Today I’ll start a series of posts as I journey through the Andrew Murray Book: “With Christ in the School of Prayer.”
There are 31 chapters and my goal is to read a chapter each day and post my reflections on it here.
Day 1: “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.”
I don’t know how to pray! That’s it. My revelation! I am starting from the beginning with ignorance. Erasing all of my preconceived ideals on what prayer is and how it is to be done. I am modeling the curiosity of the disciples:
Luke 11:1
“Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Emphasis added)
Andrew Murray says of prayer (p14):
“Prayer is so simple that the feeblest child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise.”
So simple a child can do it. It’s an amazing thought, that we, the created, can talk with the Creator. It’s a paradox that Jesus has removed. But we have made it so complicated.
Andrew Murray hints that the starting line of prayer is recognizing that we’re not good at it. With this in mind, we must take the position of the student and allow Holy Spirit and God’s Word to be our Teacher. Just as a child makes time for school, we must take the time to learn.
The student learns that:
- Prayer is conversation, and in a conversation we need take the time and listen.
- We apply ourselves daily. – To learn something we must take what we learn and apply it as often as we can.
- We understand that we will never arrive.
So today, I don’t know. But I want to know.
Lord, teach me to pray.
Do you need to ask God the same question?