8-7-07 #Disciple Bible Study Titled: "Teach Us To Pray"

[Disciple]

Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Luke 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Luke 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luke 11:6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luke 11:7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luke 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luke 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luke 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luke 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
I have a confession to make. I have almost never prayed the so-called Lord’s Prayer. The reason why I have refrained is because of what I have considered its misuse. In Matthew’s account, the Lord’s Prayer is preceded by these words:
Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Matthew 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
I believe the Lord’s Prayer in Luke’s account has changed my mind about this. In introducing this prayer in the Gospel of Luke, which is similar, but not identical to that found in Matthew, our Lord said, “When you pray, say:
Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
[00:13] <@Disciple> This is strongly suggesting that the actual words should be repeated. If this is a prayer which disciples should pray, then we should understand what it means. If our Lord’s words in Matthew mean anything, they mean that to repeat the prayer without understanding it is essentially no different than praying as the heathen do.

As I began to study this text more seriously, and as I noted that Jesus taught this prayer as a pattern, I could not find the prayer anywhere included in the many prayers of the disciples or of the early church, which were recorded in the New Testament.
How could this prayer be a pattern, a model, and yet never be found practiced by the disciples? How could the Lord Jesus instruct His disciples to pray this prayer and yet we find no record of it having been done by the first disciples or later ones? Is this prayer a pattern if we never find it used as such? That is one of the tensions of this text.
I think I now know the answer, but I shall delay sharing it with you until we look more carefully at the prayer itself. Let us listen well, then, to our Lord’s instructions on prayer, for this prayer is not the Lord’s Prayer, but the disciple’s prayer.
As you may know, the Gospel of Luke has, by far, the most emphasis on prayer. Up to this point, the emphasis of Luke has fallen on the prayer life of our Lord. But here a certain unnamed disciple sees the Lord’s practice as a pattern, one which each disciple should follow, and thus the Lord is asked to teach the disciples to pray as well.
The prayer life which characterizes our Lord will, in the Book of Acts, characterize the disciples as well. Luke is paving the way, laying the foundation for that constant communion with God in prayer.
Why, if this prayer is a pattern prayer, do we never find it as a prayer of any of the disciples, either in the gospels or in the epistles? I believe that there are several possible explanations.
(1) This prayer may have been intended as a prayer to be repeated. One of my friends has suggested that if the prayer was to be recited, Jesus would have said, “When you pray repeat … ” rather than, “When you pray, say … ”
(2) Even if the prayer was meant to be liturgically repeated, we do not need to be told that it was. If Jesus instructed His disciples to pray this prayer, then this is more than enough motivation to do so.
If our Lord tells us to do something, we should do it, whether or not anyone else does. To give numerous examples of men’s obedience to this command is unnecessary. Jesus’ instruction is far more forceful than man’s actions.
(3) If this prayer is a “skeletal prayer” that is intended to be filled in, then there are an infinite number of variations possible. It would be more accurate to ****yze the prayers of the disciples and the church to see it they deal with the second coming of Christ, the meeting of their physical needs, forgiveness of sins and avoidance of temptation.
(4) This may be a corporate prayer, one which saints would pray as a group. I cannot minimize the collective nature of this prayer. While the one disciple asked Jesus to teach, he asked Him to teach the disciples as a group (“teach us to pray … ”), rather than to teach him as an individual. The coming of the kingdom of God, the provision of daily needs, and the forgiveness of sins are something for which all saints can pray together, daily.
Failing to pray as our Lord has instructed may reveal that the fact that God is not your Father at all. If we do not pray daily to God as our Father for these needs, or if we pray only for some of them, it may be because God is not a Father to us, but our foe. Only the one who knows God as their Father can pray to Him as their heavenly Father and do so expecting Him to hear and to answer with good gifts.
Indeed, some of those things for which the true disciple is instructed to pray would be viewed as distasteful, even dreaded by a non-Christian. What unbeliever would pray for the coming of the Lord’s kingdom, knowing that it would not only spell the end of their sinful lives, but also their damnation? Who would pray for forgiveness of sins, if they denied that they were a sinner?
If you lack the confidence to come to Him as your Father, then God has a way for you to become His child. That way is through God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He has come to the earth and has died in your place. God’s anger toward your sin has already fallen on Him.
All that you must do is to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and of eternal life through His Son, and through His death on the cross of Calvary. Come to the Father as your Father, now.