Luke 11:1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say,
‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves also forgive everyone who sins against us.
Bring us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’”
Are you satisfied with your prayer life? Many find prayer difficult. Do you believe that God is pleased with your prayers?
As for my heart, when I go to pray, I find it reluctant to go to God, and when it is with him, reluctant to stay with him, that many times I am forced in my prayers, first to beg of God that he would take my heart, and set it on himself in Christ, and when it is there, that he would keep it there.
(John Bunyan, Praying in the Spirit, (1662) Banner of Truth)
As previously noted, Jesus frequently went off to pray. He had recently prayed: I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. Luke 10:21
As he returned from prayer one of his disciples asked; Lord teach us to pray. In answer to his request Jesus taught his disciples what is now, fittingly, known as the Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven:
Jesus begins by reminding us that Christians are the adopted children of God the Father, Romans 8:15-16 and heirs of the Kingdom. Galatians 4:7 Also, prayer is for Christians because no one comes to the Father except through [Christ]. John 14:6 This means that prayer takes us into the presence of God our Father.
What does the Westminster Confession of Faith teach about prayer?
Q. 189. What doth the preface of the Lord’s prayer teach us?
A. The preface of the Lord’s prayer (contained in these words, Our Father which art in heaven) teacheth us, when we pray, to draw near to God with confidence of his fatherly goodness, and our interest therein; with reverence, and all other childlike dispositions, heavenly affections, and due apprehensions of his sovereign power, majesty, and gracious condescension: as also, to pray with and for others.
(Westminster confession of Faith: Larger Catechism)
May your name be kept holy:
In a world that profanes the name of God and uses his name in mockery, Christians are to remember that God’s name is holy. Like the Psalmist, we proclaim, “O magnify Jehovah with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:3
Q. 190. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name), acknowledging the utter inability and indisposition that is in ourselves and all men to honor God aright, we pray, that God would by his grace enable and incline us and others to know, to acknowledge, and highly to esteem him, his titles, attributes, ordinances, word, works, and whatsoever he is pleased to make himself known by; and to glorify him in thought, word, and deed: that he would prevent and remove atheism, ignorance, idolatry, profaneness, and whatsoever is dishonorable to him; and, by his overruling providence, direct and dispose of all things to his own glory.
(Westminster confession of Faith: Larger Catechism)
May your Kingdom come:
Christ came, breaking into Satan’s kingdom to destroy it, setting the captives free, and reestablishing God’s Kingdom rule of freedom over all of the earth. As Christ had stated in Luke 4:43, “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come), acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate; that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.
(Westminster confession of Faith: Larger Catechism)
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven:
Jumping ahead in Luke’s retelling of the life of Christ, after his defeat of death at the time of his resurrection, Jesus left his disciples with a commission and a command saying’
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Christ, having ascended to the right hand of the Father, has been given all authority in heaven and with that he has commissioned Christians on earth to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded. Do you think our world would look differently if we actually took the command to teach the nations to obey God’s commands seriously?
Q. 192. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. In the third petition (which is, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven), acknowledging that by nature we and all men are not only utterly unable and unwilling to know and to do the will of God, but prone to rebel against his word, to repine and murmur against his providence, and wholly inclined to do the will of the flesh, and of the devil: we pray, that God would by his Spirit take away from ourselves and others all blindness, weakness, indisposedness, and perverseness of heart; and by his grace make us able and willing to know, do, and submit to his will in all things, with the like humility, cheerfulness, faithfulness, diligence, zeal, sincerity, and constancy, as the angels do in heaven.
(Westminster confession of Faith: Larger Catechism)
Give us, day by day, our daily bread:
As Christians we must never place our faith in our own abilities and power, but instead we must come to realize that we are sustained by God’s constant care and blessing.
Q. 193. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. In the fourth petition (which is, Give us this day our daily bread), acknowledging that in Adam, and by our own sin, we have forfeited our right to all the outward blessings of this life, and deserve to be wholly deprived of them by God, and to have them cursed to us in the use of them; and that neither they of themselves are able to sustain us, nor we to merit, or by our own industry to procure them; but prone to desire, get, and use them unlawfully: we pray for ourselves and others, that both they and we, waiting upon the providence of God from day to day in the use of lawful means, may, of his free gift, and as to his fatherly wisdom shall seem best, enjoy a competent portion of them; and have the same continued and blessed unto us in our holy and comfortable use of them, and contentment in them; and be kept from all things that are contrary to our temporal support and comfort.
(Westminster confession of Faith: Larger Catechism)
Forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone who sins against us:
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are asking God to forgive us in the same manner that we have forgiven others. Before you pray this, ask yourself: do you forgive everyone who sins against you? Or do you hold a grudge against your neighbor, friend, employer, spouse? Before you pray this prayer you must reevaluate: do you really want God to treat you in the same way that you treat others?
