Prayer is most likely an area of struggle in all our lives. We know we should, but we struggle. Yet instead of guilting ourselves into prayer, I believe we would have greater success if we recognized what prayer is. Prayer is a conversation with our Father. Luke 11 contains an interesting interaction between Jesus and His disciples regarding prayer. As this conversation ensues, Jesus reveals that the secret to prayer is understanding that it is a conversation with our Father.

The chapter opens with Jesus praying. Apparently, His prayer was powerful, and the disciples took note. As a result, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray. He begins by telling them to pray a shortened edition of the prayer He taught the crowds in the Sermon on the Mount. In this, He reminds the disciples that they are praying to a sovereign God. Only when we surrender to His sovereignty can we begin to pray. Many of us stop at this point and feel overwhelmed. Perhaps this is why we cease to pray.

However, Jesus did not stop His lesson. He tells the story of a friend who won’t stop asking for help. In that time period, homes were typically one-room. At night, the furniture was cleared to a corner, and the family lay out their beds in front of the fire for warmth. At this point in Jesus’ story, a knock sounds at the door. The family hears their friend’s voice asking for bread. Annoyed, the father replies that the friend should return in the morning. Everyone is in bed, and the food is put away. Yet, the friend persists. In the end, because he is a friend, the door is opened, the furniture is moved, and the bread is obtained. The moral of the story is not yet shown. For we are not simply friends of God.

Jesus tells his disciples to seek God, knock at the door, and ask for their requests. But not because you are friends. Instead, because you are children. Jesus asks, “What Father will give his child a serpent when he asks for a fish, or a scorpion when he asks for an egg?” Of course, the father will give the child whatever they need. When we recognize this, we get the moral of the story. If a father will give the annoying friend bread, how much more will he give his children the things that they desire?

We are God’s children. It is not an imposition for us to come to Him. It is God’s delight that His children interact with Him in prayer. He loves to meet our needs and our requests. We often struggle in prayer because we view God incorrectly. When we see Him as our loving Father, we will run to Him, and He will delight in responding to us. Your Father wants to talk to you. So go to Him in prayer and find grace and joy!