Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.[Luke 18:1]
Even if prayer were a difficult thing to do, which it is not, or an unpleasant thing to do, which it is not, we should pray because we are commanded in the Scriptures to do so. Prayer is God's appointed way for us to obtain things. This doesn't mean that God is like some big Santa in heaven. The fact is that the Bible tells us we should go to God with our needs. And we all have needs.
Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:9–11). Jesus taught that we are to approach God with our needs.
Do you have needs right now? Pray about it. Do you need His provision? Pray about it. Do you need His healing touch? Pray about it. Go to God with your request, and your Heavenly Father, who knows you need these things, will hear you.
James 4:2 tells us, "You do not have because you do not ask." Think about that. You may wonder, Why is it that I never know what the will of God is for my life?
Answer: You do not have because you do not ask.
You might say, "Why is it that I never have the opportunity to lead people to the Lord?"
Answer: You do not have because you do not ask.
I wonder how many answers to prayer would be waiting for us if we were to just pray about it, if we just said, "Lord, I've never actually brought this before You, but I'm praying about it now." The worst-case scenario is that God will say no. But what if God says yes?
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Today's Bible Reading
Numbers 21:1 Then the king of ‘Arad, a Kena‘ani who lived in the Negev, heard that Isra’el was approaching by way of Atarim, so he attacked Isra’el and took some of them captive. 2 Isra’el made a vow to Adonai, “If you will hand this people over to me, I will completely destroy their cities.” 3 Adonai listened to what Isra’el said and handed over the Kena‘anim, so they completely destroyed them and their cities and named the place Hormah [complete destruction].
4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road toward the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people’s tempers grew short because of the detour. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moshe: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There’s no real food, there’s no water, and we’re sick of this miserable stuff we’re eating!”
(LY: vi) 6 In response, Adonai sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra’el’s people died. 7 The people came to Moshe and said, “We sinned by speaking against Adonai and against you. Pray to Adonai that he rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people, 8 and Adonai answered Moshe: “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.” 9 Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.
10 The people of Isra’el traveled on and camped at Ovot. 11 From Ovot they traveled and camped at ‘Iyei-Ha‘avarim, in the desert fronting Mo’av on the east. 12 From there they traveled and camped in Vadi Zered. 13 From there they traveled and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the desert; this river comes out of the territory of the Emori; for the Arnon is the boundary between Mo’av and the Emori. 14 This is why it says, in the Book of the Wars of Adonai, “. . . Vahev at Sufah, the vadis of Arnon, 15 and the slope of the vadis extending as far as the site of ‘Ar, which lie next to the territory of Mo’av.”
16 From there they went on to Be’er [well]; that is the well about which Adonai said to Moshe, “Assemble the people, and I will give them water.” 17 Then Isra’el sang this song:
“Spring up, oh well!
Sing to the well
18 sunk by the princes,
dug by the people’s leaders
with the scepter,
with their staffs!”
From the desert they went to Mattanah, 19 from Mattanah to Nachali’el, from Nachali’el to Bamot, 20 and from Bamot to the valley by the plain of Mo’av at the start of the Pisgah range, where it overlooks the desert.
(RY: iv, LY: vii) 21 Isra’el sent messengers to Sichon, king of the Emori, with this message: 22 “Let me pass through your land. We won’t turn aside into fields or vineyards, and we won’t drink any water from the wells. We will go along the King’s Highway until we have left your territory.” 23 But Sichon would not allow Isra’el to pass through his territory. Instead, Sichon mustered all his people and went out into the desert to fight Isra’el. On reaching Yachatz, he fought Isra’el. 24 Isra’el defeated him by force of arms and took control of his land from the Arnon to the Yabok River, but only as far as the people of ‘Amon, because the territory of the people of ‘Amon was well defended. 25 Isra’el took all these cities — Isra’el lived in all the cities of the Emori, in Heshbon and all its surrounding towns. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sichon, the king of the Emori, who had fought against the former king of Mo’av and conquered all his land up to the Arnon. 27 This is why the storytellers say,
“Come to Heshbon! Let it be rebuilt!
Let Sichon’s city be restored!
28 “For fire burst out of Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sichon.
It consumed ‘Ar of Mo’av,
the lords of Arnon’s high places.
29 “Woe to you, Mo’av!
You are destroyed, people of K’mosh!
He let his sons be fugitives and his daughters captives
of Sichon, king of the Emori.
30 “We shot them down; Heshbon is destroyed,
all the way to Divon.
We even laid waste to Nofach,
which extends as far as Meidva.”
