The Lord's Prayer Part 1
Luke 11:1-13 (ESV)
Now Jesus[a] was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,[b]
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence[c] he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for[d] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who 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!”
What’s interesting is that John actually taught his disciples to pray a specific, recognizable way. In order to understand this, one has to understand that at that time, the tradition was that young men would train in the law and drill it until it was memorized, then around the time they came of age (Bar Mitzvah), were either asked to follow a Rabbi (teacher) or went to the business of their father.
Part of the process of following a Rabbi was to do EXACTLY what they did. So this request would have been common, but what’s uncommon is the age of the disciples. While it is widely acknowledged that the disciples were still younger men, maybe around 14-17 with the exception of maybe Peter, who was older. That also explains why he was so willing to return to his old habits when Jesus died, but that’s another story for another time.
So Jesus’ disciples asking how to pray is not something new, they would have been culturally correct in asking for that.
What’s interesting, though, Jesus shared, then shared interesting parables afterward.
I want to briefly share some of the key points from the prayer itself:
Father, Hallowed be your name:
Whenever we approach the father, we must approach with the proper perspective. We must put God first and foremost as the highest position. Hallowed is an adjective that refers to His name Jesus is saying when you approach God, you must understand that positionally, there is no one higher. His name is consecrated, holy, and greatly revered. (Dictionary.com defined as hallowed).
Jesus understood, that, even though He was in very nature God (Philippians 2), He still entreats God with the proper level of respect and authority.
When we approach God with our conversations, our lists, and our desire to grow, we must put him in the proper perspective first.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,[b]
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
This section is always read separately, but if you look at the sentence structure it’s all together. Provision, Forgiveness of our sins, and forgiving others are tied together! What’s very interesting, is this talks about not just asking for help with our daily bread, which lots of people tend to focus on, but also the need to focus on forgiveness of ourselves AND others daily. Multiple times a day. Jesus says later in Luke 17 that we have to forgive 70 times 7 per offense. Not because you are going to stick around and be abused or need forgiveness 490 times per day, but because we recall and rehearse and have things come up that remind us tons. Every time that comes up, we must forgive. Whether ourselves or others.