He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread 4 and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”
5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7 and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
9 “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 12 Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13 If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
The Gentile Christians had little knowledge of Jesus and God since they did not have an OT background, so Luke gave them guidance and encouragement on prayer. Religious communities developed their own style of prayer, so Jesus’ disciples asked him to, “Teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples (v. 1).” Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer has five petitions (vv. 2-5), Matthew’s version has seven (Mt. 6:9-13). We address our prayer to God and ask that His name be sanctified and that the Kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus (Lk. 10:9) continues on Earth. We ask that each one be fed physically and spiritually in our daily walk with God, and as we are sinners, we ask God in His mercy to forgive our sins as we ourselves forgive those who sin against us. Jewish expectation was that in the end times one would be subject to severe trials, so the plea is for God’s protection in the Messianic age. Another interpretation is for God to protect us from falling away from the Christian way of life when we are tempted.
In OT Israel, hospitality was prized so to deny a guest or neighbor hospitality would be a dishonorable thing to do. A persistent neighbor would most likely get the result he desired because hospitality was so highly prized. Our gracious God responds to our prayers, so we are to persevere in prayer. If we who are sinners know how to provide for our children how much more will God our Father give the Holy Spirit to His adopted children when they ask?
Almighty God, teach us to pray as you want us to pray and help us to focus our prayers outwards because as your children you take care of our needs. Cleanse our hearts that they may be just and true and grant that we may be molded by your grace to become dwelling places pleasing to you. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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