E. Prayer (11:1–13)
E. Prayer (11:1–13)
Luke has a deep interest in prayer (see Introduction, p. 56). Here he brings together the Lord’s pattern prayer and some teaching about praying.
1. The Lord’s prayer (11:1–4)
The relationship of this to the fuller version of the prayer in Matthew 6:9–13 has been the subject of a good deal of discussion. Some think that Jesus taught the prayer more than once. They point out that this is inherently likely. In Matthew it is delivered during the course of a sermon early in the ministry; here it is apparently much later and is Jesus’ response to a request from a disciple, who may well not have been present on the earlier occasion. Variation would be natural if Jesus was interested in a pattern rather than a rigid insistence on one form of words. Others hold that Jesus gave the prayer once only (I wonder why; if Jesus meant it as a pattern it seems curious that he should not repeat it). They usually think the shorter Lucan version the more original, but hold that Matthew has in places retained more of the flavour of the Aramaic original. Recent scholars often see the prayer as primarily eschatological. They regard ‘Thy kingdom come’ as the central petition and the others as elaborating aspects of the coming kingdom. On this view the prayer asks God to hallow his Name by the final destruction of all his enemies, then looks for the bread of the Messianic banquet, for the forgiveness God will give on judgment day, and for deliverance from the final time of trial. This, however, seems an unnatural interpretation of the language and it is better to take the prayer as one Christians should pray as they seek God’s help in ordinary daily life. It is, of course, not impossible that Christians (who see themselves as living in the ‘last days’) should combine the everyday and the eschatological meanings. But I see no reason for holding the eschatological view to be sufficient of itself. A final point to notice is that, while it can be prayed privately, it is essentially a corporate prayer. All the pronouns are plural.
1. Impressed by something about the way Jesus prayed, one of his disciples asked for guidance of the kind John the Baptist had given. Religious leaders of the day often taught their followers how to pray (see SB). His request, Lord, teach us to pray, might mean that he wanted a form of words he could use, or a pattern on which to model prayers, or some general instruction in the subject.
2. Jesus replied by delivering a form of words. His opening, When you pray, say, shows that he intended the prayer to be used just as it stands. In Matthew it is introduced with, ‘Pray then like this’, which makes it a model on which we can base other prayers. Christians have found both approaches helpful. Jesus begins with the simple address, Father. This corresponds to the Aramaic abba, the address of a child to its parent. In prayer the Jews used the form abinu, ‘Our Father’ (found, for example, in the fourth and sixth of the ‘Eighteen Benedictions’), normally adding ‘in heaven’ or the like. This tended to put people at a distance from the great God, whereas Jesus taught his followers to think of God as their Father (that they learnt the lesson is seen in Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6).
Hallowed means ‘made holy’, ‘reverenced’. The name in antiquity stood for far more than it does with us. It summed up a person’s whole character, all that was known or revealed about him. The prayer concerns more than the way people take the name of God upon their lips (though this is included). It refers to all that God is and has revealed of himself and asks for a proper attitude in the face of this. It is not likely that the prayer is to be taken in the sense that God should sanctify his name (cf. Ezek. 36:23). Rather people should show reverence for God. It is a prayer that ‘God shall be God, that man shall not whittle God down to a manageable size and shape’ (Melinsky).
Thy kingdom come looks for the bringing in of the kingdom that was the constant subject of Jesus’ teaching. There is a sense in which it is realized here and now, in the hearts and lives of people who subject themselves to God and accept his way for them. But in another sense it will not come until God’s will is perfectly done throughout the world (cf. the addition in Matthew, ‘Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’). It is this for which we pray.
3. The next petition is for bread, i.e. the provision of our daily needs. The continuous present, ‘keep giving’, and the each day make it clear that we should look to God constantly, not ask for provision for a lengthy period and then proceed to forget him. Christians live in a state of continual dependence on God. But the precise meaning of epiousios, daily, is not clear. It is a very rare word and most discussions centre on possible derivations, since there is practically no usage to appeal to (see BAGD, MM). The most favoured meanings are daily (RSV), ‘for the morrow’ (Moffatt), and ‘the food we need’ (GNB, i.e. ‘the bread for existence’; cf. Prov. 30:8). The first mentioned fits the term and harmonizes best with the tenor of the prayer.
