Teach Us to Pray: Practical Wrestling and a Christ-Given Model to Enhance Our Prayer Lives

“Why should we pray if God’s in control of everything?” “If God wants us to pray, why is prayer so hard?” “Why is God saying no?” Prayer produces questions. Over time, these unanswered questions can become roadblocks in our communication with God. They may tempt us to doubt the love of God or cause us to exchange a vibrant, obedient relationship with Him for dry moral conformity. Often well-intentioned responses to these questions include blank stares, prepackaged trite statements, or admonitions toward blind trust. Seekers are encouraged to navigate around instead of pressing through our doubts, concerns and fears. A detour may reveal truths about God, but wrestling helps us know God. In part 1 of Teach Us to Pray, author Travis Blake invites the reader to wrestle through these and other common questions surrounding prayer. With wit, humor, and Biblical insight Blake demonstrates the value of pressing into seemingly unanswerable questions. In part 2, Blake moves from practical wrestling to practical application. The Lord’s Prayer is the most memorized yet underutilized text in Scripture. It’s recited on Sundays but oft-ignored Monday through Saturday. Though not intended to shape every communication we have with God, its pattern helps focus our minds, enhances our worship, and shapes our asking. When used as an outline, it serves as a structure capable of restructuring us. Teach Us to Pray is an invitation to wrestle, laugh, question, and smile while improving our prayer lives and building stronger, more intimate relationships with God.