One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
³ Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Dear God, a couple of days ago I asked you for something fairly boldly while praying with my wife. It’s been a couple of years of silence on this issue, but I felt compelled to pray about it that day. Then, I was surprised later that day when my wife contacted me and told me there had been a breakthrough. I immediately thought back to my prayer with her that morning. Are you moving? Did the Holy Spirit prompt me to pray about it? What could be next?

When my wife and I pray together nearly every day, we pray for a lot of things and a lot of people. Some of it feels hopeless. Some of it feels like a waste of time. And some of it feels like simple duty. I love these people, and although it feels hopeless to pray for it I have a duty to pray for them. So I pray. I don’t quite understand how my prayers work. I don’t know how much they change you/your mind, how much they empower your Spirit and/or angels to work, or how much they just change and shape me. According to this passage, my prayers have the potential to actually change your mind and move you into action. That seems amazing to me. I can see them inviting your power into a situation and increasing it. I can see them changing me and my heart. But to get you to change course? Is the fate of the world really dependent upon what your people ask for in prayer?

Father, I guess the prayer today is that you would teach me to pray. I’ve never been as good as my wife at intercessory prayer. I wonder if you are calling me to be better at it. So, Holy Spirit, lay something on my heart for which I should pray at an intense intercessory level. And if it moves you into action where there would otherwise have been no action, so much the better, but use it to speak to me and grow my heart towards yours.

I pray this through Jesus, my Lord,

Amen