ACTS: A Way to Live

Thursday, March 24

ACTS: A Way to Live

The Gospel of Luke—Lent 2022

Read Luke 11: 1-13

Focus Verse—Luke 11:13

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 him!”

ACTion for Reflection: How to Pray

Jesus’ disciples noticed that Jesus didn’t pray the way other synagogue leaders did. Somehow His prayers seemed much more personal. So they asked Jesus to teach them to pray the way He did. This is how we got the Lord’s Prayer. Even though lots of churches repeat this prayer word for word, in actuality, the Lord’s Prayer is a template. God wants us to personalize it so that the prayer comes from our heart. So, when pray, start by honoring God for Who He is (Creator of the universe, our Protector, Deliverer, Provider, etc.) and thank Him that through Jesus He has made a way for us to be a part of His kingdom and a member of His family. We should thank Him for forgiving us and promise to forgive anyone who harms us. We should thank Him that He provides all our needs through His riches in Christ Jesus. We must ask Him to keep us aligned with His Word so that we will not be tempted to sin, but instead can minister to others. In our focus verse, Jesus said that, despite the fact that we are sinful, we still know how to give “good gifts” to our children. He then confirmed that God, our Father, wants to give us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a massive gift: When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside us. That alone is an amazing gift! But when we commit our whole selves to Him, we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. This means that we are given access to more of God’s power, love, patience, wisdom and strength. Now we are able to align our lives with God’s Will and come boldly to Him knowing that He will always answer our prayers. This includes praying boldly for the needs of others.

ACTion to Live Out: Pray boldly for others

An idea for today is to reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time or to a complete stranger and ask how you can pray for them. Then, turn to God and pray to Him boldly for the needs of that person.

Dear Lord ,

Thank you for teaching us how to live! After we daily reflect on your life-giving words, help us to then, through your Spirit, get up and ACT. Give us hearts of compassion, hands of generosity, and feet that take your good news to the world. What an honor it is to be your image bearer. Amen.

Audio of Luke 11: https://youtu.be/yRveqlY5s1s