Posts tagged 'prayer'

  • 1 Thessalonians: Chapter 3

    Having fled Thessalonica due to persecution, the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church and told them that he had made more than one attempt to return to them, but Satan hindered us.1 Paul and his companions, ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • He’s Always There

    I find great comfort and inspiration in a beautiful poem by Annie Johnson Flint written in 1919 entitled “What God Hath Promised.” Before reading the poem, I thought it would be helpful to reflect a bit on her life story. ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • Reminding God

    More on the story of Jehoshaphat

    In one of my recent posts, entitled “Faith: Thanking God in Advance,” I told you how the story of Jehoshaphat has always meant a lot to me. ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: John 17: Jesus’ Prayer …

    Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, which we started going over in the previous article, continues on to the end of John 17. In verse 12, Jesus’ prayer referred to His disciples—saying that He had kept them, had guarded them, ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • “My Sheep Hear My Voice…”

    This life is one grand set of experiences, designed by our Creator to help us to develop into a manifestation of His love. There is so much to be learned, not just from our own experiences but also from the lives of others, ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: John 17: Jesus’ Prayer …

    Having told His disciples that He was going away to “Him that sent me” (John 16:5), and that the Helper—the Holy Spirit—would come to guide them into all truth (John 16:13), Jesus then began to pray to the Father. ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: John 16:23–33

    Having told His disciples that they would weep and lament at His departure from this world while the world would rejoice,1 Jesus added that while they would experience sorrow for the present, He would see them again, ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: John 14: The Way, …

    John chapter 14 continues in the same setting as chapter 13, where Jesus was eating a meal with His disciples. Once Judas, the betrayer, had departed and after Jesus had told the apostle Peter that he was going to deny Him ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Welcome, 2021!

    2020 has certainly been a year unlike any that most of us have experienced before. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of our lives, causing unexpected difficulties, challenges, and hardship. ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: A Brother’s Sin

    In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught His disciples what to do when one disciple/believer sins against another. In any community of believers, there will be times when one believer wrongs another. It is inevitable, ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Believing Beyond the Moment

    I recently had a conversation with a woman who had received Jesus a short time ago but didn’t yet understand how to use the Bible as a source of guidance or as the foundation for her faith. ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • The Ultimate Expert

    The Lord gave me a little illustration about my prayers the other day. It came in response to my seeking His help regarding a situation that needed His spiritual solutions that were beyond what I could do. ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: The Sermon on the …

    Ask, Seek, Knock

    Matthew chapter 7, the last chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, contains a number of succinct statements which don’t necessarily flow from one to the next, but which make important points for those who have entered the kingdom of God. ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: The Sermon on the …

    How to Pray (Part 6)

    This is the last in a series of articles about the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught His disciples how to pray.

    In the last post we covered two of the three “our/us” petitions, those which focus on our needs and the needs of our Christian brothers and sisters. We now move on to the last petition: ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: The Sermon on the …

    How to Pray (Part 5)

    This is the fifth in a series of articles about the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: The Sermon on the …

    How to Pray (Part 4)

    This is the fourth in a series of articles about the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught His disciples how to pray (and how not to pray). ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: The Sermon on the …

    How to Pray (Part 3)

    This is the third in a series of articles about the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught His disciples how to pray (and how not to pray). 

    Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer: ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: The Sermon on the …

    How to Pray (Part 2)

    After teaching His disciples that the proper motivation for prayer is communicating with God and entering into fellowship with Him, as well as advising them to avoid meaningless prayers full of vain repetitions, Jesus shared a prayer with His disciples (and us) which we can use in our time of communion with God. ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Jesus—His Life and Message: The Sermon on the …

    How to Pray (Part 1)

    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke about having the right attitude concerning prayer. He said that we should not pray for the purpose of being noticed by others, and for those who do so, that in itself will be their reward and they will receive no other. ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • More Like Jesus: Fellowship with God (Part 2)

    As we saw in the previous article (Fellowship with God, Part 1), having fellowship with God is key to becoming more like Jesus. It’s within this fellowship that we develop our relationship with Him, nurture our love and intimacy, and truly get to know Him. ...

