27 December | Youth
«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.» Luke 11:1
The disciples saw Jesus perform many miracles. They listened to His teaching and preaching, but they did not ask Jesus to teach them how to heal or preach. They wanted to know what the secret of His prayer life was. They asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
There are certain principles in God’s Word that we need to pay attention to. Even the disciples did not pay attention to what Jesus taught them. He told them that prayer has two purposes:
(1) To glorify God. He stated: “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). When we pray, we are the beneficiaries, but God is the Giver. And glory is always His. (2) We experience complete joy. This is what He says in John 16:24: “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Most do not know what that is.
An answered prayer produces joy. Not just any joy, but “full” joy. No one can offer you anything better. In Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis wrote that we are like a “child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”
There is no point singing “the best place in the world is at the feet of the Savior” if you do not have a special time for prayer each day. I found out that praying is one of the two hardest things I have to do in life. Why is it so difficult to pray? Simply because we do not like to pray. Prayer is not a logical thing. Sometimes you have to kneel, and that is uncomfortable. Then, you have to talk to someone you do not see. Let me tell you something frankly: even if you do not want to, even if you do not know how, go to your room, and close the door. Turn to God, remembering something recent, something like this: “Lord, I do not know what I am doing here. I do not know how to pray. Today, I saw a comment on Facebook that made me upset…” See? You are already praying. No need for fancy words. At first, your prayers may not make sense, but over time prayer will transform you into a close friend of Jesus. What could possibly be better than that?