New Believer's Bible Sample - Flipbook - Page 34
FIRST STEPS
page A36
Pray
The idea of talking to God can be intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be. In
fact, prayer can be a wonderful experience if we know how to do it God’s way.
Fortunately, we have God’s Word to teach us how to pray. The Bible instructs
us to pray at all times, in any posture, in any place, for any reason. In addition, it does not matter what words we use when we pray, whether our speech
is formal, informal, or somewhere in between. God only desires that we pray
from a pure and sincere heart.
The disciples observed the profound effect prayer had in Jesus’ life and ministry. They witnessed the way Jesus would often go off by himself to spend time
in prayer with his heavenly Father. They saw the power, peace, and tranquility
that emanated from his life, giving him the ability to stay calm in troubled circumstances. Jesus’ prayer life so impressed his disciples that they asked him
to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13). Certainly if the perfect Son of God often
took time to pray during his life here on earth, how much more do we, mere
men and women, need to pray?
Because prayer is an essential ingredient to walking with Jesus Christ, we
need to examine its elements found in God’s Word.
• Praying for God’s guidance see Psalm 27:11-12, page 512
• Prayer increases our spiritual knowledge and maturity see Jeremiah 33:3, page 724
• Prayer enables us to seek forgiveness see Hosea 14:1-7, page 828
• Pray and wait confidently for God’s help see Micah 7:7, page 856
• Christ modeled for us how to pray see Matthew 6:5-15, page 900
• Prayer is not a solitary experience see Romans 8:26-27, page 1078
• Prayer helps us overcome worry see Philippians 4:6-7, page 1143
Resist Temptation
Now that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, Satan is going to try to draw you
away by tempting you to disobey God’s Word. It is not a sin to be tempted—
even Jesus was tempted (see Luke 4:1-13). We sin when we give in to that temptation. The good news is that God will never let a temptation become so strong
that we can’t handle it. In addition, he has given us specific ways to handle
temptation. Here are some things to remember when dealing with temptation.
• Being tempted means you’re probably doing something right see Genesis 3:5-6,
page 7
• Remember that others have successfully dealt with temptation see Genesis 39:123,
page 40
• Don’t let greed separate you from God see Numbers 22:7–24:25, page 154
