📖 Pray shameless prayers

I. In Luke 11, Jesus teaches us how to pray, and then he shares a parable of a man who goes to his neighbor at midnight asking to borrow some bread because a friend has just come to stay with him and he has nothing to serve him.

I love verse 8 that then says, “I tell you, even though he [the neighbor] won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”

In other words, because of Jesus and what he has done for us, we can have shameless boldness to go before the God of the universe and ask for our needs.

This does not mean he will give us everything we want, but we are encouraged in this text to ask without reservation, just like this man who would wake his neighbor at midnight for some bread.

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II. God knew what he was choosing when he chose you.

As Christians, we can somehow feel that because we have sinned in some way, God no longer loves us or that our salvation in Jesus is no longer secure, as if we lost it somehow because of our actions.

But remember, God knows all things. He knew what you would do in the future and the decisions you would make. He was not surprised by your sin.

Yes, we should confess our sin and seek to not repeat it, but that doesn’t change the fact that God knew all of your future steps and yet still chose to save you.

Never forget, God knew what he was choosing when he chose you.

The word gospel comes from the Greek word euangelion, which simply means “good news.” In the ancient world, it was often used to announce a king’s victory in battle or the arrival of a new ruler. It was not private advice. It was a public proclamation that something decisive had happened.

When the New Testament calls the message of Jesus the gospel, it is declaring that the true King has won. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has defeated sin, death, and the powers of darkness.

When we share the gospel, we are announcing the victory of King Jesus and inviting others to live under his reign.

The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a garden-like city.

In Genesis 1–2, humanity lives with God in the Garden of Eden, a place of beauty, abundance, and unhindered fellowship.

In Revelation 21–22, the story ends not with souls floating in the clouds, but with a restored creation. A city descends from heaven, and at its center is the tree of life, with a river flowing from God’s throne.

The Bible’s story moves from garden to city, from creation to new creation. God’s plan is not to abandon the world, but to restore it.

Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley

A book about creating regular rituals in your life and with your family.

It is helpful to think through how to intentionally create daily rhythms that will shape our lives to intentionally become the people God created us to be. So I applaud the effort and idea behind the book.

For me, the book didn't do much, partially because some of the ideas are not new to me. Also, I found myself disagreeing with some of the parenting philosophy (particularly around discipline) in this book.

For example, yes, we should have conversations with our kids, which he promotes, but they also need real and tangible consequences for bad behavior, and it is not an impatient or unloving thing to hold them accountable with clear consequences.

Also, and this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, the book talks about the busyness and tiredness of life throughout, almost implying life has to be that way, and we just have to do our best to manage it.

Yes, life can be full with many different things going on, but life does not have to always be frantic and busy. Our life becomes what we allow it to become.

I think this book could be helpful and interesting for some, but I didn't particularly enjoy it all that much.

5/10

P.S. Americans need to take a break sometimes…