"Teach Us to Pray"

The only reference in the New Testament where we find it being asked of Jesus, "Lord, teach us…," is in Luke 11:1 where it is written that one of His disciples said, "Lord, teach us to pray."

Why?

 

Mike Glenn, pastor of Brentwood Baptist in Tennessee, said recently that his guess is that when the disciples heard Jesus pray, "He prayed like no one else they had ever heard pray. There was a power when He prayed. There was an intimacy when He prayed. There was a simplicity when He prayed. There was a love when He prayed…a confidence when He prayed that they had never been around before in their life."

 

So, Jesus took time to give His disciples (and us) a sample of what prayer should be like. And, as we read Luke 11 as well as Matthew 6, we see Him expand on that outline.

 

Later, we read how the disciples put what Jesus taught them into practice. We see that powerfully exemplified in the book, The Acts of the Apostles.

 

We really aren't any different than the former disciples. We need to learn how to pray, how to practice prayer. I think this is very clear considering what research has brought to the light.

 

According to LifeWay Research, 2009, prayer is at the bottom of the top critical church ministries of surveyed Southern Baptist pastors. When asked about the number one most important ministry, prayer was only considered such by 5%. That's 40 pastors of the 801 surveyed. When asked about the top five ministries that were critical to the mission, future health and progress of their church, prayer faired a bit better. It was 9^th with 13% of those pastors considering it in the top 5. I doubt the statistics are any better in 2013 than they were in 2009.

 

I believe that the Lord has given the ministry of Moms in Prayer International a task of teaching His daughters the practice of prayer, particularly, corporate prayer using a format often seen in Scripture that begins with praise (or adoration), then confession, followed by thanksgiving and afterwards intercession (supplication). We use God's written Word to guide our prayers. We don't just talk with one another about our children but talk to the Lord and include each other in that conversational prayer.

 

But even more, I believe that Moms in Prayer International is being used to call the church worldwide back to corporate, prevailing prayer. Women, having learned this powerful practice of prayer, often go into their churches and communities to teach others what they've learned.

 

Francis Frangipane wrote, “All the efforts of man to establish laws and govern righteously will not truly transform our culture. We need something greater; we need the presence of God poured out." He went on to write, "God has uniquely designed [woman] with a latent ability to release life through [her] intercession." And, "God is raising up and anointing a prayer army of women who are about to be given even greater power as they intercede before God for their families and their nations."

 

Praying moms, we are an army of prayer warriors given the task to release life through intercession.

 

May our lives echo the words of Winston Churchill—

 

"We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight … with growing confidence and growing strength … whatever the cost may be. … We shall never surrender!"

 

If you'd like to join this army of praying mothers, check out www.MomsInPrayer.org.