Episode 213: Teach Us to Pray: A Path to Surrender
The Rev. Dr. Alix Pridgen
Luke 11: 1-13
“When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he didn’t give them a formula for getting what they wanted. He gave them a prayer that begins by saying, ‘God, you are God — and I am not.’ It’s a prayer of surrender.
Think of Florence Nightingale on the battlefields of the Crimean War. Every night she prayed, ‘Use me for your work, Lord, not mine.’ Or think of Desmond Doss, praying, ‘Lord, help me get one more,’ as he carried wounded soldiers to safety.
The Lord’s Prayer calls us to let go — to open our empty hands for daily bread, to release our grudges, to trust God with the trials ahead. Because prayer isn’t just about changing our circumstances. It’s about being changed — about letting God’s grace rise up in us like a song.”