31 Thus Isra’el lived in the land of the Emori.
32 Moshe sent men to reconnoiter Ya‘zer; they captured its towns and drove out the Emori who were there.
33 Then they turned and went up along the road to Bashan; and ‘Og, the king of Bashan, marched out against them, he with all his people, to fight at Edre‘i. (LY: Maftir) 34 Adonai said to Moshe, “Don’t be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with all his people and his land. You will treat him just as you did Sichon, king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So they struck him down, with his sons and all his people, until there was no one left alive; and then they took control of his land.
22:1 Then the people of Isra’el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo’av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho.
2 Now Balak the son of Tzippor saw all that Isra’el had done to the Emori. 3 Mo’av was very afraid of the people, because there were so many of them; Mo’av was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra’el. 4 So Mo’av said to the leaders of Midyan, “This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field.”
Balak the son of Tzippor was king of Mo’av at that time. 5 He sent messengers to Bil‘am the son of B‘or, at P’tor by the [Euphrates] River in his native land, to tell him, “Listen, a people has come out of Egypt, spread over all the land and settled down next to me. 6 Therefore, please come, and curse this people for me, because they are stronger than I am. Maybe I will be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is in fact blessed, and whomever you curse is in fact cursed.” 7 The leaders of Mo’av and Midyan left, taking with them the payment for divining, came to Bil‘am and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 He said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer Adonai tells me.” So the princes of Mo’av stayed with Bil‘am.
9 God came to Bil‘am and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Bil‘am said to God, “Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, has sent me this message: 11 ‘The people who came out of Egypt have spread over the land; now, come and curse them for me; maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God answered Bil‘am, “You are not to go with them; you are not to curse the people, because they are blessed.”
(RY: v; LY: ii) 13 Bil‘am got up in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Return to your own land, because Adonai refuses to give me permission to go with you.” 14 The princes of Mo’av got up, returned to Balak and said, “Bil‘am refuses to come with us.”
15 Balak again sent princes, more of them and of higher status than the first group. 16 They went to Bil‘am and said to him, “Here is what Balak the son of Tzippor says: ‘Please don’t let anything keep you from coming to me. 17 I will reward you very well, and whatever you say to me I will do. So please come, and curse this people for me.’” 18 Bil‘am answered the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Adonai my God to do anything, great or small. 19 Now, please, you too, stay here tonight; so that I may find out what else Adonai will say to me.” 20 God came to Bil‘am during the night and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you.”
(LY: iii) 21 So Bil‘am got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Mo’av. 22 But God’s anger flared up because he went, and the angel of Adonai stationed himself on the path to bar his way. He was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of Adonai standing on the road, drawn sword in hand; so the donkey turned off the road into the field; and Bil‘am had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road. 24 Then the angel of Adonai stood on the road where it became narrow as it passed among the vineyards and had stone walls on both sides. 25 The donkey saw the angel of Adonai and pushed up against the wall, crushing Bil‘am’s foot against the wall. So he beat it again. 26 The angel of Adonai moved ahead and stood in a place so tight that there was no room to turn either right or left. 27 Again the donkey saw the angel of Adonai and lay down under Bil‘am, which made him so angry that he hit the donkey with his stick. 28 But Adonai enabled the donkey to speak, and it said to Bil‘am, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” 29 Bil‘am said to the donkey, “It’s because you’ve been making a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand; I would kill you on the spot!” 30 The donkey said to Bil‘am, “I’m your donkey, right? You’ve ridden me all your life, right? Have I ever treated you like this before?” “No,” he admitted. 31 Then Adonai opened Bil‘am’s eyes, so that he could see the angel of Adonai standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face. 32 The angel of Adonai said to him, “Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!” 34 Bil‘am said to the angel of Adonai, “I have sinned. I didn’t know that you were standing on the road to block me. Now, therefore, if what I am doing displeases you, I will go back.” 35 But the angel of Adonai said to Bil‘am, “No, go on with the men; but you are to say only what I tell you to say.” So Bil‘am went along with the princes of Balak.
36 When Balak heard that Bil‘am had come, he went out to meet him in the city of Mo’av at the Arnon border, in the farthest reaches of the territory. 37 Balak said to Bil‘am, “I sent more than once to summon you! Why didn’t you come to me? Did you think I couldn’t pay you enough?” 38 Bil‘am replied to Balak, “Here, I’ve come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that God puts in my mouth is what I will say.”
(RY: vi, LY: iv) 39 Bil‘am went with Balak. When they arrived at Kiryat-Hutzot, 40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, then sent to Bil‘am and the princes with him. 41 In the morning Balak took Bil‘am and brought him up to the high places of Ba‘al; from there he could see a portion of the people.
