Daily D – Luke 11:1

by | Oct 13, 2021 | Daily D | 0 comments

He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
LUKE 11:1 (CSB)

—————————————————————————

Jewish people in Jesus’ day who were serious about their relationship with God had many prayers to pray. The most well-known is called the Eighteen Benedictions. There were prayers aplenty for every circumstance. There were ritual prayers morning, noon, and night. There were ritual prayers for meals. There were ritual prayers for all kinds of ceremonies. 

This unidentified disciple asks Jesus to teach them to pray. Why would he ask Jesus to do this? Just as “No man ever spoke like this!” (John 7:46), no man ever prayed like Jesus with results like Jesus. A quick tour of Jesus’ prayers and what happened next in Luke’s Gospel is instructive.

3:21: When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. **As he was praying**, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

How often do your prayers open heaven and demonstrate the reality and presence of the Trinity? 

What happened next?

4:1, 2: Then Jesus left the Jordan, **full of the Holy Spirit**, and was **led by the Spirit** in the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil.

4:14, 15: Then Jesus returned to Galilee **in the power of the Spirit**, and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity. He was teaching in their synagogues, being praised by everyone.

Jesus overcame extreme hunger and temptation.

5:16: Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed. 

What happened next? Jesus healed a man lowered through the roof and placed in front of him.

6:12: During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. 

What happened next? Jesus chose his twelve disciples “whom he also named apostles,” (verses 13-16).

9:18: While he was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

What happened next? Peter made his great confession (verse 20). Jesus told them about his coming death and resurrection (verse 22). 

9:28: About eight days after this conversation, he took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 

What happened next? “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men were talking with him—Moses and Elijah,” (verses 29, 30).

Jesus apparently knew some things about prayer no one else shared. The results of his prayers were unparalleled. When Jesus prayed, things happened. That’s why this unnamed disciple asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Who would not want to learn to pray from the greatest pray-er ever?

Notice the prayer Jesus teaches in 11:2-4 is essentially the same as what he taught in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:9-13. Each of these prayers can be spoken in less than a minute. Each of them contains five petitions:

Honor God’s name
Seek his kingdom
Trust for daily bread
Forgiving lifestyle
Deliverance from temptation

These are not magic words to memorize and recite. These are words that provide a daily checkup regarding what is most essential in our lives. 

We are to know and experience God for who he is.
We are to help others do the same.
We are to trust God to provide wherever he should guide.
We are to be as generous in forgiving others as God has been in forgiving us.
We are to flee from temptation. 

Which one of those ideas requires your focus right now? 

Simple prayers prayed in faith believing that God hears and answers are powerful. Jesus’ brother James has some things to say along these lines in James 5:13-18. 

It is not how many words you say
It is now how pretty you pray
To pray with full effect today
Ask Jesus to teach you the way

—————————————————————————

I will enroll in Jesus’ school of prayer.

—————————————————————————

Our Father, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray in faith believing that you hear and answer our prayers. Teach us to pray the kind of prayers that do not attempt to persuade you or impress others. Teach us instead to pray from a deep and abiding relationship with you that does not require magnificent demonstrations on our part. Teach us to pray simply, directly, and without ceasing. Remind us as often as necessary that prayer is not powerful, you are. Remind us that when we want what you want for us, your answer is always Yes. Yes, our Father in heaven, teach us to pray. Amen.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

CONNECT WITH ME!

Interested in learning more about Church Unique or Life Younique? Send a note through the Get In Touch box or Message me through the Facebook link above.

          Church Unique Logo          Auxano Logo

GET IN TOUCH!

READ MY BLOG!

Daily D – Matthew 26:69-75

Matthew 26:69-75 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl approached him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean too.” But he denied it in front of everyone: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

When he had gone out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene!” And again he denied it with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

After a little while those standing there approached and said to Peter, “You really are one of them, since even your accent gives you away.” Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Daily D – Mark 11:20-21

Mark 11:20, 21 Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

Daily D – Matthew 26:14-16

Matthew 26:14-16 Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him. And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.

Daily D – John 12:12-13

John 12:12, 13 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord — the King of Israel!”

Daily D – 1 Samuel 16:7

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”