Immediately after giving His disciples a model prayer, Jesus taught them, through the parable of a friend at midnight (Luke 11:5-13), the need for persistent prayer. Then, as He neared the end of His ministry, He reminded His followers of the need for penitence and humility in prayer (Luke 18:9-14). Both of these parables show … Continue reading –>
She seems an unlikely character for this week’s discussion on Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Prayer. Throughout her story, as recorded in the Gospel of John, prayer is not once mentioned. She is not one of the many who came seeking Jesus for miraculous healing from some incurable illness. As a matter of fact, she … Continue reading –>
[Thought questions for Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Prayer May 12, 2015] 1. Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Why did Jesus, the Creator of the World, and our Savior, need to rely on the Holy Spirit in His ministry on earth? Or did He? Should it comfort us to study the close relationship between Jesus and the … Continue reading –>
Give us day by day our daily bread (Luke 11:3, NKJV). The petition begins with the word give. Whether the word comes from the lips of a millionaire or an orphan in perpetual want, the prayer is at once an expression of dependence and acknowledgment of trust. We are all dependent on God, and the … Continue reading –>
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24 More exciting than getting what you ask for from God is just knowing He listens to you! In the summer of 1991 I was enjoying my first full year of Literature … Continue reading –>
On that first morning, sweeter than a tree-ripened peach, more beautiful than a flowering valley, God felt a void. There amidst the verdure, the teeming animal life, the crystal, rushing water, something was missing. That something was us. “And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male … Continue reading –>
Read Luke 11:1-4. How do these verses help us to understand how prayer works? Father is Christ’s favorite way of describing God and is so recorded at least 170 times in the four Gospels. In addressing God as our Father, we acknowledge that God is a Person, capable of the most intimate relationship with humans. … Continue reading –>
Among the many times that Jesus prayed, some are recorded only in Luke. Note the following incidents that show Jesus in prayer during great moments in His life. Jesus prayed at His baptism (Luke 3:21). A new and important era was opening before Him. He was now, upon a wider stage, entering on the conflict … Continue reading –>
As a Gentile convert and a missionary companion of the apostle Paul, Luke viewed the entire Christological entrance into history-from Jesus’ incarnation to His ascension and to the spread of the church-as a divine wonder brought about and guided by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ life we see the whole Godhead at work in our … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 2:25-32, John 16:5-7, Luke 23:46, Luke 11:1-4, Matt. 7:21-23, Luke 11:9-13. Memory Text: So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, … Continue reading –>
Occasionally, the school where I teach a weekly Bible class will ask me to sub for the entire day. One day when I was assigned to teach for the entire day, a delightful but rambunctious boy, who had typical behavioral issues in the past, came up to me and promised he was not going to … Continue reading –>
More Precious Than Money Ruth was born in Ecuador, but moved to Japan with her Japanese- Ecuadorian husband in 2004. While still in Ecuador she visited many churches, but none satisfied the deep spiritual longing of her heart. Then one day she visited a Seventh-day Adventist church and found that the people were kind and … Continue reading –>
