The Road Devotional | Lent 2024

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

In this scripture, we see Luke’s version of the familiar “Lord’s Prayer”, which is significantly shorter than the version found in Matthew 6:9-13 (the most familiar version.)

Q. What similarities and differences do you see between the versions?

Jesus often retreated to pray. He would go out into the country-side to spend time in solitude to reconnect and ground himself to God’s presence. This, in fact, was part of a rhythm Jesus adopted throughout his ministry. He would go into the cities and towns to preach and to heal, and then off to go pray.

Q. What kind of spiritual rhythm do you have right now in your life? What kind of rhythm do you think would be helpful for you to grow spiritually and emotionally?

Disciples were called disciples because they followed a specific rabbi who was responsible for teaching them as they served the rabbi. The purpose of this relationships was for the disciples to follow, emulate, and eventually form disciples of their own. They did this all while serving the rabbi. A common part of this tradition was a particular prayer that the rabbi would instruct and give to their disciples that acted as a link between them. In this reading, the disciples of Jesus were asking for that sort of prayer.

Q.How does saying the Lord’s Prayer today connect us to our rabbi, teacher, and Lord, Jesus?When Jesus asks us to pray “your kingdom come”, what do you think that means?

Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give me each day my daily bread. Forgive me of my sins, for I also forgive everyone who sins against me.. And lead me not into temptation.

Amen.