Teach Us to Pray

The next few weeks we will feature material from Teach Us to Pray ©1995  by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is an excerpt from the Introduction to the book which was edited by Tom A. and Sheila Jones.

When the disciples said to Jesus, as recorded in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray,” for once they were asking for the right thing. If a relationship with God is the most important matter in life, then nothing is more important than knowing how to pray.

A disciple of Jesus who does not know how to pray is like an athlete who does not know about eating properly or an accountant who does not know how to use a spreadsheet or a parent who does not know how to show love.  Anyone who tries to take up his cross and follow Jesus and does not learn how to pray is like a towing company that tries to move stalled cars with bicycles and ropes. 

If we rely on nothing but human power, the life Jesus calls us to is impossible.  On his own, not even the most stable, most healthy, most intelligent and most determined person can do it. Only as we are intimately connected with God through that avenue we call prayer will we continually find the forgiveness, strength, inspiration and direction needed to live the life Jesus described and expected of his followers.

Prayer is not the only thing needed by disciples.  It is just the most important thing.  It is not the only thing needed to accomplish our world mission and build great relationships and have great families.  It is just the most important thing for those of us with these goals. 

Often we pray because we want answers.  God certainly answers prayer, but we must not pray just to get an answer.  Maybe that is one of the things God is teaching us when he doesn’t always give us exactly what we want.  God does answer prayer, but we must pray in order to know God and walk with him.  As Jesus’ disciples who have taken on his mission, we are concerned about getting the gospel to the entire world, but we must not pray just so we can finish that mission. 

As we pray must be seeking God.  We must be seeking his heart.  We must be seeking to have his character.  If we come to prayer with that attitude, we will be about the mission, and we will find the power to complete it because we will find God himself.