God likes to hear your prayers, right? Well, maybe. Proverbs 28:9 is a verse which reveals some light on that. It reads: “He who turns away his ear from listening to the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.”
We tend to think that our prayers are good, and that God wants to hear them — and if you are a Christian who is praying in Jesus’ name, He does — except in some cases like this verse describes. Continue reading
(Preached at Pleasant Ridge Baptist, Morganton, NC 5-13-15)
Tim Keller is pastor of a church that is flourishing in a very difficult ministry field: the heart of New York City. He recently published a book on prayer, and in it he wrote: “To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.” (Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God)
That idea of depending on God for everything is reinforced in the 4th petition of the Model Prayer which we are studying this evening: “Give us this day our daily bread.” This section of the Model teaches us that after we praise God, and pray for His kingdom and will, that we are also to pray for our requests: “our daily bread.” We learn several things about praying for our requests as we pay close attention to just what Jesus taught us here in these words: Continue reading
We often think of sin as something we “do”, but Romans 1 reminds us that it also often involves what we do NOT do. Verse 31, speaking of those who are worthy of God’s wrath, says that they are: “unloving, unmerciful.” Look carefully at these two qualities for just a moment: Continue reading
You might not think it’s much of a sin — but it may be bigger than you imagine! Romans 1:21, speaking of those upon whom the wrath of God rightly falls, says: “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks …”. One of the first descriptions of those who reject God is that they did NOT give thanks. Is that really such a big deal? Continue reading
We need to recognize the importance of a little word in Romans 1:18, where the Apostle Paul writes: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men …”. This chapter is well-known for its condemnation of homosexuality, but we need to recognize that there is more than just one sin condemned in the passage. It does not confine God’s wrath to any one type of transgression, but says it is against “ALL ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Continue reading
(Preached at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, 5-10-15)
I attended a men’s retreat last year and I had the opportunity to talk to a man who shared with me that when he was a young Christian, he was challenged to spend an hour in prayer, so one day he went outside and got down on his face before God and began to pray. He said he prayed for everyone and everything he could think of, but he knew it wasn’t anywhere near an hour yet, so he prayed for them all again — and then again a THIRD time. He said then he looked down at his watch to see what time it was — and only 5 MINUTES had gone by! Some of you here today might admit to having the same problem.
I hope that this week you have taken seriously the commitment we talked about last Sunday in our “Disciplines of Disciples” study, of meeting God first thing every morning in prayer. We have seen that if we are going to be successful disciples of Christ, that we need to adopt some consistent disciplines in our lives, including spending time in “the pure milk of the word”, and in prayer first thing in the morning. But HOW should we pray?
Jesus’ disciples could see, first-hand, the importance of the role of prayer in Jesus’ ministry, and they asked Him to teach them how to pray. Many of us are familiar with the prayer that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:9-13 of The Sermon on the Mount, which we often call “The Lord’s Prayer.” But as we shall see, this is not really so much “The Lord’s Prayer” as it is the prayer that Jesus gave US, to teach us how to pray. Continue reading
Many Christians can quote Romans 1:16, but perhaps we need to hear again what it is really saying? “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes …”. Here God reminds us that He has given us only ONE thing which has His power to save: the gospel. We might nod our heads in thoughtless agreement, but we need to consider what does NOT have God’s power to save: Continue reading
(Preached at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Wed. p.m., 5-06-15)
A few years back I read the testimony of a pastor who lived well over a hundred years ago, and who was praying for a friend of his who was very ill, to the point of death. He prayed that God would spare this friend’s life, and add years to its length. Suddenly he felt as if God were asking him: “Would you be willing for Me to take those years from your life, in order to add them to his?” At that question, his heart began to beat quickly, and sweat began to bead on his brow. He didn’t know how to respond. Finally he prayed the only prayer he knew how to pray: “Lord, Thy will be done.”
For the last several Wednesday nights, we have been looking together at the Model Prayer of Matthew 6:9-13. We have seen that it is not a rote prayer that we are to pray mindlessly and repeatedly, but that it is a model of the kinds of things that God wants us to speak with Him about when we pray. We have begun to look together at what those requests teach us about how we should pray, and we have studied the first two requests thus far. We have seen from “Hallowed by Your name” that we are to begin our prayers with praise, and last week from “Thy Kingdom come” that we are to pray for the requests of God’s Kingdom first: praying for churches, pastors, staff, mission work and missionaries.
Tonight we come to the third request of the Model: “Thy will be done.”
Mark 2:13 says that Jesus went out by the sea again, and the crowd came out to Him. But it is instructive for us to see just what He did when they came out. It says: “And He was teaching them.”
We often think if we are going to be like Jesus, we need to heal people, or meet their physical needs — and Jesus did plenty of that for sure. But it is also significant that on this and on many other occasions, Jesus TAUGHT the crowd. Continue reading
One must admit, Paul didn’t make much of a “positive confession” in Romans 1:10, when he told the church at Rome: “if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”
Those words “if perhaps now … by the will of God, I may succeed …” are significant. They express a humble uncertainty, and a willingness to submit to the will of God, which he admitted was unknown and uncertain to him just then.
It is also significant that Paul didn’t seem concerned with trying to make a “positive confession” by saying: “I’m claiming it; I AM going to be coming to you!” Continue reading
I'm a retired Southern Baptist pastor of almost 40 years. My wife Cheryl & I moved to Norman, OK in March of 2025. I share a weekly overview for Sunday School teachers of the weekly Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, as well as texts of my sermons and other articles.
