The Perfect Prayer

Scripture: Luke 11:1-13

[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say:

 

Father, may your name be revered as holy.
    May your kingdom come.
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    And forgive us our sins,
        for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
    And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

 

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

 

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Meditation

It’s not often we get a close-up glance at the personal relationships, rivalries, and power-moves of the groups of disciples who followed John the Baptist and who followed Jesus. But here it is, right at the beginning of our passage from Luke’s gospel. Jesus is praying, and someone from among his friends and followers blurts out, “Lord, why haven’t you taught us how to pray? Like John taught his disciples?”

 

Fascinating. I wonder what the prayer life of John’s disciples was like. I have now been forced to imagine it! John’s whole vibe was Elijah updated, right? The gospels of Matthew and Mark both tell us that John wore clothing made of camel’s hair with a leather belt—camels being considered unclean and coming from another part of the world than Rome-occupied Palestine. As for John’s diet, he ate locusts and wild honey, both of which are acceptable kosher foods. But it has to be said: John’s way of life is austere, basic.

 

What does that mean about the way his disciples prayed? Did they pray for hours on end? Did they pray on their knees? On pebbles?

 

We do not know the answer to this, but Jesus’ disciples did. They don’t seem interested in following John’s other lifestyle choices, but they wish their rabbi would teach them a thing or two about prayer. So he does.

 

It’s incredibly simple. It’s incredibly hard.

 

So here they are: the top ten things Jesus teaches his friends and followers about prayer.

 

10. Father: Yes, God is God—immortal, invisible, God-only-wise. But God is also our loving Parent. Jesus calls God “Father,” Abba in Aramaic. This is intimate. Beginning our prayer with an endearment is meant to remind us of the fact that God created us, God loves us. Prayer is intimate time with someone we love.

 

9. “… may your name be revered as holy.” God’s name isn’t just another word to throw around. Jesus reminds us that God’s name is so holy to Jews that they do not say it out loud, but substitute other words for it, like “Lord” and “God.” Our first petition in the prayer is that all people everywhere might recognize the holiness of God’s name.

 

8. “May your kingdom come.” Throughout the gospel of Luke, Jesus speaks of the “kingdom of God,” which is almost with us, but not quite. This kingdom is good news to the people, most especially the poor. It is a place where the poor are known as “blessed.” It is a place where those filled with the power of God are humble servants. It is a place discussed in parables, likened to a tiny seed that grows into something spacious, a house with room for all. It is a place where healing takes place, and the demons that torment us are banished. Jesus teaches his friends to pray for the full coming of this kingdom of God.

 

7. “Give us each day our daily bread.” This, for me, is one of the toughest disciplines of prayer Jesus teaches us. When I pray, I want it all. I want abundant life for everyone I love, including every one of you. I want the fractures in our nation healed. I want to be made a better pastor, given skills I do not possess—right now. But Jesus urges his friends—and that includes us—to pray only for what we need for the day—this day, which, in a sense, is the only one we have. So we pray, not for all of it, but for enough. Enough food to eat, enough love and peace to share, enough skill to be a good-enough friend, pastor, parent, accountant, whatever. We pray for enough. And we are promised it.

 

6. “And forgive us our sins…” After we have given God praise and honor, and prayed for the coming of God’s kingdom and enough of what we need for the day, then, and only then, do we pray for forgiveness. The words that are translated “sin” in our bible mean things like “missing the mark.” The word “sin” carries an assumption that we tried, but we missed. It’s too bad that it’s a word that has carried such shame for so many of us throughout our years. But it is a word that, in its own way, promises us that the one we are praying to is eager to forgive. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. So, we ask for forgiveness, and the asking carries with it the promise to try to do better. Without that part, our request is meaningless. With that part, our request has a chance to be fruitful.

