Jesus Teaching on Prayer
November 2, 2022
Commentary
These verses contain what is commonly called the “Lord’s Prayer,” also found in Matthew 6:9-13. It should really be called the “disciples prayer,” because Jesus could not pray it Himself since it says: “Forgive us our sins,” and Jesus could not sin. Notice that Jesus praised God first, and they He made His requests. Praising God first puts us in the right frame of mind to tell Him about our needs. It is a model prayer to show us how to pray and not something to just be repeated in vain repetition. In it we are to:
Recognize God for who He is and glorify His name (v. 2).Pray for His program to be accomplished. It is not telling God what we want but asking God to use us to accomplish what He wants (v. 2).Pray that His will be accomplished. It is not to get man’s will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth (v. 2).Ask for daily food (v. 3).Ask for forgiveness of sin (v. 4).Ask for deliverance from sin and evil (v. 4). Actually that we be delivered from situations that would cause us to sin. Following the prayer, Jesus gives a parable which illustrates the fact that God will answer the prayer of those who are His children (vv.5-8). God is more than a friend, and will certainly grant our requests much more readily than the man who had gone to bed. A second brief parable shows that the Father will not only respond, but He will give us what is good for us and not what will harm us (vv. 9-12). He goes on to state that this good gift is the Holy Spirit, which is the most important gift we could have (v. 13).
Application
What concerns occupy most of my time in prayer? If I make a list of my concerns, how do these match up with the points given above?
Luke 11:1– 13 (NET)
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 So he said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,
4 and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And do not lead us into temptation.”
5 Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 Then he will reply from inside, ‘Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though the man inside will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s sheer persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9 “So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Illustration: Prayer was a Part of Hudson Taylor’s Life
Prayer is a time of refreshment. Howard Taylor says of his father, Hudson Taylor, “For forty years the sun never rose on China a single day that God didn’t find him on his knees.” (Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission).