Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom (Ps. 51:6).
God desires truth (honesty) in my innermost being; and there He will make me understand wisdom.
Wisdom — Psalm 51:6
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Category Archives: Devotional Life
Wisdom — Psalm 37:30
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
And his tongue speaks justice (Ps. 37:30).
The righteous man will speak wisdom, then and also justice.
The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13): Two Sources
Someone once said to me, “None of us really has any original thoughts. Whatever we think and say and write, we have heard from someone else, or have read it somewhere.” If we look at Jesus in His humanity, that is also true of Him and of this prayer He has composed. He got it from other sources, basically from two sources: from Jewish prayers, and from the Old Testament Scriptures.
But we could also look at Jesus from the perspective of His divinity. That is, since He is really God, He inspired all of the Old Testament writings; and since He created all people, including the Jews, He gave them the words of their prayers. Hence, all things are really from Him, including this prayer.
It would be good for us to keep this in mind. However, I would like to look at the prayer from the perspective…
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Seek Wisdom from Above and He will Make Your Paths Straight
Seek wisdom from God and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
NASU
8 Teachings of Jesus on Prayer — Teaching #8
Jesus taught that prayer must be with forgiveness (Matthew 5:23, 24; 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26)
In these passages Jesus seems to be teaching us that if we have not forgiven someone we may as well not pray at all. Mark 11:26 says, “If you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Jesus is not saying here that if you don’t forgive others you have lost your salvation; but He is saying that in your unwillingness to forgive someone you have cut off your fellowship with God. Why? Because in your sin against others (in not forgiving them) you sin against God too. Sin always separates us from God, and so this is why when we sin He will not regard our prayers (Ps. 66:18, Jn. 9:31).
Now we know that there are many different kinds of sin, and all of them, if unconfessed will separate us…
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Enjoying God’s Goodness: the Seasons of Life
There’s nothing like a crisp cool autumn day to mediate on all that God has provided, to reflect on His goodness and mercy, and to dream of what is to come. God will be good in all the seasons of life.
8 Teachings of Jesus On Prayer — Teaching #7
Jesus taught that prayer must be with faith (Matthew 21:21-22; Mark 11:22-26)
In theses verses I see three aspects of faith in prayer that Jesus teaches. First of all…
(1) Faith must be in God. Matthew 21:22 says, “Have faith in God.” Prayer with faith, therefore, is prayer that believes in God and in the promises that He has given us. Then it is prayer that expects God to answer based on those promises; it is prayer that has a continuing hope for the answer and a lasting energy to pray until the answer comes. Secondly…
(2) Faith must be with obedience. Prayer with faith is prayer that doesn’t just pray and then believe that God will do it by Himself without us; it is prayer that counts on God to help usdo it; it is prayer that stops praying and starts obeying.
In Mark 11:23 Jesus…
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Weeping Willow
Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer (Ps 6:8-9).
8 Teachings of Jesus on Prayer — Teaching #6
Jesus taught that prayer should be in unity with others (Matthew 18:19-20)
Sometimes when we pray we are not in unity and in agreement with others. But we should always strive for unity—that is, unity in the body of Christ. We can never have unity and agreement with those outside of the body of Christ, but we should always strive for unity within the body. For the body of Christ is one, of which we are all part. Therefore, since each of us (in the Christian church) is a part for the body of Christ it is natural that our prayers should be united and flow together in agreement by the power of the Holy Spirit.
At first it was hard for me to find in the gospels where Jesus taught this idea of unity in prayer (other then in Matthew 18:19-20); but then, as I studied it, it…
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8 Teachings of Jesus on Prayer — Teaching #5
Jesus taught that prayer must be in His name (John 14:12-14; 15:7, 16; 16:23, 24).
In these verses Jesus teaches clearly that if we expect to receive what we ask for we must ask for those things in His name. What does that mean? Well, in the first passage (Jn. 14:10-14), Jesus shows us that praying in His name is praying in oneness or in unity with Him—that just as Jesus is one with the Father, we demonstrate that we are one with Jesus (and the Father) when we pray in His name. For when Jesus ascended to the Father, the Holy Spirit came to us and united us with the Father and Son. And so when we pray in His name we demonstrate our oneness with Him, because we pray in unity with the Son who is one with the Father. And we do it by the Spirit. Then…
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Stephen Nielsen 