In the School of Prayer, Pt. 2

“Lord, teach us to pray…”—Luke 11:1

Only one person can truly teach us to pray, and that’s Jesus. The disciples came to Jesus with a request on how to pray to the Almighty. And since Jesus came from God, is God, and would return to God, it would be imperative that they ask Him and Him alone how to pray. It is only through Him that we can understand prayer because He created it (John 1:3). If we want to understand a passage in a book and we have access to the author, do we not ask her what she meant? Or if we possess some electronic or mechanical device and have a difficult time working it, and the engineer who designed it is present, do we not ask him how to use it properly?

The disciples had the very Creator of prayer with them, so they asked Him how to use it. We each must ask Him as well, because as we request of Him, we are learning to pray. The disciples had Jesus physically present, but we have Him present by the Spirit of God within us. And when we ask the Spirit of God how to communicate to the Son of God, we are praying. And what do we ask? We ask Him how to pray. We ask Him how to address God the Father. We ask Him what and who we should pray for. But, unlike the disciples, our question has already been answered. Jesus gave His response, “When you pray…” He has already taught the lesson on how to pray and it’s found in His Word. We need simply do what He has already set forth. Let’s ask Him how to pray and then go to His Word and follow the example that He has laid out for us. Amen.