http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Johnson/Edna/Elizabeth/1939/teachustopray.html
"And it came to pass, that, as
he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples
said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his
disciples" (Luke 11:1).
While Jesus was praying, Luke took
notice that He prayed often. He records Jesus praying at his baptism
(Luke 3:21); in
the wilderness (Luke 5:16); before the appointment of the apostles, when He
continued all night in prayer (Luke
6:12); praying alone (Luke 9:18); and praying
before His transfiguration (Luke
9:28-29).
Do we automatically know how to pray
just because we understand there is a command to do so? Is there a right
and a wrong way to pray? Notice the prayer in 1 Kings 8:54 where Solomon
assumed a certain physical position. Is this what the disciples were
asking about? Are we always to be on our knees with our hands spread up to
heaven? Should we beat our breasts like the sinner in Luke 18:13? Will that make
our Heavenly Father hear our prayers?
In Matthew
6:9, we see that Jesus taught his disciples to pray a certain way,
but that did not include a particular body position. He taught the words
to speak to our Heavenly Father, words which addressed Him reverently and
humbly. If we are going to ask the Lord to teach us to pray so that He
will hear, we need to notice several instances in scripture where God
heard prayers and why.
King David prayed often, and in Psalms 10:17 we see one reason why God might have
listened to his prayer. He prepared his heart and humbled himself before
God. Again in Psalms 19:14, David says,
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation
of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my
redeemer." Are we concerned with our words when we pray?
Not only are we supposed to be concerned to
pray with proper words to use in prayer, but we need to know there are
certain things we should pray for.
The apostle James (James 4:2-3) said, "Ye
lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye
fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive
not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your
lusts."
We may assume from the account that Luke
and the other disciples had been struck with the excellence and fervor of
Jesus' prayers and, remembering that John the Baptist had taught his
disciples to pray, they asked Jesus also to teach them. From their
experience and testimony we learn:
1. That the abilities and fervor of Jesus
(or Paul) should lead us to desire the same.
2. That the true method of praying can be
learned only by our being properly taught. Consider that we cannot pray
acceptably at all unless God is our teacher.
3. That it is proper for us to meditate
beforehand what we are to ask of God, and to arrange our thoughts, so that
we may not come casually into His presence.
We learn from the testimony of James that
we must not ask God for things to satisfy our fleshly desires. We must ask
for what God has promised He will give so that we may grow spiritually and
be the best we can be.
Beth Johnson(http://www.oldpaths.com)