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Showing posts with the label Before Amen

"When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them a prayer."

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer (p. 6). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Max continues the thought, “Not a lecture on prayer. Not the doctrine of prayer. He gave them a quotable, repeatable, portable prayer (Luke 11:1–4).”   “Could you use the same? It seems to me that the prayers of the Bible can be distilled into one. The result is a simple, easy-to-remember, pocket size prayer: “Father, you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen.” Max then says, “Let this prayer punctuate your day. As you begin your morning, Father, you are good. As you commute to work or walk the hallways at school, I need help. As you wait in the grocery line, They need help . Keep this prayer in your pocket as you pass through the day. He goes on, “Prayer, for most of us, is not a matter of a month-long retreat or even an hou

"Oh, the peculiar puzzle of prayer."

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer (p. 3). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I’m glad that I am not the only one who wants to know more about the peculiar puzzle of prayer. Max says, “We aren’t the first to struggle. The sign-up sheet for Prayer 101 contains some familiar names: the apostles John, James, Andrew, and Peter. When one of Jesus’ disciples requested, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ (Luke 11:1 NIV), none of the others objected. No one walked away saying, ‘Hey, I have prayer figured out.’ The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance. “In fact, the only tutorial they ever requested was on prayer. They could have asked for instructions on many topics: bread multiplying, speech making, storm stilling. Jesus raised people from the dead. But a ‘How to Vacate the Cemetery’ seminar? His followers never called for one. But they did want him to do this: ‘Lord, teach