Let’s learn to pray

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The power of words”

Our Bible verse for today: “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Let’s learn how to pray”

Are you satisfied with your prayer life? Most of us aren’t. I’m not. I want to be a better pray-er. I pray often, and I pray in faith, but I want to be better at talking to God. I believe that’s probably true for you too.

As we have already learned, reading the Bible is more important than praying because it’s more important for me to hear from God than it is for God to hear from me. But with that said, God does want to hear from me, and He wants to hear from you too. Depending on the translation, the Bible refers to prayer or praying more than 600 times. That’s a pretty good indication that God wants His people to pray.

During this month of study about the power of words, we will continue to consider the power of the words God has spoken to us, and we will spend much time considering the importance of the words we speak to others, but we also need to think about the words that we speak to God.

In Luke 11:1 the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Please remember that these were religious men. They had been raised as good Jews with a strong faith in God and therefore, they had been praying their entire lives. But after observing Jesus Himself in prayer and seeing how powerful and effective His prayers were, they realized they still had a lot to learn about praying – and they were eager to learn. That needs to be true of us as well.

Early in my Christian life I was fortunate to have had two important books about prayer recommended to me, both of which helped me to establish good prayer practices. One was “The Disciples Prayer Life” by T.W. Hunt, and the other was “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire” by Jim Cymbala. I recommend them both to you.

It’s true that in its simplest form, prayer is just a conversation between a Father and a child. But just as a child will have deeper and richer conversations with their father as the child matures, so too our prayer conversations with God need to progress beyond childish simplicity.

What God says to us is of supreme importance. But what we say to God matters too. We will think more about this tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Share this:

Related

Leave a comment Cancel reply