It was a tradition within Judaism for a rabbi to teach his followers a prayer that they could use in their conversations with God.
No doubt John the Baptist had given his followers a prayer to use, and now the disciples were asking Jesus for a prayer -
Jesus, teach us to pray - give us a prayer to use…

So Jesus taught them what we know now as the Lord's Prayer. The version in Luke uses slightly different language from the one in Matthew, and it has been truncated,
made shorter, to get to the heart of the matter.
In this prayer, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray.
And while we still have the Lord's prayer with us, the question of how to pray is one I am often asked as a priest.
And it is a question that has an answer as long as my own spiritual journey, for prayer, like faith, is an ever growing, and changing thing.
Years ago I went to a church that was very strong on intercession - the kind of prayer we pray for other people.
So this church brought in a person to teach a particular prayer method called the change the world school of prayer.
In this method, one set aside an hour each morning, and spent 5 minutes of each hour praying for particular people and places. 5 minutes for praise to god. 5 minutes for petitions that wer personal. 5 minutes for the family, 5 minutes for our town, etc, around the hour clock.
I was a complete failure at this method of prayer. I either spent most of the hour sleeping, or, if I managed to stay awake, I spent most of my time looking at the clock.
After trying this method for a while, I decided it wasn't for me.

So then another school of prayer came along -
- this one based on the Lord's prayer,
- but similar in nature to the last style.
- Again, an hour in early in the morning set aside.
- First 10 minutes, Father, hallowed be your name, second ten minutes your kingdom come, etc.
Well, I was a total failure at that as well.
But in the process of these failures,
I discovered two things about myself.
I am not a morning person. If I try to get up at 5:00 and pray, I will spend the time yawning and snoozing, not communing with God.
And secondly….I need guidance, but not something without flexibility.
The time sequence of five minutes here, ten minutes there, didn't work for me
. About that time, I discovered the daily office,
and even though I often struggle to keep it,
I have found a way to pray that is rich in tradition, flexible, and deeply moving.
In our Lenten series over the years, we have explored many ways to pray.
The Daily Office in our prayer book, lectio divina, praying the rosary, contemplative prayer, guided meditation, using icons, and walking the labyrinth, to name a few. Many ways to pray to help each of us, all of whom are different, and find our walk with Christ through different methods.

In LM Montgomery's book, Anne of Green Gables, Anne's new guardian decides to teach her how to pray, and begins by having her kneel by the bed, close her eyes, and say her prayer out loud to God. But Anne's idea of prayer differed from this more conventional method:

"If I really wanted to pray,", she said, "I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep woods, and I'd look up into the sky - up - up - up - into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer." Whether one looks up into the sky, recites the Lord's prayer, or spends time on the porch in contemplation with a cup of coffee, one can find God if one desires to find God.

Prayer can be as simple as talking to God. A conversation with God may seem like you're talking to yourself, but you aren't. God promises to hear our prayers. Our God desires to live in relationship with us, a relationship in which one friend reaches out to another. A friendship in which one can ask the impossible of the other. .
In this passage from Luke, Jesus talks not just about a form of prayer,
but an attitude of prayer that many of us may find challenging. NT Wright calls it shameless persistence.
Shameless persistence. The kind of persistence one would have if pleading one's case before a judge.
The kind of persistence that Abraham modeled in today's Old Testament reading, in which he negotiated with the three visitors for the safety of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The kind of persistence one has when one's child is at risk.
It is not the method that matters. It is the motive.
The desire to reach God with one's petitions, one's praise, and with one's very being.
That ability to ask, and keep asking, to seek, and keep seeking, to knock and keep knocking is the very backbone of prayer, of conversation with God.
God is not asking us to come politely and state our petition once.
Jesus gives us permission to keep being a persistent, pesky person until we see an answer to our prayers.
We have the right to keep seeking to find and be found in God until we reach that place of union.
We are even encouraged to knock on the door and continue to knock long after many would have given up.

I wonder what would happen if we had the guts to be shamelessly persistent with God.
I wonder if we would see people healed.
I wonder if we'd see lives changed.
I wonder what miracles would happen in our own lives.
There's only one way to find out. The invitation is held out to us each minute of each hour of each day we walk on this earth, to talk shamelessly with God.
And our prayer book gives us a place to start. Page 137. Daily devotions. If you are not yet in the habit of prayer, I highly recommend it. And if you are remember to shamelessly persist, no matter what stands in your way. God will be there to open the door.