Lord, Teach Us To Pray (Luke 11:1)

 


Friday, March 7, 2025


Psalm 19

Genesis 37:25-38:11

Luke 10:38-11:4


Observance: Perpetua and her companions, martyrs at Carthage (d. 203)


Lord, Teach Us To Pray (Luke 11:1)


Perhaps today is as good a day as any to reflect on how we pray. Before we do, we should get one thing out of the way. That is the idea that “real” praying only happens when we pray off the top of our head, making it up as we go along. This type of prayer, also called extemporaneous prayer, is indeed a good way to pray. But it is just as valid as preparing our prayers in advance. Or is God the Holy Spirit absent if we decide to put some effort into our prayers?


One excellent principle to keep in mind is that the best prayers come straight out of Scripture itself. Today we read the Lord’s Prayer: if all scripture is God-breathed, and today’s prayer comes out of the mouth of Jesus himself, and he himself tells us this is how we ought to pray, then this is a good prayer. If you haven’t prayed it yet, you should probably stop and pray it now. Take your time – there is a lot of good stuff packed into those few short phrases.


As an Anglican, I do feel obligated to also bring up the poetic device known as the Collect. A Collect is a type of prayer that brings together all our different thoughts, and sets them out in an ordered fashion. It is made up of several parts: first, the name of God; then, an attribute of God related to the prayer; then, a specific petition; followed by what we hope to gain from receiving what we ask; concluding with either Jesus’ name, or the name of the Triune God. The prayer we pray every Sunday morning is the perfect example:


Almighty God,

to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden:

cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

so that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name;

through Christ our Lord.


But why do we pray? This question raises probably the most important aspect of prayer. For all the words we could either plan out or hope to think of on the spot, they are merely a clanging bell without this one thing: that is, we must pray in the Spirit. Whether it is a beautiful series of phrases out of the Prayer Book, or a heartfelt stream of direct thoughts, prayer is nothing without the Spirit. This is not achieved by working up our feelings so that our emotions are high; nor is it an intellectual appreciation of a well-crafted piece of religious prose. God teaches us how to pray; and he also tells us when to pray, and what to pray for. This means we need to also have a lot of silence in our prayer time. God ministers to us when we pray, and he knows what is best for us, so if he wants to take his time, then we should let him. We should ask God how to pray – and we should also wait for him to give us his answer.


What type of prayers do you like best? Where is the Spirit when you pray them?


Lord, your ears are always inclined to hear our prayers: teach us to pray, and teach us to listen, so that our prayers may bring us closer to you.

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