accordingly, whatever benefits we receive from them, we should regard as coming from God, as in truth it is he alone who bestows all these things upon us by their instrumentality.

Q. 234. But are we not to feel grateful to men whenever they have conferred any kindness upon us. This the mere equity of nature and law of humanity dictates?

A. Certainly we are; and were it only for the reason that God honours them by sending to us, through their hands, as rivulets, the blessings which flow from the inexhaustible fountain of his liberality. In this way he lays us under obligation to them, and wishes us to acknowledge it. He, therefore, who does not show himself grateful to them by so doing, betrays his ingratitude to God.

Q. 235. Are we hence at liberty to infer, that it is wrong to invoke angels and holy servants of the Lord who have departed this life?

A. We are not at liberty; for God does not assign to saints the office of assisting us. And in regard to angels, though he uses their labour for our salvation, he does not wish us to ask them for it.

Q. 236. You say, then, that whatever does not aptly and fitly square with the order instituted by God, is repugnant to his will?

A. I do. For it is a sure sign of unbelief not to be contented with the things which God gives to us. Then if we throw ourselves on the protection of angels or saints, when God calls us to himself alone, and transfer to them the confidence which ought wholly to be fixed upon God, we fall into idolatry, seeing we share with them that which God claimed entirely for himself.

Q. 237. Let us now consider the manner of prayer. Is it sufficient to pray with the tongue, or does prayer require also the mind and heart?

A. The tongue, indeed, is not always necessary, but true prayer can never be without understanding and affection.

Q. 238. By what argument will you prove this to me?

A. Since God is a Spirit, he requires men to give him the heart in all cases, and more especially in prayer, by which they hold communion with him. Wherefore he promises to be near to those only who call upon him in truth: on the other hand, he abominates and curses all who pray to him deceitfully, and not sincerely. (Psalm cxlv. 18; Isaiah xxix. 13.)

Q. 239. All prayers, then, conceived only by the tongue, will be vain and worthless?

A. Not only so, but will be most displeasing to God.

Q. 240. What kind of feeling does God require in prayer?

A. First, that we feel our want and misery, and that this feeling beget sorrow and anxiety in our minds. Secondly, that we be inflamed with an earnest and vehement desire to obtain grace from God. These things will also kindle in us an ardent longing to pray.

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