quotes from Chapter 7 The Gospel of Prayer by John W. Taylor
"Luke mentions prayer more than any other New Testament writer. Luke the historian has a profound sense of God working out His purposes in history through prayer."
"What is important is the relational reality of the prayer. It has to be more than one-sided. Prayer in Luke is communion with God and listening to Him. When Jesus is in prayer, we are not often told what He was saying. The emphasis is on His relationship to the Father, on the real presence of God."
"Thus the Lord's Prayer is formulaic but not ritualistic, part of relationship, and notable for its brevity. It has two sections, the first focusing [on] God and His kingdom and the second on human needs and relationships. The key pronouns in the Lord's Prayer are plural. Prayer in Luke is certainly a communal activity, and Jesus expected His disciples to pray in community."
"If prayer is relational it cannot leave the participant untouched."
"The tension between the assurance of God's answer and the need for patience reflects the wider tension in the Gospel between the kingdom of God as present reality, and the kingdom of God as future fulfillment."
