Take a moment to read Luke 11:1-13 before reading the devotional below.
When I do something, my children imitate it. (I learned a long time ago that if I eat vegetables as if I do not want to share with my children they beg me for vegetables… Shh, don’t tell…) Jesus’ disciples — who were on the immature side since Jesus handpicked those who needed to learn from him most — see him praying and they want to know how to do it too.
Many of us have heard and recited the Lord’s Prayer a lot. What strikes me most about it right now is that Jesus focused first on God, then on the collective “we.” God, we love you and honor you. We want to live in your kingdom — bring it soon! Meet our needs, forgive us and help us to forgive each other, keep us away from temptation. Those words are not, “meet my needs” or “keep me away from temptation.” It’s “us.” We’re all in this together. In Matthew 22, Jesus says that the greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. His prayer here really reflects that and gives us a template for how to pray and how to think about what our priorities are.
Jesus follows up his prayer lesson by sharing a story about how friends as well as parents/children would naturally relate and says that God wants to show us that same kind friendship and loving parenting. Here’s your freedom for today: God is eager to love you, care for you, parent you and befriend you. Even if you have already known those truths, let them sink in again in this moment. Maybe your friends have harmed you in the past or your parents did not want to give you good things. Those earthly experiences are the complete opposite of God’s nature and kingdom. Let your images and assumptions of God break as you breathe in the reality that he is for you today.