Once We Pray This, Our Part Is to Stay Away from It When Jesus’s disciples ask him how to pray, he gives a concise example to follow. One of the phrases in this short prayer is to deliver us from evil. We commonly call this prayer from Jesus the Lord’s Prayer (or the Our Father, […]
Each Day We Must Seek God for the Provisions We Need Asking God to supply us with our daily bread at one time mystified me. It seemed like a vain repetition (Matthew 6:7) for something that didn’t matter to me. Yet when I learned the context of this request, it made sense. Two thousand years […]
Carefully Consider What You Ask of God Each Day When You Pray When Jesus’s disciples asked him to teach them how the pray, he gave them a prayer (Luke 11:1-4). Though many people recite this prayer exactly as the Bible records it (also see Matthew 6:9-13), a better approach is to use this prayer—often called […]
Pray That God Will Protect Us from Harm Do you ever ask God to protect you from evil? You can. It’s biblical. It’s part of my morning routine, and based on what I’m about to share, I want to be more intentional about making this request each day. There are two key prayers in the […]
After prior discussions about adding to or taking away from the Bible, it gives one pause in considering footnotes in some translations, which effectively note that a certain phrase or verse is “not found in all manuscripts.” Consider the Lord’s Prayer. The end is one such example: “For yours is the kingdom and the power […]
When I tell people we’re visiting Christian churches, they often assume Protestant and are surprised our plan includes Catholic gatherings. That’s where we head today, to our first Mass. The most noticeable difference is an ornate crucifix in the sanctuary. I’m pleased to see many lay people helping lead the service. There’s a nice range […]
Forgiveness Is a Serious Thing, and We’re Well Advised to Never Withhold It You’re probably familiar with the Lord’s prayer, sometimes informally called by its opening line as the Our Father. It’s a well-known passage in the Bible and many Christian traditions recite it as part of their Sunday worship service. Growing up in a […]
Jesus Wants Us to Fully Forgive Others So That We May be Fully Forgiven In asking the simple question, “Is God’s forgiveness conditional?” the answer seems obvious: “No! God’s forgiveness is unconditional.” I was taught that if I followed Jesus, he would forgive me. It was a fact. Forgiveness was unconditional. It made sense, and […]
We can learn to pray by following Jesus’s example, as long as we don’t misapply it When it comes to praying, there is no better teacher than Jesus. Perhaps that’s why many of his followers memorize the prayer he taught his disciples and why many churches include this prayer in their church services. We commonly […]
Whether We Pray Often or Seldom, We Have Likely Fallen into Unexamined Habits How do you begin your prayers? What is your common salutation? It might be “Heavenly Father . . .” or perhaps “Father God . . . ” or maybe “Dear God . . . ” (How about, “Hey, God. It’s me again.”) […]