The Right Way to Pray

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2011&version=NIV

Entire books have been written on prayer. Many books have been written on prayer. So I don't pretend to be able to address the topic in one short blog. However, no one can teach us to pray better than Jesus. And he does teach us in Luke 11:1-13. Let's look at some of the amazing truths about prayer in this passage.

First, note why he is teaching his disciples to pray. In verse one, we learn that they asked him to. There are two things that I love about this. First, I believe they asked him to teach them to pray because they saw the power of prayer in his life. The reason I believe this is because right before we read that they asked him to teach them, we read that he had just finished praying. I can picture the disciples - maybe from a distance, or maybe they got to hear his prayer - watching and perhaps listening and being so moved by the prayer that they deeply desired to pray like that. I'm certain this isn't the first time they say him pray, and I'm sure they saw the power of prayer in his life. And so the wisely and boldly asked him, "Lord, teach us to pray." Secondly, I love that Jesus immediately honors their request because he see a truth that we can apply to our own faith-walk. This truth is that when we ask for something that would grow or increase our faith and relationship with God, he will ALWAYS answer that request because it is absolutely a prayer that is according the will of God. He wants nothing more for us to learn about him. So perhaps today your prayer, like the disciples, should be "Lord, teach me to pray."

Next, from this passage we learn how to pray. Here are the things we learn:

We learn from the Lords prayer that we are to approach God in a position of a heart that honors him as Lord and King as Jesus says to pray, "Father, hallowed by thy name."

We learn to ask for God's will to be done in our lives and that he would dwell among us as we are taught to pray, "your kingdom come".

We learn to approach with boldness and persistence. In the story about the one who approaches his friend and midnight in vs. 5-13, that we can and should approach with boldness and persistence as we read the words in vs. 8, "I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs". Jesus also encourages boldness in verse 9 where he says, "Ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you."

We learn to ask for daily needs and the needs of others as we pray, "give us this day our daily bread". And again in the story, the man is asking for bread, not for himself, but for his friend who is on a journey. It also occurs to me that often we think the bread Jesus refers to is about physical needs and provision, but when I think about Isaiah 55:2, that says, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the riches of fare." I wonder if Jesus wasn't referring to prayer for spiritual needs for ourselves and our friends who are on their faith journey. Are you praying for the faith of your friends and family?

We learn to ask for forgiveness, for the willingness to forgive others, and protection from temptation as we read verse four, "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation."

We learn the absolute best thing, the highest good we can ask for - the Holy Spirit. Have you asked God to give you the Holy Spirit? I find it interesting that scripture clearly says this is the best things we can ask for and the thing that our good Father desires most to gift us with (vs. 13), and yet it took so many years of my life for me to learn to pray for the Holy Spirit. But I can tell you, that it is now something I ask for daily for I find that without this gift, I am of now use in God's kingdom, not use to others, and no use to myself. Why is this such an amazing gift? Because God's word tells us that the Holy Spirit is our guide, our comforter, our teacher, the one who knows our hearts and God's and can conform our will to God's. He is the provider of wisdom and discernment, counsel and power, knowledge and fear of God. He is the one who changes us from the inside out, renews our minds, gives us the ability to love and power to carry out the tasks God places before us - and oh, so much more. He is God with us - God within us - a deposit given as a guarantee of our salvation. He is our intercessor who prays for us when we don't know how to pray and who prays for us according to the will of God. He is the one that teaches us all things. Oh yes, the Holy Spirit is a good and amazing gift. And the most beautiful thing is that when you pray for the Spirit, you get to experience all of those things God's word says that He is.

Friends, I pray to day that you boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence. I pray that you would know that there isn't a right time, a right way, or right words to pray but that God hears all of your prayers all of the time and acts on them. I pray that the Spirit would place inside of you the desire to boldly ask for your daily needs, but to ask much more for the bread that fills - for those spiritual needs that the Father is so please to give to you. I pray that you would pray for an increase knowledge of God, His will, His word, His Spirit - and that God would rock your faith as a result.

Today's post was submitted by Carol Bartels