[Jesus said]: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” When we pray for our sins to be forgiven, we are looking to the past. Next, the Lord’s Prayer looks to the future. Once again, the prayer is fiercely realistic. Although...
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them. False prophets make an appearance in both the Old and New Testaments. Jeremiah had a particular pr...
Matthew 7:12 In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. This statement is often known as The Golden Rule. The Jews were familiar with something like this but always in the negative fo...
Matthew 7:11 - If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Some years ago I was travelling on a bus in Israel and heard some amazin...
Matthew 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Jesus uses this comical illustration to press home His teaching about being judgemental. Jesus isn’t suggesting that ot...
Matthew 6:26-27. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? The mo...
Matthew 6.20-21. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What matters most to you in your life? It...
Matthew 6.16-17 “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your...
(Jesus Said) Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one When we pray for our sins to be forgiven and for us to forgive others we are looking to the past. Now the Lord’s Prayer looks to the future. Once again, the prayer is fierc...
[Jesus said]: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” The Lord’s Prayer has its feet firmly planted on the ground! It talks about our everyday life, and here it faces up to the horrible but undeniable fact that sin forms a big...
[Jesus said]: “Give us today our daily bread.” Have you ever wondered why we ask God for food on a daily basis? Why not ask Him to supply us for a week or even a month? It’s a perfectly sensible question, and the answer is that God wants a relatio...
[Jesus said]: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of heaven comes about when we obey God’s will. So when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are saying that we have signed up to working for this amazing kingdo...
[Jesus said]: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” The Lord’s Prayer is all about relationship. It begins by looking to God, because everything in this prayer flows out of our intimate relationship wi...
[Jesus said]: “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Prayer is often described as being like t...
[Jesus said]: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Jesus was reacting against people who made a great show of their praying. Th...
