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Luke 11:1–2
“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’ ” (v. 1).
Today we return to our study of Luke’s gospel, picking up our exposition in the account of Jesus’ final journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. Over the next two days, we will be looking at one of the most widely known and beloved passages in Scripture as we consider the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer bears that name because it is a prayer given by the Lord Jesus Himself to His disciples. As we see in today’s passage, Jesus provided this prayer in response to His disciples’ asking Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). Their question indicates a desire on their part to know how to pray, which helps us see that the Lord’s Prayer is really a pattern for prayer, an example of the way that Jesus wants us to pray and a presentation of the kinds of petitions we should offer to God. We may certainly pray the Lord’s Prayer verbatim, but it is also a blueprint for prayers we develop on our own.
Jesus opens the prayer by addressing God as “Father” (v. 2). This recognizes what God is like and reminds us of who we are. Because of the work of Christ, God has adopted us as His children (Eph. 1:5). In prayer, we approach Him as His beloved sons and daughters. He is a good Father who provides for us, who loves us, and who is kind and generous toward us (e.g., see Matt. 7:7–11). He is not reluctant to hear us.
As our Father who loves us, God is worthy of the highest respect. This is especially seen in the first petition of the prayer: “Hallowed be your name” (Luke 11:2). Dr. R.C. Sproul explains in his commentary: “We pray that God’s name would be regarded as sacred, holy, that it would be treated not only with respect but with reverence and adoration by every creature in heaven and on earth.” To hallow the name of the Lord is to recognize Him in His transcendent majesty and to understand that He is worthy of our worship. We begin prayer by asking for God to be honored because it is the most important thing to pray for.
After praying for God’s name to be hallowed, we are to ask for the Lord’s kingdom to come, as we see in Luke 11:2. This is not a prayer for God to enact His rule over all creation, for He has ruled for all eternity (Ps. 93:1–2). In this petition, we ask for people to gladly acknowledge His rule by submitting to His revealed will. Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Prayer makes this plain, for there the kingdom’s coming is linked to God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). We must pray for God to be followed without protest, just as the angels and saints in heaven follow Him.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
John Calvin comments on what the order of petitions in the Lord’s Prayer says about the priorities we should have in prayer. “We shall be in a state of mind for praying in a right manner, if we not only are in earnest about ourselves and our own advantage, but assign the first place to the glory of God: for it would be altogether preposterous to mind only what belongs to ourselves, and to disregard the kingdom of God, which is of far greater importance.”
for further study
- 1 Chronicles 16:8–30
- Psalm 57:5
- Psalm 67
- Matthew 6:7–10
- Ephesians 5:10
the bible in a year
- 2 Chronicles 4–6
- John 12:20–50