Session 11

What Jesus says about how to pray

From Luke: A 24-Day Devotional

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. He responded by offering a simple model for our prayer time.

"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 11:2-4)

This prayer is not meant to be recited. It's a model of how to pray.

When we pray, we should acknowledge all that God has done, is doing, and will do in our life. We should be thankful to God for providing for our needs and we should ask God to forgive us of our sins.

Too often we forget that we are to pray simply, as a child speaks to his father. Humans are good at overcomplicating things. Prayer is no exception. Sometimes we will beat ourselves up for not adequately impressing people with our public prayer; as if prayer is a show piece of our spirituality. Or, we will often recite words and go through the motions of prayer without engaging in meaningful dialogue with God. God is our Father. We should simply speak to Him.

Not only should we pray simply, we should pray boldly. Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock (Luke 11:9-10) These are not waiting words. These are words of action. Even though He doesn't need our help, Jesus wants us to participate in His activity by boldly and persistently making requests to our Father. God works through people. He always has. We can approach God with confidence knowing that a good Father wants good things for His children.

Prayer is an opportunity for us to speak to our awesome, incredible Creator. What are we waiting on?

Reflect:

• How would you describe your prayer life?
• What is one way you can better engage God in a simple, but meaningful dialogue?
• What time can you set aside today to spend in prayer with God?