Lord teach us to pray. (Luke 11:1)
The disciples stood amazed at Jesus and they suspected a deep connection between prayer and the quality of His life. After two years of observing Jesus’s seemingly incessant communion with His Father, they made this request of Him. In Jesus they saw a lived theology, a way of being that gladly attended to the presence of His Father and His leadership. This caused a craving in the disciples’ hearts for the same. Jesus not only spoke of the love of God, He lived confident of His Father’s loving presence with Him and reflected that in all He did. As far as the disciples could see, Jesus’ prayer life intimately connected Him to the experience of God’s love and presence.
I, like the disciples, long for the quality of relationship Jesus had with God. Such a relationship is available to me, but I must desire to be with God. I recognize, though, that I often want something from God more than I want to be with God. I am encouraged by Jesus to trust God’s loving presence with me, and to engage often with Him. I need to learn from Jesus how to pray.
As each of us enter times of prayer this week, let us remember God’s desire is for us and as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. May He continue to deepen our prayer life with Him.
For Reflection:
“Come to Me,…and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” (Matthew 11:27–30 NASB)
- Be mindful of God’s presence in all you do and everywhere you go throughout your day. As you go through your activities (planning an event, details at work, sharing your faith, discipling another) express gratitude to God for His faithful presence to you moment by moment.
- What distracts you from hearing the voice of the Lord?
- Recall a good conversation you have enjoyed with another person? What would it look like for this to characterize your conversational relationship with God?
