The first way to learn is by practising. When you begin a foreign language or start a musical instrument, you learn to play it by practising. Get started and keep at it ‘for though a righteous man falls seven times he rises again’ (Proverbs 24:16). Just as a car is easier to steer when it is in motion, the Holy Spirit can guide us in prayer when we start praying. (John 16:13)
	The second way to learn is to observe others. We learn by example. There are around us other believers who can teach us much when we pray with them. ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one mans sharpens another’ (Proverbs 27:17). We can learn from others the principles of prayer or be inspired by their passion or hear about needs and encouragements. Why not try to arrange to attend one, or attend more, of the prayer meetings organised in the congregation?
	The third way to learn is by studying the subject. Of course reading about prayer can never be a substitute for prayer itself but it can be a valuable additional resource for prayer. There are many books on the subject and they can be insightful and inspirational. ‘He who walks with the wise grows wise.’ (Proverbs 13:20). The Bible, of course, contains many prayers and the rest of this study will use part of a prayer of David as a model from which we can learn lessons in prayer.

Psalm 5: 1-3

1.  Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing

2.  Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

3.  In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

1. David’s prayer is urgent:  ‘Give ear’, ‘consider’, ‘listen’. This prayer was not a routine formality. We should aim to increase our seriousness in prayer. Although Elijah was ‘a man just like us’, ‘he prayed earnestly…’ (Jas. 5:17).

2. David’s prayer is persistent:  The phrase ‘in the morning’ is repeated. It means ‘every morning’ or ‘as soon as it is morning’. David does not give up. We give up so easily. But we ought ‘always to pray and not give up’ (Luke 18:1). George Muller ran an orphanage in Bristol for two thirds of the nineteenth century. He cared for as many as two thousand orphans at any one time and supported mission work through out the world. Yet he never advertised his need and he never once went into debt. Millions of pounds passed through his hands. Perhaps God wants us to persevere and develop seriousness or patience and strengthen faith. Persistent prayer tends to develop deeper gratitude.

3. David’s prayer is expectant:  ‘I…wait in expectation’ (v.3) Remember God always answers prayer. Sometimes it is not in a way that is obvious to us, or it is not always in the time frame that seems best to us.

4. David’s prayer is based on covenant: He gives God three titles.

(i) The first is ‘God’. This means literally the ‘Strong and Mighty One’.

(ii) The second is ‘King’. This means that He is a ruler who orders His life and directs all things.

(iii) But the terms used twice is ‘Yahweh’ or ‘Jehovah’, always translated as LORD in the New  International Version, which is the name that God gave to Moses at the burning bush when He revealed that He was going to deliver His chosen, covenant people from Pharaoh’s oppression: I AM WHO I AM. In the later stages of Israel’s history, the Jewish people considered the name so sacred that they would not pronounce it and spelt it as YHWH. It is the name that characterises God as the deliverer and redeemer of His own covenant people.

From these three names we can build up a full picture of God. He is mighty but because He is also the king He is able to direct His power as He wishes: He is neither an impotent ruler nor is He a mighty force but not in charge. Moreover, this infinite royal power is channelled towards the good of His covenant people. Take any one of these three characteristics away and the Christian can have no confidence in prayer; put them together and there is every incentive to pray.