He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” – Luke 11:1
The body has a strange way of responding to how we position ourselves. It’s why we stand at attention during something important, slump down when we are feeling sad, or bow our heads to pray. Good posture can help us respond well to what we are doing, and bad posture can cause unnecessary aches and pain. Changing our posture can sometimes communicate more about how we feel and what we are doing than words.
All my life I have heard the Lord’s prayer. I have memorized it and cherish the words as I pray them often. But I think we forget that this prayer is also a lesson. Jesus’ disciples see him pray and want him to teach them to pray. While he does give them a prayer to recite and it is important we learn it, I think that Jesus is also teaching his disciples how to posture their lives in prayer. I don’t just mean bowing our heads and closing our eyes, but the way our lives are shaped by how we position ourselves in prayer.
Like the disciples, take first the posture of humility – let prayer be a teaching moment, and Jesus will help you to pray. Learning to pray begins by looking to Jesus as an example. Jesus’ ministry and life was rooted in a relationship with the Father and his posture of prayer was noticeable. The disciples saw Jesus being prayerful and the way that prayer intersected with everything he did and they wanted to know how.
Before teaching them the words, Jesus has already taught by example that prayer is a life of dependence on God. We need God, even to know how to pray, and God guides us by the Spirit even when words escape us. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26).” Every disciple needs to pray, and even disciples who know how should ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Over the next few weeks, we will look at words to the Lord’s Prayer and focus on what they say about a life lived in prayer. But, remember first that this is a lesson. These words teach us not only what to pray but how to posture our lives in prayer.