RAISING THE DEAD vs RAISING YOUR KIDS - PART EIGHT

This verse is a key element to understanding a heart of prayer: 
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray”  (Luke 11:1 NLT)

I cannot find anywhere in the Gospels where Jesus took the initiative and sat The Disciples down and said, “O.K. Today you are going to learn about prayer.”    However, we can clearly see that they clearly SAW HIM PRAYING.    They saw Him performing miracles, calming the seas, walking on water, raising the dead.. and THEY SAW HIM PRAYING.   They must have correctly deduced that His devotion to prayer was a key element in His devotion to God.  And His Spirit powered power to defeat undefeatable things on earth: like sickness, and death, and hypocritical church leaders… who talked the talk but did not walk the walk.

I must confess something to all y’all…. I SAW prayer all around me as I was growing up.  I had a grandmother, a woman of faith, whose response to any situation – big or small – was “Let’s pray.”  AND THEN GOD BLESSED ME WITH PARENTS WHO WERE PEOPLE DEVOTED TO PRAYER.  I went to sleep to the sound of my parents praying, and I woke up to the same sound.  It wasn’t until I was older that I understood that they weren’t praying all night… or.. maybe they were.  I THOUGHT EVERY KID HAD PARENTS WHO HAD A PIPELINE TO GOD.  I found out as I got older that I was unusually blessed to have parents like mine.   So.. for me it is definitely easier to understand what a life of prayer actually is because I actually SAW one modeled before me.  For me, I was raised with a confidence that permeates every cell of my being because I knew that whatever happened -or happens- God was just a prayer away.

So... in defense of your prayerlessness, I understand that you may be a wife and mother who is living her life as a follower of Jesus…. but you rarely see anyone praying.

You may be a pastor’s wife, whose husband has done incredible teachings about prayer… but you rarely see him praying.

You may be very involved in your Women’s Ministry at church.. but you rarely see anyone praying.

You may have attended church meetings where prayer is the topic of teaching.. but…even at the prayer conference.. you rarely see anyone praying.

The Disciples SAW Jesus praying.  And as a result, they wanted to PRAY LIKE HE PRAYED.   
These men were not unfamiliar with prayer.  They were Jewish men.. who regularly attended Sabbath services and who heard countless prayers.  So why did they assume Jesus could teach them to pray?   Why did men who attended Sabbath services faithfully need to learn how to pray?  They saw POWER in JESUS that they did not SEE in people who pray powerless prayers.  People who pray are people with power.

So, let me ask you something wife.

Let me ask you something mother.

Do your children see you praying?

Does your husband see you praying?
Do they see you actively "involved in ministry" but not actively involved in prayer? 
Doing ministry without prayer is like doing cooking without food:

It's a ridiculous attempt with lots of action but nothing to feed the souls of people.

Why bother? 

Do you pray?

Really?

The example we must follow.. ultimately.. is Jesus.
The disciples did not settle for what they saw going on all around them. 
And neither should we.
They wanted what Jesus had.  
And so should we.  So should you.
Just because no one you know is devoted to prayer.. doesn't mean that you can be prayerless.

The early church devoted themselves to FOUR THINGS:  Fellowship, breaking of bread, the apostle’s teaching and PRAYER.

You know.. the book of Acts DOES NOT TELL US the percentage they devoted to each of these four things.  It doesn’t say,
”They spent 97% of their time listening to the disciples preaching, 2% on fellowship, ½% on prayer and ½% on breaking of bread. (communion). 

So why do we and our churches spend 97% of our time listening to someone preach a sermon, but little time to prayer? Does the Bible describe such a scene. 
It. Does. Not.

I once heard a pastor say, “The New Testament Church did not own a New Testament.”  Evidently they had POWER.. and it came from Holy Spirit inspired PRAYER in addition to teaching and fellowship.

O.K..

So…

If someone asked your children, “What does your Mom do when something unexpected happens?”

Would they say, “She prays..???”
If someone asked your husband, "Does your wife fall apart when things don't go smoothly?"
Would he say, "Yes. She's usually a basket case and worrying about every little thing."
Or would he say, "She prays."

This is not a condemnation.  This is an older woman trying to open your eyes to the source of your powerlessness.  And hoping you will do something about it.
Something like.. pray.

I love you.

Mrs. Older.