Luke 11:1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Jesus taught His disciples to pray. According to today’s verse, John taught his disciples to pray. Leading people into a lifestyle of prayer has been a huge part of mentoring since time began. Instructing individuals about how to make contact with the Living God is the greatest of all lessons. I learned about prayer through daily life as well as in class room instruction. My first mentor lived next-door to me at our Bible school. I learned about prayer through his early morning prayer sessions (it helped that all of the windows were open). I also learned about prayer from a prayer seminar called “Change the World School of Prayer” with Dick Eastmond. I am forever grateful for those two vehicles that helped me to make continual contact with the Lord. Matthew Henry also taught his followers about prayer in his book ‘A Way to Pray’. Here is a short excerpt from his first chapter.
“Let me rouse myself to take hold of God, to seek his face, and to ascribe to him the glory due his name.
Unto you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
Let me now with confidence enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for me through the curtain, that is, through his flesh .
Let me now attend to the Lord with undivided devotion, and let not my heart be far from him when I draw near to him with my mouth and honor him with my lips.
Let me now worship God, who is spirit, in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
Address God with Reverence and Awe
Having thus engaged my heart to approach God.
I must solemnly address myself to that infinitely great and glorious Being with whom I have to do, as one who is possessed with a full belief of his presence and a holy awe and reverence of his Majesty, which may be done in such expressions as these:
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!
O you whose name is the LORD, who alone are the Most High over all the earth!”
We really can enter His gates with thanksgiving and enter His courts with praise. As Henry pointed out, we come into His presence by faith in His blood. That is where we rest, that is where we worship, that is where we find restoration.
