Daily Bible Reading 2nd September 2026 // Luke 11:1-4
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
All the first section of the Prayer, then, has to do with a right relation to God, in terms of what we have already discussed the past two Notes (2). It has to do with the disciple's utter submission to God, his acceptance of the Cross, and his submission to its disciplines, and his stepping out on its way. And the simple asking that follows (3, 4) - bread, forgiveness, victory - is prayer that flows from the agony of the cross, on the basis of the intimate relationship established through acceptance of its challenge and its demands (we shall see, in the teaching that follows the Prayer, both the importunacy and battling of prayer and the 'simple asking' aspect are wonderfully combined in 5-10 and 11-13). The words 'Our Father', as we have already seen, imply the relationship we have been speaking of, a relationship which comes about only through Christ. The word 'hallowed' is the same as that used in 1 Peter 3:15 and means to sanctify God's Name in our hearts, that is, set Him on a solitary throne, give Him the preeminence (Colossians 1:18). This is the first step in the life of prayer. We must have a life in which God's Name is hallowed, a heart which magnifies Him as our Saviour and Lord. To pray for His kingdom to come is to renounce the kingdoms of the world and to align ourselves with His redemptive purposes in the world. It is to let Him have His way in our lives. And what revolutions this might mean - to give Him full, undisputed sway in our hearts: To have His kingdom paramount in our thinking, as a consuming passion - this is the prerequisite of true prayer. To pray for His will to be done implies two things: on the one hand it means submission to that will, and this always means the Cross, for our will is not naturally His will. Our will must be surrendered. On the other hand, there is the possibility of seeking that will, not shrinkingly, fearfully, but gladly and joyfully, exulting in it. 'Thy will he done' is not a dirge, but a battle cry: 'I delight to do Thy will, O God'.