Teach Us To Pray

Teach Us to Pray
Luke 11:1-13
There are times when we all will admit that prayer is not easy. In fact, it can often be very difficult. We sometimes, perhaps often, struggle to find the right words to say. And there are times when we say a prayer, and nothing happens, and we give up. We may also wonder whether our prayers are answered. Even if we knew that the answer was “No”, it would help us sometimes. And through all of this, we may begin to wonder if God even cares about us.

One day the disciples of Jesus had a request for him. “Teach us to pray.” they asked. His answer came is several different ways. He taught them what to pray with a model prayer. He told them to keep on praying. He also gave them a great promise related to prayer. And he told them that God really does care about them and wanted to hear their prayers.

The model prayer that Jesus gives to his disciples is the Lord’s Prayer, the best-known prayer in human history. There are two versions of the Lord’s Prayer in the Bible; this one is in Luke’s Gospel and the second is in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6:9-13). The two versions are very similar, with Matthew’s version being a little longer than Luke’s version. Matthew’s version is the best known, and the one that is usually recited in public worship.

The Lord’s Prayer has two basic parts to it. The first part has to do with God’s will and the second part has to do with the needs of the ones who are saying the prayer. The prayer begins with references to God holiness (“Hallowed be your name.”-not Howard as referenced in a joke about God’s name), and then includes a prayer for God’s kingdom to come. (Matthew’s version adds the phrase “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”) This is the part of the prayer that has to do with God’s will. The second part of the Lord’s Prayer then addresses the needs of the one who is praying. It includes prayers for daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance from trials. The prayer begins with a reminder for the pray-er about who God is and then turns to the needs of the one who prays. The Lord’s Prayer provides a basic model for those who are looking for content for their prayers.

Jesus also tells his followers that they should be persistent in their prayers. He tells the story of a man who goes to his friend and asks for bread. The friend doesn’t want to give him bread, but Jesus says that he eventually does give him the bread because the man doesn’t give up. He keeps on asking. Jesus says no one should give up on prayer. We could say that we should be like the Energizer Bunny and just keep on praying. According to Jesus, persistent prayer will be rewarded.

There is also a great promise that is related to prayer. Jesus says it this way: “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Of course, we all know that this is not a magical formula that gives us power to get anything that we want. Sometimes we may ask for the wrong things, and so we don’t get them. At other times, we may be impatient, because we don’t get what we want or need as fast as we would like. And there are times when the answers that we get to our prayers are not the answers that we wanted. In that case, we may remember a line from a song sung by Garth Brooks: “Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers.” In the midst of all of that, the promise is still there that if we ask, seek, and knock, that we will receive, find, and the door will be opened. When we remember that promise, it can help us to remember to pray.

Jesus ends this session on prayer by saying that God is like a loving parent. God wants what is best for us. God is always watching over us and wants to give us everything that we need. We don’t pray to a god who makes unreasonable demands, or one who is far away from us. But we pray to God who loves us, is near to us, and wants us to live happy and productive lives. God wants us to draw closer to Him and to each other. Prayer is one of those activities that helps us to love God and one another with all of our hearts. It makes us better people.

Those first disciples made the request for us. “Teach us to pray.” The answer begins with the model prayer, The Lord’s Prayer. But that is only the beginning. We are encouraged to be persistent in our prayers, and not give up. We are told to remember the promise that when we ask, we will receive. And through it all, we are challenged to remember that God loves us, watches over us, and wants the best for us, just like a loving parent wants the best for their children.