Jesus taught His disciples many things, but on the top of the list was "how to pray." In Matthew chapter 6, He taught the disciples the great principles of prayer. In chapter 7, He taught them the consistency of prayer. In Luke chapter 18, Jesus spoke a parable about the persistency of prayer. In John chapter 17, He gave them an example of prayer. There's one thread that seems to run through all that He taught - prayer is the expression of a humble heart. True prayer flows from the meek, not the proud.

This is the great difference between "religious" praying and "genuine" praying. Prayer is an attitude of the heart that says, "I desperately need you, Oh God. Without You, I can do nothing. In fact, the Bible says, "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable...." (Lk. 18:9 NIV). The parable was about two men who went to the temple to pray. One was self righteous and arrogant. The other was humble and broken over his sin. Jesus said to the humble, broken man, "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (v. 9 NIV).

"How to pray" isn't as difficult as it may seem. There's no magic formula that teaches you to pray. The first and great requirement is simply to have a heart that cries out, "I need You!" Jesus said that such a heart will be lifted up and exalted. But the heart that says, "I'm okay" will be humbled. Humility is the first requirement of powerful praying.

Quite often I find powerful praying among the weak, needy and hurting. As I travel around the world, I often find people who've been repressed politically, socially, and personally are the great prayer warriors. They don't seem to have an agenda - just a contrite, humble, heart. Heaven's answers fall to Earth when humble hearts cry to heaven. I've seen the incense of the tears of a persecuted church in Africa and Eastern Europe produce a release of the glory of God in those regions. I've watched unknown soldiers take communities for Christ by their humble prayers.

Just as humility is the great attribute of a prayer warrior, there's one great characteristic that will hinder the man or woman of God from having their prayers answered - pride. It's a thief that sets about with one target - to steal our power in prayer. It's easy for those of us who've been Christians for a long time to allow this thief entrance into our hearts. We've seen God work. We have some experiences with God under our belts. Slowly but surely we begin to think that we are experts on the Christian life. But there are no experts in the kingdom of God. It's made up of simple humble men and women.

Prayer is the expression of the humble heart. There's no place for arrogance. If you want to know how to pray, then simply fall on your face and cry "help."