Category Archives: Sermon on the Mount

Praying the Scriptures -Praying The Beatitudes-

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Gustave Doré, The Sermon on the Mount

Father in Heaven, I come to you in Jesus name, to thank you for calling me and making a way for me to come before you to hear you speak to me through your Word. Thank you, for opening your mouth to teach us how to live the Christian life and thank you for the grace you give us to live it out. Thank you because you did not leave us without a map, without clear instructions, without knowing where to go. Thank you because you has sent your Holy Spirit to be our Helper, our Counselor, our Teacher. Thank you, Lord.

Father, I pray that I will not forget how desolate is the condition of my heart without You. Help me to see, my need of you every day. Help me see, O Lord, my emptiness, my sin, how poor I am without your forgiveness, without your mercy. Lord, remind me always that it is not a good self-esteem what I need, but You mending my brokenness. I need you, Lord, to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Father, we mourn for our losses. We have cried many times until we couldn’t cry anymore, we cried and our tears became our prayers because we could not utter any words. But God, how many times have I cried over my sin? Not many. O God, give me a repentant heart! Give me a heart that grieves when I sin. Give me a tender conscience that will not be OK, with the little sins in my daily life. Comfort me with your forgiveness, with the assurance of your salvation. And for our losses, and the pain, and the many tears, I thank you because we can also hope knowing that one day they will be no more. Oh, to know that one day you will wipe away all our tears!

Blessed are the meek… Lord, without you in my life it is impossible for me to be meek. For to be meek is to be humble, to be teachable, to be slow to anger and slow to speak. To be meek is to be willing to see and confess that I have wronged You and my beloved ones. To be meek is to wait on you without complaining, Lord, I cannot be meek apart from You. I need you so much, Lord!

Father, how easily we are deceived into thinking that we can satisfy our soul with many other things rather than your righteousness. When I don’t pray, when I don’t read your Word and then go off to live my daily life, I am making, without even noticing, a wider and deeper cistern that can hold no water. Help me, Lord, to seek you and you alone to provide for my deepest needs. Satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love, Father. Draw me to you, every day, all day. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me first and foremost to you, my Rock. Draw me to your presence, to your Word where I can find Living Water so that I will thirst no more. O God, fill my cup, fill it until it overflows.  Father, I want to eat your Word, to taste and see how it is sweeter than the honey comb. I want to eat from the Bread of Life every day and be satisfied, and be truly blessed. Thank you for setting the table and for calling me to sit at your table not as a stranger, but as your dear child.

When I mutter, “Blessed are the merciful, because they shall receive mercy…” I think of how much mercy I have received from your hand. Every morning your mercies are new towards your people; every single morning you bless me with new mercies that flow from your Throne of Grace. Every morning I open my eyes and the first thing I taste is your mercy, your goodness. If I could only remember this as I live my life! Help me live a life of mercy. To be at all times merciful to my husband, my children, my friends, my neighbors, my enemies. Help me to give mercy to those whom I find hard to love. Help me, to give mercy in the same way that you have given it to me: endlessly and freely.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” I love to meditate on this beatitude, Lord. What an amazing promise you have given us!  And it is amazing because you have provided a way for us to have a pure heart so that we can see you. Thank you for giving us Jesus, who gave his own life for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify us for himself. Thank you because you cleanse us, because you give us new hearts. Thank you because you clothe us with robes of righteousness. Thank you because you no longer see our filthy sin, but Jesus in us. Thank you because we can live this life knowing that we shall indeed see you. Lord, I don’t want to forget this promise, not for a second: I shall see you and not perish, it is because of your grace that I have a pure heart, cleansed by the blood of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

You have cleansed my heart and make it pure so that I may have peace with you.While I was still a sinner, Lord, when I was still your enemy, you sent Jesus to pay the price for my sins, to carry my guilt and shame, to save me. Lord, when I did not love you, you loved me and drew me to you. Your call was irresistible, your grace amazing. You even made me your child! And now you call me to be a peacemaker, just like you. To love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable. To reach out and and as far as it depends on me, live peaceably with all, always overcoming evil with good, always giving acts of mercy and never revenge. Father, that the world may know us, your children, because of our efforts to live peaceably with one another. That the world may know that we are your children because of the love we have among ourselves, and the acts of mercy that we show to those who are in need.

