Lord, Teach Me To Pray

Prayer is a significant, life-giving force for all of us as Mothers of Nations.

For the next several weeks, I would like to share with you my journey with the Lord as He taught me about prayer. Most of this instruction and insight was gleaned through what I would call “on the job training,” through circumstances and situations in my daily life where He gave direction and answers as I reached out to Him for wisdom and understanding. As an example, let me share with you an incident very early on in my Christian walk.  

Years ago my husband and I were off to a weekend retreat, excited to hear what the sponsors had to say on the topic of marriage. Upon our arrival we noticed that all kinds of people were attending this event with many different backgrounds, various church affiliations, and a wide span of ages. One of the first instructions given at the seminar was to listen to our leaders and not participate in any separate prayer meetings during the entire conference.

Well, the very first night of this marriage encounter two people approached us to come pray with them! Being very young in the Lord and not wanting conflict with the seminar leaders, we decided to seek the Lord as to how He felt about our joining the other group for prayer.

As soon as my husband and I began to pray about this situation, the Scripture verse Matthew 6: 5 (NIV) came to me. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

That verse was all we needed. God had clearly spoken to us with a Scripture regarding this specific situation. He was telling us to obey the leaders and pray in our room, not with the crowd. That moment in time left a major spiritual imprint on my life. God was not looking for a “show” or for me to be super-spiritual and rebel against leadership. Instead, He was looking for hearts that prayed in purity and holiness. He was also teaching me to learn to seek Him in prayer first for His will and direction.

What the others at this seminar were doing appeared correct because it is always good to pray. However, the man leading the unauthorized prayer time was usurping authority of the leadership and desiring to have his acts seen before men. Matthew 6: 1 (NIV) says, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Next week I will share with you some of my prayer experiences as a child. Even in those early years I recognize that the Lord was preparing me as a Mother of Nations and for a life of prayer with Him. As we close today, please take a few moments to think about your own prayer journey and especially how the Lord has used a Scripture to guide and direct you.

Dr. Sharon Predovich