One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

When you were a kid, what is something you observed someone else doing that you were highly impressed with? That you wanted to learn how to do? For my oldest son, Jeremiah, it was magic tricks. He saw his older cousin, Ryan, perform some cool tricks at a family gathering … and he was hooked. He had to find out more. Hours and hours were spent watching YouTube videos of magic tricks and practicing them over and over and over again. After a few months he was getting pretty good. And then the real test came. He went to Washington DC, and he performed his magic tricks in front of a few crowds. The adults were really impressed by this 14-year-old boy. One adult was so impressed we gained special access to the US Capital. A member of the capital police gave us a special underground tour of the US Capital on the back of my son’s magic trick. Finally, he saw Shin Lim, the magician, on America’s Got Talent (he was the season winner, by the way), and he was amazed. I wonder what he would do if Shim Lin came to his house and gave him the keys to performing expert magic tricks?

When I think about the simple question asked here, I must wonder where it came from? The disciple asked Jesus: Can you teach me how to pray? I find this very curious. Why? Because the Jews from an early age learned the Torah. They understood the old testament prophets. And they definitely hear many, many prayers. And so this Jewish disciple is asking this question of Jesus not as one who knows nothing about prayer. He is asking as someone who has been around prayer his whole life. He has prayed over and over again. So we must contemplate, what is he really asking? As we look at the context here, these disciples have seen Jesus do amazing things, things far beyond anything they had ever seen anyone else do. And they saw that he had an incredibly close relationship with God. In fact, God audibly said twice during Jesus’ lifetime that he was “well pleased” with Jesus. So after observing this, after trying to cast out some demons through prayer and not being able to, this disciple must have realized there was another level to prayer than he had ever experienced. Like my son knows there is other higher levels to magic than he knows. And this is the context in which the disciple asked: “Teach us how to pray?” Have you ever wanted something so bad that somebody else had, some knowledge or understanding that you lacked? Spiritually, I’ve run across quite a few people who do not feel a connection with God when they pray. Maybe they should ask him to teach them how to pray? Maybe it’s just as simple as following Jesus‘ instructions here on how to pray. Are we willing to ask the tough questions of Jesus, questions that may make us vulnerable, to others, seeing our sinful hearts?

Lord, teach me to be unashamed and courageous in the questions I ask you. Teach me how to pray, and I may know you deeper and deeper each day. When I know you, I know your heart. And when I know your heart, I can act in your will and in your power!