Lucas 11

Lucas 11

Murray - See With Christ in the School of Prayer - excerpt... “Lord, teach us to pray.” Yes, to pray. That is what we need to be taught. Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the feeblest child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise. It is fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One. The powers of the eternal world have been placed at its disposal. It is the very essence of true religion, the channel of all blessings, the secret of power and life. Not only for ourselves, but for others, for the Church, for the world, it is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of Him and His strength. It is on prayer that the promises wait for their fulfilment, the kingdom for its coming, the glory of God for its full revelation. And for this blessed work, how slothful and unfit we are. It is only the Spirit of God can enable us to do it aright. How speedily we are deceived into a resting in the form, while the power is wanting. Our early training, the teaching of the Church, the influence of habit, the stirring of the emotions—how easily these lead to prayer which has no spiritual power, and avails but little. True prayer, that takes hold of God’s strength, that availeth much, to which the gates of heaven are really opened wide—who would not cry, Oh for some one to teach me thus to pray? Jesus has opened a school, in which He trains His redeemed ones, who specially desire it, to have power in prayer. Shall we not enter it with the petition, Lord! it is just this we need to be taught! O teach us to pray. Here is a prayer by Andrew Murray for those learning to pray on page 9 With Christ in the School of Prayer Blessed Lord! Who ever lives to pray, You can teach me to pray, me to ever live to pray. In this You love to make me share Your glory in heaven, that I should pray without ceasing, and ever stand as a priest in the presence of my God. Lord Jesus! I ask You this day to enroll my name among those who confess that they do not know how to pray as they ought, and specially ask You for a course in teaching in prayer. Lord! Teach me to wait with You in the school and give You time to train me. May a deep sense of my ignorance, the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of prayer, lead me to cast away my thoughts of what I think I know, and make me kneel before You in true teachableness and poverty of spirit. And fill me, Lord, with the confidence that with a teacher like You I shall learn to pray. In the assurance that I have as my teacher, Jesus, who is ever praying to the Father, and by His prayer rules the destinies of His Church and the world, I will not be afraid. As much as I need to know of the mysteries of the prayer-world, You will fold for me. And when I may not know, You will teach me to be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Blessed Lord! You will not put to shame Your student who trusts You, nor, by Your grace, would he put You to shame either. Amen. Secret Power of Prayer One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” [Luke 11:1] Isn’t it interesting that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray? You might think they would ask, “Lord, we want to know all the tricks. Teach us to walk on water. Teach us to multiply fish and bread.” Or, “What we really want is the big one, Jesus: Teach us how to raise the dead.” Or perhaps a more intellectual disciple would bring other sorts of questions to Jesus: “Explain the doctrine of predestination to us.” But these men were perceptive enough to realize that the secret of Jesus’ ministry lay in his prayer life, and this was not something that could be learned in three easy lessons. They were familiar with Jesus’ habit of withdrawing into a desolate place and spending long periods of time with the Father. They realized that to be powerful in ministry they would have to be earnest in prayer. And so they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They reminded him that John the Baptist also had disciples, and John had taken great care to instruct his disciples on the art of praying. Training is indeed needed because no one is born a good “pray-er.”Why? Because nothing is more repugnant to a fallen human than to spend time alone with God. No person naturally seeks God. Only when we are redeemed do we have any desire at all to draw near to God … and even then we find it difficult. There should be a common yearning among Christians to be more accomplished in prayer. Have you not felt the frustration of being inarticulate in your prayers? Have you not felt sometimes that your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, that you don’t know how to do it? Have you ever wished someone would train you in prayer? Jesus’ answer was to give the disciples a model prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer. We now shall look at it more closely in the following meditations. Coram Deo - The Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, and the other prayers of the Bible serve as models, and the Holy Spirit has been sent to help us pray. All the same, we can all benefit from being taught how to pray by a human master, as John taught his disciples. Do you want to be a better “pray-er”? Find someone who can model prayer for you and pray with you. (Before the Face of God. Book 2) F B