Teach Us to Pray

After over 40 years of praying, I’m still amazed at the mysteries and paradoxes surrounding prayer. Jesus prayed regularly. His disciples were so used to him praying that they asked him to teach them to pray. He often taught the disciples and crowds about prayer. “When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.” Matthew 6:6 NLT “When you pray, don’t babble on and on.” Matthew 6:7 NLT “Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” Matthew 6:8 NLT “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 NLT “Your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Matthew 7:11 NLT We’re told to pray in a private place, yet Jesus and the disciples prayed with others around them. We’re told don’t “babble on and on,” and we’re told to “keep on asking.” We’re invited into a prayer relationship with “Our Father who is in Heaven” even though He knows what we need before we ask. There are things God does because we pray. There are things God doesn’t do because we don’t pray. When I pray, a transformation takes place within me. As we increase our prayers, God will bring about more action in us, in others, and in the world. Lord, teach us to pray!