Why was it necessary for Jesus to teach his disciples how to pray?

They were adult Israelite men, and must have been thoroughly initiated into Hebraic religious practices on attainment of adulthood -after the 12th year birthday of Bar Mitzvah. They all must have prior prayer experiences in their lives, and may have even frequented the synagogues and the temple; so, prayer was not a new thing to them.

Why then did they request of Jesus to teach them how to pray?

The answer is that they made the request because they -like the majority of the population then and today -in fact, did not know how to pray. The disciples were facing an age old problem which many before them never surmounted.

Have you ever wondered why some prayers are answered faster than others; or why some people can cast out demons, while others cannot?

The short answer is that prayers are like computer commands which must name names; and, follow principles, protocols, and conventions before they can be accepted and implemented.

There is only one way to interact with computers, be they the simplest micro-controllers found on robots, PCs, or mainframes and super computers.

All computers are interfaced or controlled through commands.

There are many types of computer commands, each designed for specific types of tasks. The universe is analogous to a giant super computer the likes of which the human mind cannot -in its terrestrial state- fully appreciate or conceptualize.
Humans can only “see” parts of this computer, and only speculate about the rest. God designed the computer, and it runs perfectly. The computers we have today on earth are mere adulteration, or very cheap imitations and copies, of the real thing.

So, how do computer commands run, or how are they built? What are the properties of a computer command? The first is that it must have a name, and a location from where to execute. When Archimedes said “show me where to stand, and a lever, and I will move the earth” he was speaking as a scientist, but his statement encapsulates a universal truth. He did not fully understand the import of his statement. He was speaking physically and theoretically; but his statement hides a bigger truth, which is that names and locations are critical in the universal scheme of things, as in computer commands.
It is even more critical in prayers.

A computer program or command must have a location in the computer's file system from where to execute. Whether the program or command is to be run immediately, or timed to run at a different time, the program has to be in the PATH.

A Path is simply the location of a program in a computer's file system. Without this information, a command (or specific sets of instruction) cannot run. An example is to imagine that a man went to a certain bank, say UBA for example, and wants to make a withdrawal from his account. The bank clerk would likely request the customer to specifically name the account from which he wants to withdraw the money. He will need things like his name and UBA account number (notice the name and the location). Note that if the customer didn't issue any specific instruction, the bank clerk will simply assume that he wants to withdraw from any of his existing account with enough money in it. If the customer came with a check of his account in another bank, say First Bank, the clerk would likely ask him to go to First Bank and make the withdrawal there, unless he wants to deposit that check in his UBA account. These are very specific requests.

In the same manner, a computer user cannot run a program that has no name in the file system; or the location in the operating system's file system. Users also cannot run programs they are not privileged or permitted to run. The users can only run the program if they issues commands that includes the path of the programs from current location, and has permission to run the command.

This may be an oversimplified analogy.

Back to prayers.

A prayer is a series of commands issued to the universal computer making specific requests. For it to be effective, the person offering the prayer must have a user account in the computer, and the program (prayer) must have a name (specific request), and be in the path of that prayer request (be available in the location or position or standing in the heavenly domain).

God does not answer prayers offered at any time, in any location, and under any circumstance except in ONE very special case, and you will see the reason later in this article. This is why Jesus while on earth as a human being sometimes removed himself from his disciples to go to a different location to pray. This is also why God commanded Abraham to leave the land of his ancestors to a place that God showed him; and God promised to bless him there. It is also why Jesus told the mothers of James and John the sons of Zebedee that she did not know what she was asking after she requested that her sons be on the left and right hands of Jesus in heaven.
Jesus' reason? Only God can decide who sits at his left and right hand in heaven. Her request was not in the path -she had no standing to make such a request. What she was asking for was not available to humans, only to God.
It is like going to tell a bank owner that you will appoint his directors simply because you deposited some money in his bank.


