Teach us to pray

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. – Luke 11.1

I have said before that prayer is surely one of my weak points in my Christian life. That’s tragic because prayer is the most important single thing that we can do. I don’t have any excuse because here the disciples kindly asked Jesus to pray and we get to benefit from His response.

So Jesus told them how to pray. He gave them some things remember in their prayers. There are some key elements to remember. God is in heaven. God is holy. All we pray for should be for the advancement of His kingdom. God provides our daily bread. God forgives our sin and expects us to forgive others. God has a perfect divine will that we ought to want to see accomplished.

This is not a simple prayer to be repeated over and over by rote. It reminds us of the kinds of things we ought to include in our daily prayers.

But I think the key thing is that it is a reminder of who we are talking to. It is help us reflect on our Father who is a heavenly, Holy, providing, forgiving God who has a perfect will for our lives. Coming into communion with God is what prayer is all about. It is not about changing Him, it is all about changing us.

When we pray, as we with confidence enter that throne of grace, may we be keep in mind who we are talking to.