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Luke 11:1
ESV 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."
NIV One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
NASB It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.'
CSB He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."
NLT Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.'
KJV And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
NKJV Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

What does Luke 11:1 mean?

Luke often focuses on Jesus praying (Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28). Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. He has an eternal relationship with the Father and Spirit so close we cannot fathom its depth. During His incarnate ministry on earth, that closeness is often expressed through times of prayer, both in solitude and when among His disciples. He models how we need to communicate with the Trinity. We need to intentionally take the time to speak and listen to God. We will never be as close to the Father as the Son is, but prayer, obedience, and knowing His Word are essential to growing in our faith.

The writers of the Gospels tended to give chronological accounts from Jesus' birth to His temptation and from His entrance into Jerusalem through His resurrection. The part in the middle, His ministry, is often developed thematically, not chronologically. With that in mind, it's interesting to find Luke grouping three stories about prayer (Luke 11:1–13) before a longer section about the Jewish religious leaders' rejection of Jesus (Luke 11:14–54). We do need God's help to keep our faith strong to resist false teaching and speak the truth.

Looking closer, we find the Lord's Prayer is related to His commission of the Twelve and the seventy-two disciples to go out to the surrounding towns to heal, cast out demons, and proclaim the kingdom of God (Luke 9:1–6; 10:1–12). The first instruction Jesus gave the seventy-two was to pray that God would send more workers to "harvest:" to bring people to repentance and loyalty to God's kingdom (Luke 10:2). Even if the stories are not in chronological order, it's interesting to see how the Holy Spirit placed them.

We have no account of how John taught his disciples to pray. We know John's disciples added fasting to their prayers while Jesus' didn't (Luke 5:33).
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