How should Christians pray and fast? – Sermon on the Mount E4

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How should Christians pray and fast? How important is the heart behind these spiritual disciplines? Where should our priorities be? In this episode Noël, Esther and Mark look at Jesus' teaching on prayer, fasting and our relationship to possessions in Matthew 6.5–24. We dig deeper into The Lord's Prayer and discuss prioritising our relationship with God and our devotion to him.
Timestamps
  • (00:00) - Intro
  • (00:40) - Matthew 6.5–15: Jesus' teaching on prayer
  • (02:00) - Historical context
  • (03:45) - Meaningless repetition
  • (05:10) - The heart behind our actions
  • (09:02) - How is The Lord's Prayer used in church?
  • (10:36) - Contemporary Jewish writings vs The Lord's Prayer
  • (14:15) - Daily bread
  • (18:28) - Forgiving isn’t easy: Esther's story
  • (22:27) - The reality of forgiveness
  • (24:20) - Power imbalance
  • (26:01) - Matthew 6.16–24: Jesus' teaching on fasting and treasures
  • (27:33) - Why do people fast?
  • (31:55) - Treasures in heaven: Our priorities

Send us your questions!
We'd love to hear from you. We'll be compiling some questions for the final episode of the series which will be a Q and A.
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Creators and Guests

Esther King
Host
Esther King
Esther is part of Bible Society's Communications team.
Mark Woods
Host
Mark Woods
Mark is a Baptist minister and sometime journalist, who now heads up Bible Society's comms team.
Noël Amos
Host
Noël Amos
Noël is the editor of Rooted, Bible Society's devotional journal.
How should Christians pray and fast? – Sermon on the Mount E4
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