4. The prayer, forgive us our sins, is followed by the assertion that we forgive those who sin against us (every one who is indebted to us refers not to financial transactions but to sin, here seen as a debt). This does not make a human action, the forgiveness of others, the ground of forgiveness. The New Testament is clear that forgiveness springs from the grace of God and not from any human merit. Rather the thought moves from the lesser to the greater: since even sinful people like us forgive, we can confidently appeal to a merciful God (cf. Hendriksen, ‘an unforgiving heart is not in a condition that can accept forgiveness’). Some take lead us not into temptation in the sense of NEB, ‘do not bring us to the test’. But this is to be preferred only if we take the whole prayer as eschatological. The word peirasmos is the normal word for ‘temptation’ (though it can mean ‘test’) and temptation is surely correct here. This does not imply that God does sometimes cause us to be tempted, and in fact James assures us that he never does (Jas 1:13). Rather Jesus is encouraging an attitude, the attitude that flees from temptation (cf. 1 Cor. 6:18; 10:14; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22). Christians recognize their weakness and the ease with which they give way to the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. So they pray to be delivered from them all.
2. The friend at midnight (11:5–8)
Jesus follows with a humorous parable which drives home the point that prayer must be persistent and that God is always ready to give.
5–7. The setting is a small village where there are no shops. A household would bake its bread each morning. Jesus pictures a man whose household has used its supply and on whom a journeying friend makes an unexpected call. It is at midnight, which probably means that the friend had travelled after dark to escape the heat. The man must feed his friend, for hospitality is a sacred duty. So he goes to another friend for three loaves, i.e. three small loaves which would suffice for one man. But this second householder has shut his door and gone to bed with his children. Evidently he was a poor man living in a one-roomed house. The whole family would sleep on a raised platform at one end of such a room, possibly with the animals at floor level. A man in such a situation could not get up without disturbing the whole family. He raises no difficulty about giving the bread, but the bother of getting up is quite another matter. It is much easier to stay where he is.
8. But the man is persistent. He will not go away, nor will he let his friend go back to sleep. And where friendship cannot prevail, his importunity (lit. ‘shamelessness’) wins the day. The lesson is clear. We must not play at prayer, but must show persistence if we do not receive the answer immediately. It is not that God is unwilling and must be pressed into answering. The whole context makes it clear that he is eager to give. But if we do not want what we are asking for enough to be persistent, we do not want it very much. It is not such tepid prayer that is answered.
3. Asking and giving (11:9–13)
The parable leads naturally into the way God gives to those who seek. 9–10. Jesus tells his followers to ask, to seek and to knock. He assures them that in each case there will be the appropriate response. All three verbs are continuous: Jesus is not speaking of single activities, but of those that persist. He is speaking of an attitude similar to that taught by the parable. The repetition in verse 10 underlines the certainty of the response. People ought not to think of God as unwilling to give: he is always ready to give good gifts to his people. But it is important that they do their part by asking. Jesus does not say and does not mean that, if we pray, we will always get exactly what we ask for. After all, ‘No’ is just as definite an answer as ‘Yes’. He is saying that true prayer is neither unheard nor unheeded. It is always answered in the way God sees is best.
11–12. This is driven home with a couple of illustrations from human conduct. Jesus asks what father will give harmful things, a serpent or a scorpion, when his child asks for something to eat.
13. It is unthinkable that men would give such evil gifts to their children. On the contrary they give good gifts, even though they are evil. Even when he is talking of the good that people do, Jesus is not unmindful of the fact that they are evil. ‘Innate human sinfulness is for Jesus a basic presupposition’ (Ellis). But if evil people do not harm their children, but, on the contrary, do them good, how much more will God do good to his children? This good is not left in general terms: he will give the Holy Spirit. Luke is interested in the work of the Spirit and here he sees the gift of the Spirit as our highest good. There seems no reason for understanding this in terms of the ‘charismatic’ gifts. The reference is rather to the Spirit’s work in the Christian life generally, as in Romans 8.