If there is a church on the planet which teaches young Christians and new believers how to pray, I’ve not heard of it. And yet, “Teach us to pray” (Luke 18:1) is one of the primary requests the twelve apostles had of the Lord Jesus. He clearly spent time teaching them to pray, both by His example and His instruction.

You would think this most basic of all Christian disciplines would be taught to every new believer and youngster growing up in the church.

The fact that any of us learn to pray at all is a tribute to dogged determination to acquire this skill in contacting the Almighty and connecting His will with our world.

In his book, “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?” Philip Yancey points out that Jesus gave very few rules for prayer. “His teaching reduces down to three general principles: Keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it up.”

That’s as good a starting place as we can find.

Keep it honest.

“They who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) Coming into the Lord’s presence requires that we do so with our spirits, not just our bodies, and in the Holy Spirit. Further, we must come in truth. Whatever else ‘truth’ means here, it clearly requires honesty on the part of the worshiper.

The man was begging the Lord to heal his son. Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible.” He answered, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) That was an honest statement, and we happily note that our Lord was not offended by it. In fact, Jesus gave the man the object of his prayer and made his son whole.

Somewhere I read of a churchman whose prayers were the prettiest in church. The pastor frequently called on him for public intercessions since his words were so pious and holy. In fact, the teller of the tale reported, the man had cobbled together bits and pieces of other people’s prayers he heard from time to time to fashion a pretty garment but one that had no connection to his real life. Then one day, the man’s child died. He was devastated and his faith shaken. That day, he walked out into the yard and shook his fist at God and cursed him. The narrator said, “That was the first prayer that man ever prayed.”

It’s not a prayer until you are honest with God.

That’s why the prayers of children are so refreshing. They’ve not learned the religious language and neat formulas for adult prayer. They tell God what’s on their minds.

Our first-born son Neil started to elementary school just at the time when television networks began broadcasting afterschool soap-operas. One of these was a somewhat scary thing called “Dark Shadows.” For reasons beyond me, as a six year old, Neil loved it. At supper one evening, he prayed, “And, God, thank you for Dark Shadows.” I’ve smiled at that ever since. Only a child would thank God for his favorite television show.

My mom still smiles at the message on back of a greeting card that a friend sent. The youngest child was asked to say the blessing at a family meal. In his prayer, the little boy said, “And Lord, we thank you for this wonderful child you sent this family.” He was referring to himself. Only a child would thank God for himself. The rest of us are too sophisticated for such.

Keep it simple.

“Ask and you shall receive,” Jesus taught (Matthew 7:7). What could be simpler?

“If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11).

Ask Him for what you need. Does the definition of prayer come any clearer than this?

Once there was a pastor whose public prayers droned on and on and on to the discomfort of the patient congregation. One Sunday morning, in the midst of one of these endless monologues, a little white-haired woman on the front row of the choir tugged on the preacher’s coattail and said, “Pastor, call Him Father and ask Him for something.”

A man begging for mercy from Jesus was brought before the Lord. Anyone could clearly see the man was blind and a beggar at that. A list of his needs would include the obvious — healing — but also a bath and fresh clothing and a job. The Lord looked at him and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41)

The answer to that question is your prayer.

“Lord,” the beggar said, “I want to receive my sight.” Jesus answered, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well” (18:42).

Keep it up.

The Lord has set up principles for the operation of His Kingdom on earth so that prayer is required from His children in order to accomplish His purposes. Don’t ask me why; He did it because He wanted to (see Matthew 11:26; that seems to be the reason God did a lot of things). Perhaps it was to grow His children and to give us a part in the running of the universe.

“You have not because you ask not,” said James in 4:3.

In the passage where our Lord teaches us to “ask and you shall receive,” we’re taught that the tense of the verbs He used makes that passage read like this:

“Keep on asking and you shall receive; keep on seeking and you shall find; keep on knocking and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).

Persevering or continuing in prayer does not imply we are trying to overcome some reluctance on God’s part in granting our request. Something else entirely is going on here. By requiring that we continue in prayer until an answer comes, the Lord is giving us an excellent method for testing our prayers and perfecting our faith.

The best way to continue in prayer is to have a definite place set aside in your home and a definite time set aside in your day to get with the Lord. Each believer will find his own place and time. For me, the time is the first thing in the morning and the place is my study. I have a Bible on the table with the marker at the spot where I left it yesterday. I open the book and pick up reading where I left off.

The threefold instruction to keep it honest, keep it simple, and keep it up says little, obviously, about the methods and manners we use in praying. That’s as it should be. How we pray is not nearly as important as that we do it in the first place.

Some people enjoy reading prayers written by others. I refer to such books of prayers occasionally to inspire my own prayers. Other people would feel unnatural reading a prayer written by another — or even by themselves — and require that every prayer be spontaneous.

Again, we will not quibble, because I don’t think the Lord cares. Whatever works best for you is what’s right.

We’ll be adding to this subject — how to pray when you don’t feel like praying — from time to time and we’ll invite readers to leave your own discoveries on this subject in the comments section below.

Remember, the object is to learn to pray.