How’s your prayer life? It’s a simple question, but it can be tough to answer. Literally it sounds like, “How has talking to God been lately?” Emotionally it might feel like, “Sum up your relationship with God at this point in your life.” Last week we talked about reading your bible, we talked about how to properly study the bible. Bible reading, compared to prayer, is clearer and more “objective.” How many pages? How far along in your plan? Which books have you been reading? What have you learned? Prayer doesn’t fit into an Excel sheet quite as easily. For me, if I’m being honest, I can say that sometimes my prayer life hasn’t been the greatest. Sometimes I don’t feel like praying, or I’ve felt like I haven’t had time… sometimes I don’t even know what to say. It doesn’t matter how long I seem to come in my walk with God, there’s always times when prayer is difficult.
And yet, the bible tells us time and time again that prayer is one of the most important things that we can do. You probably feel as insecure about your prayer life as you feel about anything. Prayer might be, at the same time, the most pivotal and most puzzling activity in the Christian life. It is the lifeline and life-mystery for believers. We know we need to pray, but we know we don’t pray enough.
I’ve learned that everyone seems to be an expert at something. I have been to chocolate factories and learned things I never knew before from the people who make the chocolate. I have found out from junior high students, that getting help on a video game is just a quick YouTube search away! I know a high school student who wants to work in the film industry and knows a crazy amount about most movies made in the last 10-15 years. And I don’t have to look very far to find some people who know more statistics about sports than I ever thought possible.
What about you? Think for a minute. If I were to ask your friends and family what topic you have some crazy amount of knowledge in or experience with, what would they say? When you have a question, who do you ask? That person at work who seems to know how to do everything, isn’t just a great coworker but they’re also someone who would probably be the perfect person to ask if you had a question about your job. If you want to improve in your parenting, maybe you ask that friend who seems to have their kids under control all the time. Or maybe you just want to cook that super good meal, so asking your neighbour who makes the most delicious food is the best bet. But if we’re being honest, those people around us are not always the best people to seek out for advice.
Think back over these options again. Have questions about your job? I would guess your manager or supervisor might be a great person to ask. What about truly improving in your parenting? A parenting expert would probably be the best person to ask for tips and direction. And with cooking, you could probably get the best advice from a professional chef. So, who do we seek out when we have questions about God? Sure, you might say a pastor or an elder. But, why not just ask Jesus?! That’s what the disciples did. We can learn for ourselves by reading how He answered their requests.
Luke 11:1, New Living Translation:
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
There are so many times we read about Jesus trying to find a place away from the crowds to pray. One of the disciples comes up to Jesus as He’s praying. I imagine the disciple quietly walking up as Jesus is praying, trying not to make a sound to distract Him. Then, I see that disciple standing, or maybe kneeling, or possibly sitting far enough away from Jesus to respect His privacy, but close enough to where they would be able to talk when Jesus is done. And honestly, this disciple may have been close enough to hear the words Jesus was praying. The disciple drops the comparison—can you teach us like John taught his disciples. And the question is specifically about what Jesus had just been doing before this disciple approached Him—praying.
Luke 11:2-4, New Living Translation.
Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.”
So many people throughout history have skipped over the very significant first words in verse 2. Did you catch them?
This is how you should pray.
Jesus never meant for us to simply repeat these words mindlessly. How do I know that? Jesus has several of His prayers recorded in the Bible. All of them are different. Each of them sound more like a conversation than a recitation.
He starts in Luke 11:2 by celebrating the holiness of God and asking for His reign to come soon. He has spent time in worship and instructs us to do the same. In Luke 11:3, Jesus instructs us to simply ask God for what we need. We don’t have to make a big show about it or even apologize or feel guilty for asking. We really don’t like to talk about Luke 11:4. Here, Jesus points out we should ask God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others. I’m not even close to as good as God is with grace and forgiveness. But that is who I am supposed to be imitating. Finally, at the end of that verse, Jesus tells us to ask God to help us not give in to temptation. It sees like Jesus was simply trying to tell us to keep it normal. Yes, respect God when you talk with Him. But just be yourself and have a conversation. Nothing is too crazy or too boring when it comes to prayer.
PERSONAL CHALLENGE
Talking with God should be part of your everyday life.
It’s not bad to set aside specific times to pray or to have places you like to go to pray. After all, we just found Jesus in a specific place praying by Himself. But, we need to be finding time in our everyday lives to talk to God. But sometimes knowing what to pray about can still be confusing. Well, to put it simply, here are three big general topics you can use when you pray.
1. You should think about the last day, week, or month, and thank God for how He has helped you, cared for you, or just reminded you of His presence in your situation.
2. Since God knows everything, it’s okay for us to let down our guard a bit and humbly ask Him questions. Ask God to help you, whatever that looks like. When Jesus faced important or hard decisions, He went to God in prayer. We should really do a better job of imitating Jesus on this!
3. Ask God to forgive your sins. Be specific. Tell God where you missed the mark. If you follow and believe in Jesus, your sins are paid for. But being a believer also means that you are striving to live a holy life. Not perfect, but holy!
We don’t need to make prayer a complicated, arduous ritual, but instead we can make it just a simple conversation with our Saviour who loves us. I want to encourage you right now to take 5 minutes to pray, and comment any prayer requests down below so that we can pray for you too.
