Tagged: Prayer Intention

BLESSED AMONG BLESSINGS

“Blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it.” –Luke 11:28 Physical relationships can be very fulfilling for human beings. For example, a married couple’s physical relationship expressed in sexual intercourse can be an exceptional blessing. The physical relationship of a mother with the child she conceives, births, and nurtures is also one of the greatest blessings in life. Therefore, a woman cried out to Jesus: “Blest is the womb that bore You and the breasts that nursed You!” (Lk 11:27) However, Jesus responded: “Rather…blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk...

THE WORST

“The result is that the last state of the man is worse than the first.” –Luke 11:26 The worst state possible for a human being is not being an atheist in the grip of the devil but being a fallen-away Christian, a backslider, a lukewarm believer. Jesus prefers that a person be an atheist rather than a lukewarm Christian (see Rv 3:15). Lukewarmness nauseates Jesus (Rv 3:16). “When men have fled a polluted world by recognizing the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are caught up and overcome in pollution once more, their last condition is worse than their...

PERSIST IN PRAYER

“He will do so because of his persistence.” –Luke 11:8 Today’s Gospel is God’s encouragement, and even His command, to be persistent. Jesus teaches us: “I tell you, even though he does not get up and take care of the man because of friendship, he will do so because of his persistence” (Lk 11:8). Do you parents remember when your children were infants, and then toddlers? Is there anything more persistent than a baby who wants to nurse? As parents, we woke up at midnight to nurse, change, feed, and hold them. Most of the time it was out of...

LOVE TO PRAY

“Lord, teach us to pray.” –Luke 11:1 Do you have a lot to learn about prayer? Do you want to learn to pray more deeply? How much time and energy are you willing to spend in learning to pray better? If we love the Lord, we should want to learn to pray better, for prayer is communicating with the One Who is the Love of our lives (see 1 Jn 4:16). However, many Christians don’t pray very much and neglect to take any practical means to learn to pray. This usually indicates a lack of love for the Lord. Love...

EXTREME UNCTION

“I went to extremes.” —Galatians 1:13 Paul “went to extremes in persecuting the Church of God and tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13). He had an “excess of zeal” (Gal 1:14), which means he was extremely extreme. He described himself “as an extreme case” (1 Tm 1:16). Paul was an extremist. Many of you reading this are also extremists. You may tend to go to extremes in eating, working, buying, worrying, fearing, drinking, watching TV or staring at your handheld electronic device. Although the current direction of your extremism may be a curse, it can become a blessing. If, like...