Teach Us to Pray

Here are some thoughts about this Sunday's gospel. I would like to have a conversation about this passage. I'll start off and would like your input as well. Thanks so much! These thoughts were shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13

¹[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”²He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
  ³Give us each day our daily bread.
  ⁴And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
  ⁵And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
  ⁹“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? ¹²Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? ¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Sunday’s gospel has some very familiar words and themes. Even those who do not attend church, know the Lord’s Prayer. In Luke, we have an abbreviated version of what we find in Matthew, the one we’re more familiar with.

So, all week I’ve wondered: do I preach on the Lord’s Prayer or the parable, and/or Jesus’ words of asking, seeking, knocking? I would really like to hear from you on this. I think I know where I need to go, but what do you think? What would you like to hear about?

It seems that the gist of what Jesus is saying is that we should ask God to supply our needs. I like what Martin Luther wrote about this in The Small Catechism:

“Give us today our daily bread.” In fact, God gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is and to receive it with thanksgiving.

What then does “daily bread” mean?

Everything included in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

How’s that for being comprehensive?

I like the fact that Jesus does teach the disciples how to pray and then gives them an illustration through a parable, followed by the plain words of how they should pray.

Now it’s your turn. Let’s get a conversation going before Sunday about this gospel passage. What is Jesus saying and what does it mean to us? What you like to know more about? May God speak to us through God’s holy word and prepare us for our gathering as the people of God on Sunday. 

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