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Jesus on Prayer, Part 5
This is the final exercise for our week of looking at what Jesus taught about prayer. Read Mark 9:14-29.
There is an inherent sadness in this account, it seems. Demonic forces are causing horrible suffering to a boy and his family, and the disciples are unable to do anything about it. In his commentary on Mark, William Lane remarks that this scene “exhibits the disaster which occurs when men from whom the power of faith may be expected are proven to be void of power when it is needed.” The disciples were “void of power,” unable to drive out the demon, unable to join God in his kingdom work in this instance.
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Jesus on Prayer, Part 4
Take a few moments and read Luke 18:1-8.
Sometimes people are taken aback that Jesus compares God to a disrespectful, unjust judge. But the point of parables is never one-to-one correspondence. The point Jesus is trying to make is spelled out pretty explicitly by Luke in the first verse: “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Thanks Luke! That’s really helpful.
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Jesus on Prayer, Part 3
(This exercise was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community.)
There comes a time in every kind of training when your body hits the wall. It doesn’t matter how bad you want it on the inside, you just can’t keep going. This is one of the best examples of how our spirits and our bodies are intimately connected.
Jesus’ best friends had this problem at the worst possible time. At the cusp of his betrayal, public shame, and impending death sentence, Jesus took his closest partners on the greatest revolution of man and headed into the grove of olive trees at the garden of gethsemane for one reason: to pray. Jesus was on the verge of personal breakdown, beseeching God to change the course of history – if possible – and sweating blood in anxiety. He asked Peter, James, and John, his closest friends, to pray.
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Jesus on Prayer, Part 2
(This exercise was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community.)
Later in the Sermon on the Mount – after his words about not praying like the hypocrites and even after the famous Lord’s Prayer – Jesus revisits the heart of prayer with these words:
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks find; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Matt 7:7-8).
Here Jesus teaches another fundamental principle of faith: simply ask. As Ben pointed out yesterday, this stood in sharp contrast to popular opinion that the gods could be constrained by an effluence of fancy words. Some people today apparently still believe that.
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Jesus on Prayer, Part 1
Our series on prayer began last week by focusing on the Lord’s Prayer. This week we will be looking at several passages from the gospels where Jesus teaches about prayer. Today we start with a look at Matthew 6:5-8. Take some time to read the passage slowly and carefully, jotting down any thoughts or questions you have. Then continue on to read the rest of this post and do the prayer exercise at the end.
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Lord’s Prayer, Part 5
The last part of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray is as follows (Mt 6:13):
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.These two phrases are asking that we not be put through trials. Which, at first glance, seems kind of selfish doesn’t it? But it is simply a stance of humility.
Of course God doesn’t tempt people. It’s our own selfish desires and the interference of the enemy that tempt us and take us far from God’s grace. What we are praying for here is that we be kept as far from temptation as possible. This is because we recognize that we are weak and not very confident in our ability to resist temptation. We’re all recovering sinners, so much like a recovering alcoholic isn’t wise to wander into bars to “test” her resolve, it’s best for us to stay as far away as possible from the things that draw us into sin. We are voting “no confidence” in our ability to resist temptation, and asking God to keep us away from it.
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Lord’s Prayer, Part 4
Just when we’re getting friendly with the idea of depending on God for bread, Jesus crosses into terribly dangerous territory:
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.We tend to trip over these words because we’re fond of speaking about forgiveness as the “free” gift of God. We can’t earn our pardon, or purchase the grace that pulsates through God’s heart.
If only it were that easy.
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Lord’s Prayer, Part 3
(This study is part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community. Previous posts: Our Father / Your Kingdom Come)
Today we continue our week of focusing on the Lord’s Prayer by heading into the third petition of the prayer, found in Matthew 6:11:
“Give us today our daily bread.”
As we pray for God’s name to be hallowed and for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we pray this simple petition; that God would grant us our “daily bread,” which refers to everything we need for day-t0-day life. It’s an image that hearkens back to God’s provision for the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings, providing manna to eat and sustaining their clothing so it didn’t wear out.
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Lord’s Prayer, Part 2
(This study was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journeywith Ikon Community)
Yesterday, according to Jesus’ instructions, we learned to begin prayer by honoring God as our good and powerful Father and remembering how he continually cares for us. Today, in Matthew 6:10, Jesus teaches us to pray as revolutionaries:
“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.”This portion of Jesus’ prayer resembles classic Hebrew poetry, where two parallel lines interpret and explain one another other.
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Lord’s Prayer, Part 1
(This study was written by Jason Coker as part of our prayer journey with Ikon Community)
This week we’ll pray through the Lord’s prayer as an outline, one line at a time. Today, read the first line, in Matthew 6:9: