Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part 1

"And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1)

Jesus was praying. We are told many times throughout the Gospels that Jesus prayed. Jesus was a Man of prayer. In His Divinity, Jesus did not need to pray for anything, but, as the Son of Man, in His Humanity, Jesus often prayed to the Father. Jesus modeled a lifestyle of prayer that the disciples took notice of.

Jesus demonstrated a powerful prayer life that had not been seen since the days of the Prophets. In a time when much of what was called prayer was little more than self-righteous false piety, shouted loudly for the purpose of drawing attention upon the one praying (see Matthew 6:5), Jesus was usually seen as praying alone, He removed Himself from the crowds to be with the Father. Jesus' prayers were never dramatic, never infused with flowery rhetoric, but His prayers were effective. His disciples noticed this and wanted to learn to pray like Jesus did.

"Lord, teach us to pray."

The disciples were not simply looking for the words to say, not simply the method or model of how to pray, they also wanted to learn TO pray. They wanted the zeal and passion for prayer that Jesus had. They wanted to become men of prayer, just like their Lord was. They asked Jesus to teach them, His disciples, just like John the Baptist had taught his disciples. The disciples wanted to become like Jesus and they knew that His prayer life was an extremely crucial part of His relationship to God, the Father.

"When He ceased [praying], one of his disciples said..."

The disciples were there, this time, with the Lord as He prayed. Jesus had probably called them to accompany Him and pray with Him, but I'm sure that it became quickly apparent that they had no idea how to properly pray when they heard the Master Himself praying. They had all, most likely, already stopped and sat, captivated, as they watched Jesus fervently pray unto God. No one dared to interrupt Him, they waited until He was done. It is an awesome thing to be in the presence of the power of God and I can imagine no greater thing to behold than witnessing Jesus Christ speaking with the Father. The disciples were so moved by hearing Jesus that one of them could not remain quiet in the silence that followed, but burst forth with the plea to teach them how to pray the way that He did!

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26 NKJV)

Apart from the Lord showing us, no one knows how to pray as they should. The words, "Lord, teach us to pray" are, in and of themselves, a very good prayer and the first words that lead to making us men and women of prayer. And that, my friends, is what is so desperately needed today. People of prayer:

"What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use - men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men - men of prayer."**

These words were first written more than 100 years ago. It was true then and, may I suggest, that it is even more pertinent today. The Lord works through people of prayer, the disciples knew this and we ought to, as well.

"Lord, teach us to pray."

Is this your prayer today? Do you want to know how to pray in a way that is holy, acceptable, and pleasing to the Lord? Jesus answered the disciples request, He showed them how to pray. Sadly, the words that we now call, "The Lord's Prayer" have been turned into little more than an empty, hollow and meaningless passage of Scripture to be memorized by Sunday School children for the purpose of earning a prize, and robotically recited, like a Heathen's mantra, as if the words themselves possessed some sort of magic. Jesus did not teach this prayer to be ritualistically recited, verbatim, but He gave it as a model, not a script, as an outline if you will, of HOW we are to pray, not the precise phrases to be uttered during each prayer. There is nothing wrong with saying these exact words, but we should pray them from our own heart when we do, not just repeat them from our head.

I would like to examine the components of this prayer, step by step, and would like to invite you to join me as we look at the significance of this beautiful prayer model that our Lord gave us. We will begin to do that in the next message, Lord willing.

Until then, may the Lord our God bless and keep you...Check out these Medifast Coupons to help you lose weight this summer



*New King James Version (NKJV)
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

**Taken from, "Power Through Prayer" by: E.M. Bounds
copyright © 1991 by Baker Books, a division of Baker Book House Company