In Luke 11:1, we read:

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (N.K.J.V.)

Christian, let me draw your attention to three things from this verse.

First, it was after Jesus had finished praying that His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Obviously, there was something uncommonly different about Christ’s prayer life. The disciples knew they didn’t pray as effectively and as powerfully as He did. Has anyone ever heard you pray and asked, “Will you teach me to pray like that?” What a compliment!

Second, it’s noteworthy that John the Baptist had taught his disciples how to pray. While the Bible describes John as a man who lived in the great outdoors, wore strange clothes, ate odd food, preached fiery sermons, and baptized multitudes in the Jordan river, we don’t usually think of him as being a prayer warrior. Nevertheless, he must have had expertise in the field if he was able to instruct others.

Third, notice that prayer is something that can be taught. Putting it another way, a person can learn how to pray. Prayer is not an inborn talent or spiritual gift. It’s not like a musical bent or an artistic ability. The fact is, nobody is a “natural” at prayer. That’s why we all need to become students in its class.

There is a difference, however, between merely enrolling in a class and fully embracing the class. I remember a French class I took in high school. I only enrolled in the class to please my guidance counselor. She wanted me to take French I and French II because some colleges required two foreign language courses for admittance, and French I and French II were the only options my school offered at that time.

The problem was that I had no interest at all in learning to speak French, and it was absolute torture for me to drag myself into that classroom in the afternoons. It should come as no shock, then, that I bombed out of that class. Even though I was an honor student, I felt lucky to pull out a D- for the first six weeks of the class. Frankly, my teacher was generous in giving me that grade.

So, what did I do? I dropped that class and never looked back! I can’t speak one word of French today, and I still don’t care. As for admission to college, I just looked around and found a good school that didn’t require two years of foreign language. Not only did I not regret foregoing that French class and the follow-up one, it irked me that I had lost six weeks of my life sitting in a class I loathed.

My point, Christian, is that even if you enroll in the class of prayer, you can’t go in with the attitude I had concerning that French class. Nobody can make you want to become a student of prayer. It has to be a personal decision on your part. If you see learning to pray as just one more chore to add to your list, you won’t be much of a student. It’s well nigh impossible to teach something to someone who isn’t interested in learning it.

In the end, me dropping out of that French class didn’t do any long-term damage to my life. But that won’t be true for your life if you drop out of the class on prayer. Whereas I could get by without learning a second language because I already knew a first one, you dropping out of the class on prayer would be akin to me dropping out of an elementary school English class. Do you understand the difference? Prayer is the basic language by which you talk with God. It is Communication 101. Therefore, the class on prayer really is core-curriculum education.