Lesson 3410

 (Lesson 3410)(05-05-21) Luke 11:1-4

    “ And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

    In today’s quote, Jesus taught his apostles how they should pray. He accomplished that by quoting what we now call “The Lord’s prayer” as an example.

    The Matthew account of this event goes much further wherein Jesus teaches that prayer is to be a private thing. As Jesus said to His apostles, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

    Almost every church I’ve ever had any knowledge of, in total contrast to what Jesus so obviously taught in this lesson, still encourages standing, public prayer. I will never understand that reasoning. There is absolutely no reason for public prayer other than to draw attention to the one doing the public praying. That is precisely what Jesus stood against.~