Teach Us to Pray

Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1-13

“Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (v. 1b)

Since childhood I have had a love for working with my hands.  I especially enjoy making things from wood.  Recently I purchased a wood lathe.  I was inspired to try and learn wood-turning skills after seeing some beautiful projects created by others.

For me, and I suspect many others, that is the way it works.  I become motivated and inspired to learn some new skill when I see someone do it really well.  It is the outcome of something done well that grabs my attention. 

It was like that for the disciples.  They had watched Jesus for some time.  They had noticed the depth of his character, the breadth of his love, the enormity of his spiritual power and the profound intimacy he had with his heavenly Father.  Suddenly, they made the connection between what they saw in Jesus’ life and his praying. 

It was not as if these men had never prayed, but they had never prayed like Jesus and so they asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  As far as we know they never asked Jesus to teach them how to preach – only how to pray.  They realized the secret of his life was his secret life.