Knowing The Word in Luke 11:1

Prayer

11:1 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.”

Comments

Luke is very interested in prayer and that followers of Jesus pray with the right attitude. He includes many instances of Jesus praying for himself and others throughout the Gospel, teaching on prayer, and warning against the wrong kind of prayer. Here he includes a story about the disciples’ interest in prayer as they refer to the way John the Baptist (now dead) taught his disciples to pray.

How do Jesus’ disciples know about John’s disciples? We learn in John’s Gospel that Jesus’ first disciples, including Andrew and John, were first disciples of John the Baptist before they became disciples of Jesus. As they begin to further appreciate the differences between John and Jesus, they want to understand better what it means to pray to the Father as they see Jesus doing.

Application

How interested in prayer are you? Is it part of your daily routine or something you do occasionally? Ask Jesus to teach you something about prayer right now.

Prayer

O Lord my God,

teach my heart where and how to seek you,

where and how to find you.

Lord, if you are not here but absent,

Where shall I seek you? . . .

Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height,

for my understanding is in no way equal to that,

but I do desire to understand a little of your truth

which my heart already believes and loves.

I do not seek to understand so that I may believe,

but I believe so that I may understand;

and what is more,

I believe that unless I do believe I shall not understand.

Anselm, 1033-1109