Prayer before teaching the Lord's Prayer

An Invitation to Trust

By the time we get to the teaching of the Lord’s Prayer in the book of Luke, the disciples have already witnessed Jesus cast out demons, heal the sick, calm storms and feed huge crowds with a few loaves and fishes. They realize they are walking around with someone who has unusual, supernatural, miraculous ways. They’ve also watched Jesus retreat in moments of solitude for times of prayer.

So, when they ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, I don’t think it’s because they haven’t been around prayer, they surely have seen others pray and get the idea. Instead, maybe they ask because they can easily see firsthand that when Jesus prays, things happen, the blind see, the lame walk, the demon possessed are freed, the storms calm, thousands are fed. They must wonder what’s so different about Jesus’ prayers that makes the difference.

When I read the story in Luke 11, I can’t help but put myself in their shoes, I can’t guarantee that they felt the way I probably would’ve, but we tend to share the human experience even over time and space. I wonder if they were looking for some magical type of formula. Some way to speak into existence the miracles they see happening...certain words, frequency, or other secret ways.

Jesus radically explains to them that prayer is an invitation into a trusting father/child relationship. He explains how even an earthly father would attend to his children, as imperfect as he is, so how much more will God attend to His children. He calls them to trust.

In the Matthew account, from chapter 6 he goes on to tell the disciples to “find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace.” (The Message)

It’s easy to get distracted by the ask, seek, knock portion of this passage of scripture, because we all have stories when we’ve done that and the results didn’t happen. We all know that struggle and feeling of disillusionment. But, when I instead approach the idea of prayer as a place where I rest in the arms of God, as a Father holds his child, it feels different to me.

Recently, I was having a bad day at home, I was just feeling discouraged about some things in my life and a feeling of sadness came over me. I was tired. My husband, Dane, was listening to me as he so often does and was trying to encourage me. I told him that I thought I probably just needed to take a nap. He asked if it was ok for him to join me. I said yes and we went and laid down and he simply held me and let me nap for 1-2 hours in the warmth of his presence and love. When I woke up, I felt better. He told me...he had never fallen asleep during that time, but just tried to lay still holding me so that I could rest. I can’t really fully explain how loved I felt in that moment. Dane didn’t fix anything for me. He couldn’t. Instead, while I slept, he kept watch and sheltered me in his loving arms.

That is the picture of prayer I see Jesus painting in this section of scripture. It’s a beautiful thing to know God never slumbers or sleeps. He holds each one of us, every day, and just asks us to rest and trust in Him. He heals our sadness, our broken heartedness, and gives the weary the rest they need. The Creator of the Universe is not so busy that He doesn’t have time to lovingly hold us and carry our burdens for us.

Prayer is accessible to every single person on the face of the earth. Every race. Every gender. Every socioeconomic level. Every age.

Jesus teaching the disciples to pray wasn’t about magic. It wasn’t about repeating certain words, although we do often repeat the Lord’s Prayer. It was about understanding the access we have to God as our Father. It was about an invitation to trust, to rest in Him.

May we all feel the loving arms of God around us every day, His love can heal and soothe us in ways that no amount of fixing can do.

Ruth Spencer