Teach Us To Pray

Tuesday
Teach Us to Pray

Read Luke 11:1-10


Do you pray in public? Do you pray in small groups, at meetings, among friends or family? Why or why not? Too often we Christians are afraid to pray aloud. We think it’s the pastor’s job, or that other person prays so much better than me, or I don’t know what to say. We may not feel like we are expert enough to lead others in prayer. And then, when we get into that secret prayer place to talk with God, these same insecurities hit us and we are stuck. What if I pray the wrong thing? What if I don’t use the right words? What do I have to say to God?

Jesus’ disciples needed help with praying, too. In Luke 11 they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, and Jesus answered by teaching them what we call the Lord’s Prayer. (Side note: when you have some time, read through each line of the Lord’s Prayer and reflect on its meaning. There is great depth in this prayer that is easy to lose sight of when we pray it regularly.) Immediately after Jesus teaches them this prayer, he tells a parable about a man begging his neighbor for some food to entertain guests. His neighbor gives him the food because the man was bold in asking. Jesus tells us that the power of prayer is not in using the right words or speaking eloquently, it is in asking with faith and boldness. This is what Jesus wanted his disciples to know about prayer, and this is encouraging for us who feel like we are amateur prayers.

There is power in prayer – throughout Scripture prayer is a means of change. Though we often are tempted to believe that we are powerless to things happening in our lives, Scripture teaches us that we are never powerless when we pray boldly. For, as Richard Foster explains, in prayer “we are working with God to determine the future! Certain things will happen in history if we pray rightly. We are to change the world by prayer.” I would add that we are to change the world by bold prayer.

As we explore the spiritual practice of prayer this week, I invite you to be bold in your prayers – no matter how inexperienced or incapable you feel. If you need help shaping your prayers, use the ACTS model – start with Adoration (praise God), move to Confession and Thanksgiving, and end with Supplication (what you and others need). Always remember the important thing is not how eloquently we pray, but that we pray.

~ Laura Johnson