Revised Lord, Teach Us To Pray Curriculum Now Available

One of the great blessings Christians enjoy is that we have unhindered access to our Heavenly Father. We are invited into His presence anywhere, at any time, with no need for an intermediary. Yet we often flounder in prayer. Our prayers can be without passion, and we struggle to know how to pray according to God’s will. 

This is not a new problem; even Jesus’ disciples struggled to know how to pray and asked Jesus to instruct them. Jesus responded by giving them the Lord’s Prayer as a model or pattern for prayer—a pattern of seeing who God is, understanding His desires and purposes, and trusting His wisdom, power, and love to meet our needs in the way He knows is best.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray is a newly revised intergenerational curriculum that instructs young and old to approach God in prayer with a heart of submission to God’s desires and a trust in His good and right answers. Through prayer, you will learn to know your Heavenly Father better and enjoy fellowship with Him.

In prayer there is not only the worship of a king but fellowship as of a child with God. Christians take far too little time in fellowship. They think prayer is just coming with their petitions. If Christ is to make me what I am to be, I must tarry in fellowship with God. If God is to let His love enter in and shine and burn through my heart, I must take time to be with Him. The smith puts his rod into the fire. If he leaves it there but a short time it does not become red hot...So if we are to get the fire of God’s holiness and love and power we must take more time with God in fellowship. That was what gave men like Abraham and Moses their strength. They were men who were separated into a fellowship with God, and the living God made them strong.—Andrew Murray¹ 

The purpose of prayer is not to change God, but to change the person praying. Through prayer, God reveals our sinful hearts, makes His will known, discloses His Kingdom purposes, and reveals Himself to us. True prayer is getting to know God better. An encounter with the living God means change for sinful man.

“Lord, teach us to pray” should not only be the heart cry of the disciples but of every child of God who desires to know his Father better. Do you want to know Him as a loving, responsive Father? Seek Him in prayer. Do you want to see His almighty hand at work, intimately governing the affairs of your life? Commune with Him in prayer. Do you want others to know and honor God? Plead with Him in prayer. Do you want to see the power of evil broken, for wrongs to be righted, for justice to be done...for His Kingdom to come? Cry out to Him in prayer. Do you “dig your heels in,” stubbornly demanding your way? Bow before Him in prayer. Are you needy? Humble yourself before Him in prayer. Do you fail time after time, offending others, damaging relationships, scarring your soul? Repent before Him in prayer. Do you fear for the future of your soul? Confide in Him in prayer. For it is as we seek His face that He meets our every need, including our need for change and our need for intimacy.

How often we pass our days without acknowledging God’s presence. How tempting it is to get discouraged in praying for the salvation of loved ones. How familiar worry is to us when trust should be our closest acquaintance. How prevalent it is for us to lean on ourselves instead of on Him. How frequently we neglect communion with God in striving to “serve” Him. How routine it is for prayer to be monotonous, rote, ineffective, powerless...Lord, teach us to pray!