In the gospels, Jesus often prays.
In fact, we are told that he spent whole nights in prayer. We don’t know what
he said in those prayers, but the disciples took note of Jesus’ extraordinary
prayer life, and they wanted to be like him, so they asked him to teach them
how to pray. Jesus responded by giving them the prayer that we have come to
call “The Lord’s Prayer.” It’s a great pattern to follow for all of our prayers;
not only that, but it is also a summary of the Christian faith.
Let’s first pay attention to how
Jesus starts the instruction to his disciples. He tells them, “When you pray,
say [this].” It’s not if you pray,
but when you pray. There is an expectation that as a disciple of Jesus,
you will pray.
As recorded in Luke, the first word
of the prayer is simply “Father.” Other versions of the prayer begin with the
more familiar “Our Father.” In fact, the prayer we often say mainly comes from
Matthew.1 Luke has a slimmed-down version — the bones are still
there, but it’s not as fleshed out as Matthew’s version. Both begin in similar
fashion, with the address of God as Father. The word “Father” here expresses
the reality of Jesus’ relationship with God and the benefit of Jesus’ atoning
work on the cross for us. Jesus is the Son of God; we can become the children
of God by accepting Christ’s work on our behalf. Jesus calls God Father, and
God becomes “our Father” because of what Jesus has done for us.
The
petitions
&n
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