Teach Me 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
If we were to open our Bibles and read starting with Matthew and were to read through John we would never find an instance where the disciples asked, “Lord, teach us how to witness,” or “Teach us how to perform miracles,” or “Teach us how to teach.” But in this passage, we do find one of the disciples asking, “Lord, teach us to pray - Howard Hendricks
The men who walked with Jesus, the ones who could ask him anything, had one request: “Teach us to pray.”
They had seen the dead raised, the sick healed, countless miracles performed. They heard His teachings and observed Him love others with compassion. Their one desire was to know how to pray. Why?
They had seen the religious leaders of their day stand and pray. They had even prayed themselves; but there was something dramatically different what they saw in Jesus’ prayers. His prayer life wasn’t rooted in religious obligation; it flowed from the relationship He had with His heavenly Father. The Son was completely dependent on the Father. His dependence on God was central to every aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry, including how He prayed.
Listening to Jesus pray like this led the disciples to a realization and a conviction they were missing out on something important! These men, chosen by Jesus, recognized that, while they might be believers, they could never be true disciples who became like their teacher until they learned to pray to the Father as Christ did, with intimacy and dependency.
What about you?
Do you desire to pray from a place that overflows from your relationship with God?
If we were to open our Bibles and read starting with Matthew and were to read through John we would never find an instance where the disciples asked, “Lord, teach us how to witness,” or “Teach us how to perform miracles,” or “Teach us how to teach.” But in this passage, we do find one of the disciples asking, “Lord, teach us to pray - Howard Hendricks
The men who walked with Jesus, the ones who could ask him anything, had one request: “Teach us to pray.”
They had seen the dead raised, the sick healed, countless miracles performed. They heard His teachings and observed Him love others with compassion. Their one desire was to know how to pray. Why?
They had seen the religious leaders of their day stand and pray. They had even prayed themselves; but there was something dramatically different what they saw in Jesus’ prayers. His prayer life wasn’t rooted in religious obligation; it flowed from the relationship He had with His heavenly Father. The Son was completely dependent on the Father. His dependence on God was central to every aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry, including how He prayed.
Listening to Jesus pray like this led the disciples to a realization and a conviction they were missing out on something important! These men, chosen by Jesus, recognized that, while they might be believers, they could never be true disciples who became like their teacher until they learned to pray to the Father as Christ did, with intimacy and dependency.
What about you?
Do you desire to pray from a place that overflows from your relationship with God?
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