Teach Us to Pray

His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray in this weekend’s Gospel text (Lk 11:1-13).  So Jesus taught them the Lord’s Prayer. And then He told them some parables, addressing other prayer-related issues. So here are some questions about your prayer life.

How much time do you spend in daily prayer? How much time do you think you should spend? Did you know that Muslims pray for about 10 minutes…5 times each day?

When you pray, how much time do you spend telling God what you want? And, on the other hand, how much time do you listen to what God wants to say to you? (Truthfully, I’m a lot better at telling God what I want, than I am at really listening to Him!)

Here’s a final point. In a book called 'Vesper Time', Frank Cunningham says: “Gratitude is the first movement in the spiritual life.” I think there's something deeply true in that.   

So here's a final question: How much time do you spend thanking God in your daily prayers? (I’m embarrassed to tell you my answer to that question!)   

Blog homework: Set a timer for 10 minutes and spend all ten minutes thinking of things for which you want to say thanks to God.