Secondly as hinted above, the person offering the prayer must have an account with God.
For God, the first is that the person must have an account with him; i.e. have a username in this universal supercomputer. Only God can create this account, name it, modify its user privileges, rename it, delete it, or re-create it after deletion.
This is why God often changed the names of some people he wanted to work with, or people he planned to bless. For example, he changed Abrams name to Abraham; Sarai's name to Sarah; and Jacob's name to Israel. It is like a systems administrator creating new “power user” name and ascribing that new username with some special user privileges. God later gave this power to Jesus after his resurrection; and Jesus alluded to this fact when he told his disciples that all powers in heaven have been given to him, and that they should go and preach the gospel. So, Jesus can also manipulate this supercomputer, writing names, assigning and modifying user privileges, deleting names, and re-entering deleted names.

In a computer server domain, if a power user sends a printing job to the central networked printer, the print job will leapfrog other print jobs sent by other lesser privileged users in the printing queue. The print job of the privileged user will be printed first regardless of when it was sent. As in computer server domain, each universal computer domain "account" has user privileges ascribed to it, and these privileges can increase or decrease depending on human choices of action here on earth.
Using the bank example, again, it is like one person choosing to grow his bank account through careful series of deposits and withdrawals; another choosing to invest his money and grow his account even more; while others deciding to squander whatever money they have in the account.

This is why Jesus told his disciples to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: … For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt 6: 20-21). God is after man's heart, and can see through them very clearly. That is why Jesus advised his followers to put their treasures where God can have the opportunity of having their hearts -in heaven.


Thirdly, perhaps the most important point is that the power or effectiveness of human prayers depends on where humans store their treasures. Put in a different way, how rich you are spiritually depends on where you have chosen to place your heart. If your heart is set on things of this world, you will be very powerful on physical things of this world, but when supernatural challenges show up -the likes that define the course of this whole world, or your ultimate fate in it- you will be powerless. The great news about this fourth point is that God has limitless power or resources to meet far and beyond whatever desires humans have that conform to his will. God can literally do ALL things -nothing is impossible with him. God is ever willing to answer prayers, but they must follow guidelines.


Analysis
For prayers to be answered, the person making them must first have “divine currency”, i.e a name that God recognizes; and secondly be in the right location. To have divine currency is to set one's heart on God (God knows when your heart is set on him).
The shortcut for a person to set his or her heart on God, or to have a name recognized by God is through his son Jesus whose name has already been elevated above all names, such that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;” (Phil 2:10). When you live your life loving God and your neighbor as Jesus commanded, you will have the “locus standi”, the name, or the authority to say such things in prayer as “by the power in the name of Jesus...let this happen” (my own words). To say such a thing, you must know where your heart is with God and his son. It is for this reason that John said that for as many as received Jesus, God has given POWER to be sons of God.

"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" (John 1:12).

This supercomputer called "The Universe" was designed by God, and the commands it carries out are very intricate.

Once you know and understand this, you will no longer approach prayer carelessly.

You would only pray when you are ready; which is when you have a name with him, and are in the right location. More importantly, you will not waste your time praying when you should be busy setting your heart on God first. That is why Jesus gave the example of someone who was going to make an offer in the temple, and while on his way he remembered that he had not forgiven his brother; he had to abandon the offering to first go to reconcile with his brother. This is contrary to what some Christians do these days when they go to pay tithes while not settling the grudges that separate them from God.

The Lord's prayer that Jesus ended up teaching his disciples is a complete prayer because it contains all the elements and principles of an effective prayer: It acknowledges God as “father”; worships him; requests his kingdom on earth (changing location by accessing the firmament of God virtually); surrenders totally to his divine will; trusts in him for sustenance; asks for forgiveness after forgiving others; seeks God's help and deliverance from Satan.

When you say the Lord's prayer, you ride a shortcut way to the heavens because you ride the way shown by a name that already command a universal authority, and you translocate yourself to the heavens for faster delivery of prayers.
It is the only prayer that is good enough at all times, and in all locations.

In the same vane, if you want to pray, first create a name with God and then pray with absolute specificity. If you want "a mountain to move", say so specifically, and if it is in your "path", it will happen.


-Nigerialog.com

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