Lord, Teach us to Pray

I was reading a sermon text by Stephen A Ratliff on prayer. He noted that when Jesus' disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4), Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer.

If we looked carefully, the Lord's Prayer is exceedingly simple and direct, very much like how a child would pray minus all the King James style of vocabulary.

If we ask our children to pray, they can actually pray very easily and naturally. My kids would pray like this, "... thank you Jesus for the fish, rice, ....., pray for mama, that the sickness would go away.." . Their faith in God is genuine, without doubt. Very different from the way an adult would pray. An adult's prayer is always a little restrictive and reserved. There is a fear of disappointment that God would not answer. But I think that is generally alright. We are not God and would not understand many things.

Back to Luke 11, Jesus' disciples are all adult Jews, I would assume them all to had led a lifetime of prayer. But as they followed Jesus and saw Jesus pray, they realised their Jewish prayer is falling short from Jesus'. They humbled themselves and asked Jesus, Lord, Teach us to pray.

Luke 11:1 -4

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.

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. Give us day by day our daily bread. 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.