READ: Judges 7,8; Psalm 109; Luke 11:1-28
SCRIPTURE: Luke 11: 1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
OBSERVATION: In Jesus' life, prayer was inseparable. Jesus had a regular prayer life. The Gospel tells us of the occasions of his short prayers (for e.g. Jn.11:41,42) as well as the times he spent in prayer for the whole night or alone (Mt. 14:23; Mk.1:35; Lk.5:16, 6:12). In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about prayer that how to pray and how not to pray (Mt. 6:5-15). Jesus' prayer life impacted his disciples' life. Here we see one such thing. We do not know how long they waited for Jesus to finish his prayer. But as they were waiting for Jesus, they would have seen how Jesus prayed. They also may had wanted to pray like Jesus. So, one of his disciples asked him, "Lord, teach us to pray." Notice the request here: He was not asking Jesus to teach a prayer so that he could use it in times of need. Rather, he asked Jesus to teach "to pray," not a prayer.
One may expect that Jesus would have taught how to spend more time in prayer or how to pray for a long time. But, Jesus taught them a short prayer. This model prayer gives an outline to pray. After this, in the next nine verses (Lk.11:5-13), Jesus interpreted about the first word phrase he taught, "Father"- how good the Father is and of his the spiritual gifts. This passage also emphasizes and encourages us to pray fervently.
APPLICATION: Jesus' prayer life is the perfect example for every Christian. His busyness of life did not prevent him to pray. He did not teach his disciples about how to spend more time in prayer. But he showed them through his life of prayer. As a disciple of Jesus, I want to pray like him. In my prayer, my focus should be on God the Father and his spiritual gifts, not any material blessings. For he knows what I need even before I ask. Prayer is not about asking worldly things we need, but spending time with God. Then, time will be no matter.
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