Prayer is Praying

Prayer is a Practice

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.” (Luke 11:1, NIV)

Focus:

One of the most powerful lessons I learned from Papa Hagin (Kenneth E. Hagin) is the importance of focus. If you have called a prayer meeting, let it be a prayer meeting. Pray! Don’t spend the time singing or teaching. Pray! If you are only able to pray for 30 minutes, do that and close the meeting. Don’t try to fill the time up with other things. Our false mindset of quantity has devalued most of our important landmarks. It is never about how much or how long. It is always about how well.

Notice the disciples’ request of Jesus is not “TEACH US HOW TO PRAY.” It is “TEACH US TO PRAY.” There is a world of difference between the two. Today the church is inundated with teachings on prayer rather than the act itself. Until we really pray, all the teachings are useless. The ONLY way to really learn HOW TO PRAY is TO PRAY. It is not about steps. It is all about the very act itself. Prayer is an action word. It is never how much you know about prayer. It is about how much you do really pray?

“Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet.” ― E. M. Bounds.

“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” — Aristotle. 

Prayer is a Practice:

Prayer is a practice. You will never know how to pray by merely attending seminars and or revivals. Until you pray, you will never know how to pray. Growing in prayer is all in praying. For only in praying do you learn the deeper realms that exist therein? Pray, pray, pray, and keep pray. There is no other way to power in God but to pray. There is no doubt that there is a science to prayer, but all of that is useless if you don't pray. The science, the doctrine only makes sense if and when you pray.

"The main lesson about prayer is just this: Do it! Do it! Do it! You want to be taught to pray. My answer is pray and never faint, and then you shall never fail…" ― John Laidlaw

"Teach us to pray that we may cause the enemy to flee, that we his evil power may bind, his prisoners to free." ― Watchman Nee 

It is time to pray for the saints of God. We have had enough of the teachings. It is time to live the life of prayer. Will you? Are you? It is time to pray.

© 2015 Akin Akinbodunse

Link to Study Series:

Teach Us to Pray

A Father's Heart

The Ground of Prayer (Part One)

Resources for Further Study: 

Teach us to Pray by Bunni Pounds

Lord, Teach us to pray by Andrew Murray.

Teach us to Pray by Bunni Pounds - Streaming