Luke 11:1-4 NKJV 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.” [2] So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. [3] Give us day by day our daily bread. [4] And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”
When you consider that Jesus was the greatest miracle worker who ever walked the earth and the greatest preacher who ever lived, it is amazing His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray.
Why didn’t they ask Him to teach them how to work miracles or how to preach and amaze the people with their doctrine? They knew His prayer life was even more powerful than His miracles or His doctrine. Indeed, it was His union with the Father that gave Him the power to work miracles and His authority to speak as no man had ever spoken before.
Jesus told them repeatedly that it was His Father who was doing the miracles through Him and that His doctrine was not His own but the Father’s. The same holds true today. Jesus said in John 15:5 that without Him we can do nothing. There are many things we should do in addition to praying, but there is nothing that we can effectively do without prayer. Prayer is one of the main ways of abiding in Him.
John 15:7-8 NKJV If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. [8] By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He taught them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” Although every believer prays this verbatim, what Jesus gave was actually an outline that covered how to approach the Father and what subjects we could discuss with Him. He doesn’t want to hear the same memorized prayer from all of us. He wants to hear what is on our hearts and minds because He wants a relationship in which He can help us and bless us in any way He can.
Today you can pray and expect to receive answers from your Father. He is ready and willing to answer your prayers. How do you know? Jesus said so! Your prayers are the key to living a powerful Christian life.