Pastor's Desk
February 26 , 2006
I AM CONVINCED that we all pray. Our souls were designed to pray because we were created to have a relationship with our Creator. We were never meant to be alienated from Him. So in our innermost being we pray. I suspect that even the atheist if he is honest will have to admit that he has caught himself praying to a God whom he refuses to know. Many are deceived and pray to other entities or things that in their lives have taken the place of God the Creator. Prayer is universal.
As Christians we pray to God the Creator, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has invited us to call him “Our Father,” when we pray. His disciples had opportunity to watch and listen how Jesus prayed. The gospel of Luke says, “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’” (Luke 11:1 NASB95) There was obviously something about the way he prayed that impressed them, yet they felt it was possible for them to pray that way if only they were taught. So they asked him to teach them how to pray. The disciples, no doubt, like everyone else in their culture knew how to pray and probably prayed as much and as well as anyone. But they wanted to connect with God more deeply than they had experienced up to that time. They observed that the way Jesus prayed was somehow more effective. Of course, they saw the results of Jesus prayer every day.
I believe that deep within us there is a desire to pray better, to connect with God more intimately and to see more tangible results of our prayers. Let us attend the school of prayer and learn from Jesus the Master Teacher. The disciples did and we can observe the results as we read the book of Acts. They were good students because they did well what he taught them about prayer and the results were amazing: people were saved, miracles took place, the kingdom of God was extended into many areas and the good news spread throughout the Roman Empire in a few years.
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And He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come…’
This page was last updated on Friday, February 24, 2006