He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." (Lk 11:1-4)
The disciples saw Jesus praying. The disciples would have seen many Pharisees praying and many other people praying. They did not ask them to teach ‘how to pray’. They asked Jesus because they found him different and the found him relating to God in a different way. He was also praying many times to this God who he called the father. So they asked to teach. Also any leader taught his disciples to pray.
Jesus did not teach his disciples to pray like the other leaders. Jesus wanted his disciples to relate to God. He wanted them to spend time with god and not just recite few formulae. Prayer according to Jesus was not taught but modelled. He was an example of prayer not a teacher of prayer.
Prayer for Jesus was praising God (holy be thy name) and awaiting for God (thy kingdom come) and requesting for assistance for salvation (give us our daily bread) and requesting for forgiveness (forgive us our sins) and redemption (not subject to the final test, the test of denying god).
