How Would the Lord Teach Us to Pray?

Luke 11:1-4: "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 taught his disciples. He said to them, when you pray say, 'Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins. And lead us not into temptation.'"

In this gospel account, Jesus and his disciples had just been in Bethany near Jerusalem, and Jesus had found a certain place to pray. Whereas we don't know exactly where this certain place was, we do know that Jesus made it a discipline to find a secluded place to pray, unencumbered by the distractions of both His disciples and to the crowds that sought His miracles (see Mark 1:35 & Luke 6:12). Jesus was modeling for his disciples the need to have focused prayer with the Father. Whereas breathed prayers throughout the day are appropriate, if our prayer life is relegated to these brief exchanges, then we will find ourselves devoid of intimate fellowship with our loving Lord. Prayer should never be a low priority in our hectic lives; rather, we should long to have focused time with the Lord each day and feast upon the fellowship that we have with Him.

Jesus' disciples were impressed with the way John the Baptist's disciples prayed, and they wanted to pray with the same power and eloquence that their counterparts demonstrated. Knowing that the disciples had just been arguing amongst themselves as to whom would be the greatest in God's kingdom (see Luke 9:46), we are led to believe that the disciples did not have the purest of intentions when they presented this petition to the Lord. Most likely, they wanted to be as effective in their prayer life as John's disciples so that they could increase their notoriety in the Jewish community. Jesus responded with instruction that struck at the very heart of the prideful disposition of His disciples; specifically, Jesus illustrated a prayer that was focused on God and not the disciples egocentric behavior:

"He said to them, 'When you pray say,

Father, hallowed be YOUR name (The Greek word for "hallowed" means, "let your name be regarded as holy." Notice that Jesus was drawing attention to the majesty of the Sovereign Lord of Hosts, not the pray-er).

Your Kingdom come (Jesus wanted His disciples to be focused on God, His will, and His kingdom, not their self-adulation).

Give us each day our daily bread (Jesus wanted His disciples never to forget that God is the Provider of their every need, and so their faith should be in Him alone . . . not their abilities or their circumstances).

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us (Jesus wanted His disciples to remember that they were sinners in need of the pardon of God. In fact, Jesus likely wanted to draw attention to the sinning that the disciples were perpetrating by seeking greatness over each another).

And lead us not into temptation (Jesus wanted His disciples to know the deliverance of God in protecting His disciples from sin).

Jesus then concluded the teaching by emphasizing the need for the disciples to be persistent in their prayer life, yearning for the very things mentioned above. Jesus told them that the Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who asked for Him. The word "ask" in Greek is continuous aspect, meaning that it is ongoing and persistent; thus, God wanted His disciples to seek Him passionately and consistently. He knew that those who would have such a passionate disposition would appreciate even more the sweetness of the blessing of His presence.

Whereas the disciples were wanting to increase their effectiveness in praying most likely to exalt themselves, Jesus' teaching on prayer was designed to re-orient their focus away from themselves and to center upon worshipping God and surrendering to His Lordship. As we are reflecting upon our own prayer lives, we would do well to hear from the Savior how it is we are to pray.