How do I prime a pump that I have for irrigation, water pumped from lake.

You should see a removeable port on the pump. Remove cap, add some water. Close cap.

If you have a hose bib anywhere in line, you can use a female to female connector (or a washing machine hose). Feed water back through the line from another water source while the pump is running. This will feed water back through the pump and down the well points. Assuming you have sprinkler valves, open a valve and run the water through the system. Turn off (or just kink the hose) the supply that is backfeeding the pump and see if the pump catches prime (continues watering through the sprinklers). Keep repeating until it catches.