Luke 11:1–13

Read the passage.

I keep noticing how I am apparently more familiar with the accounts from Matthew and Mark than the one from Luke. This version of the Lord’s prayer is abridged, compared to the one usually set to music and quoted all the time. The simpler language and structure emphasizes God’s greatness and our basic need for Him to give us what we need to live, temporally and eternally.

After Jesus gives this model prayer, He gives a couple of illustrations to explain why the disciples should pray like that. The first explains that your friend won’t give you bread in the middle of the night for your guest because you’re his friend. but he will because you asked him to. (Though being your friend does make it more likely than if you woke up a stranger to ask for bread.) The second illustration is an argument from the lesser to the greater. Fathers give food to their children, especially when they ask for it. So then, our heavenly Father who is perfectly good will give His children the good things they ask for, even more than we sinful, earthly fathers.

Note that there is no mention of children getting whatever they ask for. A good father doesn’t accede to every request from his children. (“I want a pony!” “Ice cream for breakfast!”) This is the truth that makes the Prospesrity “Gospel” a lie. If you are sinning in your desire for an objectively good thing, then it is not good for you and it is better for you not to have it. Christ is sufficient for all our needs, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Help us to pray as we ought and to rely solely on You.