23:1 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams here.” 2 Balak did as Bil‘am said; then Balak and Bil‘am offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering while I go off; maybe Adonai will come and meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went off to a bare hill. 4 God met Bil‘am, who said to him, “I prepared the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then Adonai put a word in Bil‘am’s mouth and said, “Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.” 6 He went back to him, and there, standing by his burnt offering, he with all the princes of Mo’av, 7 he made his pronouncement:
“Balak, the king of Mo’av,
brings me from Aram, from the eastern hills, saying,
‘Come, curse Ya‘akov for me;
come and denounce Isra’el.’
8 “How am I to curse
those whom God has not cursed?
How am I to denounce
those whom Adonai has not denounced?
9 “From the top of the rocks I see them,
from the hills I behold them —
yes, a people that will dwell alone
and not think itself one of the nations.
10 “Who has counted the dust of Ya‘akov
or numbered the ashes of Isra’el?
May I die as the righteous die!
May my end be like theirs!”
11 Balak said to Bil‘am, “What have you done to me?! To curse my enemies is why I brought you; and, here, you have totally blessed them!” 12 He answered, “Mustn’t I take care to say just what Adonai puts in my mouth?”
(LY: v) 13 Balak said to him, “All right, come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only some of them, not all; but you can curse them for me from there.” 14 He took him through the field of Tzofim to the top of the Pisgah Range, built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go over there for a meeting.” 16 Adonai met Bil‘am, put a word in his mouth and said, “Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.” 17 He came to him and stood by his burnt offering, with all the princes of Mo’av. Balak asked him, “What did Adonai say?” 18 Then Bil‘am made his pronouncement:
“Get up, Balak, and listen!
Turn your ears to me, son of Tzippor!
19 “God is not a human who lies
or a mortal who changes his mind.
When he says something, he will do it;
when he makes a promise, he will fulfill it.
20 Look, I am ordered to bless;
when he blesses, I can’t reverse it.
21 “No one has seen guilt in Ya‘akov,
or perceived perversity in Isra’el;
Adonai their God is with them
and acclaimed as king among them.
22 “God, who brought them out of Egypt,
gives them the strength of a wild ox;
23 thus one can’t put a spell on Ya‘akov,
no magic will work against Isra’el.
It can now be said of Ya‘akov and Isra’el,
‘What is this that God has done?!’
24 “Here is a people rising up like a lioness;
like a lion he rears himself up —
he will not lie down till he eats up the prey
and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Balak said to Bil‘am, “Obviously, you won’t curse them. But at least don’t bless them!” 26 However, Bil‘am answered Balak, “Didn’t I warn you that I must do everything Adonai says?”
(RY: vii, LY: vi) 27 Balak said to Bil‘am, “Come, I will take you now to another place; maybe it will please God for you to curse them for me from there.” 28 Balak took Bil‘am to the top of P‘or, overlooking the desert. 29 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 Balak did as Bil‘am said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Mark 6:1 Then Yeshua left and went to his home town, and his talmidim followed him. 2 On Shabbat he started to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They asked, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom he has been given? What are these miracles worked through him? 3 Isn’t he just the carpenter? the son of Miryam? the brother of Ya‘akov and Yosi and Y’hudah and Shim‘on? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 But Yeshua said to them. “The only place people don’t respect a prophet is in his home town, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 So he could do no miracles there, other than lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of trust.
Then he went through the surrounding towns and villages, teaching.
7 Yeshua summoned the Twelve and started sending them out in pairs, giving them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them, “Take nothing for your trip except a walking stick — no bread, no pack, no money in your belt. 9 Wear shoes but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place; 11 and if the people of some place will not welcome you, and they refuse to hear you, then, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.”
12 So they set out and preached that people should turn from sin to God, 13 they expelled many demons, and they anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
14 Meanwhile, King Herod heard about this, for Yeshua’s reputation had spread. Some were saying, “Yochanan the Immerser has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 Others said, “It is Eliyahu!” and still others, “He is a prophet, like one of the old prophets.” 16 But when Herod heard about it, he said, “Yochanan, whom I had beheaded, has been raised.”
17 For Herod had sent and had Yochanan arrested and chained in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. Herod had married her, 18 but Yochanan had told him, “It violates the Torah for you to marry your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted him put to death. But this she could not accomplish, 20 because Herod stood in awe of Yochanan and protected him, for he knew that he was a tzaddik, a holy man. Whenever he heard him, he became deeply disturbed; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally, the opportunity came. Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his nobles and officers and the leading men of the Galil. 22 The daughter of Herodias came in and danced, and she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want; I will give it to you”; 23 and he made a vow to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” 24 So she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She said, “The head of Yochanan the Immerser.” 25 At once the daughter hurried back to the king and announced her request: “I want you to give me right now on a platter the head of Yochanan the Immerser.” 26 Herod was appalled; but out of regard for the oaths he had sworn before his dinner guests, he did not want to break his word to her. 27 So the king immediately sent a soldier from his personal guard with orders to bring Yochanan’s head. The soldier went and beheaded Yochanan in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When Yochanan’s talmidim heard of it, they came and took the body and laid it in a grave.
