Luke 11:1-13

"My Beloved, Far too often in your world, children and their fathers have great difficulty communicating. Sometimes this situation is because of..."

"Dear Child of God, James, my half brother, hit the nail on the head when he taught about why My people lack so many of the simplest and yet most..."

How do you pray? Prayer is learned and we need to learn from Jesus how to pray.

"Then, teaching [his disciples] more about prayer, [Jesus] used this story: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three...."

Inspirational illustration of Luke 11:1-4 -- Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.

"He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also..."

"[Continuing his teaching on prayer, Jesus said,] "You fathers — if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for...."

Inspirational illustration of Luke 11:2-4 -- He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not

"[Continuing his teaching about persistence in prayer, Jesus said,] "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on...."

"Then, teaching [the disciples] more about prayer, [Jesus] used this story: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three...."

So how does this all fit with prayer? Rick Brown leads us to see prayer in a fresh way, but also the way of Jesus.

"Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his..."

"[Jesus said,] "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to...."

"[Jesus continued his teaching about how to pray:] "Give us each day the food we need, ...""

"[In response to one of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray,] Jesus said, "This is how you should pray: "Father, may your name be kept..."

"For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask....."

"What we are taught to seek or shun in prayer, we should equally pursue or avoid in action. Very earnestly, therefore, should we avoid temptation,..."

"[Jesus continued his teaching about how to pray:] "... and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to....."

E-card of Luke 11:13 - If you.. know how to give good gifts to your children, then how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Inspirational illustration of Luke 11:10 -- For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Is God really your Father? When we approach God in prayer, it needs to be more than by rote, but instead as if we were speaking to our Father.

The final destination of our journey to faith often depends upon the orientation of our hearts. James Nored and Phil Ware challenge us to look at C.S. Lewis and his journey of faith along with a broken-hearted father and see how we might be able to find faith in our own lives.

Why do we not ask for something God longs to give? Phil Ware begins a four week challenge that coordinates with the SpiritFire daily devotional challenging us to invite the Holy Spirit into our daily lives.

Why do we make things so complex? Prayer should be simple, just like Jesus taught it and not made unnecessarily complex.

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! James Nored and Phil Ware look at C.S. Lewis and his struggle to find faith and our own challenges in believing.

When Luke summarized the heart of the early church, he chose to highlight one particular word — Phil Ware continues his series on prayer this week, focused on the early church's devotion to prayer that they learned from Jesus.

There are a lot of excuses, but they usually all boil down to fear! Phil Ware continues his series on Catch and Release as we seek to have the courage and boldness to share Jesus with others.

Growing in prayer, feeling a connection with the Father, and being formed to be a useful vessel for Jesus to use to bless others is a journey. Phil Ware, with the help of Chad Higgins, continues his series on Lord Teach Us to Pray focusing on learning from Jesus.

The Father has given us access to holy power and a way to bless each other through prayer if only we will take advantage of it! Phil Ware completes his four part series on growing to become like Jesus through the transformative work of the Holy Spirit, the transformation that Jesus promises us when we choose to follow him as his disciple.