“I’ll pray for you.” It’s so easy (and important) to say, but how do we go about doing it? Why do we even do it? Does our prayer change God, or does it change us? Prayer is a vital part of our life with God, and this week we are looking at what it means that we advocate, or become advocates, for each other in prayer. We’ll also marvel in the fact that not only do we pray for each other, but Christ himself is praying for us (Romans 8:34). May God kindle our prayers and our lives.
Prayer is much more than words we simply send towards God. Prayer is a vital part of our life and walk with God, so that we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings” (Hebrews 10:22). This week we look at prayer as Talking with Our Father, a unique relationship made possible through the work of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We pray within a relationship of intimacy, belonging, and promise – all made possible by God reaching out to us as his children.
This week we’re looking at the final parables in Matthew 13 that point both to the coming of Jesus with the final judgment and our ministry and teaching today. When the final judgment happens, there will be a sharp line between those who belong to Jesus and those who don’t. In light of that, our ministry today must encompass both the old and new treasures of God’s kingdom.
In a pair of very short and powerful parables, Jesus tells his disciples that the kingdom of God is like a treasure that is worth far more than any sacrifice anyone ever might make to acquire it. God welcomes us freely into his kingdom by grace, but Jesus makes it clear that our entry must be decisive. No one can take hold of the treasure without making a game-changing commitment to it. May we find the treasure God has revealed to us, and from great joy may we put everything on the line to enter the kingdom.
Last week we looked at a parable in which good seed fell on all kinds of soils, but this week Jesus is teaching about good and bad seed planted in fertile soil. The presence of evil in the world shouldn’t surprise us, but it isn’t a call to arms, either. In a parable filled with tension, Jesus teaches what the familiar song affirms: “Though the wrong is great and strong, God is the ruler yet!” This calls for patient hope and a lot of grace on the part of believers.