February 8, 2025 - Luke 11:2 - Taught to Pray by the Master

Luke 11:2

"And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."

Luke 11:2 is part of the passage in which our LORD Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray, often called the Lord’s Prayer, but it is the disciples’ prayer. The context of Luke 11:2 arises when one of Jesus' disciples asks Him to teach them how to pray, just as John the Baptist taught his followers. What our LORD Jesus taught them was a model of how true prayer is expressed from the heart of one of the LORD's children. In response, the LORD Jesus highlights key elements of a Spirit-drawn approach to communion with God and submission to His will in worship, dependence on Him for daily needs, and seeking forgiveness and deliverance from temptation. Our LORD gave this prayer as a pattern for how His disciples should pray. It was never intended to be a prayer to be memorized and repeated but serves as a pattern for how the Spirit of God directs God’s children to pray. Notice:

1.) "When ye pray:" There is no prescribed time to pray but rather as the Spirit of God directs one of Christ’s redeemed ones to pray. The ‘when’ is determined by the LORD, causing one of His own to cry unto Him and seek Him. The word ‘pray’ here means ‘to wish’ or ‘desire’ of God. True prayer is not seeking God for what the flesh desires but for the spiritual, as the Spirit directs.

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26).

Where there is true, Spirit-given prayer, there are desires only after Christ and His blood and righteousness: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come" (John 16:13).

2.) "Our Father which art in heaven:" Only those whose Father He is can address God as Father! To address Him as Father requires the Spirit of God to reveal Christ in them first: "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). In this context, the Spirit reveals Christ in the hearts of those for whom He paid the debt only:

"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law" (Galatians 4:4).

True prayer is for the sanctity and glory of the Father alone. His name is hallowed only by the work of the LORD Jesus; therefore, none can come to God but by HIM: "Jesus saith unto him, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me'" (John 14:6).

3.) "Thy Kingdom Come:" We should not pray for some earthly, natural kingdom. That would be to pray contrary to the LORD’S teaching (Luke 11:2). His kingdom was established at His resurrection, upon the satisfactory completion of His death on the cross (Acts 2:30-36). His kingdom is advanced now in the world when the Spirit of God reveals Christ in the hearts of those for whom He paid the debt and draws them to Himself: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me" (John 12:32).

4.) "Thy will be done:" This is not a wishful, "hope-so" request but rather a declaration that God’s will SHALL be done. Prayer is not foolishly attempting to get God to bend to our will but rather Him bringing us to bow to HIS will, which is sovereign in all things. All that HE has purposed in creation, providence, salvation, or condemnation is exactly what shall be, to HIS honor and glory in His Son.