matthew-6:6,-matthew-6:2,-isaiah-26:20-niv

God’s Word has an essential role in all aspects of your prayer life. Your communion with God will be based on and include much communion through the Word. Your praise must of necessity make much use of Scripture as you praise the Lord. Whatever time you spend on your devotional life, surely about ha... Read More

Perhaps no spiritual discipline today is as much misunderstood as fasting. Why to fast, how to fast, when to fast, how long to fast, what type of fast, SHOULD I fast…etc. In simplest terms, fasting means to abstain from food for a period of time for a spiritual purpose or goal. As a Christian, obvio... Read More

Isaiah prophesies that God will one day rise up and shake the Whole earth. The prophet writes: "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty... and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof... all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.... When thus it shall be in the ... Read More

The Lord desires intimacy with his dear children. He longs to be shut up alone with the love of his heart. “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6). Un... Read More

“Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6). In the past I’ve taught that because of the demands of making a living, we may have a “secret closet... Read More

Matthew 6:1-8 First we have the general proposition that righteousness, that is, one’s religious duties, should not be done for the sake of display; and that principle is then applied to alms, prayer, and fasting-the three departments into which the Jews divided personal religion. The words take h... Read More

Evidently he had been accused of deceitful behavior (cf. 2Co 7:2; 12:16). This he emphatically rejects. The openness marking the new covenant had always been reflected in his conduct. His tactics had never been secretive or deceptive, nor had he ever dishonestly manipulated the message of God entrus... Read More

Lust (1937) (epithumeo from epí = upon, used intensively + thumós = passion) (Click study of noun epithumia) means literally to fix the desire upon (object could be good [Mt 13:17, Lk 22:15 used of Jesus] or bad [1Co 10:6]). It means to have a strong desire to do or secure something. To desire great... Read More

Make disciples (3100)(matheteuo) This is the verb form of mathetes and is found 4 times in the NT. Intransitively, the verb means to be the disciple of another, to follow his precepts and instruction, to be a pupil of another implying one is an adherent of the teacher. Transitively, matheteuo means ... Read More

Evident (5318) (phanerós = manifest, visible, conspicuous, from phaino = give light; to make to shine, to cause to become visible from phos = light; Study verb phaneroo) means made visible as an external manifestation to senses. Phaneros stresses what is visible to sight. Conspicuous, apparent, (ope... Read More