“It’s almost embarrassing,” I said to my husband. “When my mom prays, even just at meals, it seems like I’m sneaking into her bedroom and listening to intimate pillow talk.”  

Two other friends and their prayers were similar. I loved to hear them pray because it drew me into their relationship with God. 

Just as I learned about intimacy with God through hearing others pray, those you are working with on the field can learn about prayer through hearing you pray. The slippery thing, though, is how does prayer not become a prideful-prayer-pharisee-thing? 

Since Jesus is our example, we can note how He handled prayer. An obvious thing we see is that Jesus spent much time in prayer alone: “...by Himself…” Matt 14:23; “He left...” Mark 6:46; “(Jesus)...got up, left the house, and went to a secluded place…” Mark 1:35; “(Jesus) often slip(ped) away...” Lk 5:16; etc. He even instructed us to “...go into your room, close the door and pray…” Matthew 6:6. This leaves a question: is prayer only happening when you’re with others? If so, it might be time to back off from praying in groups and ask God what is going on in your private relationship with Him. 

Jesus’ example also shows us how He talked with God. Many of you know what it is like to speak to others through a translator. You probably know the difference it makes when you actually talk and look toward the person you are addressing rather than talking to the translator. There is a similarity to this and how Jesus prayed. Often when we read about Jesus talking with God, we see He begins by first focusing on who He is conversing with: “Father in heaven…” Matt 6:9; “Lord…” Matt 11:25; “My Father…” Matt 26:39; “Father…” Luke 26:34, etc. Jesus makes a point of acknowledging right away that His prayer isn’t about speaking before others but it is about talking with God. 

There are so many more things we can learn from Jesus about prayer. May we all let Him be our example, and let Him arrange the work in other’s hearts. I know for sure that when those prayer-influencers in my life prayed, they weren’t praying “for” me. They were just talking with their Savior. May we do the same.