Lord, Teach Us...

"Lord, teach us to pray..." (Luke 11:1)

Hello, my dear friends in Christ,

Photo: godsgirl pixabay

Hard to believe that October is almost gone, isn't it?  I'm still enjoying our warmer than usual days, and the crisp fall colors, and the sweater weather, and wearing boots without slogging through the mud...yet.  I know that our pretty days like this will be ending soon, but I am so glad for a REAL autumn this year.

One of my favorite things about fall?  Fall recipes.  I love apple pies, apple crisps, soups, casseroles, and all the warmer, comfort foods that cooler weather brings.  Baked breads, fresh from the oven, Crock-pot favorites, simmering all day and giving the house a nice, "homey" feel.

When I first arrived in France, I can safely say that I didn't know how to cook.  I knew how to open a can, open a box, and follow directions on a package, but not to cook.  If you gave me a whole chicken, I had no idea how to cut it up.  I loved lasagne, but how did you transform ground beef, noodles, tomatoes, cheese and spices into that wonderful, tempting dish?

No clue.  Since France is known for its gourmet, from-scratch cooking, I had everything to learn.

I decided early on that my children would not suffer the same fate, especially my daughter.  Like my missionary mother-in-love did for me, I started her from the beginning, knowing how to do everything, from scratch.

The first lesson:  Before starting a recipe, any recipe, make sure you have ALL the ingredients.

There is nothing more frustrating in cooking, than dumping half of the ingredients for brownies for example, in the bowl, only to discover that you are out of cocoa powder.  Brownies without cocoa are not brownies.  It might be a cake or a sweet gooey mess, but not brownies.

Before we start cooking, we go through the recipe, ingredient by ingredient, and check to make sure that everything is there.

Earlier this year, I did the same thing with my spiritual life.  At the wise counsel from a close friend, I did an inventory of my spiritual ingredients.  What does God desire of me, in my day-to-day walk with Him?  What are some areas that I have allowed to slip away?  What are the matters of the heart that I have allowed to "grow cold" in my walk with the Lord?  What are the key ingredients that I am missing, or need to improve?

It has been a humbling, needful introspection.  Many of the blog posts from this year are gleanings from this conversation with a friend.

More recently, the Lord has been speaking to me about prayer.  As I was reading through the New Testament earlier this year, I was struck by the conversation of the disciples, toward Jesus:  "Lord, teach us to pray..." (Luke 11:1)

I have often wondered at this statement.  After all, the disciples were with Jesus constantly.  I am sure that they had prayed many times with Jesus, and had been witness to many prayers offered up by Him to the Father.  Surely, if anyone could say that they knew about prayer and how it worked, it would be the disciples.

Perhaps, after spending time with Jesus and observing His relationship with His heavenly Father, they realized that they did not understand this key ingredient as much as they thought.

This phrase has become a rallying cry for me this past month:  "Teach me to pray."  These four words have given me pause as I want to understand more about prayer.  The disciples did not ask, "Lord, teach us to do," or "Lord, teach us to be..." followed by a list of accomplishments or attributes, but simply, "Lord, teach us to pray."

I cannot think of a request that the disciples could have asked Jesus, that would have pleased Him more:  "Jesus, we want to be closer to the Father, to talk with Him, and see Him work in and through us, the way He does with you.  Teach us to pray."

May God help me, as I continue day by day walking with the Lord, that He would give me this same desire for instruction, and close fellowship with the Father.  Over the next few days, I would like to share some simple truths that I have "rediscovered," that might help someone else to get closer to God, as well.