“And lead us not into temptation.” Matthew 6:13a Before we begin: What is the difference between temptation and testing? How […]
Text: Matthew 6:13When we pray, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,” we are asking God to forgive our sins according to the same standard we have used in forgiving the sins of others. When you pray this prayer you are really saying, “O God, deal with me as I deal with other people.”
Text: Matthew 6:12When you pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” you confess that God is the sources of every blessing. Daily bread living means taking life one day at a time, being confident that God will take care of your needs day by day by day.
Text: Matthew 6:11Praying “Your will be done” is an act of God-ordained rebellion. This is not a prayer for the weak or the timid. This is a prayer for troublemakers and rabblerousers.
Text: Matthew 6:10“Your kingdom come” is not a passive prayer. If you ever decide to make the kingdom of God the first priority in your life, you may not become a missionary, but you will become fundamentally different from the world around you.
Text: Matthew 6:10The Lord’s Prayer answers the greatest question of the universe–Is there anybody up there who cares about me? Is there anybody up there who knows my name? And the answer comes back-Yes. Yes. Yes. There is a God in heaven who cares about you. And he is called Father.
Text: Matthew 6:9I believe in God because nothing in the universe makes sense without him. After all the arguments on both sides are finished, you still have to decide for yourself. You still have to choose. What choice have you made?
Text: Genesis 1:1Anyone can sing “Shout to the Lord” when life is good, your health is good, your marriage is strong, your kids are doing well, and all is right with the world. If with Paul and Silas you can sing praise to God at midnight in jail, then what you’ve got is real.
Text: Acts 16:25Christ calls us to find out what he is doing in the world, and then to fling ourselves wholeheartedly into his cause. Staying in the boat may be comfortable and safe, but that’s not what the life of faith is all about.
Text: Matthew 14:22-33John 21 is in the Bible so that all of us Peter-types would know that though we fall again and again, by God’s grace we can keep
on getting back up. If he did it for Peter, he can do it for me and for you.