When most people think of prayer, they think of asking for things. In the middle of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to ask God for our daily bread, which means we are to bring our needs to God and expect that he will meet them as a Father cares for his children. When we meditate on this, we find that the way we ask changes: we ask in a way that is far more confident, grateful, generous, humble, and satisfied.

Application Questions: 

1. Why do you ask God for things? How do you go about it? How does it make you feel when you do it? 

2. Why does Christian prayer emphasize the fatherhood of God, especially when it comes to asking for things from him? 

3. How might God be leading you to change the way you ask him for things? 

The third line of the Lord's Prayer invites God to have his way in our lives and our world. For many of us this runs against the grain—we want more control over our lives, not less. But when we understand God as our Father in Heaven, and see his son Jesus Christ pray this same prayer in Gethsemane, we find ourselves desiring God's kingdom and will from the heart. 

Application Questions: 

1. What do you find desirable about God's kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven"? 

2. How do you find yourself resisting God's kingdom and will in your own life? 

3. What about the gospel can lead your heart to sincerely desire God's will above your own? 

4. What would it look like to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done" in your life today? 

Jesus continues to teach us how to pray by reminding us of who it is that we're praying to: A God who is holy. And, as we approach him, we are reminded that his holiness is not only overwhelming but also our greatest comfort.

Application Questions: 

1. How do you view God when you come to him in prayer?

2. How does the combination of God's fatherhood and his holiness shape how you relate to him?

3. How might meditating on his holiness bring about his name being hallowed in your heart?

4. How might you strive to live in a way that hallows his name in the world?

When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he gives them the Lord's Prayer. This short prayer shows us how to relate to God and gives us a window into the whole Christian life. It begins in a way that would shock Jesus' audience: addressing God as Father. Christian prayer is unique because in Christ, God is our Father. This provides a different foundation for prayer than any other religion or philosophy. When we understand it, we can pray with far greater intimacy, depth, and joy. 

Application Questions: 

1. What is your personal experience with prayer? 

2. What do you find encouraging and what do you find challenging about the Lord's Prayer? 

3. How do you think God feels about you when you pray? Why? 

4. How might knowing God is your Father through Christ change your prayer life? 

Romans 8 is one of the most radical expressions of joy that you can find, and it's all based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When the resurrection lands on your mind and your heart, this joy goes to work in your life, connecting you to God's own love now and forever.

Application Questions: 

1. Why do you think Jesus did or did not rise from the dead? What difference does that make to your daily life? 

2. How do you handle feelings of guilt, shame, and condemnation? Do you think the message of Easter offers a better way? 

3. How do you handle adversity, suffering, and the reality of death? How could that change if the message of Easter is true?

Jesus is invited to a Pharisee's home for a meal and doesn't follow all of the rituals they follow. He uses this as an opportunity to outline the difference between external religion and internal heart transformation. The hope of the gospel runs deeper into our souls than any behavior modification ever can.

Application Questions: 

1. What are ways that your walk with Christ is too shallow, aiming to change external behaviors rather than the heart?

2. How does a life aimed from the inside out bring wisdom?

3. What kind of humility results from the gospel touching down in the depths of your heart?

4. How do pride and insecurity feed each other? And how does the gospel free you?

5. Are you seeking your own glory or Christ's?

Many are looking for a sign, argument, or circumstances that will settle the issue about Jesus once and for all. If only we had more illumination than we do now, we could come to a deeper faith and move forward fully convinced. In a challenging set of teachings, Jesus confronts us with the reality that the issue is not a lack of light, but a lack of sight. Jesus's teaching and ministry are more than enough light for us to come to a deep and satisfying conclusion about who he is. What we need is eyes that can see—and if we turn to Jesus, we'll find our eyes healed and beholding him.

Application Questions: 

1. Do you find yourself wishing there was more evidence that God was real and Jesus Christ is who he said he was? How so? How does that affect your life, spiritually and otherwise?

2. Jesus shows us that our doubt is complicated. What are some ways your doubt might be more complicated than you realized?

3. How do the cross and resurrection of Jesus help with our doubts?

4. How might you turn to Jesus and ask him to open your eyes?

 In a passage full of references to demons and Satan, we get a surprisingly practical lesson on our own struggles and how we can be delivered from them. The Bible paints a realistic, complex picture of the forces that work against us in the world and in our own hearts. When we experience those forces, we turn to a variety of places for deliverance, yet the changes we experience are short-lived, superficial, and leave us worse off. Only Jesus can deliver us from the forces arrayed against us thoroughly and permanently.

Application Questions: 

1. How have you experienced "the world, the flesh, and the Devil" interacting in your own life? 

2. Are there places you are tempted to look for deliverance other than Jesus? Have you ever felt they left you worse off? 

3. How can you apply the power of the gospel to enjoy more freedom in your daily life? 

It can be easy to think of God like a genie or a butler when it comes to prayer. But the Lord's Prayer shows us the true purpose and power of approaching the throne: getting more of God. 

Application Questions: 

1. In what ways might your prayer life be disordered? How can the Lord's Prayer reorient your approach? 

2. Are you worried about bothering God with your prayers? 

3. How does the promise of the giving of the Holy Spirit change the way you pray?

Sisters Martha and Mary invite Jesus into their home- Mary sits at the feet of Jesus to listen and learn, while Martha is serving and handling logistics. In the midst of her serving Martha's heart is off- and Jesus gently corrects her, reminding her that He must be the first priority of her life.

Application Questions: 

1. Why is Jesus so concerned with our inner life?

2. What are areas of distraction you see in your life right now?

3. How does worry manifest itself in your life?

4. Do you battle against distraction and worry in your life by remember Christ as the "good portion"?