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Practice Runs

    We know why prayer is important and how God uses it in our lives. We don’t understand everything about it and we don’t often know why some prayers are answered and others don’t appear to be, ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • The Spiritual Disciplines: Confession

    A familiar Scottish proverb tells us that “Confession is good for the soul,” and so it is. When we are looking to deepen our connection with the Lord, to live a God-centered life, confessing our sins ...

    (Audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Formula of Five: Spiritual Growth

    He set himself to seek God ... and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

    If you want to be physically fit, you have to eat right, exercise, and put some ... (Video and audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • The Spiritual Disciplines: Worship (Part 2)

    God Is Worthy!

    In this second article about the Spiritual Discipline of worship, I’ve included some biblical concepts which may be helpful to you in ...

    (Audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • The Spiritual Disciplines: Worship (Part 1)

    When speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said:

    The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people ...

    (Audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • The Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting

    The Spiritual Discipline of fasting is a tough one for a lot of people. Like many of us, I had fasted a few times, but it was many years, even decades, ago. I haven’t been so keen on fasting, but after studying about ...

    (Audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • The Spiritual Disciplines: Prayer

    The Spiritual Discipline of prayer is a key component in our relationship with God, as it is our main means of communication with Him. It is in prayer that we are able to converse with our Creator. ...

    (Audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • The Stories Jesus Told: The Unjust Judge, Luke …

    The parable of the unjust judge, often called the story of the importunate woman, is a parable about prayer. It’s sometimes referred to as the “twin” of the parable of the friend at midnight, ... (Video and audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • The Inter-Dimensional Web

    Virtually everyone is familiar with the Internet and how interconnected it has made people the world over. Have you considered that as a Christian, you are spiritually interconnected with other believers in an even greater way, through a ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • The Name of Jesus

    Throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, there are numerous references to the “name of the Lord.” People prayed, praised, swore oaths, fought battles, gave blessings, sang in, trusted in, prophesied in, ... (Audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • A Divine Appointment

    I had occasion to sit and talk with a recent acquaintance of ours for a few minutes the other day. The main purpose of our meeting was for me to ask some questions that fell within her area of expertise. Beforehand, I prayed that the Lord ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • The Stories Jesus Told: The Friend at Midnight …

    The Gospels provide us with some foundational teachings about prayer through both the examples of Jesus praying and what He taught about prayer. In the third Gospel, ... (Video and audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • The Stories Jesus Told: The Pharisee and the …

    The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is only recounted in the book of Luke, chapter 18, verses 9–14. Among other things, this parable touches on the basic ... (Video and audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Unlikely Hero

    We often find ourselves in situations where we don’t feel like we’re on some great spiritual mission. We want to do something meaningful for the Lord, but the circumstances just don’t seem to facilitate that in the ways we might have hoped ...

    by Maria Fontaine

  • Love. Live. Preach. Teach.—Live Him, Part 5

    The last of the principles I’ll present under Live Him—the Prayer Principle—is one that interconnects with virtually all the other Live Him principles, and is central to our Christian lives. ... (Audio included.)

    by Peter Amsterdam

  • Wealthy and Responsible

    A sad part of my day is when I listen to the news. Almost everything is about people in the world who are faced with some very terrible situations. Not only non-Christians, but many Christians ... (Audio included.)

    by Maria Fontaine

  • 6 More Faith Tips

    Several weeks ago I shared with you “Three Items In My Treasure Chest.” Last week I added six additional things, and today I have six more. These items are like precious jewels in my treasure chest: ... (Audio included.)

    by Maria Fontaine

  • More from My Faith Treasure Chest

    I recently wrote in “Three Items in My Treasure Chest” about three things that help me to stay focused on faith and that help me to find encouragement in tough times. They were: ... (Audio included.)

    by Maria Fontaine