There were not many things Jesus’ disciples explicitly asked Him to “teach” them. Yet in Luke 11 one disciple asks, “Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1, ASV). Not how to heal, not how to preach — but prayer. Prayer is not a side branch of discipleship; it is its heart. To this request Jesus answered with a short prayer, a midnight parable, and an unshakable promise, opening a training in prayer that builds disciples.
The English Scripture quotations here are from the American Standard Version (1901), which is in the public domain.
The Training the Disciples Sought First: “Teach Us Also”
Luke 11:1 makes the setting plain: the disciple asked “when he ceased” — that is, after “he was praying in a certain place.” The longing to learn was kindled not in a lecture hall but in witnessing Jesus’ life of prayer.
Luke repeatedly highlights Jesus’ prayer life. “In the morning, a great while before day, he rose up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35, ASV); “But he withdrew himself in the deserts, and prayed” (Luke 5:16, ASV); and before choosing the Twelve, “he continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12, ASV). The disciples saw how large a place prayer held in their Master’s life, and so they asked, “us also.” Here is the principle that discipleship begins with example — prayer is something you first live before you teach it.
The Pattern of Prayer Jesus Gave: Luke’s Lord’s Prayer
Jesus gave His disciples a pattern for prayer.
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation.
(Luke 11:2-4, ASV)
The Lord’s Prayer many believers memorize follows the form of Matthew 6:9-13, together with the doxology, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory…” But the prayer Luke records is shorter. It has no “who art in heaven,” no petition “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth,” no “deliver us from evil,” and no doxology (compare Matthew 6:9-13). Luke keeps only the skeleton, showing that prayer is not an ornate speech but a few clear directions.
Those directions have an order. First they turn toward God — “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.” Only then do they come down to our needs — bread, forgiveness, temptation. Prayer does not begin by pushing forward a list of my needs, but by seeking first the Father’s name and kingdom. Luke also says “day by day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3). Unlike Matthew’s “this day” (Matthew 6:11), the phrase day by day carries a continual dependence that skips no day. Prayer is not a one-time event but a daily habit.
Notably, Jesus did not merely teach this prayer; He lived it. On the night before the cross, on the Mount of Olives, “he kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:41-42, ASV). And He told His disciples, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40, ASV). This is Jesus Himself living out the petition “bring us not into temptation” (11:4). The Master first lived the prayer He taught.
Praying with Persistence: The Friend at Midnight
Having given the pattern, Jesus at once teaches the attitude of prayer through a parable — a man who goes to his friend at midnight to borrow three loaves (Luke 11:5-8).
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will arise and give him as many as he needeth.
(Luke 11:8, ASV)
The key word is “importunity” — persistence. If even a friend who has gone to bed finally rises because of persistent asking, how much more will the good Father not turn away His child’s plea? This teaching does not stand alone. In Luke 18 Jesus again teaches, through the parable of the widow, that men “ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1, ASV; Luke 18:1-8), and Paul sums it up in a single line: “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, ASV). A disciple’s prayer does not quit when the answer is slow; it keeps knocking without losing heart.
Ask, Seek, Knock: The Promise of a Sure Answer
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
(Luke 11:9-10, ASV)
“Ask, seek, knock” is not a command to do once and be done, but a call to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. If the parable of the friend pictured that persistence, this promise seals it with certainty — “every one that asketh receiveth.” The same words appear in Matthew 7:7-11, set by Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount and by Luke in the context of teaching on prayer. Prayer is not shouting into the void, but coming to a Father who surely hears.
The Best Answer to Prayer: the Holy Spirit
So what does the Father answer with? Jesus begins with the heart of a human father.
And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
(Luke 11:11-13, ASV)
The parallel in Matthew says the Father gives “good things” (Matthew 7:11). But Luke names the climax of that “good thing” as the Holy Spirit. The best answer to prayer is not the object I want, but God Himself, the Holy Spirit. And this Spirit in turn helps our prayers: “And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26, ASV). The Spirit given as the answer moves us to pray again. This is why prayer as discipleship ultimately issues in fellowship with God in the Spirit.
Training That Builds Disciples in Prayer: Today’s Practice
Luke 11 shows a way of teaching prayer. Jesus set an example → gave a pattern → encouraged with a promise. This same order applies wherever disciples are built today.
- Set an example. The disciples’ longing arose from seeing Jesus pray. The one who teaches must first be a person of prayer. In any gathering for prayer, the leader’s own praying is the most powerful lesson.
- Use the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern. Luke’s short prayer is itself a training tool — lead others to pray in their own words, following its order: God’s name and kingdom first, then needs (bread, forgiveness, temptation). What matters is direction, not eloquence.
- Daily, and persistently. Like “day by day our daily bread” (11:3) and “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), set and review regular, sustained times of prayer together. The slower the answer, the more we need the training of knocking together without losing heart (Luke 11:8; 18:1).
- Ask for the Holy Spirit. The goal of training in prayer is not to fill a list of answers but a Spirit-filled life (11:13). Whether one-to-one or in a small group, close by asking the Holy Spirit for one another.
To make disciples is, in the end, to raise up people who pray. When the confession “Lord, teach us also” becomes ours today, Jesus still answers in the same way — first setting an example, then giving us a pattern for prayer, and encouraging us with the promise that He surely hears.
References
- Korean Bible Society — Luke 11 (Korean Revised Version, public-domain 1961 text)
- Korean Bible Society — Luke 11 (Revised Korean version, for modern-translation comparison)
- Bible Hub — Luke 11 (original languages, multiple translations, cross-references)
- JesusWalk — Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer, Luke 11:1-4 (Lucan vs. Matthean form)
- GotQuestions — The Lord’s Prayer (a model prayer) explained
- GotQuestions — The parable of the persistent friend (persistent prayer)
- Ligonier Ministries — Sermons and teaching on prayer in Luke 11