Teach Us How To Pray

English Standard Version (ESV)

11 Now Jesus^A)’>as John taught his disciples.” 

When a question is asked, there is often more to the inquiry than just what is spoken. The disciples had been observing Jesus. It was obvious there was much different about this man. He said and did marvelous things. But maybe most significantly He had a new and different relationship with His Father. They noticed it in the way He spoke to and of the Father. Isn’t that how we judge relationships? Observe how a couple talks to each other. You can quickly ascertain the depth or the shallowness of the relationship.

The disciples detected something new and different and wanted it. The disciple who asked was saying, “Teach us to talk to the Father like you do. We want to know Him like you do.”

Jesus understood the desire behind the question. He must have smiled as he began, “Our Father. . .” He was telling them, as He is telling us, you can have what I have. The one I talk to and walk with isn’t just my Father, He’s Our Father. This was a radical new thought. They thought of God as Creator, Holy and Awesome. He wasn’t someone you just chat with. If you had a serious matter to discuss with God, you went to the temple and you spoke through the priests. 

Jesus was saying, “no more.” A new relationship is possible. God hasn’t changed. But He’s made a way for man to know Him like never before. No longer will an intermediary be necessary. Now we can climb up on His lap, lay our head on His shoulder, and speak to Him and be with Him. 

Don’t confuse this with any crippled relationship you might have had with your earthly father or have with your natural child. This is Fatherhood as it was meant to be. Father as someone who loves and listens and cares and speaks. There are no newspapers blocking His face or programs on TV distracting his attention. He never comes home too tired to listen or to play catch. He never walks out and never comes back.

This is Our Father as a Father was meant to be.

Aren’t we blessed?

Nick