Purpose of Prayer

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ —Luke 11:1

 

Why would a disciple ask this question? Prayer was certainly known to these guys. Prayer was a part of the spiritual life in Israel before Jesus came. But not prayer like this. No one prayed like this Jesus prayed. For Him, prayer was more than just petitioning God, or even talking to God. For Jesus it was a life of communion between the Son and the Father. The disciples wanted what they saw in the life of their leader. “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man.  Prayer like Jesus prayed is only possible for the renewed man, the born again child. Jesus could communicate with the Father because He was the Son. We can pray like Jesus, after we become children of the Father.

But relationship is more than an incidence of birth, or rebirth. It requires work. A couple has a relationship after their marriage, but can’t base it only on the piece of paper. It requires time, focus and attention. We must nourish the relationship with communication.

Communication isn’t really that complicated. Our great grand daughter is spending the night with us. She will be two next month. She can put together three word sentences. And CAN SHE COMMUNICATE. She has no problem letting us know what she wants and how she feels. “Ask, and you will receive . . .” ( John 16:24 ). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” ( Matthew 18:3 ). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work.

If we can but learn to ask before the situation is desperate. If asking becomes a natural part of our relationship. You might ask why ask? He knows what we need. The problem is we don’t always know what we need: HIM. We learn our need for Him by asking and watching Him work.

A child needs his/her parents. We need our Father, active, involved and working in our lives. Ask and be blessed.

Nick