michaelpricePHOTOS

Here's one of the big battles I am facing - 'doubt'! Peter sees Jesus walking on the water. Jesus encourages him to get out of the boat and walk to Him. He does so. For the first few steps all is well. Suddenly Peter starts to sink! - Jesus takes his hand and says.."Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 8:31). Those two words 'doubt' and 'faith' have been, and remain, a challenge to many Christians. And I must admit to being one of those right now. 'Doubt' even puts some people off asking God for certain things in prayer. They doubt. So they would rather keep quiet and not ask. The first thing to understand when making prayer requests is that we will not always get the answer that we want or in the time we want it. All prayer requests should come with that proviso (as did Jesus' before he was arrested) .. "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, b...

Last week one of the readers of my Blog posted in the comments section on Facebook that something I had said 'triggered' some thoughts that got him thinking. Not only is that pleasing but a very similar thing happened to me whilst reading an article over the weekend. The writer touched on the subject of The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes - one of the most difficult teachings in the Bible. There is a wonderful saying that says "You are the garden you grow up in". When I dwelt on the article and thought of that saying the difficulty in understanding the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount made perfect sense. They are at odds (in fact completely the opposite) with the 'garden' we are growing up and living in. Here are some thoughts I came up with following some further reading, research and reflection just to illustrate why we have such difficulty with, not only these teachings but (for some) the whole idea of Christianity. "Bles...