TEXT: ‘One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”’ (Luke 11:1 NIV) Luke’s gospel records seven occasions when Jesus prayed. Today’s Teaching is studying each one to see why Jesus prayed and what was the result, so we can safely imitate them and enjoy a more successful prayer life! In Part 1, we studied how Jesus prayed and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which enabled Him to commence His public ministry. He saw miraculous healings and deliverances, which attracted multitudes. He often withdrew to the wilderness to pray and that helped Him guard against pride and becoming self-reliant. Today’s Teaching considers two more occasions when Jesus prayed. 3. In decision-making – ‘One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles’ (Luke 6:12-13 NLT) A. The danger of rushed decisions Jesus prayed all night before He chose the twelve disciples. The Bible says, ‘Don’t appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily’ (1 Timothy 5:22 MSG). A line taken from...
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TEXT: ‘One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”’ (Luke 11:1 NIV) The 100% success rate Jesus demonstrated when He ministered to the sick and demon-possessed, was largely due to His prayer life. When His disciples tried and failed to cast out the demon in the father’s epileptic son (See Mark 9:14-29), Jesus said, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’ (v29). He was saying they could do it but needed to pray and fast. The correct reaction to failure is a determination to succeed, not despair that it did not work. As the saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again!” Luke’s gospel records seven occasions when Jesus prayed. Today’s Teaching focusses on each one to see why Jesus prayed and what was the result. Every one of them is something we can safely imitate to enjoy a more successful prayer life! 1. To receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit – ‘When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy...
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TEXT: ‘I decided to write it all out for you, most honourable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught’ (Luke 1:4 MSG) Theophilus had been taught the gospel and believed it. Yet doubts had arisen making him ask, “Was I told the truth?” To settle these doubts, Luke was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write two letters to Theophilus, that he might know the certainty of the things he had been taught. The Book of Acts starts with, ‘Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles’ (Acts 1:1 MSG). The first letter was about how Jesus evangelised and taught. The second showed how His disciples continued evangelising through the power of the Holy Spirit. By silencing Theophilus’ doubts, God has done the same for countless millions, right down to the present day. Today’s Teaching focusses on what hinders and helps faith. 1. The carnal mind is prone to doubt and fear It’s programmed to work on understanding and reason. Christianity works by faith. The carnal mind fights faith and can never be brought under control. Scripture...
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TEXT: ‘God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!’ (Ephesians 3:20 MSG) Our text says, ‘God can do anything’ and He can! This truth needs to be our starting point for the New Year. My goal is to see God do more through me in 2026, not just for me. When I read the life-stories of the great men and women of God, I realise I am barely scratching the surface of what’s possible through faith in Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, lest I sink into self-condemnation, I need to rejoice over all the good things I saw and experienced in 2025. The goal of this teaching is to lift our faith expectations for the coming year. 1. We can face the same type of problem repeatedly When we do, it’s easy to think, “What have I done wrong?” I said those very words when the church I was pastoring faced another financial challenge. “Lord, didn’t we learn the lesson from last time?” I prayed. What I didn’t realise was we had correctly overcome that previous difficulty, but a new challenge faced us. God showed me from His word how David ended up fighting and killing five giants, all...
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