Lord, Teach Us TO Pray (Mode, Not Method)
Luke 11:1
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.”
Look closely at the heart of what the disciples asked: “Lord, teach us to pray.” They were asking Jesus to bring them into the very reality they saw in Him: “Teach us to live in this communion! Impart to us this continuous flow of life and intimacy that You share with the Father!” They were not asking for a cold, mechanical formula or an empty script to chant.
A Heart Cry, Not a Dead Script
If the disciples had merely been asking for a rigid ritual, then Jesus’ model prayer would be nothing more than a ceremonial script to be recited mechanically. Sadly, rote repetition is what some traditions practice and teach—the very thing Jesus warned against:
Mark 7:6–7
He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
This outward performance is not what the disciples sought, nor is it what Jesus intended for the “Lord’s Prayer.” Right before sharing this model in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus explicitly warned against turning prayer into a thoughtless recitation:
Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
The disciples had grown up surrounded by religious leaders who staged theatrical, legalistic prayers on street corners. They had seen plenty of religious “methods”—and they were weary of them.
These disciples had been watching Jesus. They saw raw intimacy, supernatural power, and unbroken fellowship with the Father. Their hearts were hungry for that living reality. They longed for MODE, not just METHOD.
A New “Arrangement of Being”
Webster’s dictionary defines the word “MODE” in a unique way:
“A manifestation, form, or arrangement of being; specifically: a particular form or manifestation of an underlying substance.”
Biblical prayer is not an external, mechanical method; it is a MODE of life—a complete rearrangement of our inner being into an active posture of communion with the living God.
The Power of the Spirit: Beyond Human Intellect
Jesus did not leave them—or us—to figure this out in our own human strength. In that exact same chapter of Luke 11, Jesus drives His teaching on prayer straight to its ultimate, powerful conclusion:
Luke 11:13
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!
Luke, who authored both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, highlights a clear progression in Luke 11:
- The Father invites us to passionately ask, seek, and knock.
- The Father is good: He never gives stones, serpents, or scorpions to children who ask for bread, fish, or eggs.
- The Father’s gift to those who ask is the Holy Spirit Himself.
Luke connects this Promise directly to the Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Father’s Promise of the Holy Spirit:
Luke 24:49
Behold, I send the PROMISE of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
Acts 1:4-5
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the PROMISE of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 2:33
Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the PROMISE of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
Acts 2:38–39
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the PROMISE is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Praying with the Spirit
This prayer language gift of the Holy Spirit brings us to enter into a new “MODE” of prayer. Consider this: every syllable of the prayer language of tongues is absolutely perfectly aligned with the will of God! Wow, how powerful is that!
Romans 8:26–27 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Paul also says we “edify” (or “recharge”) ourselves when we pray in tongues. Jude agrees and says that we specifically build ourselves up on our most holy faith and keep ourselves in the love of God because the Holy Spirit pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5):
1 Corinthians 14:4
He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…
Jude 1:20–21
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…
It’s no wonder that the Apostle Paul—a dynamic, unstoppable powerhouse in the Kingdom of God—boldly declared:
1 Corinthians 14:18
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all.
Dear Jesus,
Shake me out of the “methods” and ruts of religious complacency, and move me into the “MODE” of sincere prayer life. Let there be a total “rearrangement” of my entire being into real, authentic communion with You! Thank You, Jesus, for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and for the miraculous spiritual gift of a personal prayer language.
Dear Spirit of the Living God, rise and bubble up within me right now like Rivers of Living Water (John 7:37-39)! Deliver me forever from cold, rigid, and stale “methods” of religion. Plunge my life into the vibrant, continuous “MODE” of unbroken fellowship with the Heavenly Father—walking in the exact same spirit of intimate communion that Jesus walked in every single day (Hebrews 5:7).
Lord Jesus, just like Your disciples cried out to You so long ago, I make that same passionate plea today:
Teach me TO pray!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
