What does the catechism mean by “prayer”? By “prayer” the catechism means Christian prayer. There are two things necessary to make a prayer a Christian prayer: (a) It must be a prayer addressed to the true God, the God revealed in the Bible; (b) it must be a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the only real way of approach to the throne of God. Thus prayers to the gods of the heathen religions, and prayers to the Virgin Mary, the saints and angels, etc., are both useless and wrong; and any prayer which attempts to reach God’s presence directly without faith in Christ as Mediator is not a Christian prayer.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, 434.