“Lord, teach us to pray…”

Wise words in the cry heard by Jesus from one unnamed disciple in the following verse.

“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’” (Luke‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬, ESV‬‬)

The plea was “teach us to pray,” not teach us to influence, or teach us to grow a business or brand, or teach us to market or network, or even teach us to preach or teach or speak.

Sure, we can do all those things, and we can do them all for God, but what resonated with me as I read this familiar verse is that the cry of this disciple’s heart was…

“Lord, teach us to pray…”

Plain and simple, yet powerfully profound. He displayed wisdom beyond his years by simply wanting to bend Jesus’ ear to hear the burdens of his heart.

Prayer is talking to Jesus, and yet this disciple knew, just as Jesus modeled the way to do many things, He also modeled prayer by the way He prayed to the Father.

And in the next three verses that follow, Jesus answers him this way…