Un-natural Prayer

I have always found it interesting that on one occasion, after observing Jesus praying, one of His disciples approached Him and asked, "teach us to pray." It implies that although this disciple had been praying, that upon observing the manner of Jesus communicating with His heavenly Father, he (or she) realised that their prayer life was limited and they needed teaching. Read Luke 11:1 - 13

There is the basic part of prayer, the foundational heart-cry of the person who recognises their need of God's activity in their daily life, and so they call upon God regarding circumstance, needs, emotions, joys, triumphs and the daily cares. The Holy Spirit causes a desire for ongoing communication with our God, so close and imminent now because of the New Covenant made in Jesus' blood. And on impulse, we cry out to God.

In this Luke 11 reading, Jesus of course accepts this basic, heart-cry of prayer to His Father, and then also opens up a whole new realm of opportunity and possibility in prayer.

He uses phrases such as: -
Hallowed - implying praise, adoration, holiness
God's Kingdom - that we place God's influence and will as the foundation stone of all things in our life
Daily bread - our daily needs to sustain life or to fulfill God's purpose for our life
Forgiveness of sins - asking God to forgive ours, and empowering us with holy love as a basis from which to forgive others
Temptations - distractions and wicked things to be denied a place of strength in our life
Boldness - don't pray too small
Asking, seeking, knocking - persevering in prayer

And He promises that God will give you what you need, over and above what you want. The phrases "how much more" is a declaration of confidence in God's ability and desire to provide everything we can need, ask or imagine.

Delia Smith once wrote, "Prayer is a whole lifetime's journey into God".

If you are struggling with a meaningful prayer life, ask you minister, pastor or Christian mentor to "teach me to pray", but more importantly, ask Jesus yourself.

But perhaps the most un-natural part of prayer, and therefore the most difficult part to learn, is to wait on God. As you pray or after you have poured out your heart in adoration, confession, thanksgiving and requests, learning to be still and wait for God to reply, or challenge, or discipline, or even rebuke. This stillness is so hard, especially when we are busy or our need for answered prayer is so urgent.

If a salesman is to come to your home, you will only allow him to be late by 15 min or so and then you will wait no longer. But if a long lost son or daughter is to come, you will probably be willing to wait days or even weeks for them to arrive. The principle is this: the more we love a person, the longer we are prepared to wait. Our love of God needs to be strong and overwhelming, and so we need to learn to wait for God, wait on God, being still in His presence and letting Him work in the silence.

So be still, and learn to pray