This week we are beginning a new apologetics’ study by making A Case for Christ and the New Testament. Before beginning our study it is important to review the ministry statement of this website and class:

Truth, Faith and Reason: Ministry Statement

The purpose of this ministry is to provide participants with the information and tools needed to address the questions asked of Christians in our culture today (1 Peter 3:15). This includes an emphasis on developing our Christian walk through:

Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; John 17)
Proper Biblical interpretation through the use of hermeneutics (Matthew 22:37; 2 Timothy 2:15)
An apologetic defense of the historicity, inerrancy and inspiration of the Christian Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
Discipleship (Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 10:23-25)

This ministry believes that it is the responsibility of every person to invest serious time looking into the claims of Christianity because what we believe to be true about God, human purpose, and destiny defines us in this life and more importantly in the next. (John 14)
This ministry is committed to providing Biblical truths based on the entirety of Scripture—both Old and New Testaments. (Matthew 5:17-18; 2 Peter 1:16-19)
This ministry believes that the most important question we must answer in this life is the one Jesus asked of his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:27-29; John 14:6-7)

This life is temporal—eternity is forever.

Own your faith!

Know what you believe and why you believe it!

Then share it with others!

In the first few sessions we are going to step back and take a look at four focus areas of our Christian walk. Becoming proficient in the following four areas will protect us from spiritual warfare and distractions from the enemy that often increase as we grow closer to God. It will also help us know how to defend our faith to a culture that is growing increasingly hostile to the Christian worldview.

Focus areas for growth in our Christian walk:

In order to be a disciple of God’s Word, and a case-maker for Christ, we must regularly practice and commit to growing in these four areas:

Prayer (emphasis on modeling Jesus)
Hermeneutics (Bible Study in context)
Apologetics (Defending our faith)
Discipleship (Sharing our Christian walk with others)

This week we are going to focus on the first one: Prayer

Prayer vs. Meditation
Know the difference

There is a distinct difference between emptying our minds through mediation (New Age/Hinduism/Budahism), prayer recitation (Islam and some Christian denominations), and talking to God the Father (Christianity as modeled by Jesus)

AS CHRISTIANS WE SHOULD HAVE OUR MINDS ACTIVELY ENGAGED!!! MATTHEW 22:37 LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.

Therefore, meditation as a Christian should model what Jesus did—using Scripture and speaking directly to God the Father (and we are told that we can do this through Jesus) That is why most Christians will end their prayers “In Jesus’ Name” (not that it is a magic formula, be careful of those kinds of things).

1. PRAYER (talking to God)

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” ― Martin Luther

The Bible gives us many examples of people “talking” to God and worshipping Him through prayer: Abraham (Genesis 12-22), Moses (Exodus-Deuteronomy), David (the Psalms) and the prophets all talked with God. These are just a few examples from the Old Testament, but the best thing to do is to go to the person who was the fulfillment of all that was spoken of in the Old Testament and the one who taught us how to pray in the New Testament: Jesus!

“Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!” Matthew 26:41 – (Jesus speaking to His Disciples)

Steven K. Scott has compiled all of Jesus’ words in a book called “The Greatest Words Ever Spoken.” What Jesus said about prayer and how He modeled it can be found in the Gospels of Matthew: 6:8-13, 11:25-26, 26:39, 27:46; Luke: 10:21, 22:42, 23:34, 23:46; and John: 11:41-43, 12:27-28, 17:1-26.

God desires us to have a close personal relationship with Him and Jesus models that for us (for example: Matthew 6:7-14 – The LORD’s Prayer, and John chapter 17 – Jesus’ Prayer)
Knowing God’s Word helps us understand God’s will as we pray (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 2 Timothy 3:13-17)
If we are praying in God’s will, that is our prayers are lining up with God’s Word, then we are on His team bringing the outcome of prayer in line with His “Kingdom goal”
However, we do not always see the “Kingdom goal” in all of our circumstances, it can be hidden from us for now and this is important to remember as we stay persistent in prayer
Asking the Spirit of God – The Holy Spirit – to teach us as we study His Word is not only pleasing to God but essential in grasping the fullness of what he is saying to us (John 14:16-17; 25-26)
God’s timing is not always our timing, patience and trust is most important as we stay in bold consistent prayer

At times when we don’t know what to say we can meditate on the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). One of Jesus’ greatest prayer examples is found in John chapter 17. This chapter can be broken down in to three segments: Jesus prays to the Father for His mission and ministry (1-5); Jesus prays for His Disciples (6-19); and Jesus prays for future believers (20-26), that’s us!

Note: Jesus has made it possible for us to pray to the Father as He did. His death and resurrection have paved the way so that we can stand boldly, as He did, before the Father, keeping in mind that Jesus always prayed for the will of the Father to be done and for His own will to be in line with the Father’s. This is our ultimate prayer goal!

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14

Prayer develops our relationship with God and when we pray we grow closer to Him and are more likely to be aware of how He is working in our lives.

Watch Greg Laurie’s excellent presentation on prayer:

Join us next week as we continue our introduction to: “A Case for Christ and the New Testament” with a focus on Hermeneutics (Bible study in context)

——————————————————————————————

You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in! Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15