For the next 13 weeks we will be writing reflections based on the scripture passage, Luke 11:1-13 and its theme of Prayer. We will take one verse per week and invite you to join us in first meditating and digesting this passage slowly using lectio divina and then read the reflection. Our writers will be sharing testimony of how this scripture has impacted their lives personally.
For those new to our community, lectio divina is a traditional monastic practice of engaging with Scripture not just for intellectual understanding but to allow the Word of God to speak to the heart and transform our lives. It involves prayerfully reading the scripture four times, pausing to notice the following:
- Read the verse and listen for the word or phrase that the Holy Spirit highlights for you.
- Read the verse and ask the question, how is my life touched by this word? What in my life needs to hear this word?
- Read the verse and ask what is my response to God because of what I have read and encountered? What am I feeling, talk to God about it, listen to Him, feel His uninterrupted love and attention toward you and follow His lead in any way He is prompting you to respond.
- Read and rest in the Word and resolve to live it out.
Listen:
“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.” (Luke 11:1)
Reflect:
Almost one year ago my prayer life changed. I became a mother for the first time and I got to spend a lot of time praying – during the day and night – when my baby was eating or not sleeping. But a few months ago, during a prayer time with Lifesprings, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see that so many of my prayers were motivated and nurtured by my anxieties. The number of fears and worries multiplied exponentially since having Adam. Fears that I had no idea that I could even have. So my list of requests has been growing almost daily.
It is not wrong to spend time in prayer bringing to our Father our concerns and worries, but I love this introductory verse to the Lord’s prayer because I believe that the disciple asked Jesus to teach them how to pray because he saw the authority and power that Jesus’ life had. And he wanted it, too. This is the only instance recorded in the Gospels where the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them something. They were direct witnesses to Jesus’ full and powerful life and they wanted it! I also love that this prayer takes into consideration things that can be of worry or concern, like provision or our relationships, because the Father knows and cares about us and the details of our lives.
As we return from Breather Month and start this new ministry year afresh in Lifesprings, may we follow Jesus closely enough through the Holy Spirit, so that our life has authority and power and others may ask, “Teach us how to pray, as our Lord Jesus taught his disciples”.
Prayer of Response:
Lord Jesus, thank you for your example of a life lived with purpose, passion, and power. And thank you for inviting us to live in the same way – with You.
Questions to Ponder:
- How are you returning from Breather Month? What do you need at the beginning of this new ministry year?
- What is your relationship with prayer in this season?
- What do you pray most often for, and what is that one request that is too hard and heavy to even mention it in prayer?
Breath Prayer:
As a weekly rhythm, join us in praying breath prayers each day. We invite you to write your own as well.
Inhale(Breathe in): Lord,
Exhale(Breathe out): Teach us to pray. (Repeat)
—Submitted by: Diana Anton
Diana lives in Bucharest, Romania and serves as the Executive Director of Lifesprings International. Her passion is to see women worldwide connected, encouraged and prepared to keep bringing the love of Jesus Christ to our communities.
Her favorite thing in this season is to play with Adam and read to him (he is almost one year old), to go on walks with Bogdan and Adam, and to dream big for what God has for the community of Lifesprings in this season. You can find her on instagram at life.on.farm.road or on her blog at www.lifeonfarmroad.com.
Feature photo by Diana Anton, taken 10 years ago.