"Lord teach us to pray" 

Luke 11:1-13

“Lord teach us to pray” 

Luke 11:1-13

           Saint Luke shows us the circumstances in which Jesus teaches the “Lord’s Prayer”. 

           The disciples, already know how to pray by reciting the formulas of the Jewish tradition, but they want to pray in the way Jesus does, because they can see prayer is a crucial part of His life.  Indeed, each of Jesus’ important actions is begun by long preparation in prayer. Moreover, the disciples are fascinated because they see that He does not pray like the other teachers of the time, but rather His prayer is an intimate bond with the Father, so much so that they wish to be a part of these moments of   union with God,

So, one day they wait for Jesus to finish praying in a secluded place and then they ask him: “Lord, teach us to pray”. In responding to the disciples’ question, Jesus does not provide an abstract definition of prayer, nor does he teach a technique to pray in order to “obtain” something. Instead, he invites his followers to experience prayer, by putting them directly in communication with the Father, causing them to feel a hunger for a personal relationship with God, with the Father. Herein lies the heart of Christian prayer! It is a dialogue between people who love each other, a dialogue based on trust, sustained by listening. It is the dialogue of a Son with his Father, a dialogue between children and their Father. This is Christian prayer.

So Jesus, delivers the “Lord’s Prayer” to them, one of the most precious gifts left to us by the Lord during his earthly mission. The prayer that the Lord taught us is a communal prayer, Our Father and we should address it to the Father, always in communion with our brothers and sisters.

Jesus’ teaching on prayer continues with two parables, which he modelled on the behaviour of a friend towards another friend, and that of a father towards his Child, Both are intended to teach us to have full confidence in God, who is Father. He knows our needs better than we do ourselves, but he wants us to present them to him with faith and persistence.  In being persistent with God, we don’t need to convince him, but rather to strengthen our own faith and our own patience, meaning our ability to strive together with God for the things that are truly important and necessary to live a Christian life. In prayer there are two of us: God and I, striving together for the important things.  (Pope Francis)