I’ve been reading and praying through the gospel of Luke the past few days and in Luke 11 I came across the following.
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
Jesus: “Father, holy 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 11:1-4)
It’s not just these words for prayer that Jesus gives us.
He also encourages us to press our desires to God: Ask. Seek. Knock. Be persistent and shameless in asking for what you really want. And know that God wants most of all to give us more of himself in the form of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).
The prayer that God is most eager to answer is the cry to experience more of him, the desire to be filled with his Holy Spirit.
Asking God for more “stuff” and things is not off-limits, but neither is it what God wants us to focus on. There are spiritual realities he wants us to see, spiritual forces we have to reckon with, spiritual truths that surpass what our flesh desires.
God wants to cleanse us of hyprocrisy and greed. God wants us to trust him and know in our hearts that he can give gifts better than any father on earth who wants to “spoil” his children.
The cry “Lord, teach us to pray” is not only–or primarily–focused on technique. Prayer is not about getting the words right; it’s about getting the heart right. It’s learning to embrace God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
I encourage you to read and then pray through Luke 11 and 12 and let the Lord teach you to pray.
