Lord, Teach me to Pray…

Jesus was asked how we should pray and he responded by giving us the Lord’s Prayer, to lay out a model for us to follow. But Jesus taught us so much more about prayer through the example he set in His life. Through time alone, early starts, pulling all nighters, praying out loud or just acknowledging His Father’s presence, Jesus showed us what it means to ‘pray without ceasing’.

How can we in the twenty-first century West live the life of prayer practiced by someone who had none of our digital distractions and didn’t have children to raise or a house to clean? Can busy people really pray all the time?

Although Jesus didn’t have a wife and family, He had His disciples. They were young and needy and required so much teaching. He had three short years to teach them everything He could. He could have stressed about it and prioritised teaching over prayer or healing the sick but no, it was through His example that He taught them the most.

As a full time mum and homeschool teacher this really speaks to my heart. I often struggle to fit everything I want to teach into the week and yet, the phrase, ‘more is caught than taught’ would sum up how I believe Jesus wants my children to learn. Yes I teach maths, science, English, Bible, history etc, but I also read my Bible alone every morning and the children know I do this , I pray before we have morning school, before we eat, when we see an ambulance, hear a sad news story, hear about a need in our church, have an exam, see something beautiful and on and on. Prayer is the foundation of all that we do and it was recently that I realised the impact that had had.

One of our young adults had a bump with their car, afterwards they were shaken up but, after swapping details, drove on for a few minutes to a service station. It was there they sat down and realised they’d forgotten to pray. Twenty minutes post accident they reached out to God, but most importantly they explained to me that they couldn’t believe it had taken them so long! That was music to my ears, to know that they were beginning to understand that they have a Father who is ready to help them at any time and who delights in their company. Slowly the message is getting through, prayer is not optional, it’s essential.

When I googled images of prayer, I was presented with beautiful pictures of hands clasped together, eagerly petitioning the Lord.

Holy though this appears, this perception seems to stop many people from fulfilling the Biblical advice, to be, ‘praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.’ Ephesians 6:18.

I often pray when driving, if I take my hands off the wheel and close my eyes to do this, I will indeed gain close communion with God, in Heaven!! Closing our eyes and putting our hands together enables us to focus on God, but it shouldn’t restrict us from praying at less quiet times.

So what is prayer? Is it talking to God? Listening to Him? Is it just being with Him? The answer is all three. We, as believers, are always in His presence, but until we acknowledge His presence it isn’t praying.

Perhaps I can use a worldly example to explain what I mean. When we are sitting with a friend, but we don’t acknowledge they are there, we aren’t growing our relationship, if anything we are driving a wedge between us. So too with the Lord, if we are to grow in our love for Him and know His will for us, we need to spend time with Him and trust He’s there helping and holding us. This doesn’t mean we have to stop everything we are doing and focus solely on Him, on the contrary, we can bring Him into the situation by casting our thoughts to Him.

This habit, of constantly looking to the Lord with our inner mind does not in any way preclude set prayer times, in fact I believe these are enormously important. I don’t believe it is necessary to rise from our morning prayer time with an Amen almost said as a goodbye, instead we can rise from prayer time with a change of pose, not a change of companion, for God walks out of our ‘prayer closet’ with us.

As I leave my morning prayer time I walk down the corridor and I’m met with so many needs within seconds…Mummy, where are my trousers? Mummy can I have breakfast? Mummy where’s my Maths? and on and on. My bleary-eyed body struggles forward, hearing the cacophony of voices and trying to process whose need is greatest. The secret to me not immediately retreating back into my room, and hiding under the duvet, is that it’s not me alone meeting all of these demands, but Christ in me. At this point I’ve already begun the day by thanking Him for my sleep, however short, and given Him the day, asking Him to fill me with His Spirit and allowing me to draw from His bottomless pit of patience. So I am armoured up, ready for the battle of fighting my own selfish desires and weaknesses.

When I flounder, which is often, it is because I have taken my inner eyes off Him, it is then that I sink. When I realise that this is happening I reach out my thoughts to Him and ask for Him to rescue me and every time He’s there, ready to help. Jesus’ disciple, Peter, could walk on water when he looked at Jesus, but as soon as he looked away he also started sinking, but Jesus rescued him, just as today He rescues us, we need only ask.

Perhaps this inner dialogue is easier for one, like me, who likes to write, or for a woman who never stops thinking? I’m not convinced this is true though, I just think it’s different. Men often sit in silence together, so perhaps prayer for them is, in part, a silent acknowledgement that Jesus is with them?

How we pray will always be personal, but one thing is for sure, we all need to do it. It’s more important than anything we do and yet it’s sadly neglected by many and because of that Christians are not living their life in all its fullness.

How about you? How do you, ‘pray without ceasing’, 1 Thessalonians 5:17? Please do share any ideas in the comments.

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