Luke 11: 1
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.
When he finished, one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them,
“when you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
Luke’s version was brief and rough around the edges.
Another interpretation of the same prayer from Matthew adds a few more instructions of how we are to ‘set’ up our prayer time.
Matthew 6: 6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door
and pray to your father, who is unseen.
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(Isn’t it awesome that HE KNOWS before we ask?)
This then is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today 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 the evil one.
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you,
your father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins,
your father will not forgive your sins.
There are a lot of words to think about
some are heavy
and some are words that both challenge and encourage us.
Are we ready to say with an eager heart,
“Lord teach us?”
