Read | Luke 11:1–13
He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,Father,
your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves also forgive everyone
in debt to us.
And do not bring us into temptation.”He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
“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. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.
Notice how Jesus prays to God using personal and relational language. What can that teach us about the motivations driving his obedience?
Focus
View this work of art, titled Teach us to Pray, connected to Sunday’s sermon passage.
Observe what you see in the image, from colors to composition to recognizable elements, without trying to understand what it is supposed to mean. Then read about the work, using these details to help you interpret the work of art. Ask God what he might be saying through the image and listen for his insight in your thoughts and feelings; then take a moment to respond through prayer to what God showed you in this image. How might what God is showing you connect to the concept of obedience?
Commentary:
Hudson Taylor is an artist and designer who was born in Oklahoma City and is now settled in Kansas City. For this work, he was inspired by Matthew 6:5–15 and George Herbert’s poem "Prayer (I)." The work is a collage, combining pre-existing elements with ink and oil pastel.
In Hudson’s own words:
In the West, we often ask pragmatically, “teach us what prayer is,” while the disciples ask, “Jesus, teach us how to pray.” And George Herbert’s centuries-old words illuminate even for us a new—or perhaps returning—perspective on understanding prayer. In an American church context where we are often more focused on theological precision about prayer, Jesus’ teaching is consistently trying to draw us back into matters of the heart and relationship.
The artwork illustrates the internal battle to discover what Jesus promises us prayer can be, and the ego and self-bent distortions he warns us against in the text. Often, our experience in prayer is a collision of these two realities, and the artwork is a visual representation of that friction as we bleed and resign to experience the mercy of prayer.
I believe we come to understand the word of God more deeply as incarnated in the Son, the Holy Spirit’s counsel, comfort, and conscience, and the steady welcome of the Father as we allow fact and experience to augment and test one another in the tension and traffic of prayer.
You can see more of Hudson’s work at his solo show that will be presented at the Four Chapter Gallery located at our Christ Community – Downtown Campus in March and April 2027.
Art Source: Teach us to Pray, Hudson Taylor, 2023. Used by permission. hudsontaylor.design
Pray
Pray that your requests of God would line up with his will increasingly as you come to understand his character more deeply.
Going Deeper
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.
