Lord, Teach Us To Pray!

Lord, teach us….

Luke 11:1 “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

The anointing of prayer, rubbed off on His disciples too, as they pleadingly ask their Master to teach them the art of prayer. We read in verse 12, “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Power and anointing on Jesus was the result of Jesus being shut with His Father all through the night, after He walks out of His prayer closet, He makes some crucial decisions of selecting 12 disciples for His ministry. Friends, whatever is birthed from the prayer altar would certainly be blessed! These hand picked disciples went to shake the world for Jesus. Jesus taught His disciples to call Him “Our Father!” Luke 11:2 “So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.”

After accepting Jesus as my ‘Father’, I’ve never felt so loved and secure as I feel now in my life. It’s so gorgeous to belong to Him! Usha Uthup, an Indian pop singer, who belongs to a tamil Brahmin family said “I could be in a temple, saying my mantras, like everybody else, but in my mind I am always saying “Our Father! Jesus Christ is the face I visualize whenever I think of God. I always see him as a handsome and powerful man in his sixties, never as a young person, even though Jesus died at the age of 33. When I get up in the morning I say, “thank you God for everything you have done for me yesterday.” (extracts of interview given for Indian Express, June 21, 09) There are so many Christians fighting and arguing about their differences of opinion, but here is one hindu by birth who always thinks about Jesus! That’s exciting! Let this open our eyes towards our love for God.

A Christian lady told me that she had to recite a particular prayer 50 times every day for one month in order to be blessed. I wonder if she knew the secret of loving Jesus with all her heart! If you are still reciting a memorized prayer and you are happy about it, then you can never discover the secrets of deeper prayer. Only seekers can find Jesus! Mathew 7:7 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Did you know, God wants to get intimate with you? There are times when no sooner I close my prayer room for prayer, immediately I would be enveloped by His Presence as though He was just waiting for me to get into the prayer room. Think of that! Creator of the Heaven and universe waiting for you! Incredible!

Calling Him “Our Father” or to put it in the way I address Him, “My heavenly dad” makes me feel ‘special’, for we are not forsaken or abandoned, but we belong to our Heavenly father. Oh, how wonderful!