"Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God."
Dr. M. Lloyd-Jones
If you are a Christian I suspect that you agree with this quote from Dr. Lloyd-Jones, at least you should! The Scriptures make it very clear that prayer is a vital part of every believer's spiritual life and the spiritual life of the church. Unfortunately many us struggle with prayer. We misunderstand and misuse it and ultimately fail to enjoy the spiritual blessings God intends. What are we to do? We need to commit ourselves to grow in our understanding and in our practice through careful study of God's Word. Consider one helpful passage in this regard.
In Luke 11:1-13 Jesus gives his disciples a lesson in prayer. Notice three things:
1) Jesus makes it possible to pray. This is crucial. As we consider the message of this gospel account we are confronted with this reality. Apart from Jesus redeeming work prayer is impossible. We are cut off from God because of sin. Jesus has come to provide reconciliation through his life death and resurrection. At his birth the angel proclaimed the birth of a saviour! (Luke 2:11) Only through faith in him can we have access to God the Father (John 14:6). What this means is if you want to experience the blessings of communion with God in prayer you must come to him through faith in his only Son, the Lord Jesus.
2) Jesus teaches us to pray. The lesson is not only for those first disciples but for every disciple. The disciples observe Jesus in prayer and recognize that there is something about his prayer life that they have not experienced (Luke 11:1). They want and need to be taught. We must posses this same attitude if we are going to grow in our prayer life.
3) Jesus makes it personal. There is much more to learn from this lesson in prayer but it is important that we see this at the start. Jesus teaches his disciples to address God as "Father" (Luke 11:2). This was not the typical approach of the Jews in Jesus day. Wonderfully this is how the New Testament Scriptures describe the relationship of the forgiven sinner with almighty God. When we turn from our sin and trust in Christ for forgiveness God takes us into his family and we communicate and commune with him person to person. Yes, human person to divine person but none the less, we have a personal relationship God and prayer is the expression of that reality. Understanding this can radically impact our approach to and experience in prayer.
Further Reading: Luke 11:1-13; Matt 6:5-15; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:12-17; 1 John 3:1-4