Now it came to pass, as He [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

I have always found this episode in the interactions of Jesus with His disciples to be rather intriguing. It simply tells us that Jesus was engaged in conversation with His Father, and the implication is that the disciples were close by, because upon Jesus’ completion of this time of prayer, one of them came to Jesus with this request: “Lord, teach us to pray.” Isn’t it interesting that he did not ask Jesus to teach them how to pray? That, to me, would have been a more reasonable and realistic request.

The request was not for Jesus to teach them how to pray.

But that was not the request. Rather, they were asking Jesus to teach them to do it – to pray! Imagine the scene: Jesus has withdrawn Himself a short distance from His disciples. Far enough to have some privacy for His conversation with His Father, but close enough for them to observe Him as He prayed. It was a time of sincere communication, but it was also one of those “teachable moments” in the lives of His followers. And Jesus took full advantage of this opportunity to invest in assisting spiritual growth in the disciples.

But what do you think prompted this disciple to make his request? I realize that we can only speculate what the motivation may have been, but there are some observations that can be made that will apply to us just as much as they did to the disciples.

First, and probably most obvious, is that Jesus’ prayers were distinctly different from theirs. As people who had been reared under the teachings of the rabbis, they would have been taught prayers that would be repeated at certain times of the day, day after day. That type of praying serves its purpose, but only if the one reciting the prayer is sincerely in intimate communication with God. It is something that could easily become nothing more than the repeating of words. Like anything else, repetition can prove to be meaningless if it is done simply as the recital, and not the sincerity of engaging in conversation with God. Jesus’ prayers were not simple recitations, but sincere times of conversing with His Father. So should ours.

Second, Jesus taught us to address God as Father as we commune with Him. This would have been a radical departure from what they had been taught.

Jesus taught His followers to address God as Father.

In the Old Testament, references to God as Father are extremely rare. God was not viewed in this personal, intimate way. God was the God of Israel, but not necessarily the God of every Israelite. So, for them to hear Jesus address God as Father, and to teach them to use the same terminology, was indeed extremely radical. How thankful we should be that Jesus taught us to pray in this way, and to realize that prayer is to be understood in terms of this very personal, intimate portrait of a child engaging with his/her father.

Third, the model prayer Jesus gave in response to their request is an example to follow, and not necessarily one to be used in simple recitation. Take a moment to read this prayer slowly, deliberately, and personally.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Luke 11:2-4, NKJV)

Is it wrong to repeat/recite the words of this model prayer daily? Of course not. But I don’t think that was Jesus’ intent in teaching it. I think He was simply showing them how personal and intimate our prayer time should be. The simple repetition/recitation of the prayer can become rather mechanical/robotical if we aren’t careful. We should guard ourselves against falling into this trap. Our minds, hearts, souls and spirits should be engaged each time we call upon our Father in heaven.

In this model prayer, Jesus was not teaching how to pray – but to pray. I need to be reminded of this Biblical truth quite often. I oftentimes find myself falling into the rut of mindless praying. I catch myself using the same phraseology much too often. It is then that I am quickly reminded by the Holy Spirit that I am not really praying, I am only saying words that have no meaning – vain repetitions.

I believe that this is what prompted the disciples to make this request of Jesus. They saw something different, something personal, something intimate, in the way Jesus engaged with His Father. They wanted to have that same level of intimacy. The next time you go to the Father in prayer, make sure that you talk to Him as one sitting across the room. Look at Him, speak with Him, listen to Him. I assure your prayer life will go to a whole new level as you speak with your Father.

Blessings!