“Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.” E. M. Bounds
Three Truths About Prayer From Luke 11:1-2
TRUTH #1: JESUS PRAYS
Simply put, prayer is conversation with God. For us as human beings, part of what it means to be made in the image of God is being able to converse with our Creator.
We’re told in Luke 11:1 of a time when Jesus was praying in a certain place.
Jesus’ disciples saw Him praying regularly and continually.
Jesus was praying when He was baptized, and heaven opened. As multitudes were coming to hear Him preach and be healed, we’re told Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Before Jesus chose His twelve disciples, He went up on a mountain to pray and prayed all night.
Before Jesus fed thousands of people with five barley loaves and two fish, He prayed. Just before Simon Peter rightly confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus was praying. When the little children were brought to Jesus, He prayed over them.
As Jesus was praying on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John got a preview of the bright, white light of Jesus’ glory we will see when He comes again. Coming down the mount, Jesus found His disciples failing to cast out a demon. Jesus said they failed due to a lack of prayer. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He paused to pray!
Before giving His disciples the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus prayed. In the Garden of Gethsemane, as the sins of the world came upon Jesus, He prayed so hard he sweated blood.
He prayed in Gethsemane for Himself. He prayed for His disciples. He prayed for all future believers who would come to faith as the message of the Gospel was spread by His disciples and then each succeeding generation.
As Jesus was dying on the cross, He prayed for those who had condemned Him to die and nailed Him to the tree. He prayed desperately, feeling the separation sin brought between God and man. He died with a prayer on His lips, committing His spirit into the hands of the Father.
Over and over again, we find Jesus praying.
And the writer of Hebrews tells us Jesus is still praying right now. Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hallelujah! Jesus prayed and is still praying!
TRUTH #2: WE CAN LEARN TO PRAY
In the next part of Luke 11:1: When He ceased praying, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” This refers to John the Baptist. As John had taught his disciples to pray, so Jesus’ disciples desired Him to teach them.
Note that this question is asked immediately after seeing Jesus pray. It’s as if they’re saying, “Lord, some of us learned a few things about prayer from John the Baptist. But there’s something special, Jesus, about the way you pray. We thought we knew how to pray, but watching you pray, it’s clear there is much more for us to learn. Teach us to pray, Lord?”
I don’t know about you, but this request to be taught how to pray encourages me. If we want to get better at prayer, it is something we can be taught. Prayer is something we can learn!
E. M. Bounds wrote: “The most important lesson we can learn is how to pray.”
In some ways, prayer should be the easiest, most natural thing we do. After all, part of being made in the image of God means He’s created us to have conversation with Him. In other ways, however, prayer seems an awkward, difficult thing that we struggle to embrace fully.
Our very souls cry out with the desire to converse with our Maker, but we’re often uncertain about how to get started.
Learning to pray is like a child learning to walk. The baby knows walking is the way forward, but it’s often awkward, short, unsteady steps at the start.
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We should do what babies do when learning to walk. Just start! Go for it! Simply begin!
Praying is how we learn to pray.
TRUTH #3: JESUS EXPECTS US TO PRAY
Lastly, in Luke 11:2, we read: So He said to them, “When you pray, say…”
Jesus calls Christians to pray! He expects it.
Theologian Martin Luther said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
This explains why we often feel our spiritual life is suffocating. Trying to live the Christian life without prayer is like holding your breath. Without prayer, however, you’ll be ever-lightheaded toward the things of the Lord.
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Relationships are built on our interactions with one another. Imagine a husband and wife who decide to only speak to one another on Sunday mornings. Without ongoing dialogue, a marriage will never become what God intends. In the same way, a continuous prayer dialogue with the Lord is essential to living a Christ-centered life.
Tim Keller rightly said: “Prayer is both conversation and encounter with God.”
Concerning prayer, it is encouraging to me that God never asks us to do something He doesn’t also empower us to do.
Consider what we read in Romans 8:26-27: In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Knowing God expects us to pray—be encouraged that His Spirit both helps us and prays for us.
Prayer is one of the greatest gifts God has offered to humankind. It’s the powerful privilege of every person who turns from sin and trusts Christ in salvation. The Bible says that God loves to answer the prayers of His people, and He never gives less than what He knows is best.