30 Those who had been sent out rejoined Yeshua and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 There were so many people coming and going that they couldn’t even take time to eat, so he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a place where we can be alone, and you can get some rest.” 32 They went off by themselves to an isolated spot; 33 but many people, seeing them leave and recognizing them, ran ahead on foot from all the towns and got there first. 34 When Yeshua came ashore, he saw a huge crowd. Filled with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time, the hour was late. The talmidim came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s getting late. 36 Send the people away, so that they can go and buy food for themselves in the farms and towns around here.” 37 But he answered them, “Give them something to eat, yourselves!” They replied, “We are to go and spend thousands on bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and check.” When they had found out, they said, “Five. And two fish.” 39 Then he ordered all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred. 41 Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up toward heaven, made a b’rakhah. Next he broke up the loaves and began giving them to the talmidim to distribute. He also divided up the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces and fish. 44 Those who ate the loaves numbered five thousand men.
45 Immediately Yeshua had his talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him toward the other side of the lake, toward Beit-Tzaidah, while he sent the crowds away. 46 After he had left them, he went into the hills to pray. 47 When night came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was by himself on land. 48 He saw that they were having difficulty rowing, because the wind was against them; so at around four o’clock in the morning he came toward them, walking on the lake! He meant to come alongside them; 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and let out a shriek; 50 for they had all seen him and were terrified. However, he spoke to them. “Courage,” he said, “it is I. Stop being afraid!” 51 He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves; on the contrary, their hearts had been made stone-like.
53 After they had made the crossing, they landed at Ginosar and anchored. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized him 55 and began running around throughout that whole region and bringing sick people on their stretchers to any place where they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went, in towns, cities or country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the tzitzit on his robe, and all who touched it were healed.
7:1 The P’rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua 2 and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n’tilat-yadayim. 3 (For the P’rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing. 4 Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)
5 The P’rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” 6 Yeshua answered them, “Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites — as it is written,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
7 Their worship of me is useless,
because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’[a]
8 “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition. 9 Indeed,” he said to them, “you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moshe said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[b] and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’[c] 11 But you say, ‘If someone says to his father or mother, “I have promised as a korban” ’ ” (that is, as a gift to God) “ ‘ “what I might have used to help you,” ’ 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus, with your tradition which you had handed down to you, you nullify the Word of God! And you do other things like this.”
14 Then Yeshua called the people to him again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand this! 15 There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!” 16 [d]
17 When he had left the people and entered the house, his talmidim asked him about the parable. 18 He replied to them, “So you too are without understanding? Don’t you see that nothing going into a person from outside can make him unclean? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and it passes out into the latrine.” (Thus he declared all foods ritually clean.) 20 “It is what comes out of a person,” he went on, “that makes him unclean. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come forth wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness…. 23 All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean.”
24 Next, Yeshua left that district and went off to the vicinity of Tzor and Tzidon. There he found a house to stay in and wanted to remain unrecognized, but keeping hidden proved impossible. 25 Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit in her came to him and fell down at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, by birth a Syro-phoenician, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s food and toss it to their pet dogs.” 28 She answered him, “That is true, sir; but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s leftovers.” 29 Then he said to her, “For such an answer you may go on home; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went back home and found the child lying on the couch, the demon gone.
31 Then he left the district of Tzor and went through Tzidon to Lake Kinneret and on to the region of the Ten Towns. 32 They brought him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment and asked Yeshua to lay his hand on him. 33 Taking him off alone, away from the crowd, Yeshua put his fingers into the man’s ears, spat, and touched his tongue; 34 then, looking up to heaven, he gave a deep groan and said to him, “Hippatach!” (that is, “Be opened!”). 35 His ears were opened, his tongue was freed, and he began speaking clearly. 36 Yeshua ordered the people to tell no one; but the more he insisted, the more zealously they spread the news. 37 People were overcome with amazement. “Everything he does, he does well!” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak!”[Footnotes:
Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13
Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16
Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9
Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts include verse 7:16: “Anyone who has ears that can hear, let him hear!”]
Harvest Ministries with Greg LaurieP.O. Box 4000
Riverside, California 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1-800-821-3300
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