Prayer and Soaking (Pt. 1)

Okay, so I've been thinking a lot about prayer lately. And I've already learned a ton. And I'm still learning. A ton. And there is still *so much* to learn.

But here are some thoughts from today:

Michael Larson has this song (if you go to michaellarson.com he has a couple songs on there... It's one of them. Listen! He's fantastic.) and it's called "Let the World Sing a New Song".

The first verse says, "Father, we call on Your name. The name revealed by the Word of Your Son. Emmanuel, God with us saves, and Your Spirit invites us to come."

"Father, we call on Your name". We can call on the Name of God. Just like that. In Matthew 6 verse 9 Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father that way.
"The name revealed by the Word of Your Son." We have a tool given to us that actually reveals WHO GOD IS. How does that not excite you beyond words?! 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is God-breathed, which means that it is from God. Anything and everything in that book is there on purpose and useful.

I was thinking that I would like to learn better HOW to pray. If Jesus taught how to pray, obviously it is something that is learned. Yes, it's a natural reflex sometimes... But sometimes it's hard. And corporate prayer can very easily turn stiff and awkward. That being said, I love when I'm listening to others pray, and I can almost forget that they're praying and not talking to someone physically standing in front of them because they're so... Comfortable in their conversation.

And I want to get to that stage... With people. Because alone, I can chatter on and talk to Jesus about whatever... But I want to be able to corporately do the same. And I've been in situations where that's happened.
So I wondered what's stopping us? Age? Maturity? Fear? A lack of knowledge perhaps?

I brought it up with my mentor that we should teach about praying at youth group, and she said we might in the future.

But then... During this song at Tehillah... It hit me.
I don't need a PERSON to teach me how to pray.

The second verse goes, "Jesus You taught us to pray. To pray for thy kingdom to come. It's a kingdom that won't pass away. It's a kingdom that conquers through love."

I don't need someone to teach us how to pray because *JESUS ALREADY DID*! (Matthew 6:5-15)

Yes, I know the Lord's Prayer. But have I really REALLY studied it? Jesus Himself teaches us exactly how we should pray. What if we seriously studied and imitated it?

I have the best teacher in the world.