Lord, Teach Me To Pray

 
“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

Luke 11:1  


Reading Luke 11 this morning verse 1 caught my eye in a way it never has before. I have always enjoyed this verse as I try to imagine what it must have been like for the disciples each day as they waked with Jesus and watched and listened to Him. Like everyone Jesus spoke with, He left them astonished at His teachings as He taught not like the scribes and the pharisee’s but as one with authority.

Luke 11:1 draws a clear distinction between the prayers of John the Baptist and his disciples and those of Jesus. Jesus disciples learned very quickly that He possessed a power completely foreign to them and yet the amazing thing to me as I read Luke 11, not one of the disciples came to Jesus publicly or privately and asked Him to teach them how to do miracles. No one said, “Hey Jesus, could you teach me how to multiply some fish and loaves?” Or, “how about showing me how I can raise the dead?” No, the disciples learned very quickly that the source of Jesus power while He walked on this earth was through prayer. And that is why they came to Him and asked Jesus to teach them to pray.


Do you really know how to pray? Would you say your prayer life is effective or is it more like a wish list for God where you think about people and situations and you ask God with your eyes closed to answer your request? I don’t know about you but often times I feel very inadequate when it comes to prayer and that its why I appreciate the fact that we can come to God and ask Him to teach us how to pray effectively. God knows how to teach us to pray. I’ve learned from personal experience one of the best ways God teaches me how to pray is when He puts me in situations where prayer is the only option I have. Those are the best prayers, crying out to God in total dependence on Him.


Maybe you feel inadequate in your prayer life too. Don’t condemn yourself. Instead, go back and read the Lord’s prayer as it is the prayer Jesus taught to His disciples to learn how to pray. Jesus didn’t teach them what is known as the “Lord’s Prayer” to be merely a rote prayer though there is absolutely nothing wrong with praying the “Lord’s Prayer” ever as it is the Word of God. Jesus did say however when He taught His disciples to pray, “In this manner, therefore, pray:” (Matthew 6:9). The Lord’s Prayer as Jesus taught it was to be both a prayer we can pray and as well a model of how to approach God when we pray. I encourage you to pray both. I know the “Lord’s Prayer” helps me to pray when I don’t know what to pray.

Just know this, loved one. Every situation you find yourself in today is an opportunity to pray, to invite the King of Kings to lead you and guide you and most of all, to make His presence known to you everywhere you are. Prayer is simply talking to God and He has made a way through His death and burial and resurrection that we can enjoy fellowship with God. Don’t miss out on your chance to talk with God today, pray!



“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 forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Matthew 6:9-13

I LOVE YOU!