Luke 11 and 12

Chapter 11

I think most people feel that the Lord's Prayer is one the more beautiful statements in scripture. The Savior is giving us a wonderful example of how to pray, but it is not meant to be a prayer that we say verbatim. When I was in the Methodist Church, we often prayed using the Lord's Prayer only. But it is only a guideline as are all of the prayers the Lord says in scripture. I appreciate the Joseph Smith Translation clarifying the "lead us not into temptation" statement. The Lord doesn't lead us into temptation, satan does along with many of the things of the world. The JST says, "And let us not be led unto temptation."

In Chapter 11, the Lord is speaking to the people and to the wicked Pharisee leaders. He pronounces all of his woes on the pharisees in this chapter, which is a way of condemning them and telling them their fate is sealed because of their hypocrisy.

Chapter 12

In Chapter 12, the Lord is speaking to the 12 apostles. He warns them of the false teachings of the pharisees and other leaders. He tells them to not fear anything except those which can harm them spiritually. They should learn to rely on the Holy Ghost when they must speak to magistrates and other leaders who can imprison them. Then maybe because of the leadership position they are in, he tells them not seek to be rich and to have lots of possessions. There are four great rules or teachings that I think are important for life in this chapter:

1. Verse 15. Our life's success, our importance, is not determined by what and how much we possess. His warning is, we could die tomorrow and then what good will all of our possessions be to us?

2. Verse 21. Those who seek to obtain riches are not rich in the things of God. As a result, they are left with nothing if that is all their efforts in life were based on. People whose whole life is focused on having possessions and positions of power are those who have nothing. That is why some of them commit suicide when they lose it all that they have.

3. Verse 31. If you seek the kingdom of God first, then all that you will ever need will be given to you in abundance. The Lord doesn't mind us being rich, of having an abundance. That can come, but we have to have him first in our life. Then we can be truly happy regardless of what happens because our happiness isn't based on things that aren't capable of giving us happiness to begin with.

4. Verse 34. The things you put your most effort into obtaining tells you where your heart is. Our actions and thoughts always reveal our true nature. You can try to fake it, but it never works. No matter how beautiful the boat, if it has a hole, it will fill with water and eventually sink.