Prayer: Learn by doing

I began yesterday's sermon with the story of an incident I had as a teenager on a backhoe. (Watch sermon here.) I revealed that my lack of knowledge and experience had some very troubling consequences. I quickly exited the operator's seat and let the "professional" do the job.

Prayer is not like that at all. Sure, we all struggle with how prayer works and we may lack knowledge and experience. But, the only way to learn to pray is to just do it. If your heart joins with the disciples' request as they said, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1), then God will enable you to become more proficient in it. But, that will only happen as you spend time each day in prayer.

So, as you are spending time in prayer, here are some other helpful ways to grow in your understanding of prayer:

Do your own exciting Bible study on prayer.

All you need is a Bible, a pad of paper and a pen. Begin by reading through the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) and then the book of Acts citing every place that prayer is mentioned or engaged in. Write down every little bit of information that you can glean from each of those references. This may take you a few days or a few months but don't rush. You will be surprised (and overjoyed) at what God shows you as you study His Word with the intention of engaging with Him in prayer. He wants you to talk to Him so He is more than ready for you to learn from Him.

Watch or read "War Room."

This movie (and book) has been written and produced by solid Bible-believers. The prayer principles they reveal in the movie (book) are sound and are intended to inform and motivate a Christian populace to engage God in prayer.

Read "How to Pray" by R.A. Torrey.

This is a short, easy to read classic that I have enjoyed many, many times. Buy it and read it.