How Do I Pray?

Mar 17, 2023

Do you remember when you first became a Christian?

If you were young, things like learning how to pray were just part of your formative years. I am so grateful that this is my story. I have a long heritage of faith.

A few weeks ago, I met with a young woman and her sister who recently moved here from Iraq. We sat down together and her first words were: “I want to accept Christ and get baptized today!” Growing up Muslim and yet miraculously hearing about Jesus, she knew that she wanted to follow Him.

As she left our meeting, she asked if the next time we met, I could teach her how to pray.

Wow! There are too many details to continue the whole story, but suffice it to say, one of the women in our 20s/30s group who also grew up Muslim is going to disciple this young woman in her faith.

I’ve thought a lot about her question “How do I pray?” Most of us know “The Lord’s Prayer” where Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. It can be found in Matthew 6:9-13, but since we’re going through Luke’s Gospel, I want to go to his description in Luke 11:1-4:

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.”

- Luke 11:1-4

Prayer was a regular practice for Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, the writers record that He would go to a quiet place to pray. If I were to tell someone how to pray, I’d begin by saying, “anytime, all of the time, anywhere!” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray continually”!

Unfortunately, the default for a lot of people is to pray when they need something from God; but prayer is supposed to be a regular practice, not just filling a need.

It’s a relationship! You don’t only talk to your spouse, parents, children, or friends just when you need a favor, right? It’s the same with Jesus.

Prayer is not supposed to be a shopping list of requests, like a list to Santa. But as Jesus taught, we pray first by recognizing God’s Holy Name.

If you’re not familiar with the attributes of God, we just finished talking about some of them in our recent devotionals. Go back and learn how to call on God by His Holy Name.

Then ask for a little bit of Heaven to come to earth! Sound familiar?

Yes, we talk often from the stage about who we are as a church by helping to bring a little glimpse of Heaven to earth. Often as I pray, God reminds me of someone I should reach out to or help! AND THEN give us our provisions, what we need (not always what we want, but what is best for us).

An often forgotten aspect of prayer is to confess our sins AND to ask God for help to forgive those who’ve hurt or sinned against us.

And finally, don’t let us be tempted to sin, but provide a way to avoid sin, as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Jesus continues in this passage in Luke telling us our prayers should be like The Parable of the Persistent Traveler. When we pray boldly, pounding on Heaven’s door, refusing to give up, the powers of darkness cannot win! God will either give us peace, our relationships will be reconciled, we’ll gain wisdom, or all of the above.