The disciples notice that Jesus engages in ministry and then steps away for prayer. It is the grounding rhythm of Jesus’ life, the constant return to prayer that centers him for the ways of love, mercy, and compassion. Luke records for us in his Gospel that Jesus prays five times before the disciples ask him to teach them to pray (Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, and 9:28). Maybe we should say that Jesus engages in prayer and then steps away for ministry?
In response to the disciples’ urgent request, Jesus teaches them the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer is deeply relational, in Jesus’ words the prayer begins with “Father of us,” or the familiar “Our Father.” We remember that “Father” is Jesus’ own very personal, relational word. It is offered to us as we enter the gift of this prayer. There is permission here to expand our image to loving parent, creator, or other images of God that invite us into a deeply relational understanding.
Martin Luther reflects on this opening to the Lord’s Prayer in Luther’s Small Catechism. In an updated translation, Luther writes: “With these words God wants to attract us, so that we come to believe that God is truly our Parent and we are truly God’s children, in order that we may ask boldly and with complete confidence, just as loving children ask their loving parents” (Lord’s Prayer Introduction).
Prayer is a deeply relational and grounding reality for our lives. The constant return to prayer is first an attentive listening for God’s abiding presence. Prayer is the foundational intention to turn to God as divine parent, the source of love, care, compassion, healing, and guidance.
Busy lives and the demands of a complex world can leave little time for prayer. Perhaps Martin Luther’s famous teaching, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer,” invites us to join in asking Jesus to once again “teach us to pray?”
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Peter