Study 1. Teach us how to pray

Welcome to these 7 studies or devotionals that will explore prayer—some ways to pray and some reasons to pray.

In the Bible, the theme of prayer and praying is continually brought to the surface. We will explore how Jesus taught his friends to pray, how Jesus prayed himself, and ways others are seen praying throughout the Bible.

In today’s study, Jesus is coming back from praying, something he did as a rhythm in his life. (We’ll pick this up again in Study 5.)

When Jesus returns to his friends, they ask him, 'Teach us how to pray!'

Now, let me be honest right from the start—I would have asked Jesus to teach me how to do the feeding miracle or the healing ones. Those would be real showstoppers, and then I could start a ministry and go on the road—all for Jesus, of course! The point is, Jesus’ friends get this one right: 'Help us to pray like you do, Jesus.'

Jesus tells them this:

“Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
Luke 11:2-4 (New International Version)

Maybe you’ve heard this prayer before—it has been used in schools and even films. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have said this about the Lord’s Prayer:

“At the heart of our prayers will be words that Jesus himself taught us. It is simple enough to be memorised by small children and yet profound enough to sustain a whole lifetime of prayer.”

This lifetime of prayer is about worship, where we thank God and give him praise. It is also about being willing to trust that He knows our needs and is willing and able to meet them each day. (Though it might not always feel like it or be easy to live out at times!) This prayer also keeps us in a good relationship with God daily by dealing with and calling out any issues or “stuff” that go against the relationship with God we are discovering.

This prayer also helps us keep a clean account in the relationships around us—quick to forgive and not let issues trip us up or hold us back.

If you haven’t already, pray today. Read over the prayer Jesus gave his friends and see if anything in particular stands out to you.

Enjoying this series? If you like what you read here in this series, then we have a 4-book set called The Manual Starter Pack that you can get hold of from the CVM shop to drill and mine into this stuff even more. Each book contains a month’s worth of reading notes to explore at your own pace, just go ahead and check out the CVM website