- From the Editor -

Dr. Dennis Corle
Editor/Publisher
Lord, Teach Us To Pray
 
by Dr. Dennis Corle
Editor/Publisher
 
“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”  (Luke 11:1)   
 
      We are going to look at about 13 verses, where Jesus began to instruct them.  The disciples made a request in verse one.  “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying...”  They were observing Jesus’ prayer life.  This is an amazing thing to me.  Who do you think was the greatest Preacher that ever lived?  Jesus!  I don’t think there was ever a greater preacher than the Son of God.  He was and is the living Word of God.  Nobody knew the will of God better than God the Son, Himself.  Nobody could convey it better than the Creator. 
      The greatest Preacher that ever lived was the Lord Jesus.  To me, it is an amazing thing that those who knew Him the best, those that got the closest to Jesus, in spite of the fact that He was the greatest Preacher that ever lived, they didn’t say, “Lord, teach us to preach.”  These were disciples.  They were preachers.  You would think they would say, “Lord, teach us to preach,” wouldn’t you?
      The greatest Preacher that ever lived was the Lord Jesus, but His disciples were more impressed with His prayer life than they were with His preaching.  They wanted to know how to pray like He prayed.  As they observed Him praying, it instigated this request.  It was a prayer, a plea to Him.  “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 
      The first thing that becomes apparent to me in this passage of Scripture is that prayer is contagious.  There is something about prayer, praying and getting an answer.  When I talk about praying, I don’t mean just mouthing words.  I am not talking about repeating phrases that sound spiritual or quoting poetry to God.  I am not even talking about quoting Scripture to God.  I’m talking about making an appeal to the heart of your Father Who loves you, and Him responding and meeting the need.  There is something about it that is contagious.  Everybody wants to get in on that.  When they see God answer prayer, it will do something to make them want to pray. 
      If we ever have real revival in America, it won’t be through preaching; it will be through praying.  Preaching is important and God uses it to minister to people and to draw sinners to Christ, but the fact is that if America is going to have revival it will be because we get people back to the prayer closet.  Not just one or two, but many people in our churches on their knees praying again, and having real prayer meetings, and folks having real devotional lives and a prayer list and a prayer time where they actually commune with their God -- get to know Him, and get some answers from their Father. 
      The Bible is talking about praying and learning to pray like Jesus prayed.  They said, “...Lord, teach us to pray...”  We want to pray like You pray.  We want to get answers like You get answers.  We want to have power with the Father like You have power with Your Father.  We don’t just want to learn to mouth some words and go through a formality.  We don’t want to just put in the time so we can say we did it.  We want to learn to pray like You pray.  That was the request that was made.  They had a Living Example of how it was done. 
      Notice they didn’t say, “Lord, teach us how to pray.”  They said, “...Lord, teach us to pray...”  There is a vast difference in the two.  There are lots of people that have been to every “how to” class in the world and don’t practice any of it.  It is not applied.  Their request was not to give us some facts and instruction and knowledge about prayer, but “Lord, teach us to do what You are doing.”  Don’t just give us the facts about how it is done, but “...Lord, teach us to pray...”  
      That has to do with discipling somebody, but teach us to do what You are doing.  We have people that have been to every soulwinning class in the world, but they never learn to go soulwinning.  They learned how to win a soul, but they never learned to go.  They never learned actually to tell people about Christ, never learned to bring somebody to Christ, but as far as facts they have a mapped-out plan of salvation.  They have learned things about the approach at the door.  They have learned all kinds of things about it, but they have never learned to put it to practice.  They have never actually put it in motion. 
      There are people that have gone to all kinds of seminars about the family and the home, but they have never actually put those things into action.  So they learned about it, but they didn’t learn to do it.  They didn’t say, “Lord, teach us the facts about prayer -- teach us how to pray,” but they said, “...Lord, teach us to pray...”  Teach us to do what You are doing the way You are doing it.  They wanted an apprenticeship.  They actually wanted to learn by doing.  That is what discipleship is.  They wanted to be under His guidance and administration, to actually practice and do what He was already doing.  The Master is the One that can teach us.
      Knowledge is a good thing, to a degree.  “What do you mean by that?”  For instance, in America, people worship education.  Education is a god.  They think education is the answer to everything.  Throw more money at it and educate people more.  The more we educate them, the more wicked they get.  Something has got to change in the heart.  Things have got to change. 
      In I Corinthians 8:1, we find an interesting statement.  These guys were not looking for knowledge.  They already had knowledge.  They have been watching the Master at work, but they said, “We need You to teach us to do what You’re doing.  We need to learn to do what You’re doing, not just watch You do it, not just be impressed with it, but to have the same kind of relationship with the Father You have, to get answers like You get answers, to pray with the same power and fervency You pray with.”  That was their desire.  That was their burden. 
      In I Corinthians 8:1 He said, “...Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”  Charity is love in action, but He said, “...Knowledge puffeth up,...”  Do you know what we have?  We have a bunch of people that are so filled with pride in America today.  Because of education and degrees, you can’t tell them anything.  They are not teachable or humble.  They don’t know how to do anything practical.  They don’t know anything about God, don’t know anything about how to get things from God, but boy they can rattle off facts and statistics and all kinds of things.  Knowledge will fill you with pride if you are not careful.  Education, though it is not evil in nature, it is dangerous.  Because sometimes when people know some stuff, they get arrogant.  They get to the place where you can’t even communicate with them. 
      He did say that charity edifieth.  To edify means to build up.  That can be spiritually or numerically.  Charity is the word used in I Corinthians 13, the love chapter of the Bible.  Charity is love, but the very concept of charity is love in action.  You say, “I give to my favorite charity.”  What you are talking about is some benevolent organization.  You gave to this and it is called a charity because they don’t have a warm emotion toward somebody; they are actually ministering to somebody, or at least they are supposed to be.  So charity has to do with action, not just emotion.  A lot of people have a warm feeling toward all kinds of things, but they never really get that emotion turned into action.  It never produces anything, never makes any difference, although they certainly feel.  No question, they have strong feelings about it, but for some reason those strong feelings never get translated into action that makes a difference.  Charity is love in action, and love, if I love like I am supposed to, will cause me to honor and meet the need of the object of my love. 
      This is a principle.  A greater expresses love to a lesser through provision.  A lesser expresses love to a greater through obedience.  God expressed His love toward us by His provision.  He gave His only begotten Son to suffer and die, to pay the penalty of our sin.  He supplies us with eternal life, when we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour.  So God has supplied for us.  That was the expression of His love.  I can’t show God I love Him the same way He showed me He loved me.  I can’t provide for God.  I can’t protect God.  I can’t do those things that He has done and keeps doing for me.  Do you know what I can do?  I can honor the object of my love.  I show God I love Him, not by provision, but by obedience, by submission, by honoring Him, and by putting what I know about Him into action. 
      Matthew 28:20 talks about this kind of conduct.  He talks about ‘teaching them to observe all things.’  Not just to know all things, not just teaching them all things so they know about it, but teaching them to observe, to act on what they know.  You understand that discipleship is not just knowledge.  It is observation.  That observation, observing the things we know, is an expression of our love to God.  “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”  (John 14:15)  So when He talks about charity edifying, whenever I love God enough to do what I am supposed to do, it is going to build me up.  It is going to build up and strengthen those around me.  It is going to build and strengthen the local church.  It is going to build up the cause of Christ.  It is going to meet needs, not because I am somebody special, but because I am observing what I know.  I am applying, in love, what I have learned. 
      It is not just something that I have a grasp of intellectually.  John 13:17 says, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”  Just knowing a lot of stuff is not going to produce the happiness that the Bible promises.  He said, “...happy are ye if ye do them.”  You have to know some stuff.  I have to get instruction before I know what to do, but just getting instruction and having all this accumulation of facts is not enough.  God said, “...happy are ye if ye do them.”  If you do the things that you know. 
      So God wants you and I to understand that we need help in this area of prayer.  We don’t just need to know some facts about praying by reading biographies, and those are good.  I am for every bit of that.  We do not just need to know the mechanics and how to about prayer, what we are supposed to do.  Jesus went on a little bit later and gave some specific instruction about how to pray, gave them a model prayer. 
      But these disciples were so impressed with His prayer life that they wanted to be taught to do what He was doing.  The first thing He said to them is pretty clear.  “When ye pray...” in verse two, not if ye pray.  He took it for granted that, as a disciple, you are going to have to get involved in this thing of prayer.  You have to set time and place and plan to intentionally pray. 
