July 12, 2023 - Good morning! It's Wednesday, July 12.
I'm sure you'd agree that it's a good idea to begin and end each day with prayer. Well, on Wednesdays, that's exactly what happens at First Baptist Center. At 6am, a group of about 20 men meet at a local restaurant for a prayer breakfast. Our leader shares a brief Bible passage before we pray, and he always ends it by saying, "That's pretty good stuff!". And then at 6pm, our church, like many churches, has a mid-week prayer service that includes a Bible study.
Our pastor is out of town this week, so tonight I'll be leading our prayer meeting, and we'll open our Bibles to a familiar passage from Matthew 6. Maybe you've heard of it - The Lord's Prayer? But this morning I focus on the verses that come right before this famous passage. That can be an interesting Bible study choice - to go to a famous scripture like John 3:16 or I Corinthians 13 - and look at what God has to say immediately before.
In the verses right before The Lord's Prayer, Jesus warns us about praying for the ears of men, instead of praying to the heart of God. And in those verses, He uses one phrase three times - "when you pray". Not if, but when. Not once in a while, but continually. Not just in emergencies, but in all situations and at all times.
That's pretty good stuff!
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
