Luke 11:1-13  Luke records what we call the Lord's Prayer.  It is similar but not exactly the same as what Matthew recorded.  We are not told here which of the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray.. " but we are so glad he did.  Didn't they know how to pray already?  Hadn't they seen and heard Jesus pray so often before this?  Why did it take them so long to ask this simple question? What is it that we need to learn along with them?

No matter, Jesus was happy to teach His disciples and jumped right into this wonderful example, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation." 

Luke's version strips this prayer down a bit from Matthew's version, but it still hits the vital parts of prayer:

We come to the Father, who is to be hallowed and Who's greatest desire is for His Kingdom to be completed. 

We come to the Father, Who alone provides all that is needed for life. 

We come the Father, Who alone can forgive us our sin and make us whole again. The One who gives us grace so that we can give grace to others. 

We come to the Father who leads our steps when we follow His ways.. 

Jesus gives His disciples a simple illustration to help them (and us) to understand how to pray.  The story is about a man (us) who has a surprise visitor ( someone who needs the Lord). Even though the man (we) don't have what this visitor needs,  he (we) can go to someone who does ( the friend.. God).  We go in faith that our God has and will give us what we need to bring to our visitor.  We ask with persistence. We ask as beggars to a generous giver.  We ask and keep asking, for we have no other resources and we know that our God will provide. We ask and we seek and we knock. 

Jesus said that the Father will give good gifts.  He is a good Father.  He won't give a snake instead of a fish. He won't give a scorpion when what is needed is an egg.  He gives Himself.. He gives the Holy Spirit.  He gave His Son.  He is a generous giver and we can come to Him for what is most needed. 

Jesus, You have taught us to come to the Father in prayer.. to enter into this communion, this relationship with the One who holds all the answers, Who provides all that is needed, and Who loves us and desires for us to want His Kingdom to come just like He does.  May we give to the unexpected visitor the Bread of Life.. May we ask the Father and receive the Holy Spirit to lead us in our actions and words. May we learn to pray effectively as the children of God who have been made righteous through the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Lord Jesus, we ask You once again. ."Lord, teach us to pray." . Amen.