How to Pray

“And it came to pass, that, as He [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1a

The answer that Jesus gave to them was very easy to understand: “When you pray, say...” In other words, Jesus said, “You do not need to be taught how to pray. You will learn to pray by praying.”

Prayer is more than telling the Lord what we think He should do, and all the wonderful things that would happen if only He would do as we ask. Real prayer begins when we enter into such communion with Jesus, that the Holy Spirit can pray the will of the Father through us.

This is taking hold of the willingness of the Lord, not overcoming His reluctance. He may reluctantly give us something that we continually press Him for, to our own hurt. Note the children of Israel who pressed Him for meat, rather than being satisfied with the Manna that He had provided. He gave them quail, but Scripture tells us that it brought “leanness” to their souls.

“There are no shortcuts or push-button methods of entering into His presence. Prayer” means spending quality time with the Lord. When the Lord’s people come to an understanding of the value of having a “set apart place of prayer” for communion with Him, and entering this place often, they will be on their way to a life.

This writing is an excerpt adaptation from Developing A Personal Prayer Life by Wade E Taylor