Tag Archive for teach us to pray

Teach Me to Pray

2016-10-02 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
(Luke 6:12, NIV)

Jesus, You prayed so much when You were here on earth.
At times You ministered to people through the day,
then prayed through the night.

How did You do it, Lord?

For You, was prayer work,
or was it rest?
Did You need to rest from praying,
or was prayer itself a type of rest?

For me, should prayer be labor,
an activity requiring energy and discipline,
an obligation to be endured?
Or should it be rest,
a retreat into You?

If I trusted the Father as You did and
relied on Him completely,
then what would prayer be for me?

Jesus, my Savior,
You are my example.
Teach me to pray.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Teach Us to Pray
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Christ Helps Me Pray

2016-01-05 Devotional with Hymn No comments

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27, NASB)

Father, the more I talk to You,
the more I realize that
I don’t know how to talk to You.
I want to better know how to pray.

I look to Your Son Jesus as my example, and
I hear such beautiful, personal faith in His prayers, such
trust,
submission, and
worship.
But His only prayers I see recorded in the gospels are
a few prayed on special occasions,
intentionally formed for His disciples to hear.
How did He speak to You when
You and He were alone?
On those occasions when He prayed all night,
what did He say?
What did You talk about?

But Father, You show me that
Jesus helps our prayers in far greater ways than this.

When His disciples asked Him how to pray,
He gave a short prayer that models how we are to speak to You.
Through that prayer, He taught us to speak to You
as a child speaking to his or her Father,
simply,
honestly,
trustingly,
with our hearts turned to You.

But what’s more, Jesus has given us His own Spirit.
This Spirit leads us to You and
binds us to You,
as Father and child.
His new life cries out to You from within us,
“Daddy!
Father!”

Your Son Jesus helps us pray,
not by leaving us His prayers written on a page,
but by breathing His own Spirit within us.
This Spirit helps us pray
when we don’t know how.
He takes our
simple,
childish,
fumbling prayers
and speaks directly to You on our behalf
as only He can.

So Father, I come to You as Your Son taught us.
I come as a child,
pretending to be nothing else.
I come with no hiding, with my
weaknesses,
failures, and
imperfect self in full view.
I come in the Spirit of Christ, relying on Him to
shape my heart,
form my words, and
graciously speak for me.

Father, I come to You in Jesus Christ,
trusting in Him alone.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Our Father Exalted
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics