Feeling abandoned

After Jesus was betrayed…He was arrested, falsely accused, slapped, spat on, beaten, repeatedly mocked, savagely whipped, crowned with thorns, and had three metal spikes viciously hammered into his wrists and feet.  After all that, He spent approximately six hours suffocating to death on the cross.  For the last three hours, thick clouds covered the land and blocked the light of the sun.

Matthew 27:45-46 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land.  At about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

After all the torture He had endured, Jesus cried out in agony to the Father.  However, these weren’t mere grunts and gasps.  Instead, Jesus was quoting Scripture – the opening line from Psalm 22.

Think of the kinds of words that come out when we are at our most painful moments.  Of the things Jesus could have said while on the cross, why would He quote Psalm 22?  Although it makes sense that Jesus felt forsaken by God, as this was the first time that He had ever been spiritually separated from the Father, we find that even in His last moments, Jesus was still giving us a view into His relationship with the Father.

Psalm 22 is a prophetic Psalm written by David roughly 1000 years before Jesus was born.  Although David wrote the psalm as an outpouring of his own situation, God the Holy Spirit clearly superintended David’s writing to foretell the suffering Jesus would endure.  Reading through, we can clearly see why Jesus identified with David’s writings:

Psalm 22:1-11 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning?
My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest.
But You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in You;
they trusted, and You rescued them.
They cried to You and were set free;
they trusted in You and were not disgraced.

But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by people.
Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they sneer and shake their heads:
“He relies on the Lord; let Him rescue him;
let the Lord deliver him, since He takes pleasure in him”

You took me from the womb, making me secure while at my mother’s breast.
I was given over to You at birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
Do not be far from me, because distress is near and there is no one to help.

In His worst agony, even when He felt totally abandoned, Jesus still sought the Father.  Even when it felt like His cries of pain and anguish went unanswered, Jesus reminded Himself of the Father’s track-record of rescue, freedom, and help by finding a connection in the Scriptures.

Whenever we wrestle with the same feelings of betrayal, abandonment, or fear...our best refuge is to seek the Father and remember His goodness.  Just like Jesus, we too can trust Him when everything and everyone is against us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Prayer, submission, and action

After Jesus finished His ‘High Priestly Prayer’, they came to the garden where Jesus was later betrayed by Judas.  Although Jesus took Peter, James, and John from among the eleven to go pray with Him, Jesus ended up separating even further away to pray alone.  When we previously looked at this passage, we observed that in His last moments before the cross, Jesus desired to spend time in prayer alone with the Father.  However, when reading the passage this time, focus on the content of Jesus’ prayer:

Matthew 26:36-44 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow – to the point of death.  Remain here and stay awake with Me.”  Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father!  If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.  Yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping.  He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with Me one hour?  Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.”  And He came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open.

After leaving them, He went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

Jesus’ prayer is the pinnacle example of submitting to God’s will in prayer.  We are only getting snippets of what He prayed to the Father; the full prayer must have been agonizing and heart-wrenching.  Jesus wrestled with accepting the task in front of Him.  He knew it would cost His life, with all the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual torment coming first.  It is one thing to know that a tragic event is coming, it is something different to knowingly be right on the cusp of that event. 

In raw honesty, Jesus even asked if there was an alternative…some backup plan that the Father may  have for completing the mission, another way to remove the guilt of sin from the entire world.  And yet, Jesus was willing to submit His anxious desires because He trusted that the Father’s plan – however painful it would be – was better than His own longing to avoid the imminent pain of the cross.

Matthew 26:45-46 Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?  Look, the time is near.  The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Get up; let’s go!  See – My betrayer is near.”

After seeking time with the Father and submitting Himself to the Father’s plan, Jesus knew that it was now time to act.  The time for prayer and preparation had passed.  It was now time to fulfill the mission the Father had given Him.

This observation is especially instructive.  We absolutely must seek God’s will in prayer and then submit to God’s will in prayer…but let’s make sure we go out and do God’s will when we’re finished praying.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Praying for glory

After completing His last teachings on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus informed His disciples:

John 16:33-17:1 I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.  You will have suffering in this world.  Be courageous!  I have conquered the world.

Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:

Father, the hour has come.

What Jesus prayed next is commonly referred to as His ‘High Priestly Prayer’.  Since Jesus prayed this in front of His disciples, they would have heard Jesus’ exact desires and petitions to the Father.

Jesus knew what was going to happen that night in the garden.  He knew that His entire life, and especially the last three years, had led up to this night.  The hour of sacrifice had finally come.

In this prayer, Jesus prayed for Himself, the disciples, and all future believers.  He also made some significant statements and requests during this prayer.  The first part of His prayer is for Himself, but His words are not selfish…rather, they are focused on His relationship with the Father:

John 17: 1-3 Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You,
for You gave Him authority over all flesh;
so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.
This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God,
And the One You have sent – Jesus Christ.

Eternal life – which is both forever-lasting and of excellent quality – is only found in knowing God the Father, through Jesus Christ.  We were created to be in eternal relationship with God.  Jesus affirmed this to the disciples earlier in the night, when He said:

John 13:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.

While Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify Him, Jesus’ aim was to use any honor the Father gave Him as an opportunity to reflect it back.  Glorifying the Father – enriching His reputation and advancing His agenda – was Jesus’ purpose in His life and ministry, and it continued to be his focus as He would head to the cross.

John 17:4-5 I have glorified You on the earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence
With the glory I had with You before the world existed.

Jesus begins His ‘High Priestly Prayer’ in the same manner He had previously instructed the disciples to pray:

Matthew 6:9 Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.

Above all else, Jesus was concerned with the Father’s reputation and agenda.  This aim dominated His life and His prayers.  As such, Jesus’ prayer practice matched His prayer teachings, and His example instructs us to focus on God’s glory in the same ways.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

House of prayer (part 2)

Jerusalem was abuzz with news of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into town.  The next day Jesus shows, in dramatic fashion, that the nation’s idea of being religious was in need of reform:

Mark 11:15-17 They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple complex and began to throw out those buying and selling in the temple.  He overturned the money changers’ tables and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the complex.

Then He began to teach them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?

Note that when Jesus was correcting the people, He referred them back to God’s Word.  In this case, Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah.  The people present, especially the priests and scribes, would have instantly recognized Jesus’ reference:

Isaiah 56:1-3,6-7 This is what the Lord says: Preserve justice and do what is right, for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed.  Happy is the man who does this, anyone who maintains this, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.  No foreigner who has converted to the Lord should say, “The Lord will exclude me from His people”…

…And the foreigners who convert to the Lord, minister to Him, love the Lord’s name, and are His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it, and who hold firmly to My covenant – I will bring them to My holy mountain and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.  Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

God’s plan for His temple was to include those from other nations.  Foreigners who submitted to the Lord didn’t need to worry about being excluded from fellowship with God just because they weren’t Jewish.  Instead, God makes this incredible promise to them:

I will bring them to My holy mountain and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.

God assures the believing foreigners that He will personally lead them to His temple, accept them and their sacrifices, and include them in the worship given by His chosen people, Israel.  This was a huge blessing for God to give to those born outside of His covenant with Israel.  As a result of this promise, there were many believing foreigners in Jerusalem at Passover.

With the religious economy the Jewish leaders had instituted within the temple complex, they were hindering the foreign believers from participating in worship at God’s house of prayer.  The Jewish leaders were standing in the way of God’s promise to foreigners – no wonder Jesus was flipping tables and chairs!

In our own church gatherings, do our religious activities point others toward God…or do we hinder others from meeting with God? 

If a foreigner came to us, would they recognize our church gatherings as God’s house of prayer, or something else?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Misquoting Jesus (part 2)

Jesus is giving His disciples some instructions on how to pursue reconciliation when they have been wronged by a fellow believer.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother.  But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.  If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.  But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.

For these future church-leaders, a situation like this – where it may be necessary to excommunicate someone from their assembly – would be quite difficult.  Knowing this, Jesus encourages them that God would be supporting them through that difficult process:

Matthew 18:18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.

Based upon the word Whatever, this verse has been misquoted many times.  People have prayed that God will bind or loose literally whatever good or bad thing they happen to bring up at the moment…whether it be “binding” Satan, “binding” a marriage, “loosing” God’s will in their life.  However, it is a very dangerous practice to rip a verse out of context and then miss-apply what Jesus was actually talking about. 

When I take my sons to an ice cream shop, I tell them that they can have whatever ice cream they want.  They understand that my use of the term “whatever” is limited by their current context of where they are.  I am not giving them permission to have “whatever” ice cream they want, whenever they feel like having it.  Even on this smaller scale…if either of my boys get into the ice cream at home at 3:00am, claiming that I gave them permission to do so when I previously said they could have “whatever” ice cream they wanted…there would be consequences to them taking my directions out of context and over-stepping their authority.

In verse 18, Jesus is telling the disciples that God has their back when they, as church-leaders, make decisions that permit or remove fellowship with a fellow believer who refuses to repent of their sin.  As if that idea wasn’t mind-blowing enough, Jesus goes one step further:

Matthew 18:19-20 Again I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.

Within the context of this teaching, namely what to do if your brother sins against you, who are the two of you on earth agree[ing] in prayer?  Who are the two or three gathered together?

Clearly, they are the two or three witnesses that come to the offending brother long before the matter is turned over to the church leadership.  This, too, is a sensitive situation.  Their job is to ensure that every fact may be established, so that any accusation of sin is an accurate one.  Jesus expects these two or three to gather ahead of time to pray about the upcoming discussion, that they have reviewed the facts and agree on the potential courses of action, depending upon the response of the brother committing sin against another believer.  

Jesus is promising here that My Father in heaven will be with them as they navigate the discussion, just like He will back up the church leaders in their fellowship decisions. 

Even in the messy parts of life – and dealing with a situation where we have been wrong by a fellow believer is one of the messier situations we encounter – from these verses, we find that we have Jesus’ word that God the Father and Jesus Himself are with us as we seek the reconciliation of the relationship. 

That promise is more fantastic than how we have previously miss-applied these verses.  And much more practical too.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Misquoting Jesus (part 1)

We Christians get into habits rather easily, especially when it comes to how we pray.  How many of these common phrases or requests do you recognize?

·        “Binding” the Devil, “binding” poverty, or “loosing” a person from demonic oppression
·        “Agreeing” with one another in prayer
·        Reminding God that “where two or three are gathered,” He’s supposed to show up

When we look up the individual Scripture references supporting all three of these common prayer statements…would it surprise you to learn they all originate from just one of Christ’s teachings?

Reading those verses in context, we find that we’re not quoting Scripture like we thought we were, either.

Jesus was instructing His disciples on God’s desire to seek those who have wandered from their relationship with God, and how they should also desire to see reconciliation.  The next part of his teaching focused on how they were to handle when a fellow disciple sins against them.  Jesus then finished by explaining to the disciples the importance of forgiveness in their relationships with each other.  The verses we are interested in come from the middle section – what to do when another follower of Christ wrongs you.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If you brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother.  But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.  If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.  But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you. 

The aim throughout this process is reconciliation, just like God the Father is seeking reconciliation with those who have wronged Him.  Jesus is giving His disciples a plan to follow so the offense can be appropriately handled and, hopefully, corrected. However, when a fellow believer obstinately refuses to listen to correction, there are specific steps that Jesus says are to be taken. 

The disciples would have been familiar with the Old Testament concept of two or three witnesses being required to verify an accusation in legal setting.  Jesus now brings this practice into civil matters between believers.  These steps, however, would not be easy ones.  In fact, going through with the discipline Jesus prescribes would potentially be very messy. 

Sensing the disciples’ rising anxiety, Jesus calmed their fears by telling them:

Matthew 18:18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. 

So in the context of this discipline, what is Jesus referring to with the terms binding and loosing?

Our first observation is that whatever binding and loosing refer to, it is clearly something that has more than just a local impact – whichever one happens on earth, it also happens in heaven. 

Our second observation is that Jesus is giving this direction to His disciples, those who would one day be leaders in the church.  These are the leaders that would have been presented with the situation of the offending brother after the two or three witnesses were unable to convince him of his error.  At this point, reconciliation has not been achieved, and the matter is now up for the church leaders to consider and hand out a verdict.  According to Jesus, this verdict could go as far as the excommunication of the offender.

With these two observations, the idea behind binding and loosing becomes much clearer.  What the disciples decide to permit or reject in this setting has consequences greater than their immediate assembly.  Jesus is assuring them that if and when they hand out punishment against the offender, God himself will back them up by permitting or rejecting the believer’s fellowship with Him.

Breathe for moment – I’m not suggesting that the offending brother can lose their salvation.  From the Scriptures (e.g. – John 10:27-30), we know that’s not possible to lose eternal salvation because our salvation relies entirely on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and not anything we do or don’t do. 

However, a constant theme of all New Testament writers is that our choices have eternal significance and consequences.  If I create such a great offense against my fellow believer, and I obstinately refuse to acknowledge my error and repent, and the situation escalates all the way to a congregational-level problem where the church leaders deem it necessary to remove me from the congregation…if that situation occurs, wouldn’t you expect that God also has a strong opinion about my chosen course of action as well?

Binding and loosing, then, is the authority given to church leaders to decide matters of fellowship among their flock.  This is a huge deal and a large responsibility within a difficult situation, and Jesus is promising them that God will support them in their decision.

So a proper application of Matthew 18:15-18 would be to pray for reconciliation with your brother or sister in Christ.  We should also pray for our church leaders to use their God-given authority carefully and wisely. 

But let’s not misquote Jesus.  Based on verse 18, we – as individuals – have no authority to bind or loose anything.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Intentionally alone

Repetition is always an indication of importance.  Whether we’re practicing the fundamentals of a sport, committing information to memory, or giving instruction to others…if something is repeated, there is significance.  God works the same way when He communicates with us.  When we study the Scriptures, look for things that are repeated.  You’ll find out what God sees as most important.

When we look at Christ’s prayer habits – what he prayed, how he prayed, and what he taught others about prayer – a specific theme is constantly repeated.  This habit was noted multiple times by Matthew, Mark, and Luke; not that they were making a big deal out of it, but rather they spoke of Christ’s behavior as if it were perfectly normal, natural, and common for Him to pray this way.

Almost every time Jesus prays to the Father, he is alone.

Some examples:

Matthew 14:23 After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  When evening came, He was there alone.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place.  And He was praying there.

Luke 5:16 Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.

Luke 6:12 During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spend all night in prayer to God.

There are two major observations from these verses – where Jesus prayed and when Jesus prayed.

Notice how Jesus’ preferred places of prayer were remote.  Jesus looked for quiet, isolated places so that He would not be interrupted or distracted by the needs of others.  In these places, Jesus could pour out His heart and not worry about who else was listening or needing Him next.  His choice of location helped keep His prayer time focused entirely on the Father.

Whether it was very early before anyone else was awake or very late after everyone went to sleep, Jesus also sought uninterrupted chunks of time with the Father.  Jesus was willing to sacrifice a commodity that most of us hold in high regard – because He was finding His rest in His time with the Father.

Our own application from these passages is obvious.  If our prayer life is going to be properly focused on God, then we need to follow Christ’s example and carve out time away from others to purposefully spend in prayer.  Whether your best time is early in the morning, or late at night, or during your normal driving time (with the radio off)…the point is that we need to be intentional about getting alone time with God.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Emotions and prayer (part 2)

Have we ever considered that how we pray to God can have an impact on getting what we ask for in prayer?

Maybe that’s why we tend to sanitize our words and feelings when we pray…we’re afraid that if we’re “too emotional” then we’re being “immature” and then God won’t listen.  To compensate for this fear, we pray in a monotone or sing-song voice that we would never, ever use when talking with anyone else.  However, Jesus trusted God the Father with not only his prayers and appeals, but also with his emotions that came out during them.

Hebrews 5:7 During His earthly life, He offered prayers and appeals, with loud cries and tears, to the One who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.

The author of Hebrews makes an interesting connection between the reverence of Jesus’ prayers and appeals and those requests being granted.  Jesus talked to the Father with full emotion; however, he remained reverent while doing so.  From this, we see that we have the freedom to be open and honest with our feelings and emotions before God, but we do not have license to be disrespectful in our expression of them. 

Think of a selfish child demanding something he wants from his father.  His request will be self-centered, and he will only view his father as a means to the end he desires.  Even if the son’s request is valid, a good father will be more interested in long-term health of their relationship than the particular request of the moment.  The father may decide to delay or deny the request in order to ensure that the relationship is as it should be.

God always has our long-term best in mind, even if we are consumed by our immediate circumstances.

To be reverent means to have a respectful, healthy fear; to proceed with caution, be circumspect, or to exercise discretion.  From Christ’s example, we see that it’s ok to be real with God…however, it is not ok to be rude.  It was these reverent elements of Jesus’ prayers that ensured his requests were heard…and when we remember who God is, we’re more inclined to make requests that are in line with God’s desires.  

So we must ask ourselves: In what ways are my own prayers “reverent”?  Do I keep God the Father as the main focus, do I keep who He is in perspective?  Or since I’ve been adopted into His family, do I sometimes forget that He is the King of Everything?

