Luke 11:1-4
Jesus’ life was enabled by prayer. One time when He finished praying, a disciple asked: “…’Lord, teach
us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’” (1b). Jesus’ prayer life inspired others to ask how to
pray. So He gave them key things to say. First, we are to address God as Father. He is a caring,
protecting and providing God. If we do not know the nature of God as Father, we will not have faith He
will hear and respond to us. The first petition concerns the honor of our Father’s name. This is a filter all
requests should pass through: the honor of God’s name. We then pray for His Kingdom to come or His
rule to be exercised in every part of our lives. We are to request of God our daily provision, our need for
forgiveness and our protection from temptation. Prayer engages a series of petitions reflective of our
utter dependency of God and is thus, both incredibly humbling and liberating!