The first thing Jesus said we ought to pray for is "Father, hallowed be your name." But what does that mean, who does God want to do the hallowing, and how does this help inform our priorities in prayer and in life?
Jesus teaches us to begin our prayers not with praise, confession, or thanksgiving properly speaking—not that it's wrong to do so—but by simply addressing our Father in heaven before proceeding to talk to him about what we need.
Most Christians struggle with prayer because most Christians simply don't know how to pray. In the so-called "Lord's Prayer," Jesus teaches us to pray by providing a simple outline of six requests that are grounded in the priorities of God for us.
How should we pray? Thankfully Jesus answers that question for us, but before he does, he lays out a set of preliminary instructions and assumptions concerning prayer that are crucial for us to understand if we are going to be heard by God.
Lacking the desire to pray is a universal Christian experience—and one of the most universally discouraging. Why is praying so difficult? In this first message in our series on the "Lord's Prayer" passage in Matthew 6, we'll take a look at some foundational practical and theological realities that underly the work of prayer.
How do I grow in Christ-likeness? Sanctification—the process of becoming more like Christ—is a profound mystery: God alone causes the growth (1 Cor. 3.6-7), and yet Christians are commanded to pursue their own spiritual growth (Php. 2.13, 2 Pet. 3.18). How can that be? More than that, what are we supposed to do about it? The apostle Paul answers that question for us, but maybe not in a way we might expect.
Spiritual immaturity is a problem because God commands Christians to grow (2 Pet. 3:18), but also because true spiritual life inherently includes growth (2 Cor. 3:18). More importantly, however, spiritual immaturity could be an indication that we don't actually belong to Christ at all. For all these reasons, it is crucial for those who claim to be Christians that they be clear on the essentials of Christian truth and living, and that they be growing from that foundation into greater degrees of Christlikeness.
The warning passage of Hebrews 6 has long been one of the most sobering passages in all of Scripture because of its straightforward warning: if you fall away from the faith, you cannot be saved and there is nothing left for you but hell. What does it mean to fall away, and how do I know if I am a candidate? Thankfully, the Word of God is not silent about this, but has given several points by which to examine ourselves to see if we are, in fact, in the faith.
Racism vs. the All-Sufficient Truth of God American society today is embroiled in a controversy over racism. Where is the solution to this ages-old and always-present evil? There is no…
How Do We Maintain Unity When We Disagree? In Romans 14, Paul identifies two kinds of believers whom he calls the "weak" and the "strong." Their differences were not merely…
The Constant Threat of Division Over Differences The 1st-century Roman Christians to whom Paul writes came from varying cultural backgrounds. As a result, early churches were often comprised of large…