Lord, Teach Us to Pray

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down… Isaiah 64:1

The Bible records some marvelous prayers, and Isaiah 64 is one of the greatest. It is a prayer for revival, and because it is in the Bible, we know it was breathed out by the Holy Spirit of God.

It is often said that the best way of learning prayer is to pray with other people. There is some truth in that, but there is also this limitation: If you learn to pray only from other people, you will never pray better than the people from whom you learn.

Many Christians seem to reach a certain level in prayer and get stuck there. But when you hear or see someone who prays effectively, you will feel that you want to grow in prayer. That’s what happened to the disciples of Jesus. These men had been praying all their lives, but when they heard Jesus pray, they felt that His praying was at a different level, and they wanted to learn. So they said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1), and Jesus taught them.

That means prayer is something we can learn. You can grow in your ability, your language, your faith, your passion, your confidence, and your effectiveness in prayer. And we need to learn prayer. When folks write the history of the American church in our time, they might say that we excelled in programs, or in organization, but they won’t likely say that we excelled in prayer.

Do you feel that you need to/want to grow in your own prayer life? If so, would you ask the Lord to teach you too?