While in seminary, we had a prayer journal that was developed by the ministry of Dr. Howard Hendricks. We have a VBC prayer journal available to all that was patterned after this now out-of-print prayer tool.

It was invaluable to us because, by it, we learned to pray daily and persistently for essential needs. We still have the tattered pieces of it that have lists of prayers that God answered. Our budding devotion to prayer was not lost on our 18-month old son. One morning we saw him kneeling with the prayer journal open before him and whispering. This was quite remarkable because he couldn’t really talk yet! What he was doing was simply imitating what he saw his mother and father were doing.

How do we learn to pray?

As mentioned this past Sunday from the prayer in John 17, Jesus is the best argument and encouragement to pray. By His example, we learn the importance of prayer as well as patterns by which we might pray. 

We see another important example of the prayer life of Jesus in Luke 11:1, “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’”

Jesus’ disciples wanted to emulate their Master. This was not the first time they saw Him pray. It was a regular feature of His life that revealed His relationship with His Father. They saw His devotion to prayer, His consistency, and fervor. They saw that this was important to Him. They loved Him. They were devoted to Him. Therefore, they wanted to be like Him in every way. They certainly wanted to be like Him in prayer.

Thus, after seeing Him pray and respectfully waiting until He was finished, they made a simple request of the Lord they loved: “Teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.” Apparently, prayer was something that John taught his disciples and which became evident in their lives. As followers of Jesus, His disciples wanted to learn this skill that characterized His life, John’s, and his disciples. It is a skill and discipline that should mark all followers of Christ from the First Century until now. 

Jesus answered His disciples’ request very simply, “And He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

He had prayed “The Lord’s Prayer” on another occasion recorded for us in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. Here, Jesus provides His disciples with a shortened version of that prayer as a means of teaching them to pray. This simple prayer includes praise, a request for God’s will, God’s daily provision, Gods’ forgiveness and ours of others, and victory over sin. This is a very simple pattern by which we can learn to pray.

How do we learn to pray? We learn by the example of Jesus, by the example of others, and by the prayers they pray. 

• We learn to pray by the example of Jesus and other great men and women of the faith in both the Old and New Testaments, and in our own lives. 

• We learn to pray, not only by their example but also by the very prayers they prayed. As we read the prayers of David, Solomon, Hannah, Mary, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul, we see that the great prayers of the Bible are all very similar. They include praise and thanksgiving, God’s glory, confession of sin, and requests for God to do what we cannot do for ourselves.  

• We learn to pray by the example of other Christians. Pay attention to the believers in your life whom you respect, and follow their example of prayer. 

• We learn to pray by the prayers they pray. There is no special prayer language that you should feel you have to master. Listen and learn from great prayer warriors who simply and sincerely talk to God with great respect and great love. Great prayers are always prayed in Life Groups, Sunday school, Bible studies, and worship services. Listen and learn.

Finally, there is one last lesson about learning to pray. This week, a friend sent me a quote on prayer by the Puritan Richard Sibbes. It was an extended quote, and as I read it, there was one statement that jumped off the page, “By prayer we learn to pray.” What a simple truth! We can study and follow the examples of Jesus and others, but when it comes right down to it, “by prayer we learn to pray.”