We are invited deeply into relationship with a God who as a good father wants to give good gifts to all of his children – and especially the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was a little child, as was the tradition at the time, his mother Mary would have taught him how to pray to God. She would have shared the many stories of God and God’s people that she would know by heart from the Hebrew Scriptures and her own experience of praying and trusting in this good father. As Jesus grew, prayer to the father becomes so characteristic of his whole life that it is remarked upon, and it provokes the desire of his disciples and followers to pray in the same way – teach us to pray. The prayer that Jesus teaches us in Luke’s gospel today is not just a prayer that we need to learn and recite word-for-word – but an invitation into communion with the same father – an invitation to rest in his word and rest in his love.
Sunday 17, Year C. Luke 11:1-13
- View the Presentation Slides
- Watch the Reflection Video – The Lord’s Prayer
- frrick.com – Beginning to Pray