Jesus Teaching On Praying

"He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.

   Your kingdom come.

   Give us each day our daily bread.

   And forgive us our sins,

     for we ourselves forgive 

everyone indebted to us.

   And do not bring us to the time of trial.’."

(from Luke 11:1-13 or Matthew 6:9-13 )

Who taught you how to pray?

For me, probably my mother taught me this prayer: 

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

Angels watch me through the night,

and wake me with the morning light. Amen.

This bedtime prayer didn't mean much to me because my image of angels related to Christmas Trees. It was fine with me if they were flying around guarding my presents under the tree.

For us and the disciples it is Jesus.

When a disciple asked Jesus to teach them about prayer, it was more likely something other than a technique, or position, or pattern. 

As Jews, they already knew these things.

It seems to me they wanted to learn more about Jesus’ love for God and his intense desire to see God’s reign come to complete realization.

They wanted to discover what love for God and neighbor looks like. 

The disciples wanted a prayer showing what Jesus thinks God and the promised kingdom is like. 

The disciples wanted a prayer they could share demonstrating their passion for God and the promised reign of God

So, Jesus gave them a prayer based on encouraging love for God and neighbor by describing the ways God has shown the meaning of steadfast love.

Jesus teaches his theological convictions that God hears, provides, forgives, protects, and expects generosity to others.

Sometimes I worry prayer doesn’t do much. For me, the Lord's Prayer is Jesus’ reminder that God hears my words, silences, and anxieties, is generous.

I'm thankful that Jesus followed up his teaching urging me to persist in prayer because with God, the door is always open