Disciples and Prayer

When learning prayer, when discussing prayer, when praying...where should the disciple of Jesus Christ go for authority on the subject? How about going to Jesus? I just read and prayed my way through Matthew 5-7. Jesus' teachings are grouped together in Matthew and this is the first of those groupings. It is the first mention of prayer in Matthew's gospel. Jesus teaches first that we are to pray humbly and privately unlike the "hypocrites" he mentioned who prayed publically so all could see their piousness. (6:5ff) Then he compares the prayer of a disciple with "Gentiles" who had a repitious and many worded way of praying that was not effective. Jesus then spoke these words, "so do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.") NASV

Could it be, that we disciples have taken prayer and made it more difficult, more complicated, more unattainable than Jesus teaches it to be? Oh, there is more on prayer in scritpure. This isn't the only teaching on prayer even in this particular discourse in Matthew...see chapter 7 verses 7-11. Certainly, the teaching on the practice of prayer continues to be a theme of the scriptures especially of the New Testament. Maybe future posts will include some of these. This is enough to think about and pray for now.