Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1 NLT)
The Disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. We should ask the same thing too. We talk about prayer. We tell people we will pray for them. But do we pray? Jesus invites us to pray, to enter into a conversation with Him. He tells us that we can talk with Him about anything, we can bring all of our cares and concerns to Him because He cares for us. We can give praise and thanks to God.
Like any good conversation, I think prayer requires both talking and listening. What good does it do to ask God to show us the way then go our own way? God can speak to us in His Word. God can speak to us through the voices of fellow Christians. God can speak to us in the quiet moments in our lives when he makes everything clear, just as He did for the Prophet Elijah. We need to listen for God's voice and recognize it when it comes.
The Disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. We should ask the same thing too. We talk about prayer. We tell people we will pray for them. But do we pray? Jesus invites us to pray, to enter into a conversation with Him. He tells us that we can talk with Him about anything, we can bring all of our cares and concerns to Him because He cares for us. We can give praise and thanks to God.
Like any good conversation, I think prayer requires both talking and listening. What good does it do to ask God to show us the way then go our own way? God can speak to us in His Word. God can speak to us through the voices of fellow Christians. God can speak to us in the quiet moments in our lives when he makes everything clear, just as He did for the Prophet Elijah. We need to listen for God's voice and recognize it when it comes.