Friday, April 19th, Day 39

Author: Dan Pervorse

Church: Church of the Vine

Luke 11:1
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

On two different occasions the disciples approached Jesus with this simple yet profound request, “Lord teach us to pray.” In Luke 11:1 Jesus had just concluded His own prayer time when the disciples made this request. The very next verse records Jesus’ response to them. He said “When you pray, say…” followed by what we know as the Lord’s prayer. His words indicate that He wasn’t suggesting but instead His was an assumption that His followers would pray.

He wanted His disciples to get this prayer pattern and put it into practice. And today in the church, He still wants us to get it, yet so many Christ followers struggle with prayerlessness. The simple act of connecting with our Father through prayer just doesn’t come naturally for us. Who are we as finite beings that we should converse with this all-knowing, all-powerful, ever present deity that we can’t see or touch.

We can read about God. We can see his mighty works around us. We can see his hand in creation around us and we know that He is a Magnificent and awesome entity. But for most of us we have a hard time talking with him. We struggle with praying to him. After all, what do you say to someone who knows everything already anyway?

Yet if our struggle leads us to neglecting this vital connection, we need to understand this very important truth: our prayerlessness is our declaration of independence from God.

However, the beauty of prayer is not that we have to pray. The incredible beauty of prayer is that we GET to pray. We have the overwhelmingly awesome opportunity to have conversation with The Creator of Everything. Connection with our loving heavenly Father should never be seen as a burdensome responsibility. Instead we must embrace prayer as the incredible privilege and vital lifeline that He means it to be for His children.