Paul’s opening prayer in Philippians reflect what he hopes and confidently expects God to do in the lives of his readers and it introduces the main theme of his letter. From this short prayer, we can learn what we ought to most want for ourselves and for each other.
01 Philippians 1:1-8 Introduction
Paul’s message in Philippians is essentially the same as Moses in Deuteronomy 30:19-20: Choose life by loving the lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him. He opens the letter expressing his gratitude — not because the Philippians have sent him financial support. But rather he is grateful that the gospel was so important to the Philippians that they wanted to support it.
Nehemiah: Restoration & Redemption
The message of Nehemiah is restoration. The book records how God moved Nehemiah to lead the people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in approximately 446 BC. As the story unfolds, we see God restore godly leadership to Israel, restore the walls of Jerusalem, restore the broken faith of the people, restore a sense of community and heritage as God’s people, and restore the people’s knowledge of the God’s word and their desire to love and obey Him.
10 Colossians 4:2-18 Continue in Prayer
How are we to understand these various Scripture verses that encourage us to persevere in prayer, continue to pray, pray without ceasing, and pray at all times. Can we fulfill them by setting an app on our smart phones to remind us to pray 15 minutes of every hour? If not number of minutes, what are the authors asking us to do?
The Lord’s Prayer: we say it but what does it mean?
The more I study the Lord’s Prayer, the more I conclude the prayer asks for one and only one thing: that God would make us completely righteous once and for all.
Prayer and Spiritual Formation: How does it work?
The biblical picture of prayer is not that it is a spiritual discipline that I use to reach a higher spiritual level. Rather prayer is an unavoidable mandatory battlefield in the war of faith.
Nehemiah: Between two worlds
Nehemiah was caught between two worlds. How do you resolve that tension? Nehemiah lived a secure, safe, comfortable, powerful life when we meet him in chapter 1 of the Old Testament book that bears his name. As cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, the most powerful man of his day, Nehemiah tasted the king’s food and drink […]
Psalm 143: Dealing with depression
Psalm 143 is about being in the deepest blackest pit of despair and finding God anyway. It’s about depression, but the particular depression and anguish you feel when you’re confronted with the consequences of your sin.
What to pray when you don’t know what to pray for
Think about what you’d wish for if you had a genie. Think about what you pray for. How similar are they?
Cats and the End of the World
The day our cat died our daughter changed her Facebook status to “starting over from the end of the world.”
The Vow of Jephthah
The story is tragic in part because he expected an animal, but also because his vow reveals his lack of faith in God.
Parable of the Friend at Midnight
The parable of the Friend at Midnight does not promise that God will meet our every need or give us everything we ask for. Instead it teaches that God will give us the ultimate gift: righteousness.
Parables of the Widow & the Judge; Pharisee & Taxgatherer
These two parables in Luke 18 (The Widow & the Unjust Judge and the Pharisee and the Tax-gatherer) deal with prayer. But the underlying theme is how we achieve justification.
Prayer and rain: Does God answer prayer?
Why should I have confidence that God answers my prayers? According to James, I have confidence that my prayers will be answered because of who is answering my prayer, not because my prayer is perfect, powerful or articulate.