      A lot of us, our prayers are about like a spare tire.  I mean, we never pray unless we have a disaster brewing.  We are just too busy (at least that’s what we think).  We don’t have time for God.  We don’t have time for fellowship and communion and worship.  But we are calling for  the lifeguard when we are drowning.  Circumstances are about to suck us under.  We are coming up for the last time.  Then we finally cry out to God.  It’s a good thing God is merciful, because He usually still bails us out in spite of our unfaithfulness in prayer, but most folks have never learned to pray like Jesus prayed. 
      How did Jesus pray?  He prayed to commune with His Father, spend time in the presence of the Father.  You understand we are talking about God, the Son.  We are talking about Somebody that really didn’t have all that need that you and I have.  I understand that He was in a body of flesh, but I also understand that He could speak and it was done.  He could command disease out of people.  He could command devils and they obeyed Him.  He could command nature and it obeyed Him.  He didn’t talk to the Father just so He could get a need met and receive an answer.  He talked to the Father for communion.  He talked to the Father for fellowship.  It seems that the only time many of us are interested in God is when we have desperate need.  He certainly wants to meet our need, no question about that. 
      But every now and then God would like for you to talk to Him because of Who He is, not because of what He can do.  There is not a parent alive who does not enjoy being able to meet the needs of your children.  We need to be needed.  We like to be needed.  It feels good to be needed and be a blessing, especially to your children.  So there is not a parent here that does not enjoy meeting the needs of their children. 
      However, there is not a parent here that wouldn’t be grieved if the only time your children ever spoke to you is when they needed something.  Every now and then you would like them to speak to you because of who you are, not because of what you can do for them, because they enjoy spending time with you, not because you have something they need. 
      That is the kind of praying Jesus did.  He was One with the Father.  He loved the Father.  He missed the constant communion.  He’d been with God the Father in eternity past.  He spoke to the Father, not just to get a need met.  Jesus really didn’t have a need in the same way we do, but He still prayed and spent all night in prayer.  So He could get a need met?  No.  He certainly set a great example for us, and we have plenty of need.  I have plenty of motivation to pray, but the sad thing is Jesus didn’t have any need and still He prayed all night.  He went to the Mount of Olives and spent hours, as His custom was, as He was wont to do.  What was the issue here?  “I’ve got this big need tomorrow, so I’ve got to get up here in the mount and get it from God.”  No, He had need for fellowship with the Father.  He had need for communion with the Father.  If I ever learn to pray like Jesus prayed, I’m going to pray for fellowship with God more than I pray for a need to be met.  The sad thing is this: about the only time God hears from us is when we have needs. 
      It is not wrong to pray about your needs and yes, God is interested in your needs.  I am not talking about it being sinful to ask God for something.  I am talking about it being so one-sided and so self-centered that the only time we are interested in prayer, the only time we can find time to talk to Him is when we have a disaster brewing. 
      You say, “I’m just so busy.”  Yes, but whenever your life is falling apart, then you can find time.  When your whole world is caving in, there is always time to pray then, isn’t there?  I wonder where that time came from?  I mean, you suddenly got a 25 hour day that day, right?  You got an eight day week for a change.  No, it’s the same number of days in the week, same number of hours in a day as there is any other time.  Faithful prayer warriors have the same amount of time that you and I have.  God would like for you and I to get to the place where He is important to us.  When the Lord Jesus prayed, He prayed for communion.  He prayed for fellowship with the Father.  It was not out of need that He prayed; it was out of desire to commune with His Father.  It was out of love for the Father and desire for fellowship.  If you have that kind of relationship with the Father you won’t want for anything. 
      There were times when I was a boy, when I was out of tune with my dad.  Now I was his son and he was going to put a roof over my head whether I was obedient or not.  He was going to put food in my belly whether I was obedient or not, but there were times when I knew not to even ask a favor because it would be wasting my breath.  I had done wrong, and I was not in his good graces to ask for special favors and privileges.  He was still my father, but we were estranged.  There was no point in wasting my breath asking for any favors.  I am grounded.  Some of you have been grounded for years.  Don’t you think it’s about time things change and you get on good terms with your Father?  Don’t you think it is about time you get on praying ground?  Don’t you think it is about time you get the relationship set, so that you are in harmony? 
