Prayer Problems: Practice - 1 Prayer Is Caught, Not Taught

Focus passage: Luke 11:1-13

I am amazed at how often Jesus can be found praying. There are eight instances that I know of in Luke alone. You would have thought that Jesus didn’t need to pray.

Yet somehow prayer seems essential in His ministry. It is as if He needs the time with the Father if He is to go on. I shouldn’t be surprised. I find that I need prayer. It calms me down helping me with my worries and fears. It brings me confidence so that I try things I might otherwise shy away from. Maybe the disciples saw that in Jesus. Maybe that was the reason that they asked Him to teach them to pray. They saw the connection that He had with the Father and they wanted that for themselves. They never asked Jesus to teach them how to preach or do miracles. They just wanted Him to teach them how to pray.

• Prayer was fundamental to Jesus’ success – You can find Jesus praying before he chooses the twelve disciples (Luke 6:12), at His transfiguration (Luke 9:29) and before His crucifixion (Luke 22:44). Most of the important times in His ministry were preceded by prayer. He came away from prayer with direction and resolve for the ministry. He did not do His work alone. He was always doing ministry in conjunction with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

• Prayer requires practice – To say that Jesus will “teach us to pray” is only half of the equation. Like any musician knows, you have to commit to your musical instrument and practice it if you are ever going to gain competence. Most of us would agree that you can’t just sit down and play the piano or guitar. Someone teaches you the basics and you practice until it becomes natural for you. Prayer is similar. You learn to pray by praying every day. God helps you build skills as the act of praying becomes more natural. There is always more to learn by practicing.

• Prayer prepares us for hard times –It makes me want to cry. Crisis comes and I watch people sit down for the first time in a long time and wonder why prayer is so hard. They complain that God doesn’t answer their prayers or give miracles any more. The truth is that daily prayer is necessary to be ready to pray in pain. I know the sound of my Heavenly Father’s voice. I know what He has promised to do for me. I grow comfortable with prayer because I do it so often. Pray early and pray often about little hurts so you that are ready when something becomes a crisis. God will prepare you for hard times.

I find when I struggle with prayer that it is often because I have neglected the practice of prayer. If I want to have power in my prayer, I need to make prayer a central part of my life. That takes time and sometimes it is not easy in a busy life. Yet, the time I spend in prayer is time I don’t spend in worry or in doubt. It is one of the greatest investments I can make each day. Like Jesus, I do feel calmer and more confident. I find that God gives me answers to some of my problems in prayer. I find that He lifts my spirits. Did that all come the first time that I prayed? No, it has taken years of practice and it will take even years more to be the prayer that I want to be.

What keeps you back from taking time to pray? Please share your comments and questions below or send me your thoughts at 32daysdevotions@gmail.com.   My hope is to “talk” about your thoughts in the blog on Wednesdays so we can have a conversation and I can learn from you.