May 4, 2021 -- Luke 11:1 -- Jesus, 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 English Standard Version

Jesus gave to His 12 disciples power to cast out demons and power to heal to the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God with authority (Luke 9:1ff). Yet, when the disciples heard Jesus pray, they asked: “teach us to pray”. All that power and all those signs they could perform lacked something.

This brings to mind I Corinthians 13—if we are gifted to preach, to do great acts of self-sacrifice, but have not love, we are noisy gong or clanging cymbal. What must have touched and moved His disciples to ask to learn how to pray was their observation of Jesus’ close connection with His Father in heaven. Jesus’ dear love for the Father made all Jesus’ suffering service seem but light and momentary in view His devotion to His Father. The disciples observed the love a man can have for the Father in heaven and the profound love the Father has for His children. No wonder they were hungry to know that!

When Jesus teaches us to pray, the Spirit of God lights in us a fire of such devotion that no suffering can ever quench it. It is a fire which was kindled at the forges of ages past at the Father’s direction.

When Jesus’ example of prayer inspires us we begin to bless the Father as the Source of All Good Gifts. As praying continues, day in and day out, month to years, our hearts know Him better and more fully until it is not His gifts we long for, but we desire our Father Himself. He is the chief joy of the heart.

When Jesus’ people pray, persistently, urgently, they see the world as it truly is, under the full control of the Living God and the foolish gnashing and vain speculations of people are shown to be weak, feeble and pitiable in the face of infinite power of the Living God of Glory.

When the Spirit, Who lives in us, moves us to pray, it is no longer a mere duty, something we check off a list and say, okay, on to the rest of our day, no! The Spirit fills us with the knowledge of the Kingship of Jesus and His rule over every part of our lives. When the Spirit empowers our prayers, we see every grand arc of our lives as governed by the Father Whose purposes will never fall to ground in failure. The greatest moments and the smallest things are all brought to Him with attention and child-like wonder. Marvel at this, delight in the fact that He the LORD of all the earth and ruler over spinning galaxies considers the prayers of His children.

Jesus, teach us to pray! As Your disciples asked so long ago, so we Your people, know how urgently we need Your instruction and Your Spirit’s unction. Father in heaven, You have chosen us from before the creation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before You—let the truth of such love for us forged in long ignite in us such a fire of true devotion that our lives are consumed with love for You, dedicated life-long prayer that will finally reach its zenith when in eternity we are in Your presence. Amen.

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