Lord, when I consider that persecution for righteousness’ sake is a blessedness, I have to admit that I have many, many times neglected praying for my brothers and sisters that are being terribly persecuted around the world. In your Providence you have set my feet in a place, in a time, in a situation where fierce persecution is almost null, but let me never forget that it might come. It is my prayer that if it comes to my life, or to the life of my beloved ones, you will give us the strength, the endurance, that eternal vision of the reward that awaits for those you have chosen to suffer, so that we may never deny your Name.

I give you thanks, Father, because you hear the prayers of your own because of Jesus’ sake. Thank you, because you have shown us the way we should go. Thank you for your Word is your own breath and it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness the righteousness in my life I need to be blessed. Make me, O God, a complete woman, equipped for every good work.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Becky

The Time It Takes to Recite The Beatitudes

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This is how long it took me to recite The Beatitudes (including a few bumps!).  I guess I have no excuses not to keep on going.  I now know that I cannot say, “I have no time to memorize God’s Word.” or “It takes too much time, and I just don’t have it.”

I have discovered that what it really takes to memorize God’s Word, more than lots of extra time, is being intentional about it.


“It is my hope that you will discipline your mind to trade your thoughts for God’s. As you give your attention to His Word, He will meet you in unexpected places—amidst the laundry pile and the dish pile, in the car pool line and in the drive-through line. Your relationship with God will grow deeper and richer than you could ever have imagined. He will be your constant companion, your most intimate confidant.”

“Train your mind to run to God’s Word, daydreaming with His thoughts. Practice these verses throughout your day, whenever you can squeeze in forty seconds.”

Janet Pope, His Word in My Heart

If you wish to do so, please share with us how you did this first week by leaving a comment in the section below.

Blessings on your weekend, sisters.

Becky

The Sermon on the Mount -One Blessing After Another-

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“Memorizing entire books or passages will keep intact God’s succession of ideas, without interruption. Many individual verses, memorized out of context, can give a false meaning…”

“Memorizing entire books or passages will keep intact God’s succession of ideas, without interruption. Many individual verses, memorized out of context, can give a false meaning”

Janet Pope, His Word in my Heart


“When the Lord Jesus preached His famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, He began with the Beatitudes. Too many people read these as though they were a set of impossible hurdles. But Jesus was beginning His message as God loves to begin all His gospel work—with promises.

We are told in Scripture that the one who begins a good work in us will also be faithful to fulfill it. But we may also reason backwards—the one who will fulfill the good work is the one who began it. If He gives us the gift of seeing Himself, He also gives the gift of enabling us to be peacemakers. If He gives us the filling, He also gave us the hunger and thirst for righteousness to begin with.

This is the work that God gives us to do—that we believe in the one He has sent. The beginning, middle and end of all our duties is to trust in Him, to believe in Him, to rest in Him. Why? Because the just shall live by faith.”         Douglas Wilson

Becky

*Please feel free to download today’s image for your personal use.

More on this series:

A Project for the Busiest Months of the Year: Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount
Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount: A Printable Schedule

Memorizing The Sermon on the Mount – A Printable Schedule-

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My friend Lisa left a comment on yesterday’s post saying, “I’m crazy enough to join you but I’m also crazy enough to require lots of helps!” Well, here it is, to all my crazy friends, a simple schedule for you to print (I have no idea how to make pretty graphics with my computer, so I just took my markers, my journal, and my camera. If you come up with a prettier one and would like to share it with us, email it to me, and I will share it with everyone else).

Beside the weekly verses I added some boxes to put a check on the verses that I have already memorized. These little boxes will also help me to make my schedule a bit more flexible and don’t lose track of my progress. For example, this week I want to memorize all the beatitudes (Mt. 5:1-12), instead of only the first 9 verses of Mt 5, which means that I can check a few more boxes from the next weekly verses (I’d rather be ahead than behind before Christmas comes).

