LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY (Luke 11)
When the disciples watched Jesus pray, they saw something more than words. They saw life flowing heavenward. They saw rest and power in the same breath. It was then they asked, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). The Master’s reply did not give them a formula to memorize but a heart to imitate.
He began with relationship. “Our Father.” Prayer is not the cry of a stranger but the whisper of a child. The helpless heart turns to the Father who never turns away.
Then comes reverence. “Hallowed be Your name.” To pray rightly is to lift our gaze and remember that His name is holy, His throne is sure, and His will is right.
Submission follows naturally. “Your will be done.” The soul that trusts God most will yield the quickest.
Dependence breathes in every word. “Give us this day our daily bread.” We live by what His hand provides. No more. No less.
Penitence bows the heart. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” The one who has been forgiven much forgives much in return.
Finally comes holy aspiration. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The believer longs not only to be cleansed but to be kept.
Jesus then told a story to show the spirit of true prayer. It was about a friend knocking at midnight. In that quiet hour, we learn what prayer really is.
Prayer begins with friendship. The man went to his friend’s house and called him by name. God invites us into this same nearness. Prayer is not a cold duty but a warm relationship.
The next lesson is intercession. The friend did not come for himself but for another who was in need. Real prayer always reaches beyond self.
Then comes the lesson of faith’s clarity. He asked for three loaves, not two or four. True prayer is not vague. It is definite. It names its need before God.
Next, we see the spirit of persistence. The man kept knocking. Though the hour was late and his request inconvenient, he would not give up until help came. That is how faith prays. It holds fast until the answer arrives (Luke 11:8). And when the door opened, the supply met the need. The man received as much as he required. God always gives what is right, in the measure that is needed, and never too late.
Then Jesus spoke again and said, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9) He calls us to pray with bold trust. Asking means we bring our petitions. Seeking means we press into His presence. Knocking means we keep believing until heaven answers.
To make His lesson plain, the Lord gave three pictures—a father, a child, and three simple requests. “If a son asks for bread, will his father give him a stone? If he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If he asks for an egg, will he hand him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11–12)
Why such questions? Because Jesus knew how easily we misjudge the heart of God. The loaves of that land were round and dark, baked beside the fire, and often covered with ashes. They could easily resemble the stones scattered along the ground. A careless glance might not tell them apart.
But a father who loves his child would never mock his hunger by giving him a stone instead of bread. So too, God never mocks our prayers. He will never offer us something that only looks like an answer but leaves our souls empty.
The same truth shines in the second picture. Certain fish of the Galilean waters looked much like the slender serpents that swam beside them. A child might not know the difference, but a father would. When we pray, our heavenly Father knows what is good for us. He will not place a serpent in our hands when we ask for food that gives life.
And then, the last image. In the heat of that desert land lived a pale scorpion that, when curled tightly, could be mistaken for an egg. Imagine a child reaching out to pick it up, thinking it harmless, and finding death instead. Jesus wanted us to know that our Father in heaven will never allow that. When His children ask for what is good, He will never send what is deadly.
These pictures carry one golden truth: God never deceives those who trust Him. He never mocks His children. His answers may come wrapped in mystery, but never in malice. The Father gives what is best, and in His wisdom, He gives when the time is right.
The lesson of the passage is simple yet sacred. Prayer is not a test of God’s goodness. It is the proof of it. The Father delights to give. He hears every whisper of the believing heart. He gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. He provides bread for the hungry, peace for the weary, strength for the weak, and light for those who walk in the dark.
Let every soul, then, come boldly to the throne of grace. Do not fear to knock at midnight. Do not doubt His goodness when the answer delays. The heart of God is open. His ear is attentive. His hand is ready. He who said, “Ask, and you will receive,” still speaks the same word today.
Prayer is not persuasion. It is participation in the will of a loving Father. When we pray, heaven bends near. When we trust, the Father smiles. When we persist, the door opens. And when we receive, all glory belongs to Him who never mocks the cry of His child.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
