February 2, 2023: Teach Us To Pray

"Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1, ESV)

The disciples, looking at Jesus' prayer life in light of their own prayer life, finally got the courage to say, "Lord, teach us to pray." Those four words are powerful. Why don't you say them now, making them personal—"Lord, teach me to pray."

The Father loves hearing from us in the place of prayer. And I know the Holy Spirit is more than willing to teach us to pray. And Jesus gladly responds to our hungry hearts' desire to pray. His first point in teaching us to pray is simply, "When you pray, say..." Prayer is, first and foremost, conversation with God. Conversation implies a relationship. The more conversation we have with the Father, the more intimate He becomes with us and we with Him. Some people like to pray silently, and there is a place for that, but I encourage you just as Jesus did, "When you pray, say..." 

The other thing we see in this passage is the disciple's desire to learn to pray. Their desire to pray was stirred out of watching Jesus pray. He seemed to have such a personal relationship with the Father. Therefore their desire to pray increased. Learning to pray starts with desire. Ask the Father to increase your desire to pray. What you desire to do, you most often do. It becomes your starting point. And your starting point has the potential to become a lifelong journey.