Q. 194. What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A. In the fifth petition (which is, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors), acknowledging that we and all others are guilty both of original and actual sin, and thereby become debtors to the justice of God; and that neither we, nor any other creature, can make the least satisfaction for that debt: we pray for ourselves and others, that God of his free grace would, through the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, apprehended and applied by faith, acquit us both from the guilt and punishment of sin, accept us in his Beloved; continue his favor and grace to us, pardon our daily failings, and fill us with peace and joy, in giving us daily more and more assurance of forgiveness; which we are the rather emboldened to ask, and encouraged to expect, when we have this testimony in ourselves, that we from the heart forgive others their offenses.
(Westminster confession of Faith: Larger Catechism)
Bring us not into temptation:
We are tempted by Satan, Luke 22:31 by people we meet in our lives, Proverbs 1:11 and by our own fallen desires, James 1:14.
Choices are all over the place. A bad choice we call temptation and a good one is known as opportunity. We ask the Lord to lead us not into temptation and we tell ourselves, when opportunity knocks, don’t knock opportunity. It looks good on paper, but the problem is, temptation has a better sales pitch. While opportunity usually requires an initial investment with some money down, temptation laughs at the concept of work before reward and only asks that you check the box, bill me later. But later, when the bill comes, it comes in escalating installments. You keep owing more and more because if a dollar’s worth of temptation used to fill you up, now you need twice that just to keep from feeling empty.
(Johnny Brock, A Bus Will Bring You Back, Lunchbreak Press, 2017)
But deliver us from the evil one:
Life is a constant battle against the evil one, which is why we are to put on the whole armor of God. Ephesians 6:11 To grow in sanctification we must ask our Father to deliver us from all of the voices enticing us to pursue thoughts and actions that are destructive, evil, and sins against our Creator.
Q. 195. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A. In the sixth petition (which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil), acknowledging that the most wise, righteous, and gracious God, for divers holy and just ends, may so order things, that we may be assaulted, foiled, and for a time led captive by temptations; that Satan, the world, and the flesh, are ready powerfully to draw us aside, and ensnare us; and that we, even after the pardon of our sins, by reason of our corruption, weakness, and want of watchfulness, are not only subject to be tempted, and forward to expose ourselves unto temptations, but also of ourselves unable and unwilling to resist them, to recover out of them, and to improve them; and worthy to be left under the power of them; we pray, that God would so overrule the world and all in it, subdue the flesh, and restrain Satan, order all things, bestow and bless all means of grace, and quicken us to watchfulness in the use of them, that we and all his people may by his providence be kept from being tempted to sin; or, if tempted, that by his Spirit we may be powerfully supported and enabled to stand in the hour of temptation; or when fallen, raised again and recovered out of it, and have a sanctified use and improvement thereof: that our sanctification and salvation may be perfected, Satan trodden under our feet, and we fully freed from sin, temptation, and all evil, forever.
(Westminster confession of Faith: Larger Catechism)
After giving us a model prayer to follow in coming to our Father, Christ urges us to be persistent in prayer.
Luke 11:5 He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ 7 and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’? 8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, 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?”
If humans who are selfish, know how to do good things, you can be sure your Heavenly Father will see that your prayers are heard and your needs are met. Christ then gives several examples to make his point.
In the first, a man has an unexpected guest at midnight. Lacking food for the guest he goes next door and asks his friend to lend him some bread. Though the friend is reluctant, not wanting to disturb his sleeping family, he nevertheless gets up and provides for his friend’s need, not because they are friends, but because the neighbor at the door is persistent. The moral of the story? God wants to hear our requests and expects us to be persistent.
I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
In the second example, Christ asks us three questions to illustrate how even imperfect fathers treat children:
- If your son is hungry and asks for bread will you give him a stone? No.
- If your son asks for some fish for supper will you give him a snake? No.
- If your son wants some eggs over easy with Parmesan cheese will you give him a scorpion? No.
The point being: If you then, 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?”
Our Creator teaches his children how to pray and then promises that he will answer those prayers. We may not always get the things that we ask for because our Heavenly Father knows our needs better than we do, but we can be assured that he is both good and loving.
Prayer is spiritual work; and human nature does not like taxing, spiritual work. Human nature wants to sail to heaven under a favoring breeze, a full, smooth sea. Prayer is humbling work. It abases intellect and pride, crucifies vainglory, and signs our spiritual bankruptcy, and these are hard for flesh and blood to bear. It is easier not to pray than to bear them.
(E.M.Bounds, Prayer the Great Essential, The Complete Works)