Learning to pray from Christ

Begin with the Father

The disciples’ need to learn prayer gives an honest starting point. A person can know many words about prayer and still need help in approaching God. Jesus teaches His followers with their attention directed toward the Father who sees and knows them.

In Matthew 6 He first addresses the desire to be seen. Public recognition can enter an act that should be directed to God. Jesus calls His disciples into the secret place and assures them that the Father sees there. The instruction gives prayer a settled audience. It is offered to God.

Bring your actual life

Jesus also warns against empty repetition. The Father knows what is needed before the request is made. That knowledge gives confidence to speak plainly. There is no need to manufacture language that sounds more spiritual than the concern being brought.

The prayer He then teaches includes God’s name, kingdom and will, followed by daily bread, forgiveness and deliverance from evil. Daily needs have a place. So does the condition of the heart. Prayer brings the whole life before God and teaches a person to desire what honours Him.

Make room and return

Choose a time and place that can be kept with reasonable consistency. Open the passage and read it slowly. Consider what it reveals about God, what it exposes and what it invites you to ask. Speak honestly about the responsibilities and people before you.

Some days attention will be weak. Return to the passage and continue without turning the difficulty into a performance. Christian prayer rests on access to the Father through Christ. The purpose of a regular practice is to make room for that communion in the life already being lived.