In Luke 11:1, one of Jesus' disciples is watching as Jesus is praying off in the distance (being watchful: a common characteristic of a disciple). When he sees Jesus he asks him to teach all the disciples to pray. Obviously, praying like Jesus was foreign to them. Jesus' prayer time seemed different from every leader they had ever watched pray. So what can we learn from Jesus' prayer life?
Do not be like them. Jesus tells us first who we should and should not be like before we model His prayer life. The ones we are to not be like are the "hypocrites" and "gentiles." The hypocrites were men who led worship and prayer in the temple. Jesus refers to them as 'stage actors,' people who's main goal is to receive the applause of the crowd. And, of course, Jesus tells us that their reward is exactly that. That's it. Secondly, He tells us to stay away from praying like gentiles, because they pray thinking about the length of their prayers. They seemed to think that the longer they prayed the louder they got in God's ears. That isn't the case. So, Jesus says, "Do not be like them."
When you pray. Jesus tells us that when we pray we should go into our rooms and close the door so that we can be alone with the Father. It's no wonder that Jesus spent so much time alone praying. He was in the presence of God. And it's what he desires of us! Sure we're going to pray in public, and that's a-ok. Jesus wants us to realize that when we pray, it is in front of God alone. For the presence of God, see Revelation 4, and then pray. So, very simply, when you pray, be alone with the Father, in your heart, soul, and mind!
Here are 3 things Jesus wants us to focus on before we begin praying:
1. Be alone with the Father - He is the only one you are communicating to, so pray like it.
2. Cherish the unseen over the seen. Our Father is in secret, so dwell with Him there.
3. Trust God and His reward. If we get excited over a certificate or special award from men, how much more will we celebrate our Father's reward?
If our hearts aren't in the right place, our words mean nothing. Be alone with God today and pray!
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