If you prefer a -somehow- more relaxed schedule, you can easily divide these chapters in 21weeks as follows:

Week 1: The Beautitudes (Mt 5:1-12)
Week 2: Salt and Light (Mt. 5: 13-16)
Week 3: Christ Came to Fulfill the Law (Mt.5: 17-20)
Week 4: Anger (Mt. 5: 21-26)
Week 5: Lust (Mt 5: 27-30)
Week 6: Divorce (Mt. 5:31-32)
Week 7: Oaths (Mt. 5:33- 37)
Week 8: Retaliation (Mt. 5: 38-42)
Week 9: Love Your Enemies (Mt. 5: 43-48)
Week 10: Giving to the Needy (Mt. 6: 1-4)
Week 11: The Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6: 5-15)
Week 12: Fasting  (Mt. 6: 16-18)
Week 13: Lay Up Treasures in Heaven (Mt.6:19- 24)
Week 14: Do Not Be Anxious (Mt. 6: 25-34)
Week 15: Judging Others (Mt. 7:1-6)
Week 16: Ask, And It Will Be Given (Mt.7:7-11)
Week 17: The Golden Rule (Mt. 7: 12-14)
Week 18: A Tree and Its Fruit (Mt. 7:15-20)
Week 19: I Never Knew You (Mt. 7:21-23)
Week 20: Build Your House on the Rock (Mt. 7: 24-27)
Week 21: The Authority of Jesus (Mt. 7: 28-29)

How will we keep each other accountable? What if we meet here every Friday to share how we are doing? If you have a blog and decide to post about your progress every week feel free to link to it.

I will also be posting every Lord’s Day a prayer based on the weekly verses (instead of my regular Praying the Psalms series), because I have found that one of the most wonderful benefits of memorizing the Scriptures is that you can use them more effectively, as a sword in the hand of a warrior in your prayer time.

So here we go, Sisters…  May God bless our minds and hearts.

Becky

A Project for the Busiest Months of the Year: Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount

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This is crazy, I know. But I need it. I need to be drawn (and at times even dragged back) to the Word of God, especially when my mind and heart want to go wild. The busiest season of the year is coming; Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, family, friends, planning, traveling, food, feasting, all of that is right at the door (and I am pretty happy and excited about it, don’t take me wrong!), but in the midst of all that, I don’t want to be like Martha, caught up in the many distractions that surround this season and then forget what really matters, that one thing: taking time to sit at the feet of Jesus to listen to His Word.

So I contacted my friend Elizabeth Hankins (whom I met while memorizing Philippians in 2011, and with whom I have been memorizing several passages -and books- of the Scriptures since then), and we decided that it was time for us to work on The Sermon on the Mount. So here we are, two moms with kids, crazy schedules, books to read, meals to cook, brownies to bake, papers to grade,  tired feet, and Facebook accounts, ready to memorize, by God’s amazing grace, 111 verses by the end of January 2013, which means that we will have to cover about 8-9 verses per week.

The thing is that we would love for you (yes, you!) to join us in this crazy endeavor. It will take some extra effort and discipline, but I am sure we can do it if we ask the Lord to help us choose wisely how we spend our time during this coming season. We must learn to make wise and simple choices, for example, limit the time we spend on all social networks, don’t read all the many blogs out there (even this one, forget about it!) choose only two, maybe?  Avoid Pinterest (once you know what crafts you are making and what are you cooking, stop looking for more ideas to pin). We should ask ourselves, What if instead of checking my mobile every 10 mins.  I’d review my Bible verses with the same urgency? This is not an impossible thing to do, you can carry the Bible verses you are memorizing with you at all times (I always have them in a Moleskine that fits in my pockets), you can repeat them in the shower, while doing your hair, while driving. You can pray over them while cooking breakfast and cleaning after dinner. You can mutter them in the car, or on your bed at night. Be intentional. Don’t forget about it. Don’t set it aside. Don’t leave it for later. You will be so blessed after persevering day after day.

We are about to enter a season of feasting, why not make it a time for feasting on the Word of God. Let’s be filled with it, let Him fill our cups until they overflow!

I always encourage my friends who memorize a large passage of the Scriptures to study it in depth while doing so. It helps enormously to know what the passage means when you recite it. It also helps us not to memorize a book -or passage- for the sake of just memorizing it, it helps us meditate on it and be convicted and challenged by it.

I recommend these resources to help you study The Sermon on the Mount (read only the commentary on the verses you are working in a particular week. You don’t want to be overwhelmed).

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mountain by Pink.

The Sermon on the Mount: The Character of a Disciple by Daniel M. Doriani

The Sermon on the Mount: Expositional Commentary by James Montgomery Boice

You can also read Thomas Watson’s exposition of The Beautitudes at Grace Gems.

Or if you prefer to listen 30 mins. sermons  (that is what I am doing this time), you can download and listen to John Piper’s series here or you can choose from many other sermons at Monergism.

I am excited for a season of feasting in the Word!

Becky