Course: Solid Ground - Faith & Family
June 16, 2022 | Dave Rueter
Passage: Luke 11:1-2
The Lord's Prayer
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ And he said to them, “When you pray, say
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Jesus had an active prayer life. That would make good sense. Since before the dawn of time, Jesus had been a part of the Trinity and had existed in perfect communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So, when He came to earth it is only natural that He continues to maintain a close relationship with the Father through prayer.
The disciples took note of His prayer practices and on one occasion asked if He would teach them to pray. When you recognize a master at work, it is wise to seek guidance to help you develop your own skills. What Luke records next is what has come to be knowns as the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer useful both as a structure for the development of our own prayer life as well as a common prayer to unite Christians in prayer together. That balance between personal use which builds off of the structure of the Lord’s Prayer alongside the corporate, more rote memorized recitation use, holds together the tensions and true nature of our faith. The Christian faith is both personal and corporate. American Christianity overemphasizes the personal side of the faith, while other cultural manifestations of the faith might overemphasize the corporate or communal side.
We pray together the Lord’s Prayer as a part of our worship each Sunday in order to work as a whole congregation on our Christian formation. Each of the petitions that we will explore are key elements of the life of the Christian in this world. Within the Christian home, the family is encouraged to use the Lord’s Prayer as a model for the kinds of things we can be more personally be in prayer about. In the context of worship, the overall needs of the community of believers are attended to. In the context of the Christian home or personal prayer time, our unique personal or family needs are attended to.
Thoughts for Reflection
Have there been meaningful times when you have prayed the Lord’s Prayer? What made them meaningful?
Course Information
The catechism has been a foundational tool in teaching the Christian faith across generations. Yet, too often the catechism is treated as a tool to be used during confirmation class and then placed on the shelf thereafter. This series explores three of the six chief parts from Luther's Small Catechism, focusing on the 10 Commandments, Apostles' Creed, and Lord's Prayer. Each part is an essential foundation for our faith and something that Luther emphasized ought to be revisited in the Christian home with regularity.
