Navigating with the Lord’s Prayer
(Session 1)
Jim Dalrymple | Ozark Christian College
Introduction
Luke 11:1-13 “Teach us to Pray”
- The Teacher—“Lord, teach us to pray” (11:1)
● As disciples of Jesus, it makes sense to ask him to teach us to pray.
● Prayer is a theme in Luke and Acts—the disciples learned this lesson and lived it out.
The Example—“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place...” (Lk 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18; 9:28; 11:1; 22:32; 22:41; 23:34).
The Lesson—“When you pray, say...” (Luke 11:2-13)
● Notice the similarities here in Luke with the prayer in Matthew 6:5-15.
● Q: What are the implications of the fact that these two prayers are similar, yet not exactly the same?
Matthew 6:5-15
- Context: Sermon on the Mount
● The Lord’s Prayer is the “distillation” of all Jesus taught about the Kingdom and his reign (N.T. Wright).
● The Lord’s Prayer is the peak of the Sermon on the Mount and helps us orient ourselves to his kingdom (Johnathan T. Pennington).
− “Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Mt 4:17).
− Two paths (Mt 7:13)
− “The Way” (Jn 14:6; Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22)
- Immediate Context: Kingdom Motives [Giving, Prayer, Fasting]
● Seen and praised by others (Mt 6:1-2; cf. 23:5-7)
● Heavenly Kingdom—seen and rewarded by God (Mt 6:1, 4)
