[P]ray without ceasing … (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Ask, and it will be given to you; [b]seek, and you will find; [c]knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:7–11).
In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there (Mark 1:35).
Prayer - what is it? It’s talking to and listening to God. It’s walking in close fellowship with God. It’s our intimate walk with Christ.
The disciples of our Lord and Savior walked and talked and learned from the Lord.
They watched and observed Him. They saw Him love, interact with, and move amongst the Jewish people.
In all of this activity, as they walked with Him, one critical request that they asked Him was this: “Lord, teach us to pray … ” (See Luke 11:1 – 4)
Apparently, something about Christ, His prayer life, and the results that He received, made them want to know how to pray like He did.
And this is actually a wise prayer for each of us to pray too.
“Lord, teach me how to pray.”
Be aware that knowing how to pray effectively can change everything in your life.
The Lord commanded us to ‘pray without ceasing.” Apparently, prayer is extremely important since God commands us to do this continually.
Yet, we need to be wise enough to ask Him “Lord, teach me how to pray without ceasing. Guide, tutor, and instruct me as to how to do this.”
We genuinely need to expand our definition and understanding of prayer and what prayer actually is.
A wise prayer to pray daily to strengthen your prayer life is this one:
“Lord, bless my prayer life indeed. Expand its territory. Place your hand anew upon my prayer life. Keep my prayer life from evil, that it may not cause pain.”
This is, of course, praying the prayer of Jabez over your prayer life (See Chronicles 4:9-10).
Reading and meditating on the Word of God is a form of prayer. It’s a form of communing with our heavenly Father. It’s a kind of prayer that is heavy on the listening side of prayer.
The following is one way to pray the Word of God:
Today, I dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and so I abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Today I say of the Lord, You are my refuge and my fortress: my God; in You I trust. Surely you deliver me from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. You cover me with Your feathers, and under Your wings I trust. Your truth is my shield and buckler. And so, I am not afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand, but it shall not come near me. Only with my eyes do I look and see the reward of the wicked. Because I have made the Lord my refuge, even the Most High, my habitation; no evil befalls me, nor does any plague come nigh my dwelling. For He gives his angels charge over me, to keep me in all my ways. They bear me up in their hands, lest I dash my foot against a stone. I tread upon the lion and the cobra: the young lion and the serpent I trample underfoot. Because I have set my love upon Him, therefore He delivers me: He sets me on high because I have known His name. I call upon Him, and He answers me. He is with me in trouble; He delivers me and honors me. With long life, He satisfies me and shows me His salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(A prayer based on Psalm 91.)
May we be wise enough to be students in the school of prayer that never graduate. Our heavenly Father always has more to teach each one of us about prayer and how to pray more fruitfully.
Staying in “school” is simply as wise way to live as we walk with Christ.
For more resources on Prayer:
