Every so often, you furrow your brow at the paper or glower at the television news. The police arrest an individual for a horrific offense. A jury soon convicts him. After serving time in prison, fresh evidence comes to light, and another judge exonerates him. Whenever we blunder upon such a scandal, we may picture […]
A Prayer in These Times of Pandemic
April 7, 2020 by
Prayer of the Church Heavenly Father, standing on the threshold of days and weeks unknown, we remember all Your benefits in times and ages past. In Your providence, You provided us with all the needs of body and life, with food and drink and house and home. Your bountiful hand still enriches us with the […]
The Parables of Jesus: Lesson 13: Two Parables on What Someone’s Prayer Reveals
February 13, 2018 by
The Parable of the Unjust Judge: Luke 18:1-8 Background in Luke Luke 17: 11-18: 8 is a significant unit focused on the “end times” with four major parts: Jesus heals the ten lepers: 17: 11-19, Jesus answers a question by some Pharisees about the coming of God’s Kingdom: 17:20-21, Jesus instructs His disciple on the […]
Luke 18:1-8: Persistence in Prayer
October 16, 2016 by
Oh, how discouragement settles in our bones. We quit when details don’t go our way. We leave when life gets uncomfortable. The pain stabs us, our lungs burn, our legs become a lead weight, and we stop running the race. We pray, but when God doesn’t deliver on our terms, we pout and quit talking […]
Our Life with God, Lesson 9: Christian Prayer, Pt. 3
May 29, 2016 by
We now look further into prayer, looking at specific verses that help shape our life of prayer. Fervent Prayer The traditional wording of James 5:16 is this: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” This has fostered in some that if your prayer isn’t fervent enough (with intensity, with genuine heart-felt passion), […]
Our Life with God, Lesson 8: Christian Prayer, Pt. 2
May 22, 2016 by
Last week, we looked at the Lord’s Prayer as a model prayer and a prayer to say verbatim. Today, we continue looking into why we pray when our Father knows what we need ever before we pray—and other topics. Why Pray? “Grace Alone” Jesus doesn’t command prayer (just like He doesn’t command helping the […]
Our Life with God, Lesson 7: Christian Prayer
May 13, 2016 by
If we want to know about Christian prayer, then we turn to the Christ, who gave us His prayer. Read Matthew 6:5-6 When Jesus says, “When you pray,” what does He assume is part of His disciples’ lives? What does Jesus NOT want our prayers to become? Read Matthew 6:7-8 “empty phrases”: Greek, […]
1 Timothy, Lesson 3: Faithful Worship—Paul’s Pastoral Instructions to Timothy
May 21, 2015 by
Having commanded Timothy to “wage the good war” against the false teaching and teachers, Paul now shifts his focus to the Church and worship, “so you may know how someone should conduct himself in God’s household” (1 Timothy 3:15). The Church in Prayer Read 1 Timothy 2:1a Paul begins this section with a “so […]
John 16:23-33: In Jesus’ Name
May 10, 2015 by
When our fallen flesh thinks of prayer, it merely sees it as a means to an end—a way to get what you want! And such sinful thinking is also rampant in the Church. After all, every member of Christ’s Church in the world is not just a saint, but also a full-fledged sinner. Haven’t you […]
Acts, Lesson 23: Paul Gives Godly Counsel to Fellow Pastors
January 15, 2015 by
Paul is still on his third missionary journey. Having left Ephesus, his longest stay during his missionary travels, he makes a final sweep through Greece before going to Jerusalem. During this time, he was collecting donations to help “the poor among the saints in Jerusalem” (Romans 15:25-27, 2 Corinthians 8-9). Paul may also have traveled […]
