Luke 11:1-4 — Prayer teaches us, teaches Jesus

READ THIS: Luke 11:1-4

1 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 his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: 

“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

HAPPY DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS!!! Sometimes this day can feel a little unimportant in comparison to all of the hype of yesterday BUT remember what we learned yesterday...it's not about what we're doing but who we're doing it with. And if we choose to do everyday with Jesus, then THIS day is just as important as yesterday! Mainly because today has just as much Jesus in it as any other day, including Christmas!

Part of how we can choose to do this whole day with Jesus is through prayer. Sometimes, when it comes to prayer, it feels like we don't know what to say, we just forget, or we do it because we're told to. Jesus teaches here that prayer is more about relationships than anything else. Prayer changes our understanding not only of our relationship with God, but of our relationship with ourselves and others:

    Relationship with God:
  • Father- God is our dad. Jesus uses the word "Abba" here which is closer to the word for "daddy" than anything else. It's personal. God is someone who is deeply tied to us and who cares for us. When we pray "Father," we remind ourselves of this truth, which leads us to coming to Him as we would go to a good earthly father. 
  • Hallowed be your name- Hallowed is a way of saying someone is holy or set apart. God, while being our Father, is also someone infinitely different from any earthly father we know. He is perfect, and we don't measure up to that, which leads us to treat God with respect. 
  • Your Kingdom come- God's Kingdom is unlike this world. He is our true King, which means we need to go to Him for direction first and foremost. 
  • Give us each day our daily bread- God is our provider. When we ask Him for what we need, we admit that He is the one who ultimately gives every good gift because He has the power and the desire to do so.
    Relationship with ourselves:
  • Forgive us our sins- When we pray, we get to humble ourselves because we know that we need God and His forgiveness, while also being reminded of how valuable we are to God that He would die for us, broken as we are!
  • Lead us not into temptation- When we pray instead of doing any of the other things we could be doing (watching Netflix, texting, snacking, whatever), we make a practice of ranking God as more important than other things, changing our own priorities, and leading us to turn down temptation more often.
    Relationship with others:
  • For we also forgive everyone who sins against us- It's a lot harder to expect perfection from other people when we know the perfection of God Himself. Besides, when we remind ourselves of how much God has forgiven us, it's hard to say someone else doesn't deserve forgiveness. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. How have you seen prayer change one of your relationships (whether with God, self, or others)? If you haven't, do you feel like you have seen someone else been changed because of prayer?

2. Why do you think the disciples had to be taught how to pray? Do you think people need to be taught how to pray?

TRY THIS:

Pick ONE part of the bolded sections of the Lord's prayer, and use it once a day in a prayer for the week. For example:

I choose forgive us our sins. So, today I'm going to pray and at some point use that phrase. Then tomorrow I am going to pray and use the phrase again. I will do that for the whole week!

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