✨WEB · Luke 11:1
What does Luke 11:1 mean?
"When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”"
— Luke 11:1 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
Explanation
Luke 11:1 sets the scene for one of the most important teaching moments in the Gospels: the giving of what we call the Lord's Prayer. The verse itself is simple narration. Jesus has just finished praying somewhere, and one of his disciples, having watched him, makes a request: "Lord, teach us to pray." The disciple adds a comparison — just as John the Baptist taught his own disciples to pray. This tells us that teaching a distinctive pattern of prayer was a recognized practice among religious teachers and their followers in that era, and the disciples wanted Jesus to give them something similarly their own.
To understand the context, remember that Luke's Gospel was written by Luke, a companion of the apostle Paul, for a Gentile audience (traditionally addressed to "Theophilus"), with the purpose of giving an orderly, carefully researched account of Jesus's life and teaching. Luke frequently highlights Jesus at prayer more than the other Gospel writers do — before his baptism, before choosing the twelve apostles, at the transfiguration, and here again. This pattern shows that prayer was central to Jesus's own life, not an afterthought. The disciples had clearly observed this habit repeatedly, and it's precisely because they saw how Jesus prayed — not just that he prayed — that they wanted to learn to do the same.
Theologically, this verse underscores several things. First, prayer is something that can and should be taught; it is not purely instinctual or automatic even for devoted followers. Second, the disciples recognized that J
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Biblical perspective
What does 11:11 mean in the Bible?
Seeing 11:11 and wondering if it's a message? The Bible doesn't treat repeated numbers as signs — but it does have a lot to say about what it means when God is actually speaking.
John 11:11 is a real verse where Jesus speaks plainly to his disciples about Lazarus. It's a passage about resurrection and the power of Jesus over death — more significant than a clock pattern.
John 11:11
"He said these things, and after that, he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awaken him out of sleep.'"
Deuteronomy 11:1
"Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always."
ScriptureCompanion serves verses directly from a verified Bible database — no paraphrasing or AI-generated scripture. All quotes above are from the World English Bible (WEB).