Michael Birbeck

Lord Teach Us to Pray, Part 2 (Luke 11:1-13)

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Luke 11:1-13

Jesus responded to his disciples request to teach them to pray by giving them a pattern for prayer (Luke 11:2-4). You may have noticed that the words Jesus gave his disciples in the Gospel of Luke differ from those in the more familiar version found in Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus likely gave his disciples this prayer many times. The words themselves are not as important as the pattern. This reminds us that God does not need our repetitive words. He wants to hear us speaking to him from the heart.  

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Lord, Teach Us to Pray (Luke 11:1-13), Part 1

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Luke 11:1-13

The mid-nineteenth century missionary to South Africa Andrew Murray once said of prayer: “The disciples had been with Christ and seen him pray. They had learned to understand something of the connection between His wondrous life in public and His secret life of prayer. They had learned to believe in Him as a Master in the art of prayer – none could pray like Him. And so they came to Him with the request, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ And in after years they would have told us that there were few things more wondrous or blessed that He taught them than His lessons on prayer.”

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It Takes a Church (1 Corinthians 12:1-31)

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body-of-christ

Click here to read 1 Corinthians 12

Have you ever noticed the long list of credits at the end of a movie? Continue reading →

Look to the cross and live (Numbers 21:4-9)

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Numbers 21:4-9

It was just a lifeless statue on a pole, a brass snake. What good could that do? People were dying. Venomous snakes were biting and killing many in their company. Why did God answer their prayers for deliverance with a fake snake on a pole?

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The Wellspring in the Wilderness (Numbers 20:1-13)

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Numbers 20:1-13

The Israelites were gunny-sacking. Gunny-sacking occurs when we store up a list of grievances instead of dealing with them in the order they happen. It is a common experience among married people. A sock left on the floor, the cap left off the toothpaste, or a dish filled with dirty dishes becomes the fodder for the argument that erupts. Before long, the couple no longer knows what started it all. It is as if they had been carrying invisible burlap sacks on their shoulders, throwing grievances in, until finally something as small as a toothpaste cap causes the sack to bust and grievances spill all over.

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The Wilderness is not Home (Numbers 11)

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Numbers 11

They forgot the wilderness was not their home. About a year earlier, the Lord God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. For a year he sustained them before Mount Sinai, providing them with what they needed to survive. The journey had been difficult since leaving Egypt. They left in a rush, with little time to pack. They were chased by Pharaoh’s army. Now the journey was starting to get too long and too arduous.

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The Commonness of Suffering (1 Corinthians 10:13)

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1 Corinthians 10:13

This pandemic has made us all do things in new and different ways. There are few corners and crevasses of life that have gone untainted by the virus.

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An Ode to Our Children and Elderly (Psalm 127:3)

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Psalm 127:3

Our children and our elderly bless society. Most of us would benefit by recognizing them more.

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Why men and women need each other (Genesis 2:23)

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Genesis 2:23

The phrase “suitable helper” in the Bible has been misunderstood. In Genesis 2, the Bible says that out of all the creatures God made, the only suitable helper for the man was the woman.

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We all worship (Psalm 95:6)

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Psalm 95:6

Every molecule, subterranean mole, and mote of dust dancing on a sunbeam, God created. Every celestial galaxy, God made. The breath that you take as you read these words would not be possible, unless God made it so.

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