Wednesday 8 October 2025
Jonah 4:1-11. Lord, you are tender and full of love – Ps 85(86):3-6, 9-10. Luke 11:1-4.
Simple yet powerful prayer
Strange to think that in under 100 words, this passage in Luke’s Gospel contains some of the most influential lines ever written. The disciples ask Jesus, ’Teach us to pray, as John taught his followers’. The mention of John the Baptist makes it a poignant moment, coming not long after John’s execution by Herod. Were they feeling left out, comparing their (comparatively younger) movement to John’s? By that time, some of John’s followers had joined Jesus; others hadn’t (the Mandaeans in Iraq still revere John but reject Jesus). We don’t know how John taught his disciples to pray, but his teaching on repentance and baptism clearly shaped Jesus’ ministry. I wonder what the disciples made of Jesus’ response – a prayer so simple and so consistent with Jesus’ character, it now seems obvious. It is bare-bones but names the essentials: reverence, mystery, sustenance, mercy, humility, solidarity, trust. Maybe that’s the point. Prayer doesn’t need to be eloquent or clean; just small and simple will do.
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