When it comes to the Lord’s Prayer, like with many other good spiritual disciplines, the tendency is to become too familiar with it and it has the potential to become dry, empty of its true intent and meaning.
This morning, I would like to take a slightly different angle and look at the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke from its climactic promise in verse 13.
The promise is that “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!” (Luke 11:13). The disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray like John the Baptist taught his disciples (v.1).
Worth noting is that when we compare this passage with the parallel passage in Gospel of Matthew something quite interesting and beautiful happens that can help us and our prayer life more profoundly.
In the Gospel of Matthew (7:11) we are told that: “…how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” while Luke says: “…, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”.
Did Matthew hear one thing and Luke something else? Is there a mistake? Or perhaps a scribe slipped up?
I believe it is not a contradiction or a mistake but rather intentional. Matthew’s emphasis is more general on the all-encompassing daily blessings and provisions, material and spiritual. Luke on the other hand is more focused and narrows it down to the ultimate “good gift” namely the Holy Spirit.
The obvious question is why? Simply put it: because without the indwelling presence, power, and manifestation of the Holy Spirit in us and through us, none of us would be able pray: “Our Father in heaven…” – we won’t be able to pray at all. As Paul puts it, “no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit” (1Corinthians 12:3).