Teach Us to Pray: Living the Lord's Prayer

Luke 11 opens with Jesus praying in a certain place, and his praying draws out the honest request, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus answers with words that are familiar and simple, but not small. The prayer begins with Father, and that name carries the heart of it. God is there, God is good, God is responsive, and God is loving.

The name Father may be hard for some because earthly fathers can wound, fail, disappear, or disappoint. God, though, is not measured by earthly fathers. God is the good and loving Father many never had, better than even the best fathers, and the standard by which every earthly father is measured.

The Lord’s Prayer teaches big prayers first. God’s kingdom coming and God’s will being done are not just nice church words. God really is at work in this world, renewing the face of the earth, taking what is so very broken and making it whole. Kingdom prayer dares to ask for workers for the harvest, for swords to become plowshares, for every knee to bow, and for every person to know how deeply loved they are by God.

Daily bread teaches bold, ordinary prayer too. The stuff and struggles of everyday life belong before God. No prayer is too small, whether the concern feels like a kitten, a parking place, a meal, a diagnosis, a child, a grief, or a fear in the middle of the night. Prayer is not a silver bullet or a magic formula, but God cares for the real life of God’s children.

Prayer matters even when answers come in ways no one expects, at times no one expects, through people no one expects. A grandmother’s prayer room, filled with Bibles, devotional books, praying hands, and pictures, becomes a picture of prayer that keeps working even after a lifetime ends. The Lord’s Prayer remembered by a woman lost in Alzheimer’s shows that prayer can be buried deep under confusion and still rise clear when almost everything else is gone.

Prayer is easy because it is honest conversation with God. Prayer is hard because control has to be released, trust has to be practiced, waiting has to be accepted, and stillness has to be learned. The Cherokee image of the blindfolded boy discovering his father beside him all night shows what prayer does. Prayer takes the blindfold off and reveals the constant presence of the heavenly Father who never leaves God’s children alone.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Prayer begins with God’s nearness. [36:33] Jesus teaches prayer by giving the name Father, not a distant title for a distant power. That name does not excuse the failures of earthly fathers, but reveals the One who is better than even the best of them. Prayer rests first in God’s character before it ever becomes a list of requests. [36:33]
• 2. Kingdom prayers are big prayers. [37:27] “Your kingdom come” asks for more than private comfort or personal success. It trusts that God is renewing the face of the earth and can make whole what is deeply broken. Such prayer stretches desire until it begins to long for what God longs for. [37:27]
• 3. Daily needs belong before God. [38:53] Jesus gives permission to pray for bread, forgiveness, guidance, and deliverance. Ordinary needs are not interruptions to spiritual life, but the very places where dependence becomes honest. No prayer is too small when it is brought to the Father with a real and open heart. [38:53]
• 4. Prayer works deeper than sight. [41:10] The effects of prayer often arrive after long waiting, through unexpected people, or beyond a person’s lifetime. Prayer cannot be quantified because it touches the holy and undergirds life in hidden ways. Faithfulness in prayer may bear fruit long after the praying person is gone. [41:10]
• 5. Prayer reveals the Father beside us. [47:40] The blindfolded child on the mountain becomes a picture of the soul learning trust in the dark. Prayer does not always remove fear immediately, but it reveals the presence that has been there all along. The heavenly Father is not absent in the night, but quietly near.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:35] - Father’s Day and the Heavenly Father
• [26:41] - Luke 11: Lord, Teach Us to Pray
• [28:51] - How Prayer Shows Up in Life
• [29:10] - A Grandmother’s Prayer Room
• [31:13] - Children’s Honest Prayers
• [34:56] - Prayer in the Life of Jesus
• [35:54] - Calling on a Loving Father
• [37:27] - Praying Big Kingdom Prayers
• [38:53] - Daily Bread and Everyday Needs
• [40:21] - Prayer Matters Beyond Sight
• [43:36] - The Lord’s Prayer Remembered
• [46:22] - Prayer as Deep Relationship
• [47:40] - The Father Beside the Child
• [53:18] - Making Prayer Integral to Life

Bible Reading

Luke 11:1-13
“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."’ And he said to them, ‘Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If 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!’” [26:41]

Matthew 6:9-13
“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’” [52:36]

Isaiah 2:4
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Philippians 2:10-11
“so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Observation questions

1. In Luke 11, what are the first things Jesus tells his disciples to pray for, and what everyday needs are included later in the prayer? [38:53]
2. In Luke 11:5-13, what pictures does Jesus use to describe God’s response to prayer: a friend at midnight, a parent, and the words ask, seek, and knock?
3. What examples are given of prayers that seem small or ordinary, like a kitten, a parking place, or daily bread, and what do those examples show about bringing everyday life to God? [39:08]
4. What details stand out in the story of the woman with Alzheimer’s praying the Lord’s Prayer, and what does that reveal about how deeply prayer can stay with a person? [43:36]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus teaches his disciples to begin prayer with “Father.” What does that suggest about the kind of relationship God wants with his people, especially for those who carry pain around the word “father”? [36:43]
2. “Your kingdom come” is larger than a prayer for private comfort. How does that line stretch prayer outward toward the healing of the world, the ending of war, and the hope that all people will know Christ? [37:27]
3. Jesus includes daily bread, forgiveness, and guidance in the same prayer as God’s kingdom. What does that say about the connection between great spiritual hopes and the ordinary needs of daily life? [39:00]
4. Prayer often bears fruit in ways people cannot measure or predict. How does that help explain why prayer still matters even when answers seem delayed, hidden, or different from what was asked? [40:21]

Application questions

1. When prayer begins with “Father,” what feelings rise up personally: comfort, trust, distance, hesitation, gratitude, or something else? What might it look like to bring that honestly before God rather than hiding it? [36:54]
2. What is one big kingdom prayer that needs to be prayed more boldly right now: for peace, for reconciliation, for workers in the harvest, for someone to know they are loved by God, or for something else? What would it look like to keep praying that consistently? [38:15]
3. What ordinary need has been treated as too small to pray about: a family strain, fear at night, a health concern, work stress, grief, money, a child, or simple daily strength? What makes it hard to bring that small thing to God? [39:14]
4. Prayer requires letting go of control and learning to trust. Where is control being clung to most tightly right now, and how might prayer become an act of release in that place? [48:19]
5. Some prayers seem unanswered for a long time. Is there a person or situation that has almost been given up on in prayer? What would it mean to keep asking, seeking, and knocking without pretending to know the timeline? [41:10]
6. Prayer is one of the deepest ways to love another person. Who needs that kind of love this week, and how could prayer for that person become more intentional and faithful? [45:52]
7. Prayer can take the blindfold off and reveal that the Father is already near. In what part of life does it feel dark or lonely right now, and how might a simple habit of prayer help uncover God’s presence there? [47:40]