Daily Devo
Lord, Teach Us to Pray, Again
By: Kelly Russell
Friday, January 16, 2026
Lord, teach us to pray. Luke 11:1
From the opening verses of Scripture, God shows Himself as a powerful and personal Creator. He speaks the heavens and the earth into existence, then breathes life into man, ultimately calling each of us into fellowship with Him.
Everything was good until it wasn’t. By Genesis 3, the fall of man leads to separation from God. Yet in this brokenness, we see the first instance of prayer in the last verse of chapter 4.
At that time, people began to call on the name of the Lord. Genesis 4:26
God’s plan has always been for people to depend on Him in a fallen world. Throughout the Bible, we see that prayer is not about the "what" or the "how," but the heart. We tend to focus on the result of prayer; God desires the relationship of prayer.
Before the fall, man had unbroken communion with God. Now, prayer is how we connect with our Creator. Yes, prayer is asking. It’s also waiting when we want immediate answers. It’s worshiping when we feel like doing anything else. And it’s walking through valleys when we wish we already had the win. It’s through circumstances that God teaches us to pray. He operates beyond our human understanding; otherwise, we would have no reason to seek Him.
So, we also learn that prayer is not one-size-fits-all. We see prayer as a song (Revelation 15:3-4), prayer in silence (1 Samuel 1:12-13), prayer in agony (Luke 22:44), prayer of brokenness (Psalms 130:1-2), prayer of distress (John 2:1-2), prayer of mercy (Daniel 9:16), prayer for provision (1 Kings 17:13-14), and prayer of faith (Matthew 15:25-28). We discover that prayer isn’t based on our limited ability but on God’s unlimited authority.
If prayer were a formula, we would approach God for handouts and miss His holiness. Prayer is a sincere heart cry—our motives matter. The Pharisees were called hypocrites because they made a public spectacle of their prayers but had no personal intimacy.
What we know about prayer is that we need it. It’s not just a must-do, it’s also a get-to. If we treat prayer as another chore, we miss its purpose. Your life is His love. God is jealous for our affections. Imagine this: you are personally invited to the throne of grace and mercy—a place where our humanness meets God’s holiness. He welcomes us; He waits for us; He wants us to be where He is.
When we find ourselves gaining a deeper love and a greater fear of the Lord, then… we have learned how to pray.
Read: Matthew 5:6, Matthew 6:32, Luke 5:17, Hebrews 4:16