08/23/2026 Jesus Taught about Prayer (Luke 11; 18)

The disciples often witnessed Jesus communing with His Father in prayer. They recognized this spiritual discipline as one He committed much time to when He drew away from the crowds. Jesus’ followers became curious about this practice and desired to better understand it.

One disciple stepped up and boldly asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Rather than lecturing them on the insufficiencies of their own prayer lives or directing them to make long, wordy recitations, Jesus taught them how to commune with God using a simple but profound framework now commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus modeled a style of prayer that addressed God as “Father”–-not as a distant, unloving, unknowable, or far-off figure. He also prayed in the second person (“Our Father,” “give us,” “as we forgive”), reminding the disciples that faith is lived out in community. Jesus engaged in a communal prayer that asked for God’s power, provision, forgiveness, mercy, and spiritual protection.