The Essential JesusSample

The School of Prayer

PRAY: Close your eyes and imagine that God is actually sitting with you in the room. What chair does He choose? How do you feel? What are you thinking? Now, what would you like to say to him?

READ: Luke 11:1-13

REFLECT: If someone asked you to help them develop a deeper prayer life (v. 1), how would you respond? By explaining your prayer habits, by sharing a book on the subject, or perhaps by suggesting a helpful tape or seminar? Jesus begins His response by simply praying. If you want to get better at praying, He seems to say, don't spend too much time studying it. Just pray.

The Lord's Prayer (also see Matthew 6:9-15) is undoubtedly the most famous and most repeated prayer in history. Over the centuries, many of the church's best minds have analyzed this prayer. But for our purposes we can note that effective prayer involves two perspectives. First, in prayer we must look beyond ourselves to God, His nature, His holiness, His Kingdom, and His will (v. 2). And second, we should not be hesitant to focus on our day-to-day needs – food, forgiveness, and strength to avoid temptation (vv. 3-4). Without a balance of these two perspectives, our prayers will become lopsided and eventually less effective.

After showing them how to pray, Jesus then delivers the teaching His disciples originally requested. First, He encourages boldness (vv. 5-10). Does that mean we can ask for new cars, big bank accounts, and dream houses? Not exactly. Jesus' story, as well as other passages in the Bible (Matthew 6:8; 26:42; Philippians 4:19), remind us to focus on our genuine needs, not our selfish wants. The boldness Jesus encourages is related to the intensity and persistence of the requester (Luke 11:9-10), as well as the conviction that God is able to meet any genuine need.

Jesus also reflects on prayer from God's perspective, and the analogy He uses is a loving father caring for a needy child (vv. 11-13). God loves us and He knows what is truly best. Our mistake is that we want to tell Him what "good gift" He must give us. Sometimes we need to let go of what we think is the best solution to our problems, and pray for an acceptance of His will, whatever that may be. Jesus assures us that a heart attitude of faith in our loving heavenly Father combined with a bold persistence in prayer will get incredible results (Matthew 17:20-21).

APPLY: What is one situation in your life that needs bold, persistent prayer? Is it a need or a want?

PRAY: Spend time talking to God about the biggest need in your life. Ask Him to help you develop a deeper understanding of His will.