There’s a passage titled Prayer in both Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel. If you’d like to see all the articles with reference to either one – Matthew or Luke – please click here.
Do New Testament prayers differ from the Old Testament? But wait – the title says “how” – not “do”! So there must be differences. Aren’t we still praying to God? Well, yes. But there are differences between the Old and the New Covenants. Therefore, it’s not unreasonable to see differences in the way we pray today.
Psalm 17 – How New Testament prayers differ from the Old Testament More
You may remember So in love with two. It comes from a song about a girl in love with two boys. But I look at it as a Christian, in love with Jesus and someone or something else.
Ultimately it’s not up to us to decide what Jesus is asking of us.
It’s up to us to decide whether we want to do what He is asking.
If we decide which things we want to do and which we don’t – the result will be like that camel going through the eye of a needle – it’s not gonna happen.
If we do what Jesus asks – then all things are possible – including that camel making it through the eye of the needle.
So – what did Mikaila’s song choose?
Hey, hey, hey
I choose the both of you
Uh Oh.
So in love with two – Jesus and ??? More
Why do you live? The economy or God? Really, that question comes down to who’s your “god”? Do you live for the god of money – the economy? Or for the God of the Bible? It’s a question that starts at the top – sort of. With our president – Trump. And now it’s filtering down through our governmental leaders. Which brings in yet another “god” – the god of government.
In spite of the fact that Trump call himself the greatest president ever for Christians, there has to be a question as to who is his real “god”. And now, enter Dan Patrick, Lt. Governor of Texas. A Republican. Let’s look at a news article on msn.com, titled Dan Patrick says he is willing to risk his own life to allow economy to resume.
Why do you live? The economy or God? More
So the bottom line is that sometimes, conflict is necessary. But with Jesus’ life as an example, with His teachings to go by, and from what Paul and others wrote, most of the time conflict probably isn’t necessary. Especially when it’s between Christians.
Don’t settle for less, #08: Don’t avoid all conflict More
This then is how you should pray.
That’s the passage before The Lord’s Prayer. Short. A mere 4 verses. But what is Jesus really saying?
In the first part of the passage, Jesus talks about this then is how you should not pray.
But is it like, I wish you wouldn’t pray like the hypocrites? Or maybe it’s, I’d like it if you could avoid praying like them. Or is it more like, you really need to ask for My help and try very, very hard to not pray like them? Or do you think it’s just a suggestion, as in it’d be nice to not be like them but don’t worry if you can’t help it?
Wait ’til you find out what they meant. It’s shocking if you’ve never noticed before.
This then is how you should not pray… More
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Very much like the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Except in this case, the one doing unto us is God. So if we show mercy to other people, then God will show mercy to us.
Like faith and believing is Jesus, action is an integral part of mercy. We’ll see that just saying, “God have mercy on you”, isn’t what Jesus is talking about. Nor is praying for someone and walking away.
It’s about doing something. Helping. kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.
If God is here, where is He? That question seems to have a lot of doubt built into it. Not since God is here, or since God exists, but If God is here. Not to mention the obvious doubt that God is here, since there’s no apparent evidence of Him.
However, there are people who end up at this site looking for answers to questions like these two:
What does God want?
Does God cry when we die?
These are people that believe that at least God is here, but maybe wondering whether he still cares.
If God is here – Where is He? More
Your Kingdom come. Do we realize the full implication of these words? We pray for God’s Kingdom to come. But do we live like it?
Your Kingdom Come … on earth … Are we really ready? More
