“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven.’” (Matthew 6:9) Jesus’ approach to prayer is strongly rooted in his relationship with God as Father. Three times in Matthew 6:6-8, Jesus refers to “your Father”; twice in verse 6 and once in verse 8. The idea of approaching God as Father isn’t entirely new …
Don’t Pray Like Pagans [30 Days of Prayer]
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans” (Matthew 6:7) Just as the point of prayer is not to impress others, so, too, the point of prayer is not to simply get God to do what we want. As Jesus continues to teach on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, …
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Don’t Pray Like Hypocrites [30 Days of Prayer]
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites.” (Matthew 6:5) When we come to the topic of prayer, there is nothing worse than starting in the wrong place. In Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, He graciously highlights two errors that we easily slip into with prayer. We will look at …
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Thursdays with Murray [Humility, week 4]
As I continue interacting with Andrew Murray's writings over the next number of weeks, I am currently spending time first with his short book Humility, which a friend shared with my recently. After looking at how humility is the secret of our salvation and the way in which Jesus models humility in his life, Murray focuses …
Sending (discussion questions)
Here are the discussion questions that accompany my message, "Sending," from this past weekend at Eastbrook Church. This is part of our series, "Jesus on the Move." The text for this week are from Luke 9:1-6, 57-62; 10:1-24. Discussion Questions: When did you really become a follower of Jesus in your life? What was the decisive …
Matthew Erickson 