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The Lord’s Prayer (vv.2-4) is normally said in a form similar to that of Mt 6:9-13. In Luke’s gospel it is shorter and more informal than in Matthew. It addresses God as “Father” rather than as “Our Father.” Father is the equivalent of the Aramaic abba, uttered by Jesus in Gethsemane (Mk 14:36). Abba was a mode of address to one’s human father and was considered too informal to use in speaking to God, for whom “Our Father” was thought more appropriate. But Jesus addressed God as Abba and in this version of the Lord’s Prayer encouraged his disciples to do so.
The prayer gives glory to God, whose name is holy. It looks for the coming of God’s kingdom, inwardly in the heart and outwardly on earth. It asks for God’s forgiveness but expects those who pray to show mercy to others. It seeks deliverance from temptation; and the most serious temptation is to abandon loyalty to Christ. John Wesley described the Lord’s Prayer “uttered from the heart” as “the badge of a real Christian” (Notes, 242).
The parable of the friend at midnight (vv.5-8) affirms that God will answer persistent prayer. Here is the scene. A Palestinian family is living in a oneroom house. Husband, wife, and children sleep together on the same mattress. A neighbor knocks on the door, asking for a loaf to feed a friend who has just arrived. The husband is reluctant to be disturbed, since the rest of the family would also be awakened. But when the neighbor persists, he gives him the loaf. So, says Jesus, if we ask, we shall receive; and if we seek, we shall find (v.9).
Jesus did not mean that people will receive everything they ask for in prayer. But his teaching in 11:9-13 reaches its climax in the promise that prayer for the Holy Spirit will be answered in the affirmative. God is more than willing to give us this most important of gifts, if only we ask him.