THE DISCIPLES’ PRAYER

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Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are the focus of my heart. Whether I face hard times or good times, all I am is tied up in You.

Read LUKE 11:1–13

^[1] One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” ^[2] He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. ^[3] Give us each day our daily bread. ^[4] Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'” ^[5] Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ^[6] a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ^[7] And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ^[8] I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. ^[9] “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ^[10] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ^[11] “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ^[12] Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ^[13] If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Meditate

It is interesting to note that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Perhaps prayer can be such a struggle for us because we have not been taught how to pray.

Think Further

All around the world, through the ages, in many languages, this prayer has formed part of the prayer life of the gathered church and the individual Christian. It is very simple in structure but not, in some ways, easy to translate. Jesus spoke Aramaic and probably taught it many times; both Matthew (6:9–15) and Luke record Jesus teaching it to his disciples, and they translated it into everyday Greek. Luke’s version here is shorter than Matthew’s and the doxology only appears in a few later documents. If there had been more records of it in the gospels, there would probably be more versions!

Here, in Luke, Jesus says “When you pray, say…” In Matthew, he says, “This, then, is how you should pray.” So we can pray these words, but we can also use them as a pattern, coming to grips with what they mean for our lives day by day. For some, praying for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth is a prayer for the Lord’s second coming, for the new heaven and earth; for others it involves praying for our world now, recognizing our calling to be bringers of his love and redeeming grace into every corner we can reach. We can, of course, mean both!

It’s a communal prayer: together we seek God’s priorities and then we turn to pray for our bread. We pray for sufficient means for our needs day by day and then move out to help provide for the hungry, who are praying this prayer in desperation. We pray for forgiveness of our sins and then move out to seek forgiveness of others and to put things right. Whether we are mothers or fathers, neighbors or friends, we are called to model our God’s fatherly care as we pray, “Our Father.”

Apply

Pray this prayer, phrase by phrase, and ask the Lord for his Holy Spirit to lead you out to fulfill his words.

Closing prayer

Help me, Lord, to connect with Your heart and to mean what I say when I pray.

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