“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

Gospel writers tell us repeatedly that Jesus took time to pray.

There are so many things Jesus could have done instead. There were sick people who needed healing. There were people who needed to hear his teaching. There was ministry to be done.

Even though the pressures of ministry were great, Jesus regularly took time to pray.

Think about that. The second person of the holy Trinity regularly made time to pray.

Why?

Jesus prayed to get on the same page with God. Jesus prayed to be reminded of why he came to earth. It wasn’t just to heal and teach. Jesus came to save sinners from God’s wrath. It was when Jesus was praying that Jesus would remember the purpose for which he came.

Notice, when Jesus remembered and recalibrated his mindset, it was he who was changed. God’s will and purpose doesn’t change. But as Jesus remembered and recalled God’s kingdom purposes, Jesus was changed.

The disciples noticed a change in Jesus whenever he spent time with God in prayer. It’s because they saw this change in Jesus that the disciples approach Jesus to ask, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Here is a vital truth about prayer. Effective prayer does not come naturally. Effective prayer is something that needs to be taught, something that needs to be learned, and something that needs to be practiced. The more we pray, the better we get at it.

Jesus took time to pray. Jesus made time to pray. Jesus taught his disciples to pray.

So, will you make time to pray?

We meet in the sanctuary every Wednesday at 6:15 to pray. See you Wednesday.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7).

A young boy was ridiculed by some kids at school and came home humiliated. His grandfather happened to be visiting. He could tell the boy was upset and asked him why.

The boy told him the story, then said, “It feels like I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One is angry and wants revenge. The other wants to forgive him. Which one will win?”

The grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”

This is true not only of anger and forgiveness. This is true for everything else that we struggle with – greed, pride, jealousy, lust, worry, fear, etc. Whatever we are feeding will dominate our thoughts and consciousness.

That’s why the the Apostle Paul encourages us, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

So, friends, what are you feeding?

“Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!'” (2 Samuel 12:7).

“You the man!”

When we hear that, in today’s jargon, that’s a compliment. It means, “Wow! You are really something. You are really great!” When someone says that about you, it’s almost a always a good thing.

Not so much in this context. When Nathan tells David, “You are the man!”, Nathan is confronting David about his sin of raping Bathsheba and murdering her husband Uriah. The person responsible for these horrendous deeds is none other than David.

The rest of the verse lays out the sentence. “Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!’ This is what the LORD, the God of Israel,, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites” (2 Samuel 12:7-9).

“You are the man!”

Just as David was guilty of sin, so are we.

“You are the man!”

Yup. That includes you and me. We are all guilty. We are all deserving of God’s wrath and judgment.

“You are the man!”

Yup. No excuses.

BUT, “You are the man!”

You are the person Jesus died on the cross for.

“You are the man!”

You are the person God could not imagine spending an eternity without.

“You are the man!”

So Jesus died on the cross to die the death we deserve. And Jesus rose again from the dead to give us eternal life.

“You are the man!”

God loves you.