Come and pray. . . The Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot 4:4 (8b) Pray – The Jerusalem Talmud, the shorter of the two great collections of rabbinic material, includes the following instruction: “One who is called upon to lead services is not told, ‘Come and pray,’ but ‘Come and kerav – offer our sacrifices, seek out our…
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1 NASB Teach – “A person may believe he or she has planned for life, but ultimately knowing what to…
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1 NASB Teach us – Do you want to pray? Did you ever learn how to pray? Most of us…
So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Exodus 2:24 NASB Heard – “In its original form, prayer is not asking God for anything; it is not a request. It is a cry; an elementary outburst of woe, a spontaneous call in need; a hurt, a sorrow, given…
But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ Luke 18:13 NASB Beating – In the words of Eric Clapton, [CLICK HERE]. Rabbi Hirsch gives us the Hebraic version: Hitpallel, from which ‘tefilla’…
“It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, Deuteronomy 11:13 NASB To serve Him with all your heart – Maimonides points out that the Hebrew expression, le’ovdo bekol…
“For after I turned back, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated because I bore the reproach of my youth.” Jeremiah 31:19 NASB Turned back – Shuv. To turn back. To return. To turn around. Shuv assumes prior defeat. One does not turn back…
So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali. Genesis 30:8 NASB Mighty – What a tangled verse! Avraham Weiss translates Rachel’s statement as “I wrestled with God and prevailed.” But you won’t find that in English. Instead, English translators interpret elohim…
“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:9 NASB May turn – Rabbi David Aaron addresses the difference between Jews and Christians on the subject of prayer in his online article, “Why Do We Pray?” In that article he states the Jews do…
He opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying, Matthew 5:2 NASB To teach – “The test of a true sermon is that it can be converted into prayer.”[1] Are you a preacher? Do you lead a Bible study? Do you teach your children or grandchildren the texts of Scripture? Are you an elder…
