Luke 11:1-4 Prayer
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: August 31, 2018 Luke 11:1-4
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
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: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
(Understanding the Text) This passage tells me that John the Baptist did more than tell people to repent. He taught them specific ways to pray. I don’t know if it was a rote prayer or if it was a manner of prayer. Did a lot of people feel ignorant of prayer at that time? John the Baptist was full of the Spirit since conception and had not strayed away, unlike Samson, so He probably had a special prayer life. He was probably the best qualified to teach prayer, except for Jesus. The disciples of Jesus felt that they needed to be taught to pray so that they could have the special prayer life that they saw in John’s disciples.
(Revelation of God) This passage also tells me that Jesus prayed where His disciples could see Him. Jesus was God, yet He prayed to God. This demonstrates how much men need to pray to God. For Jesus, I think it was as natural as breathing. He knew His Father in intimate ways that we cannot imagine. His connection to the Father was strong even though He had given up His powers and was living within the limitations of being human. When the Holy Spirit came upon Him in full strength at His baptism, He had spent an intense month and a half (approximately) communing with His Father through the Spirit. Somehow, this natural connection must have come through when He prayed so that the disciples decided that they did not know how to pray the right way.
(Understanding the Text) The first step in prayer is to acknowledge God’s greatness. The CEV version says “Father, help us to honor your name.” The GNB says “‘Father: May your holy name be honored;” Thus, this is an acknowledgement that the Father is not honored on earth and even in our selfish hearts. This is a request that God teach us to honor Him and a desire that the whole world honor the Father. Names have special meaning in the Old Testament, so saying “hallowed be your name” probably has more significance than I understand right now. I know that I cannot make God’s name any more holy than it already is, but if I think of it as His reputation, then I can improve His reputation by being a living example of His love. This would be one way for His name, or reputation, to be made holy. God’s name, or reputation, has a bad rap here on earth. Satan’s whisperings have born a terrible fruit. Thus, Jesus asks us to pray that the Father’s reputation be vindicated and cleared of all accusations.
Jesus said that after praying that God’s name be holy, we should pray that God’s kingdom should come to this earth. Looked at through the lens of the great controversy, this is a prayer that God’s kingdom should gain dominance here on earth. Jesus spent a lot of time telling us what the kingdom of heaven is like, and here He says to pray that those principles that make up the kingdom of heaven would come to us and our world.
Then Jesus said to pray that God would provide their daily needs and to ask for forgiveness. He linked being forgiven to forgiving others. He also linked it to not being tempted. The GNB says “And do not bring us to hard testing.” Does God lead us to temptation, or do we take ourselves there? I’m not sure I understand the implications of the wording in this verse. (Note: I think it’s important to point out that since this time I have studied this issue more. James says “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:13-14). However, I left my initial question in this example because I am trying to teach that it is okay to have questions and be wrong. It is equally important to modify our understanding as we study the Bible more.)
(Application / Prayer) My application to myself is that prayer is about God first. I should pray that His name is restored and that the principles of His kingdom will conquer. After God, I can focus on my daily needs and my broken relationship to God and to other people. Finally, I can focus on the difficulties I face in this world. All to often, I first focus on my problems in the world when I should be focused on who God is and the principles He has established. I need to get my priorities right when I pray. I want to put You first in my life and my prayers. Show me how.