The Model Prayer

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Mark Shields

In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus is praying and afterwards a disciple saw that He had been praying so He asked Jesus for instruction for how we should pray. Jesus told him that we should go to God in prayer like He is our best friend or father. The model prayer given to the disciple has these main elements:

Recognizing God for who He is
Asking that He uses us to accomplish His will
Asking for daily basic needs like food and water
Asking for forgiveness of sin
Asking to be put in situations where we are protected from sin.

God wants to help us like one of His children. He will give us what is needed and that which will benefit us. Go to Him without any hesitation and with boldness. The key is to pray often and with faith that what we ask will be given. Like Jesus, look at prayer as a conversation with our best friend.

Follow the example of Jesus. He rose early in the morning and spent His time with God before He spent His time on the “busyness” of His world. Read a short block of scripture each day. Pray for guidance in how to apply the lesson learned to your daily life. Document these lessons and build on them throughout life.

Lord, this day with You, we lay out our concerns to You. We recognize that You are the Creator of all things. We need your help, we need forgiveness and to be kept on the right path. We ask for Your protection as we travel on this journey called life. We ask that we follow your will as the Holly Spirit guides and that we glorify You today. In Jesus name. Amen!

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Put Him First and Problems Disperse

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Mark Shields

Lessons can be learned from reading or through experiences of the past. In reading Genesis 20, a man named Abimelech took on an issue head-on. He confronted the issue, asked questions to understand, and took the necessary steps to solve it. Thoughts from this reading, inspired this poem.

Poetry streamlines thoughts, crystalizes ideas, and inspires to action. This poem takes some thoughts after reading Genesis 20 and offers some ideas in how to take on the challenges we all face in life:

Mark Shields's avatarStep Ahead

Life can be one big challenge
But with God we can manage
So let Him do the leading
Proceeding on what we are needing.

Having courage to make a stand
And following what He has planned.
Taking on Issues head-on;
Growth and discipline coming on.

Meeting with Him in prayer
Sitting at a favorite chair.
Meet with Him in every activity
Living each day with creativity.

With Him there is no limitation
So meet with Him in every conversation.
Meet with Him in every problem
So a solution begins to blossom.

Ready for the challenges
Living daily with proper balance
By going to the ONE
Who gave us His Son.

Let us stir each other up passionately
To boldly step ahead rationally;
Going directly to our every concern;
Confronting issues at every turn.

Asking questions to understand,
Taking the right steps hand-in-hand.
Remembering the suffering of the Lord
Looking forward…

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Law’s Requirements for Eternal Life

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Mark Shields

Some examples were studied the last few days of the law’s requirements for eternal life and written about in the post Love the Lord and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. 

The first example is the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the other is At the Home of Martha and Mary.

When we love the Lord, we care about His people. Here is a video that demonstrates how caring for others and being kind is like a relay in which we pass the baton to a teammate: Kindness Returns.


Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. – Luke 10:27 

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Love the Lord and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Mark Shields

In the study of Luke 10:25-42, we are given the law’s requirements for eternal life. To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself (v. 27).

In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus answers the question gets this question “who is my neighbor”? This question comes from an expert in the law and Jesus answers with The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus explains that our neighbor is anyone we can be concerned for, take care of, or have mercy for. It may be someone that we can provide information to, invite to church, or just be kind to like putting out their trash when they go out of town. It may be to help when they are going through grief, encouragement when facing rough times, or in need of prayer during sickness.

In Luke 10:38-42, we get the account of a woman named Martha who opened her home to Jesus and His disciples. Her sister named Mary put all of her attention on Jesus. Martha was disturbed because Mary was not helping prepare the meal and even asked Jesus to discipline her but Jesus pointed out that Mary was doing what was most important.

God is most pleased when we set aside our own interest and put our total focus on the one thing that is most important. Sometimes we get too busy and forget that the most important activity is to study God’s Word and pray. So loving the Lord is first and then love your neighbor is next.

So the law’s requirements are to love the Lord and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Each situation in life requires decisions and one of those situations is knowing how to balance worship and service. This Day with You Lord, we ask for your guidance as we seek this balance in our life. To put you first as we worship You and second, that the Spirit nudges us when there is a need for kindness in loving our neighbor as ourselves.

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Stir Each Other Up to Boldly Step Ahead

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Mark Shields

In the study of Luke 10:1-24, I wrote that Jesus told the seventy-two that He sent ahead of Him to pray first and then just go in confidence and assurance that they would have great outcomes because of the power of the Father.

This day with you Lord, we can also go in confidence and build up Your kingdom. We pray that we get ready for the challenge of this day by going to You first for our needs. Lord, You created all things and with Your power, we can stir each other up to boldly step ahead and do as this video suggest: Build Your Kingdom Here – Rend Collective Experiment.


The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. – Luke 10:2 

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