Perhaps this connection between being reverent and being heard was the reason why Jesus taught his disciples to begin their prayers with

Matthew 6:9
Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus both modeled and taught that we need to reverently remember whom we speak to when we pray.  The main focus of our prayers isn’t us, or even our requests…the main focus is the One we are offering the prayers and appeals to.

So let’s be fully honest and open with God when we pray.  We are free to express our loud cries, our tears, our emotions…but we are not free to forget whom we are petitioning with those feelings.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Emotions and prayer (part 1)

Eyes closed. 
Head bowed. 
Hands folded or pressed together. 
Clean, calm, impassionate words.

Whether someone directly teaches us to do this, or if we instead pick it up from watching others pray…we have a tendency to sanitize our words and feelings when we pray to God.

From the gospels, we know that Jesus prayed often to the Father, however his prayer time is almost always shown to be him going away from everyone else to pray to the Father.  As such, very few of Jesus’ words directed toward God the Father were recorded for us in the Scriptures…but have you ever wondered how his prayers went?  What would it have been like to hear Jesus make requests from God the Father?  Did he pray silently?  Was he passionate? 

The author of Hebrews gives us an interesting glimpse into Jesus’ prayer time:

Hebrews 5:7 During His earthly life, He offered prayers and appeals, with loud cries and tears, to the One who was able to save Him from death…

From this verse, we see that Jesus talked to God the Father in different ways, offering up both prayers and appeals.  However, what stands out in this verse is what accompanied Jesus’ prayers and appeals, that he spoke to God with loud cries and tears.  When Jesus spoke with God the Father, his words were full with emotion, they were not limited to quiet whispers.  The times when Jesus was moved to tears – like when Lazarus died (John 11:35), or undoubtedly when his cousin John the Baptist was beheaded and he withdrew to be alone (Matthew 14:13) – in those types of moments, he wasn’t afraid or ashamed to dialogue with God. 

From this we see that God the Father can handle our feelings…even the ones that spill over, are messy, or get loud.  We shouldn’t feel the need to “drum up” these emotions in order to effectively pray, but Jesus’ example does show us that there is no need to suppress how we’re feeling before we talk with God.  Knowing that is very comforting!

We bring our prayers and appeals to God because we believe that he has the ability to understand us, and that, if he chooses, he has the authority to act on our requests.  If God has the proper strength and authority to rescue a person from death – and he does – then he certainly can handle whatever mental and emotional state we find ourselves in.

So let’s not be afraid to reach out to God the Father and honestly express our emotions.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Priorities and prayer

If we were to list our priorities in life, we would likely say that we want to have our basic needs met, we want to have a little bit ‘extra’ in reserve, and then we think that we’re in a good place to find out what God would have in store for us.  However, Jesus desires for us to have our objectives in life properly organized.  What he says should have top priority usually isn’t first in line for us.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [food, drink, and clothing] will be provided for you.

Matthew 7:7-8 Keep asking, and it will be given to you.  Keep searching, and you will find.  Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

See how Jesus flips the order on us?  He actually claims that pursuing a life that lines up with God’s priorities is more important than our basic sustenance…so much so that he makes two promises – that our basic needs will be met AND that when we aim for God’s kingdom, we’ll obtain it.

In order to drive home the point that our heavenly Father will actually reveal his kingdom and his righteousness to us, Jesus uses a comparison that we’re all familiar with – a father providing for the needs of his son.

Matthew 7:9-10 What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

We read this and immediately think ‘Of course the father wouldn’t fulfill a good request with something useless (a stone) or something dangerous (a snake)’.

Anticipating this reaction, Jesus gives a comparison to demonstrate his application point:

Matthew 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Whenever a speaker wants his audience to understand something, he will make sure to drive the point by repeating himself in several different forms.  So don’t miss out on what Jesus is saying in this passage. 

Our pursuit of living as part of God’s kingdom and purposes is the most important aim for us in this life.  It’s even more important that what we would consider to be the basic necessities – food, drink, and clothing.  Jesus promises that the Father will fulfill our pursuit of kingdom living, even claiming that the Father is better at granting this request than we are at taking care of those closest to us.

Now that I’m convinced of the priority of seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness, I just need to answer the question ‘how’.  How do we do this?  How is the kingdom possible to obtain?

Jesus said keep asking…keep searching…keep knocking…keep pursuing it by talking to God about it.  Ask God about his kingdom, search for ways to live rightly in God’s eyes, knock when we have questions about what to do next.  In a word, we need to

Pray.

Keep Pressing,
Ken