      I realize this is not a clear illustration because God is not this way.  If my children are far away from me, I may not even be aware of what they need, but if they are close I will recognize the need before any request is made.  If I am close enough to see the need and I am in a position to meet the need, they don’t even have to ask.  I think God is a better Father than I am.  He knows better than I know, but sometimes we let too much distance get between us and God.  Sometimes God is not up close and personal with us, and it’s not His fault.  We are the ones who have wandered and strayed from Him. 
      When God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden, His intention was to walk with them in the cool of the day.  Before He ever gave them any work to do, their initial purpose was to commune with God.  Of course, sin messed that up and it still does.  When sin came in, it messed the garden up.  When sin is in our lives, it messes up that fellowship with God.  It destroys our purpose.  It tampers with our communion and keeps us from being close enough to God to be able to pray like Jesus prayed and get answers to our prayer. 
      The Bible tells us some things about Jesus.  It tells us He had the Spirit without measure.  It also tells us when He stood at the tomb of Lazarus He prayed.  “...Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.  And I knew that thou hearest me always:...”  (John 11:41-42)  According to I John 5:14-15, if God always hears, God always answers.  “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 
      Do you know what Jesus is saying?  He always got His prayers answered.  Could I tell you something else about Him?  It tells us He did always those things that pleased the Father.  “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”  (John 8:29)  It didn’t say He did what He had to.  He didn’t say He was begrudgingly obedient.  It said that He did always, always, always, not just what was commanded by God, but what was pleasing to God.  There are things that God doesn’t demand of you that would please Him.  There are things that are not absolute requirements and commands that are pleasing to God.  If you and I would ever get as concerned about pleasing God as we are about pleasing people and pleasing ourselves, we’d pray like Jesus prayed. 
      The Lord Jesus always got His prayers answered, but He was always on the same page with the Father.  He had the Spirit without measure.  There was no measure to His obedience, no measure to His commitment to the Father, no measure to His communion with the Father, therefore He always got His prayers answered.  He always had enough power to do everything that needed to be done. 
      Did you ever notice Jesus never tried to do a miracle and didn’t have enough power?  The disciples did.  But that never happened to Jesus one time.  He never set out to do something and said, “Oops, I don’t have enough power of God to do that today,” but the disciples had a problem with the demon possessed fellow at the foot of the mount while Jesus was up in the Mount of Transfiguration showing Himself to those select few.  The others were at the foot of the mount.  They were believers.  They were disciples.  But they didn’t have any power in prayer.  If they would have prayed like Jesus prayed, that boy would have been healed like he was when Jesus came down and did it Himself.  What I am trying to tell you is that when Jesus prayed, He was praying with a desire to commune with the Father.  It was not out of necessity that Jesus prayed.  It was not in some desperate situation that He was praying.  He always got His prayers answers and He spent nights in prayer without need because He had a desire to commune with the Father. 
      Somewhere along the line, we have to get a hold of this, folks.  “...Lord, teach us to pray...”  Teach us to do what You are doing.  Teach us to spend time with God like You spend time with God.  Teach us to love Him like You love Him.  Teach us to be devoted to Him like You are.  Teach us to love Him enough so that when there is no pressing need, we still want to spend all night in prayer.  Teach us to have that kind of communion with the Father. 
      Something else jumps out at me in this passage of Scripture.  “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying...”  So prayer is contagious, and when they saw what kind of relationship He had with the Father, it instilled a desire in them, caused them to make this request. 
      It also said, “...when he ceased...” in verse one.  “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”  I thought about that statement, because in I Thessalonians 5:17 the Bible says, “Pray without ceasing.”  Now there is no conflict there.  He was specifically crying out to the Father here and our prayers would have to have an end or we would never do anything but pray.  Let me explain something to you.  When the Bible says, “Pray without ceasing.” it does not mean that I do nothing but pray.  It doesn’t mean I don’t work.  It doesn’t mean I don’t commute from one place to another.  It does not mean that I don’t do other things.  What it means is that I get God on the line in the morning and shoulder the phone for the rest of the day.  It means that I establish a relationship of communion with God, and keep the line open throughout my day and my activities. 
      Did you ever see somebody walking around with a phone on their shoulder -- somebody cooking, somebody working, typing, the phone on their shoulder?  They are in the middle of a conversation while they are doing other things, but they are not going to break the conversation, the connection.  They are not going to hang up in order to do something else. 
