“Pray”
July 27, 2025
Rev. Rebecca Migliore
The disciples say to Jesus, “Teach us to pray…” Is this because they see Jesus praying? Or do they wonder what he does, what he says, when he goes off alone, early in the morning, to pray? Do they expect him to give them magic words of power—to accomplish deeds they have seen him do? Do they see it as a pathway to getting closer to this God who Jesus is revealing to them? Or are they just curious? And Jesus gives them some sentences to say. For millennia, those who follow Jesus have said those words, calling them “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Luke presents a “short and sweet” version. Six thoughts. Starting as all good Jewish prayers start—acknowledgment of God as God—like the Shema, “Here, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One, and you shall love the Lord with all you have and all you are.” Jesus says, “Abba, Father, Daddy, may your name be revered as holy.”
Then there are four requests. One cosmic and all reaching, “May your kingdom come.” And three personal—give us daily food, forgive our sins, and save us from temptation. But it isn’t just about asking God for something. In the request that might involve other people—forgive our sins—we also are asked to add what God might ask of us in return, “for we know we are to forgive everyone indebted to us.”
Matthew Fox in his book “Prayer: A Radical Response to Life” suggests that we could see the main focus of the gospel of Luke as hospitality. And so, we might look at the prayer Jesus teaches in those terms. As John van de Laar of Sacredise says, “In other words, the starting point for understanding the Lord’s Prayer is to recognize God’s amazing hospitality.
The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples boldly presumes on this divine hospitality—asking for bread, forgiveness, and protection from temptation. But it also expects that our response will be to extend that hospitality to others by forgiving them, and, presumably, by ensuring that the bread we pray for each day is enough to provide for those unexpected guests who may need to rely on our hospitality.”
Which leads us to the two examples Jesus gives to further his point. One is a midnight plea for bread, so it can be shared with an unexpected guest. I can see at least two pieces of information here. One is that we should be persistent in prayer. And the second is that the request is granted not because of friendship, but on the basis of providing hospitality (of which God is the supreme giver). As that householder gives bread to a neighbor for another, so God will give us what we need.
That sounds great—God the great waitress in the sky, serving up whatever we order! But then comes the second vignette: about asking, seeking, knocking. About what we give our children, not snakes but fish, not scorpions but eggs. The ending? What does God know to give us? “The Holy Spirit.” The ultimate in hospitality—God with us always, walking beside us, being the arm to lean on, the wind beneath our wings, the whisper in our ear, close as the breath we take.
The Lord’s Prayer becomes Our Prayer. No secret words. More a pattern for living—lifting up God, enjoying God’s hospitality, recognizing that this calls for something from us as well. As Jennifer S. Wyant of WorkingPreacher.com says, “This is not just a prayer to recite. It is also a way to live before God.” (commentary for July 27, 2025)
So let’s spend a few minutes around the tables talking about the Lord’s Prayer with one another. I’ve given you some possible starter questions, if you need them. May this be a time of gracious sharing of ourselves with others.
Luke’s Lord’s Prayer
“When you pray, say:
Father, may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
Some possible questions to think about:
1) What is your experience of the Lord’s Prayer?
2) What line of Luke’s version caught your attention?
3) How does persistence link up with hospitality? Or does it?
4) When you think of prayer, what do you expect from God in return? What might it mean for God to provide “the Holy Spirit” as the response to your request?
Consider using this version of the Lord’s Prayer for a little while. Its unfamiliarity might help focus our attention.