What Jesus Taught Us About Prayer

Prayer is one of the most incredible opportunities on this side of eternity. We can carry a conversation with the Creator of the Universe! 

Because of Christ, we can "enter in boldly before the throne of grace" and confidently place our needs before a God who knows no limits. 

For those who have taken advantage of this and taken notes or journaled their requests of God and followed up on them at a later time, no words can describe how many prayers are so sweetly answered.

Jesus exemplified a powerful prayer life, but he only specifically taught several things on prayer:

In Matthew 6:5-13, a wonderful passage containing the well known "Lord's Prayer," Jesus taught two parts to effective praying:

1. Pray In Secret

If we pray to be seen or share our devotional lives to "edify" others, we fail this principle of prayer.  If we tell others to gain recognition, we lose recognition with God. 

Choose your Rewarder: the satisfaction of looking spiritual before others or the promises of God's reward. 

Secrecy builds intimacy in friendships, marriages and of course also strengthens our most important relationship with God. 

We should mostly keep our prayer lives a secret between us and God.

2. Pray Simply

Pagan religions "babble" on and on, thinking their prayers are answered only by repeating their words or prayers again and again.  

Faith sometimes means we "pray through" or keep fasting and praying until the answer arrives (Daniel 10:12), and at times faith means we bring our request before God only once, and trust that even our mumbling is heard and cared for by God (Matt 6:8). 

God knows what we need even before we ask, so even our thoughts are important to him.

The paradox of the Omniscience of God is beautiful. Omniscience is a term to describe that God is everywhere at the same time. It means God is not only everywhere, right now, but he is 100% with you in every moment - you have His undivided attention. 

In Christ, God test-drove the network, or "was tempted in every way, yet was without sin." 

We know that he is "close to each one of us" as if we could reach out and touch him. 

The message of the Kingdom is that it is near to each of us, even within us.   

When we pray, we can come in a quiet spirit and we should do our best to bring genuine worship, and share our hearts with our most loving and powerful God.