Prayer Lessons: Day One

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when He finished one of His disciples said to Him “ Lord teach us to pray… Luke 11:1 ESV

My step father was a concert clarinetist and when I was entering first grade he decided it was the perfect time for me to begin to learn to play. Lessons were every Saturday and I was expected to practice every day after school. Now I confess I never liked clarinet but the lessons taught me the discipline of music and later I fell in love with singing.

No one; not even my very strict step-dad expected me to just spontaneously begin playing one of Beethoven’s Symphonies for a while.

Photo by Gabriel Santos Fotografia on Pexels.com

So why do we think that praying is any different? Jesus wasn’t angry that the disciples didn’t know how to pray. He welcomes us to ask Him to teach us and He began by teaching what we call The Lord’s Prayer.

Pray then like this: Our Father who is in heaven hallowed be your name. Matthew 6:9

Lesson one in prayer is that we can only begin as a child of God. Jesus didn’t tell us to pray to the creator of the earth; the king of heaven or the master of the universe. Jesus invited us to come as children. We must accept His invitation to join His family before we can pray as we should. And as a part of a family we say “Our Father” humbly accepting that we are a brother or sister to everyone who comes to Him by faith. Are you ready for your prayer lesson today?