After Jesus had fed the five thousand, Luke alone records, “Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old…
Luke 6:12-13 reads, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles” (ESV). Immediately, I am struck by the clear and unmistakable implication of the passage. If…
In Matthew 14:22-23, the text reads, “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone” (ESV). Two things…
I have considered prayer to be of two types. One is what I would call short petitions and thoughts spoken to the Father throughout the day. These are usually normal activities of life for the spiritual mind because his or her affections are directed toward home. The other kind is what I call “closet prayers”…
Luke appears to emphasize the life of prayer in Jesus. Jesus taught that men ought to always pray and not faint (Luke 18:1). His disciples asked him to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1). Jesus example of prayer is the best teacher anyone can have and that the disciples could tell that this was…
The word “temptation” may be translated from Greek as trials, testing, proving, or temptation to do evil. The context determines whether it refers to the temptation to sin or trials. One way to know may be to explore whether the context includes God as the source of it. If so, then, the word means trial…
The term “debts” is used for trespasses as is indicated in verses 14-15. One of the conditions for our personal forgiveness is our forgiveness of those who have sinned against us (Matt. 6:14-15, Mark 11:25). The second condition for our forgiveness is our repentance. Like forgiveness, what is true of God’s forgiveness of us is…
In the Lord’s model example of how to pray, the entire prayer acknowledges human dependency on God and His power to provide for all our needs. This particular part of the prayer declares our dependency on Him for the personal physical needs of daily life. When God provided the manna in the wilderness, He told…
Jesus is the perfect example of this mission and attitude in life. His goal was to always please His Father. Rather than seeking His own will, his desire was to the Father’s will (cf. John 5:30, 6:38). He prayed in Gethsemene, “Not my will, but Yours be done (Matt. 26:42) and, while on the cross,…
Frequently, the kingdom is the rule of Christ in a disciple’s heart. Jesus is not referring to the institutional church. That is man-made and has no place in the teaching of Christ. Therefore, when Jesus speaks of “seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness” (cf. Matt. 5:33), he’s talking about placing as one’s priority the…