      God wants me to establish that communion with Him in the morning, and then maintain it all day long.  I have other things I must do in this old world, but God said, “You don’t have to do it without Me.  You don’t have to do it disconnected from Me.  You don’t have to break the connection.  You can talk to Me all day long intertwined with everything else you do.  You can have constant communion with Me while you do other things.  I can be a part of everything you do.”  Not just some little formality that you do for ten minutes in the morning.  God said, “I want you to get Me on the line in the morning.  I’d like you to take some specific time where there is some intense prayer time, when you are completely focused on nothing else but prayer.”  But He said, “I want you also to maintain the connection through the day, as you go about the rest of your responsibilities.”  That is what He is talking about when He says, “Pray without ceasing.” 
      I think this is an interesting statement about Jesus in Luke 9:18.  It says, “And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: ...”  Does that sound rather strange to you?  He was alone praying, and His disciples were also with Him.  Well, was He alone, or were they with Him?  He could be alone in a crowd when He was communing with the Father.  They were there, but He was having some private communion with the Father right now.  He was alone with the Father even though there was a crowd around, but He had a relationship with the Father that superseded all else.  God wants us to get so wrapped up in Him, we have a relationship with Him that supersedes all the hustle and bustle of this ungodly world we live in.  It supersedes all the frustration and frenzy of the crowd.  He wants us to be in a crowd and still be alone with Him, still have that communion with Him. 
      It says that He ceased praying.  That means that He stopped the prayer that He was engaged in at the moment, but He didn’t stop communing with the Father.  He communed with the Father all day long, talked to the Father. 
      Ma Sunday used to say about Billy Sunday that he would be walking down the street and he’d talk to her for a couple minutes and then talk to Jesus a couple minutes.  Going back and forth in his conversation.  You say, “The whole world will think I’m crazy.”  Who cares?  I know they are crazy.  Who cares if they think I’m crazy?  They are crazed and wild-eyed about money and pleasure.  They are crazed and wild-eyed about sin.  What would be wrong with them thinking I’m crazy just because I’m talking to the Lord?  I ought to be crazy compared to them.  If they think I am crazy, I am normal.  If they think I am normal, then I am truly crazy. 
      Here is why you and I need to pray.  Don’t miss this.  Jesus is praying, and as soon as He stopped praying, the disciples came and said, “...Lord, teach us to pray...”  You had better get your prayer time in early because as soon as you get off your knees somebody is going to come with a need.  We find out later in this chapter, the part that I am not going to get to, that if you haven’t been begging bread at midnight, then you are not going to have what they need when they show up.  Mark my words.  As soon as you get off your knees, somebody is going to show up with need.  You had better be able to get something from God.  You had better get on your knees because folks are going to come right and left with needs, and you are going to get what will meet their need on your knees. 
      The Bible tells us, “...when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray,...”  They came wanting help, wanting instruction, needing Him to minister to them.  It is not always somebody wanting to have you teach them to pray.  They have got other problems.  “Save our marriage.”  “Salvage our prodigal.”  It is not just the preacher that gets involved in those kinds of requests.  It’s true that preachers deal with that kind of stuff every day, but somebody is going to need you to get involved at some point in time.  Somebody is going to need your assistance and your help.  Are you going to be equipped? 
      As soon as Jesus got done praying, as soon as He got off of His knees, He had to start to minister.  You are going to get what you need while you are on your knees.  You are going to get what you need in the prayer closet, so that when they come, you have something to give them, so that when they come, you have enough power to meet the need.  You have wisdom from God because you have been in your prayer closet.  You’d better get what you need in prayer because, I don’t care who you are, as soon as you get off your knees somebody is going to show up with a need -- maybe even your children.  Somebody is going to show up with a need.  It would be good if you had enough wisdom of God to meet it, wouldn’t it?  It would be good if you had enough power with God to minister, wouldn’t it? 
      We all understand about the church and the pastor and the preacher is a minister to us, but somewhere along the line we are all supposed to minister.  We are not all going to be a pastor or be an evangelist.  We are not all going to be in that position, but every child of God is supposed to minister.  If I am going to have any impact and power in ministering to people, I must get it in the prayer closet.  How many times has somebody come with a need and you haven’t just got off your knees?  As a matter of fact, you haven’t been on your knees in a while.  They had need and you wanted to meet the need.  The desire was there, but you didn’t have the wherewithal, did you?  How often has that happened?  Don’t let that happen, folks.  People you love need you and they need you to walk with God.  They need you to have power with God.  They need you to know the mind and the heart of God.  If we pray like Jesus prayed, it tells us that He first prayed and then we get down to verse 14, and we find then that He ministered.  Do you know what we often do?  We are always trying to serve without first praying. 
      Remember what it says about the apostles in the early church?  It says that whenever the need became great, they appointed deacons so that they had somebody to help with some of the tasks of getting needs met.  Do you know what they said they were going to do?  The apostles were going to give themselves to prayer first and the ministry of the Word second, in that order.  It didn’t mean they were too big to deliver a loaf of bread to a widow, but what it meant was the needs were so great and so many that they didn’t have time to walk with God anymore.  They didn’t have time to get in the Book.  They didn’t have time to get on their face in prayer.  They said, “We are going to find some folks that are faithful, Spirit-filled men, Godly men, that can take care of this ministry for us and do some of the footwork because we need to give ourselves, number one, to prayer.
      In I Timothy 4:1 He talks about prayer.  “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”  Did you catch that?  “...first of all,...”  Start everything with prayer.  Prayer succeeds when all else fails.  So why wait till all else fails before you pray.  If prayer succeeds when all else fails, why not start with prayer and guarantee success, instead of trying to steal success out of the jaws of defeat at the last minute with a prayer.  It would be a good thing if we started each endeavor with prayer. 
      So the Bible tells us that when the disciples observed the prayer life of the Lord Jesus, it made a tremendous impact on them to the point that it gave them a hunger and an appetite, not just to learn facts about prayer, but to learn to do what He was doing with the same power and fervency in which He was doing it.  Remember: to pray like Jesus prayed is not to pray to have a need met.  It is to pray in communion with the Father because He didn’t have any need.  He was One with the Father.  He had power over death and disease.  He had power over nature.  He had power over everything.  He had power over the devil.  It wasn’t coming to the Father because He needed something.  He was coming to the Father because He loved the Father.  He wanted to commune with the Father. 
      If you don’t pray, somebody is going to come to you, and you will have nothing to offer them.  You don’t have to quit praying altogether.  You can stay in fellowship with God all day long even though you are not exclusively praying and nothing else.  As soon as you get off your knees, you are going to run into somebody that has a need.  The question is, what if you run into them and you haven’t been on your knees?  What are you going to do for them then?  What will you have to give them then? 
      What I want to challenge you to do is to pray like Jesus prayed.  “...Lord, teach us to pray,...”  “John taught his disciples to do what he was doing.  Why don’t You teach us to do what You’re doing?  Teach us to pray, not just teach us how -- the mechanics.”  Jesus did give them a model prayer, but His very first statement was “When ye pray...”  He said that you’ve got to get in motion.  You have to set a time.  You have to do it intentionally. 
      You know as well as I do, this world we live in, we are so busy accomplishing nothing.  We think about eternity on Sunday and Wednesday and the rest of the week our minds and hearts are somewhere else.  God didn’t want me to just visit Him on Sunday and Wednesday.  He wants me to walk with Him all day every day, and prayer is where I make the connection, if I pray like Jesus prayed out of desire for communion.  Abide in Him.  Live in His presence.  Spend time communing with Him daily.  Don’t worry.  It is okay to ask God about your needs.  He told us that in the model prayer, to make request for our daily bread.  Don’t worry.  He’s going to meet the needs, but what you need to do is live in the Father’s presence, the place of no unmet need. 
      D.L. Moody was asked to preach his first funeral.  He had no idea what to preach at a funeral, so he decided that he was going to go to the four Gospels and find out what Jesus preached at a funeral and just preach that.  But as he went through the four Gospels, he found out that Jesus never preached a funeral.  Every time He came in the presence of a dead body, He raised them back to life.  Since Moody couldn’t raise the dead, he had to find his own funeral sermon!
      Do you know what the presence of the Lord is?  It is the place of no unmet need.  Do you know where I need to live?  In His presence, the place of no unmet need.  I don’t have to be caught up with all the cares of life.  I need to be caught up in Him.  I will have cares.  I will have heartache because that is the way this world is.  “...In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33)  Don’t get preoccupied with the temporal things.  Get preoccupied with Me, God says.  I’ll take care of that stuff.  Don’t worry.  Just stay close, stay in touch, stay in communion with Him.