“How then do we pray?” the disciples ask in the Gospel of Matthew. In Luke’s Gospel, they make a request, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” In each case it is after the disciples have seen Jesus praying.
Luke puts a stronger focus on prayer than the other gospels. Luke begins and ends with prayer. We see Jesus receive the Spirit of God while he is praying. He prays as he faces the temptations. He prays regularly and before crucial events such as calling his disciples, deciding to go to Jerusalem, his transfiguration, at the Mount of Olives before his arrest, he dies praying, and he prays with his disciples as the risen Lord, points out Alan Culpepper, in commenting on this text.
Jesus is a person of prayer. The disciples want to learn how to pray from him. Jesus gives them a model by which they became known. The early church was known for praying this prayer. We don’t hear the familiar, “Our Father who art in heaven.” Luke has a briefer, more relational beginning to the prayer. He simply says, “Father,” or “Abba.” Then, hallowed or holy be your name. Recognizing the holiness of God’s name establishes the greatness of God, while addressing God as Abba, marks a closeness and intimacy between God and the one offering the prayer.
Jesus proclaims the nearness or the presence of God’s kingdom as a part of his ministry while teaching and healing people. In his prayer he teaches them about expressing desire for God’s kingdom to be with them. It is expressing our hopes that God’s intentions for the world should come to fruition and our relationships with one another would be made right.
Then Jesus shifts directions from our relationship with God to petitions for us as a people. He encourages us to ask for our daily bread. It is not for me and my daily bread, but for all of us. It is asking that all the people have bread enough to eat – for today, for tomorrow, maybe for the great banquet that we will all be welcomed to one day. It is for everyone, collectively, as a whole people. That means not leaving anyone out. All you who are hungry, come. There’ll be plenty.
Jesus suggests that we pray for forgiveness, which requires us to forgive. It is a practice that does not have fidelity or fullness unless we extend it and receive it. Forgiveness begins with God. It flows from God to us, and through us to others.
Next, we’re to ask for protection from what threatens our lives and our relationship with God. There are times in life when we are tested by different circumstances. We petition God not to put us to the test.
Many of us memorized this prayer and have probably said it many times. If we have internalized the form of this prayer, we may pray in a way that reflects its form. We give thanks to God and honor God’s name. We offer our concerns or petitions, the things that are on our hearts, especially the larger concerns for more than ourselves. And then we end by submitting ourselves to God’s intentions.
Jesus shifts gears from his instruction about prayer to an assurance about our relationship with God through prayer. He wants us to persist in praying and he wants to assure us that God answers prayer. Jesus tells a little parable about a parent who would surely not give a hungry child something as terrible as a snake. If even a not-so-great parent would give something decent to eat, think how much more God would give.
It’s an example of moving from the lesser (a not quite wonderful parent) to the greater (the God who loves us and sacrifices for us). God will give God’s own self as a gift for us. It points ahead to Jesus offering himself as a gift to the world so that we might know God’s love for us.
Source: Freepik.com