Prayer

If we are all honest prayer is a practice we all wish we were good at. Good might not be the best word for some, maybe it is more of a wish that we took more time to pray. Nevertheless, prayer is an affair we all could devote more time weaving into the tapestry of our lives.

Often our lack of prayer stems from spiritually-soft trust that prayer actually works, which is why in Luke 11:1 Jesus’ disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Not “teach us how to pray” or “teach us why we should pray” but modestly, “teach us to pray.” Prayer is the simplest of all Christian acts that even a young child can fully participate, yet it is at the same time the most sacred work to which all men and women can participate in.

There are no records of Jesus teaching his disciples how to preach or even to evangelize to their neighbors but we read that Jesus does teach them to pray. Our time talking with God is more than knowing how to speak about God. The disciples knew that only Jesus could take us into the school of prayer.

As we pray we are mining the depths of God’s heart as we find our individual prayer closets and gather on the rooftops to pray together. Though we bring brokenness, God brings restoration. Though we bring doubt, God brings confidence. Though we are unknowing, God teaches us to pray.

“Lord Jesus! Enroll my name among those who confess that they don’t know how to pray as they should, and who especially ask You for a course of teaching in prayer. Lord! Teach me to be patient in Your school, so that You will have time to train me. I am ignorant of the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need for the Holy Spirit to be the spirit of prayer. Lead me to forget my thoughts of what I think I know, and make me kneel before you in true teachableness and poverty of spirit.” (With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray)