Monthly Archives: October 2026

41b BY THE WAY…WHY DID JESUS WEEP?

Bible Study, ,

The third record of Jesus’ tears appears in a passage in Hebrews describing the very humanness of His suffering. In the garden…the olive grove…the place of “the press”…Jesus felt the weight of the cross so powerfully that He cried out to the Father with the hot tears of human anguish, that the suffering be avoided. 

What was it that pressed down on Him with such agonising weight?

It was Peter who gave us the clue. Why Peter? Let’s examine this episode with microscopic precision. 

First, Hebrews takes us to the nature of Jesus’ suffering…not the things that His enemies would do to Him…the flogging, the nails, the agony of hanging for hours in the hot sun, the thirst, the unbearable pain, being unable to breathe…all so very real but…what His reaction would be. 

“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Very clear…very specific! Four words…” He suffered being tempted!” The spotlight was on His suffering in the temptation!

Again, Peter understood where the most vulnerable part of Jesus’ humanity would be touched…His flesh…the part of His nature that most resembled the “first Adam”…created innocent…but able both to sin and not to sin. 

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,”

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Do you get the picture? 

Jesus was born with the nature of the first Adam, innocent, without sin, but vulnerable because He had the power to choose…exactly as Adam had. Paul called Jesus “the last Adam”. 

When Adam sinned, he retaliated by refusing to accept responsibility for his disobedience. He blamed God and his wife. 

“The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What did Jesus suffer? He suffered being tempted, specifically because temptation forced Him to make a choice…to please God or to please Himself. To please Himself would have meant death! 

Why was His suffering in what He was tempted to do? To please Himself would have meant doing what His flesh demanded…fight back against injustice because He knew He was innocent of the charges. 

Everything that people did to Jesus was the outcome of the worst, most heinous, most unforgivable injustice. His enemies had decided His fate before He was ever brought to trial. They cancelled Him first…they condemned Him because of who they were, not because of who He was. 

The most reasonable human response would be self-preservation…push back…retaliate…defend! 

Jesus knew that if He did that, He would lose the battle. Self would rule Him. The outcome would be failure…death to Himself and all mankind. 

So…

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Again, do you get the picture? Rather than retaliate, Jesus absorbed into Himself the worst that humanity could do to Him. He chose the Father’s will above His own…and the cost to Him was physical death. 

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, at the peak of His temptation, Jesus wept. 

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now, let’s see what Peter had to say…

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus won His battle in the garden, not on the cross…in prayer…in His reverent submission to the Father’s will. His was not a once-off prayer…but a day-by-day attitude to the Father, culminating in His submission to the Father’s will in Gethsemane. 

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ tears were the ultimate expression of submission…giving Himself over, utterly and completely, to the will of the Father. 

41a BY THE WAY…WHY DID JESUS WEEP?

Bible Study, ,

The Bible mentions three occasions when Jesus wept. Only a person with real emotions can weep. Did Jesus weep only as a human? Should we ask, “Can or does God in heaven weep?”

Although the Bible does not specifically give us examples of God’s sadness, there are many expressions of how He felt about the gross wickedness of His human family, and His people’s unfaithfulness. He felt anger, frustration, grief…reflected in His words…for example…

“The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The corruption of all the people who lived at that time caused God grief. Is it possible that God could mourn over the very creation that had caused Him complete satisfaction at the beginning?

Of Israel, on the eve of terrible catastrophe, the Babylonians!!! He said…

“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy.”

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭11‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It should not surprise us, then, that Jesus’ tears were the expression of His own sorrow over situations where His people’s stubborn resistance and unbelief 

would bring judgment down on them. The crux of the matter was that His people had failed to recognise Him as their deliverer. He had come to rescue them from a greater judgment than Rome’s terrible destruction…sin that would consign them to everlasting darkness without His intervention. 

“But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭19‬:‭41‬-‭44‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus also wept over one of His dearest friends who, in the hour of her deepest grief, blamed Him for her loss rather than trusting Him for His better plan. 

“So he told them (His disciples) plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”…When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled…Then Jesus wept.”

‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭14‬-‭15‬, ‭32‬-‭33‬, ‭35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So many interpretations about Jesus’ anger and sorrow! Let’s look at the situation from a purely human point of view. 

Mary wanted Jesus to come…to heal her brother before he died. Jesus had a better plan. He delayed His return to Bethany deliberately and long enough for the sickness to do its final work. Mary thought Jesus had failed her. Her trust in Him reached only to the limit of her expectation. 

When Jesus failed to turn up, Mary’s faith in Him collapsed. She turned on Him in anger. She rebuked Him. She had built a wall that shut Him out. She refused to give Him the benefit of the doubt. 

How would He react? With indifference? With nonchalance? Of course not! With anger…frustration…grief…not at Mary but at her unbelief. His tears were tears of sorrow because His friend had refused to trust Him…based on who He was. Despite sitting at His feet, she did not yet really know Him. 

Had Mary waited until Jesus had finished what He started, she would have saved herself all the agony and grief her unbelief had cost her. What if she had still sat at His feet in her heart, trusting His love, and believing in His goodness despite the situation, until He came? This is what real faith does…not collapsing in the middle, but waiting for the conclusion…leaning hard on Jesus because of who He is. 

How often Jesus must weep over us when we refuse to trust Him to the conclusion. Why not let Him finish what He started, leaning on Him because of who He is…and finding, with joy, that He can be trusted, after all?

To be continued…

40 BY THE WAY…HOW CAN WE BE SECURE IN AN INSECURE WORLD?

Christian Life, ,

“Fear” is the name of the game in our world. Dig just a little under the words, the behaviour of the unbelieving world… and the stench of fear begins to waft out. Fear drives every action and reaction because fear is the fruit of deliberate independence from God.

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The urge for self-preservation is so strong that it undergirds every thought and action…the greed, the wickedness that characterise society…and even in the most civil and congenial of neighbourhoods, fear reigns. 

The world is made up of billions of units…individuals… each one separate and distinct, isolated and fighting for self. Even in families, the units are at work. 

Jesus came to set up another kind of community…one that is not fractured by alienation, aggression, and self-preservation but bound together by a common life.

Jesus’ family, washed clean of the powerful self that demands priority in everything, is a  different unit…all joined to one another by the life of Jesus, sustaining each one and bonding them all together by His own Spirit. 

Two powerful threads hold the “body of Christ” together, both initiated by the Holy Spirit…love and unity. 

The first thread is love…the love of God dispensed to us by His Spirit…

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV

What is this love of God that the Spirit pours into our hearts? It’s the attitude and action of serving others at our own expense. Feelings come and go. God’s love steadfastly gives away regardless of the feelings. 

The amazing thing about God’s love in us is that it begins with a choice and slowly becomes a disposition. God’s love weaves itself into our nature, choice by choice, action by loving action until… it becomes a part of why we are.  

The second thread that binds God’s people together is unity. 

Jesus achieved unity by destroying the natural hostility between Jew and Gentile…

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Holy Spirit implements the unity by imparting to each believer the life of Jesus so that the same life is at work in each individual. It is the Spirit who unites but we who maintain that unity by actively participating in the life of the Spirit in us. 

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In this community of unity, God the Holy Spirit does what He does…He unites… and the members of the body must do what they must do. The functions are not interchangeable. The Spirit initiates the unity. The body must maintain the unity by actively seeking peaceful interaction with one another…

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Word of God is the glue that bonds us together as we apply the truth of His Word to our hearts. 

It’s our belongingness, then, that gives us security, first, because we belong to Him through His shed blood. 

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Then, we belong to one another in His body, regardless of our natural and external differences,  because of our shared life. 

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The strength of our security is in our belongingness. 

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV

We have Jesus’ own reassurance…

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭27‬-‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

39 BY THE WAY…WILL GOD DESTROY THIS PLANET?

Bible Study, ,

What does God intend to do with this planet that we messed up? Will He dump it and make a new one? What does His word say?

One thing God never does is resort to plan B. He never has a plan B. One thing God always does is restore…which is a part of His plan A.  He restores everything that is broken. 

First question… What do I mean by restore?  

God does not discard what is broken and start again. He removes what has caused the brokenness and sets everything back in order as He planned in the beginning. 

The amazing thing about God’s plan is that restoration was included in His plan A before anything was ever broken. From His eternal perspective, brokenness and restoration were already accomplished before He spoke one grain of sand into existence.  

After His first pair defected, He told the tempter who caused the destruction, what would happen to him. 

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There…the seed of God’s word was already sown…just minutes or hours after the crown of His creation fell right out of His plan. 

We have already discussed at length…in many posts…over many months…the way that God restores the broken sinner. 

However, man and his environment are an integral part of God’s plan A for His people. Like love and marriage, humans and the earth go together. God always intended for His human family to live on His planet, prepared and perfected for them,  to manage it for Him in partnership with Him. 

The second part of God’s plan is not so familiar to us. God’s design was for heaven and earth to be one environment where He and His creatures would live together in perfect harmony. Once His people were perfected in righteousness through their loving obedience, heaven would join the earth to become one eternal home for all. 

Throughout Scripture, through all the processes of His revelation…tabernacle and temple in symbolic form, and eventually His Spirit in us…God showed us that His desire was to make His dwelling with us. The final stage would be the restoration of the earth to its former perfection. 

God never intended for man to live with Him in heaven. He intended to live with mankind in a united heaven and earth. 

Let’s see what the Bible says. 

Both Paul and John saw this end of the process clearly. Wrote Paul…

“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul said nothing about the earth being discarded and a new one created. He spoke about the earth being liberated… delivered…exempted from moral, ceremonial, or mortal liability…set free. When man fell from his position of son to slave, the earth was also enslaved to the consequences of man’s sin. The natural world was corrupted with him. 

“To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The outcome, for mankind, was a hostile environment… where sweat, toil, and hard labour would be his lot. 

Now, how can a restored human creation continue to live eternally on a planet at enmity with them. Plan A must be implemented completely. 

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Very good! Perfectly functional! Nothing broken…nothing missing…everything working together in harmony…man, plants, and creatures all cooperating in a perfect system. That’s how it was…and that how it will be. 

Second question… How will God restore?

If Jesus created the universe…

“…in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬

…and upholds His creation by His powerful word…

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word….”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV

…then He will surely also cleanse and restore His broken planet by the same creative, powerful word. 

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Peter explained the process in greater detail…

“By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly…But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬, ‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We need to unpack what Peter actually wrote… not what we think. 

The New King James Version is a more accurate translation than the NIV or the NLT. 

“But the day of the Lord (the specific moment in time set by the supreme authority) will come as a thief (the who steals) (“in the night”…not in the text), in which the heavens (that which is lifted up…not necessarily or literally “heaven” but…in context…the 

“elements”*) will pass away with a great noise (a bang), and the elements* will melt (crack, break up, dissolve) with fervent heat; both the earth (the solid part) and the works (toil) that are in it (what caused the toil) will be burned up.”

‭‭II Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

*“In the Bible, the word “elements” translates from the Greek word stoicheia, which generally means fundamental principles, basic building blocks, or rudimentary components. 

“Meaning: In this eschatological (end-times) context, it refers to the basic physical components or material building blocks of the natural universe—often interpreted as the heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars) or the fundamental matter making up the earth and sky. It signifies that the entire physical created order will undergo a radical, fiery dissolution and renewal. 

“Rudimentary Religious Teachings

Where it appears: Galatians 4:3, 4:9, and Colossians 2:8, 2:20 (“elements of the world” / “weak and beggarly elements”).

Meaning: In Paul’s letters, the term refers to the elementary or primary teachings of worldly or legalistic religion. This included formalistic rituals, man-made traditions, or Jewish ceremonial laws that kept people in spiritual immaturity and bondage before the full revelation of Jesus Christ.”

(Google AI)

Both Paul and Peter, together, give us the picture of what will happen when God restores creation to its original perfection. By the power of His word, Jesus will remove and destroy everything that intruded at the fall…the dysfunction of the physical planet…and the world’s  systems (elements) that control  by being lifted up (elevated…probably above God’s word) and distorted by selfishness and greed. 

The entire universe will be purged of the effects of sin and left in its perfect and pristine condition as at creation. Then…finally…

“Now I saw a new (fresh) heaven and a new (fresh) earth, for the first (former) heaven and the first (former) earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New (with respect to age) Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Holy City, the Bride, the church…perfected through Jesus…forever joined to the Bridegroom…in the environment of God’s presence…

Heaven and earth, the spiritual and the natural…reunited…as God had planned from the beginning…with God and His people together

as one forever family. 

38 BY THE WAY…WHY MUST WE PRAY GOD’S WORD?

Prayer, ,

Although prayer is a universal practice…since we humans are always in need of someone or something higher, bigger, and more powerful than ourselves on whom to call…real prayer is not an attempt to manipulate God. Real prayer is interacting with the Father…engaging in family business. 

Jesus taught us, first of all, to address God as Father, and to pray as family members. 

“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Real prayer is firmly based on our relationship to God as Father. There is no religion on earth, not even the most popular and aggressive religion bent on taking over the world, that dares to call its god, “father “. Yet Jesus came to reveal that name to us, specifically because His own people had forgotten their intimate “father/son” relationship with God through their stubborn rebellion. Their wayward behaviour had resulted in a distorted view of God as a strict disciplinarian rather than a loving Father. 

Yet, God still treated them as His beloved children. 

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols.”

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve…?

‭‭Malachi‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭

“Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?”

‭‭Malachi‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, Jesus prayed…

“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Prayer is also a partnership. God’s policy is to involve His earthly offspring in the administration of His world. He created the first pair with a mandate to manage His creation. 

“Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This delegated authority demands constant interaction with heavenly headquarters…called prayer. It stands to reason,  then, that we, who are the junior partners, should carry out the instructions we receive from our heavenly authority. 

God has given us specific ways to connect with Himself, to know what He wants us to do, and to have the capacity to do it. Again…it’s called “prayer”. He has given us His Spirit to live inside us…to teach us the truth…to guide us in prayer…and to give us the very words to pray the Father’s will. 

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God’s written word…and God’s spoken word…given to us by His Spirit in our spirit… are His promises, His pattern, and His declaration of intent. As we interact with Him in worship, adoration, and submission as children to a beloved Father, He sows the seed of His word into our spirits to produce the fruit of His will. 

When we mindlessly babble our own wants and desires, we act like pagans who run after “things”.  Jesus warned against behaving like the “Gentiles”. 

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Real prayer happens between a Father and His children…a Father who knows them and children who trust Him. A son’s role is to learn and to do his father’s  business…so, prayer is never issuing instructions. Prayer is reporting for duty. 

Can you see, then, that God’s word must play the central role in our prayer life because His word is the clear disclosure of what He wants to accomplish. We are partners by participating with what He has said and declaring what He has already determined…and then we carry out whatever He tells us to do. 

This is the way real prayer works…and this is the way God’s will is done on earth as it is done in heaven!