Written by Debora Rodrigo de Racancoj
Many of us have followed Christ for years. We attend church regularly. And many of us may not miss any of the weekly meetings offered at our church. We read the Bible regularly, more or less. In fact, many of our Bibles are worn out from using them. They may be full of marks and highlights. We may even be able to recite some of its passages by memory. And in many of our lives, it is easy to find moments dedicated to God in one way or another. But one of the activities in which we, today's Christian women, most commonly fail is in prayer. That moment alone with God is set aside during the little time the daily chores leave us. It may happen that, like many of us, prayer is your pending assignment.
We can find certain similarities with the disciples in a scene we already know. It happened after they had decided to leave everything to follow Jesus. They had already walked for miles and miles next to the one they considered their teacher. They had witnessed a considerable number of miracles and accompanied that unique person who mobilized multitudes. After all this, when they had learned many other things, when they had set a new order of priorities in their life... It is at that time when the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11: 1-13).
Much has been said about the sample prayer that Jesus gave His disciples (vv.2-4). Many have copied its words, others its structure, others its content... Of course they would! It is a masterful prayer. But we do not always realize that, at the moment the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He was already doing it. “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” (Luke 11: 1). He was praying, and the disciples could see how He did it. There are different ways of learning; one of the most effective is to observe examples and imitate them.
Think of all the times you have read in your Bible about Jesus praying. Jesus prayed in solitude (Luke 5: 16), He prayed constantly (Matt. 26: 41-42) and for long periods of time (Luke 6:12); He prayed with purpose (Luke 22:40), and by pouring down upon God that which afflicted Him (1 Pet. 2:23). I am sure you can think of many other characteristics of the way Jesus prayed. Observe the great model and learn. How is your way of praying different from Jesus’? What does the Master teach you today about your way of praying? What do you need to learn?