I have a friend called Suzanne at The Chapel who is an advocate for corporate prayer.  The Lord’s Prayer was given to the disciples to be used together.  In other mords it is communal liturgy.  That means that something special happens when a group of believfers can turn to a prayer that they all know and say it together.  I have been part of groups gathered from many different churches.  Someone would start the Lord’s prayer and we would all have that prayer in common.  It was very powerful.  Is liturgy something that you have gladly left behind, or could we have a little bit more?

Luke 11:1-13

 ¹ 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.”

 ² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

   “‘Father,^[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.^[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
   for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c]
And lead us not into temptation.^[d]’”

 ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

   ⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

   ¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Questions

1. Can you recite the Lord’s Prayer?
2. How often should a person take their requests to God if they follow the passage?
3. What word does Jesus use to describe the kind of people who give their children good gifts?
4. Do you keep coming back to God until you know that he has answered your prayer?
5. Do you pray as part of a community?