The Lord's Prayer in Luke: What It Teaches Us About How to Pray

So many of us have prayed the Lord’s Prayer since we were kids. So I thought it would be helpful to do a deeper dive into what the Bible teaches us about this prayer.

In my previous post, I walked through Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer. If you missed it, I encourage you to go back and read it first, because this one builds on it.

Now we're in Luke. And the first thing I noticed when I read both versions side by side was just how much shorter Luke's version is. Hmmm, did Luke leave something out?

No! God doesn’t make mistakes.

Let’s see what we can learn from Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer in Matthew (6:9-13) occurs within the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is addressing the crowd with the Beatitudes.

Luke's version is different. It happens during Jesus's journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.

The three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) record this journey, but a chunk of Luke’s Gospel is the “travel narrative.” It’s filled with parables and some of Jesus's most challenging sayings during this journey.

Two main differences stand out in how the setup is framed. In Luke, Jesus was praying, not standing before a crowd. And when He finished, one disciple came to Him directly and asked Him to teach them how to pray.

How many times have I heard that leaders lead by example? Countless times!

Jesus was praying, and His disciples were watching. The lesson started with observation. One disciple watched Jesus pray, and when He was done, he asked Him to teach them how to do that.

I also noted that they weren't asking what to pray, they were asking how to pray.

I still wonder sometimes if I'm doing it right.

But prayer is a practice. It's less about me getting it perfectly right and more about me staying in communication with God. I can (and should) always grow in how I talk to Him. That's the posture I want to carry into every prayer.

Notice that Jesus starts with reverence. Hallowed be your name. Hallowed means to be greatly revered and honored.

I still have to remind myself of this order, just like in the ACTS Prayer framework. My natural instinct is to lead with what I need. I need to start with adoration of who He is.

And when we pray “your kingdom come,” we're asking God to manifest the power and glory of His kingdom in us and throughout our world.

I’m praying for all of His glory and power and might to come. That's far bigger than my daily list of to-dos!

Here's a small but significant difference from Matthew's version. Matthew says “this day.” Luke says “each day.”

I view this as an ongoing dependence instead of a one-time ask. Every day I need to return to God for what I need.

Sometimes I find that I pray in big chunks. I'll have a long, detailed prayer session and then sort of coast for a while.

But “each day” and “daily bread” means conversation….every day. I shouldn’t view God as a fuel pump that I visit when I'm running low, and then I stay on cruise control until I need more.

God is omnipresent, He’s always with me. Jesus teaches that I'm meant to come back to Him every single day.

Here’s my disclaimer again… I'm not a Bible scholar! But one of the Greek words used here for “sin” is hamartia, which means missing the mark. It changes how I understand this.

Father, forgive me whenever I miss the mark. And forgive everyone who misses the mark with me.

When I think about “sin,” it’s heavy and sometimes abstract. All of my wrongdoings.

But when I think of missing the mark, I think about aaaaaall the times I've fallen short . In my patience, in my being kind, in my follow-through of things I said I’m going to do (or not do anymore).

And then I think about the people in my life who I’ve felt have missed the mark with me.

I’m asking for God’s forgiveness for all of that!

Yet no matter how hard any of us try, we can't get there on our own. We need Jesus’ salvation to help and save us.

So….which one is “right”? To me, the answer is “YES”. In fact, they actually work together.

Matthew's version is the one most of us grew up hearing in church. It's the one many congregations often pray together on Sunday mornings. There's something powerful about praying the same words alongside others who believe what I believe.

Luke's version is more like a short, yet impactful, private conversation with God.

I need both. Maybe you do too.

If you're just joining this series, I'd love for you to go back and read about Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer. It gives great context for everything we just walked through here.

If, like me, you've ever thought that your prayers were “too short” or “not enough” then I invite you to read Luke 11:2-4 again. In Luke, Jesus taught us how to pray with only a few lines. Yet Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer is still powerful and impactful.

And it’s still my ongoing prayer, Lord, teach me how to pray.