Last weekend, my family and I went to see the new space movie, Gravity with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. It reinforced my claustrophobia fears but at the same time the wonder of God’s amazing creation. There was one particular scene when Sandra Bullock’s character was hopeless and desperate for a way out. She leaned her head back and whispered, “Nobody ever taught me how to pray.” I was struck by the “gravity” of her words…”nobody taught me how to pray.” Her character was obviously an intelligent women but had missed out on learning the most important thing…how to pray. As I pondered her statement, I wonder how many people are out there that have never learned to pray.
As the disciples walked with Jesus, they were constantly learning, constantly observing. Many times they watched as Jesus healed the blind, the lame, the mute. They watched him feed thousands of people with only a handful of food. Most importantly they watched as he went off by himself to pray. The Gospels record this was thing that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them. Luke 11:1 says, “Lord, teach us to pray.” They didn’t ask Jesus to teach them how to feed the multitudes or how to debate with the Pharisees or anything else. It was the simple request of learning how to pray that they knew would contain the power that they would need to do everything else.
In E.M. Bounds book on prayer, he describes God’s thoughts on prayer like this:
“You are on earth to carry on my cause. I am in heaven, the Lord of all, the maker of all, the Holy One of all. Now whatever you need for my cause, ask me and I will do it. Shape the future by your prayers, and all that you need for present supplies, ask. I made heaven and earth, and all things in them. Ask largely. It is my work which you are doing. It concerns my cause.“
The disciples knew that prayer was the secret to living the life that Christ called them to live. This is the secret for us living the life that God created for us. As you walk through your day, tap into the greatest power…prayer. And while you’re at it, teach someone else how to pray.
