Pastor's Corner: Lord, teach us to pray

We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26).

"Pastor, I made a big mistake in my prayer life," said the parishioner. "I asked God for something, and I got it!"

"I shouldn't have prayed that way," comments, another parishioner. "I forgot to add, 'If it be Your will, O Lord.' I was concentrating on what I wanted!" How often we misunderstand how to pray and what to pray for.

We err when we fail to ask for the wisdom to pray properly. The problem is we often try to impose our will on God's will. But we need God's wisdom not our own. We err when we ask God to bless our plans. (You want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.) Rather, we are to ask, "Lord, what would you have me do?" We err if we merely inform God about our troubles. He already knows what's going on. Instead, we are to seek to make God's will our own will. We are not to depend on prayer to solve our problems. We are to depend on God.

Only the Spirit of God can teach us how to pray. May you and I better learn from the Master Teacher in the best of times and in the worst of times to pray continually, to be thankful constantly, and to rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17).

But, as in everything, when we fail in our prayer, may we turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness, knowing that through His blood on the cross it has already been granted. Jesus is the ultimate answer to prayer! "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17). "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1); always in the powerful name of Jesus Christ and according to Your holy will. Amen.

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Pastor Michael O'Hearn

Hi-Line Lutheran Churches