 

5. “…for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.” This sounds a little different from the petition in the King James version. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” There are at least two different kinds of debt. There is financial debt, what we owe when we have borrowed money from someone. And there is the kind of debt we have when we owe someone an apology, or that they have when they owe us one. There are clear instructions to forgive debt in the bible. Scripture is clear that financial debt should never be something that becomes a lifelong burden. All debts are to be forgiven every seven years. Jesus’ prayer contains the instruction to forgive others that other kind of debt as well. It comes without restrictions. It comes without clauses, such as, “if we can,” or “if they apologized sincerely enough.” It is a blanket teaching, to forgive. The prayer carries the assumption that we do, we have, and we will.

 

4. “And do not bring us to the time of trial.” That word translated “trial” is defined this way: “the trial of [one’s] fidelity, integrity, virtue, constancy.” There are moments in our lives that put those to the test. For the early church, these might easily be literal trials, in which their faith was being challenged, and they might be given a choice: your faith in Jesus Christ or your life. None of us is likely to be put to that kind of test. For us this kind of trial would probably be more subtle. You know better than I what situation would be truly difficult for you—whether it would be a work situation or a family problem; whether it would require you to choose the loss of money or the loss of self-respect; whether it would call on you to call out someone you love, or remain silent while they cause harm. Do not bring us to the time of trial, we pray. It’s a wise prayer.

 

3. After offering this prayer to his friends Jesus goes on to talk about the importance of persistence in praying. He does this by offering a couple of short parables. The first one is about knocking on a friend’s door in the middle of the night because you have no food. Note: this person is your friend. They care about you. And note, too: you are trying to wake them up, not for something frivolous, but because you have no food for a guest in your house. And note three: hospitality is one of the highest ethical priorities in the Middle East, both then and now. This is important. The idea of not having food for someone is just about scandalous. The assumption here is, if we are praying, our prayers are important—to us and to God. So, don’t take “no” for an answer. You won’t be waking God from a deep sleep. You don’t have to worry about making God grumpy. Keep knocking. Just keep knocking.

 

2. The second parable asks rhetorical questions. If your kid asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? No? God’s not going to give you a snake either, literal or proverbial. If your child wants an egg are you going to give her a scorpion? No? Neither is God. God isn’t a grumpy friend in the night. God isn’t a weird, sadistic parent. God is love. Persist in prayer, and God will give you what is good, what is wholesome. Note four: This does imply that, if you’re praying for something that will not, in fact, be good for you, God’s answer might well be “no,” because, as I mentioned, God is love. And God will give you only what is good, what is wholesome. So persist. God is on your side, and will give you what you need.

 

1. Finally, a note about how we pray the Lord’s Prayer, whether it is Luke’s very abbreviated version or the one we will recite in a few minutes. We pray “Our” Father. We ask God to give “us” our daily bread, and to forgive “us” our sins, as “we” forgive others. We ask God to save “us” from the coming trial. Whether we pray alone in our living rooms, or kneeling by our beds, or side by side in our holy place, this prayer assumes community. We pray it, whether we intend to or not, as members of the body of Christ. We pray it, not only for ourselves, but with and for those who are next to us, or who we hope to see soon. We pray with and for those from whom we are estranged, and those whose absence makes our hearts hurt. We pray as a “we,” as an “us,” because Christianity is not a “choose your own adventure” religion. It is not, nor was it ever intended to be, a solo act. It is a faith born in community, meant for community, and which, through community, can change the world.

 

Someone in Jesus’ group of friends and followers poked him, and said, Why can’t you teach us to pray? Like those other guys? And whatever they were expecting, they received the perfect prayer: A prayer that teaches us of God’s deep love for us, and the intimacy with which we can address God. A prayer that reminds us of God’s holiness and power, majesty and might. A prayer that encourages us to ask for what we need today, including forgiveness that goes both ways. And a prayer that reminds us, we are part of a great “us,” comprised of the people we know from church, and the great cloud of witnesses that came before us and extends into a future unknown. A perfect prayer, from a God whose name, in addition to Abba, is “love.”

 

Thanks be to God. Amen.