In The Word
Read: Luke 11:1-13
Instruction about Prayer
11 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also 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.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation.’”
5 And He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to 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 Now which one of you fathers will his son ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? 12 Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? 13 So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
One of the most amazing privileges we get as followers of Yeshua is communication with the Father. The Messiah throughout the scriptures gives us a great example of how often we should talk to the Father. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” But the big issue with prayer is defined in the request one of the disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1b). So, here in our reading today, we have Yeshua teaching the model of how to pray.
He first began by praising Yahweh and exalting His name. Oftentimes, we get in such a hurry that we forget to praise Him for just being God. This is contrary to the misconception that prayer is mostly asking and pleading rather than giving honor. We have to remember that just as a person who stands before the judge in a courtroom honors the judge, we too should honor Yahweh when we come before Him. This helps us remember that He is God and we are not. The rest of the teaching is centered on God as the possessor of the perfect will, God as our provider and our forgiveness. This is because God desires to be in total control of our lives because He knows best.
Today, you may not know exactly how to pray or even why to pray. Look to the lesson that Yeshua has given us and just communicate with the Father because He is listening. For Jesus said, “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened” (Luke 11:10).