Teach me to pray

Wayne M. Warner

"Pray with a rock on your head," says an African missionary among the Anyi people of Ivory Coast. The Anyi people normally carry heavy loads upon their heads, and the rock is an image of an especially heavy burden. Consequently, it becomes natural for them to use these words when asking another to pray fervently.

"Pray with a rock on your head" illustrates the feelings that drove John R. Mott to read 43 books about prayer. At that point, he felt compelled to pray rather than just read about prayer. He later confessed that he discovered more in one real experience of prayer than he had learned in all the books he had read.

Are we surprised the disciples sought out Jesus after hearing Him pray? Unlike the Gentiles, these men were well instructed in Hebrew wisdom and culture. As good Jews, they were men of prayer, praying three times daily. They knew the teaching of Scripture regarding intercessory prayer. They knew about barriers to prayer, such as pride, idolatry and disobedience. Yet, we hear them beseeching Him, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). When Jesus prayed, they felt the frailty of their own personal resources. They wanted something more than secondhand information, the kind you read in books.

I need to personally experience the loftiness of day-by-day prayer power more than I need the repetition of 43 books. Without taking away from the exaltation of prayer by oversimplifying it, is it not true that the essence of real prayer is simply friendly conversation between a child of God and the Heavenly Father? The vitality of the conversation comes in direct proportion to the strength of the relationship. Inner renewal comes through a life of prayer. It is not enough for me to want to pray, or that I have opportunity to pray. I must pray!

Wayne Warner is a freelance writer from Battle Creek, Mich.

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