Teach Us to Pray
“One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’””
— Luke 11:1-4 (BSB)
Religious groups of that time may have had a short prayer of their own, one that set them apart, and John the Baptist had given his followers one. The disciple asks only after watching Jesus pray and waiting for him to finish. Luke's version is shorter than Matthew's, the one most people know by heart. The first word in Jesus' own language was most likely Abba, the word a son used for his father, grown sons included. Devout Jews avoided saying God's name out of reverence. This request grows from the same awe and echoes the Jewish Kaddish: that God would cause his name to be honoured as holy. The Greek word behind daily is so rare that we hardly know it outside this prayer, and its exact meaning is still debated: for today, for tomorrow, or what we need to live. Forgiveness works like bread here: it is asked for constantly, not once in a lifetime. This prayer does not call for fine words, only honesty.
You are allowed not to know how to pray. The people who walked with Jesus day after day had to ask him too. The prayers you learned as a child run on their own: you start at the bedside, finish thinking about tomorrow, and have no idea what you just said. Or there are none at all, because you do not know what to say or whether anyone is listening. This one prayer is only a few short requests. It talks about bread, forgiveness and what tempts you, which is to say the things you are dealing with today. You can say it slowly enough to think of something real at each one.
As slowly as you can
- 1Say the Lord's Prayer once today as slowly as you can, sitting or walking, not in a rush. After each request stop and put in something specific: whose bread, who you are forgiving, what is tempting you today. Do not finish in under five minutes.
- 2If the word Father is hard for you because of your own father, tell God that first, then start from the next line. If that will not come either, say only: Lord, teach me.
Father, I often say these words without thinking about them. Today I want to mean them. Give me what I need for today. Forgive me what you know about, and help me forgive the person I am thinking of. Do not let me walk into what drags me down. Amen.
I pray in Jesus' words today, slowly, one request after another.
Why is this version shorter than Matthew's?
Luke and Matthew record the prayer in two shapes. The one most people know comes mainly from Matthew. The core is the same; Luke simply has fewer requests.
What does daily bread mean?
The Greek word is so rare that we hardly know it outside this prayer. It may mean bread for today, for tomorrow, or what we need to live. In every case it is a request for what is needed now, not for a stockpile.
What if the word Father has bad associations for me?
Tell God that at the start, plainly. Then you can begin from the next line. Jesus used that word about God, not about your father.