Chapter 11

There is something fascinating in Jesus’ prayer habits.

What is remarkable to me is that when the disciples looked at Him, they asked Him to “Teach us to pray.”

Do you catch this?

A partial list of what we’ve seen Jesus do since the beginning of Luke:
* Calm a storm
* Heal sick people
* Drive out demons
* RAISE DEAD PEOPLE (Seriously!)
* (most miraculously of all) convince a Tax Collector and a Zealot to be in the same group!

And after Jesus has done all this, what do they want Him to teach them?

How to pray!

What was it about Jesus’ prayer life that seemed so astounding that instead of asking Him to teach them to raise dead people, they asked Him to teach them to pray? I don’t know for sure, but there are a few things that stand out.

Certainly there was real (and obvious) intimacy to the way that Jesus prayed – “Our Father” is a fairly commonly used expression for God today, but in Jesus’ time that was familiar to the point of scandal. It’s like walking up to the Queen and saying “Hey Babe, how’s it going?[1]”

There was also simplicity. In a world where people tended to gabble and use big words as though it impressed God (and no, we wouldn’t do anything like using archaic language in our prayer lives, now, would we?), Jesus simply says to lay your requests before Him, in simple terms, and to not forget our Spiritual needs and the needs of the world in the rush.

There is one other thing in the prayer Jesus taught; something He wouldn’t have needed, but which would have made a real difference to people. It’s confession. People have a deep need for forgiveness, and the idea that one could confess sin to God without sacrificing a sheep every time must have seemed wonderful to 1st Century Jews!

In any case, Jesus teaches His disciples this simple prayer, which has been called “The Lord’s Prayer” by Protestants, and often the “Our Father” by Catholics (who often name prayers after their first two words – sometimes in Latin, in which case this one is the Pater Noster). For nearly 2000 years, it’s been repeated in Church as part of the standard service or mass; In my opinion, that’s kind of missing the point, since it seems to be more of a model for peoples’ prayers, rather than a form letter to God. But in any case, most of us know it.

I will break with tradition tonight and come back to chapter 11 tomorrow night. There’s simply too much in this chapter to leave it here!


[1] The interesting thing about this one is that it’s something that’d be shocking if any of us did it – but for the Queen’s husband, on the other hand, such a remark would be completely appropriate. In the same way, Jesus calling God His “Father” seemed scandalous only because people were reluctant to accept His claims of divinity.