If you have ever become distracted in prayer, found that your prayer life has become cool or lifeless, or are at a loss as to what you should pray about, the Scriptures themselves provide wonderful content for prayer. In his little book, A Simple Way to Pray, Martin Luther, following Psalm 1, gives us very helpful guidelines for learning to pray the Scriptures.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to get private prayer lessons from Jesus Himself? That is exactly what we have been given in the Lord’s Prayer. The preface teaches us that our God is personal, accessible, and ascendant. He has truly become “Our Father in heaven” through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we wonder if our prayers are heard or if they really matter, especially with respect to the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. But Acts 12 shows us that the God of life hears our prayers for life and saves life through the mercy of His Son who gave His life in our place.

There are many seasons in life and prayer is essential to them all. Whether crushed or rejoicing James invites us to seek the One in whom all life and hope are found.

Following the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary presented him in the temple, where the devout man, Simeon, moved by the Holy Spirit, understood that this was no ordinary baby, and responded to God’s great work with praise and prophecy. Simeon’s prayer of praise has much to teach us about our own prayer life today.

The “hope” offered by the things of this life is either fake or fleeting. When confronted with the reality of our sin, the pain of our affliction, and the passage of time such promises of hope never stand up. Only Jesus offers an eternal hope that transcends the sin and suffering of this life through His supreme suffering on the cross.

Guilt is a terrible thing. It racks our souls and robs us of joy in every area of life. Resentment is no better. It embitters our spirits and consumes us as we fixate on those who have wronged us. Only Jesus provides the blessed hope of forgiveness when we can’t forgive ourselves - or others!

Hard times have a way of making everything seem hopeless. Difficult circumstances, external oppression, and internal doubts conspire to leave us discouraged and ineffective in our Christian lives. But Jesus offers hope to the hopeless. When all seems lost and our best efforts seem wasted he reminds us that it has never been about our efforts but about his perfect life, death, and resurrection. Through the Scriptures he redirects us to himself where we find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

Just as our bodies hunger for food each day, so our souls hunger for the God who made us. Without him we remain restless and unfulfilled, dead in our sin and unable to live life as he desires. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son so that every hungry soul who feeds on him by faith might have hope through the True Bread of heaven, given for us.

As we consider Christ’s coming, Matthew’s genealogy mentions some individuals whose inclusion may be a bit surprising to us, considering what genealogies were used for. We’ll look at one of the least familiar people mentioned because their story has a lot to tell us about what Christmas is really all about.