Luke 11:1

As he was praying. [Instruction on Prayer, Luke 11:1-13.] Luke records nothing definite with respect to the time or the location of this incident. If Luke is here following a chronological sequence, the incident may have occurred soon after the visit to Bethany (ch. 10:38-42). If so, the time may have been near that of Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Dedication, when there was an attempt to stone Him (DA 470; see on Luke 17:1; John 10:22, 31, 33). The incident may have occurred at Jerusalem, or, if not at Jerusalem, it probably took place somewhere in Peraea. For further information concerning events that took place about this time see on Matt. 19:1. The time of day may well have been early morning, Jesus’ usual time for prayer of this kind (COL 139). Upon this occasion the disciples had been absent for a brief time (COL 140), perhaps on a mission (see on Luke 10:1), or perhaps for a brief visit to their homes (see DA 259). Concerning the personal prayer life of Jesus see on Mark 1:35; 3:13.

Teach us to pray. The disciples were greatly impressed as they listened to the manner in which Jesus prayed, intimately communing with His heavenly Father as one friend does with another. His praying was different from that of the religious leaders of the day, in fact, from anything else they had heard. Formal prayer, expressed in set phrases and seemingly directed to an impersonal God a great way off, lacks the reality and vitality that should distinguish prayer. The disciples thought that if only they could pray as Jesus prayed, their own effectiveness as disciples would be greatly increased. In view of the fact that Jesus had taught them by precept (Matt. 6:7-15) and example (Luke 9:29) how to pray, it seems likely that upon this occasion the request came from some disciples who had not been with Jesus upon similar occasions in the past. The term “disciples” need not be confined to the Twelve. These disciples may have been of the Seventy. In harmony with the request, “Teach us to pray,” Jesus responded by giving a model prayer, a parable to illustrate the spirit of prayer, and some admonition encouraging faithfulness and diligence in prayer (ch. 11:2-13).

As John also taught. Nothing is said elsewhere in Scripture about John’s teaching his disciples to pray. It would seem natural that, after his disciples had united their interests with those of Jesus (see on Mark 6:29), they would recount the things they had learned from their former master.