Luke 11

Jesus's disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. He gave them a model prayer - The Lord's Prayer. The main components of it are:

That doesn't mean that every prayer has to follow that model, but it's a good way to pray.

Then Jesus taught them a lesson about being persistent in prayer. We don't always get what we ask for the first time we ask for it, but that doesn't mean we should stop asking. And God will not give us bad things - even if we ask for them. The main thing that we should be asking for is the help, comfort, guidance, and indwelling of the Holy Spirit - this request He will not deny.

Then we hear the story about the crowds accusing Jesus of being possessed by a demon when He was casting out demons. Luke doesn't mention what Jesus said about the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, but they were attributing the work of God to the devil.

Jesus then taught them a lesson about needing to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that a spirit that was cast out does not come back with others to re-possess the person.

True blessing is to hear and obey the word of God. Everything that we strive to accomplish in holiness and righteousness in this life can be boiled down to that simple formula - hear and obey the word of God.

Jesus is the sign that God's plan is working. The amazing stories of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus in amazing ways, but they do not compare to what Jesus accomplished, and will accomplish.

The eye is the way that we see the world. It is our perspective, attitude, and point of view. When we are negative, pessimistic, and worried then our health and influence will be bad. But when we are positive, optimistic, and hopeful then our health and influence will be full of the light of life.

The Pharisees and experts of the law so focused on their traditions and rituals that they could not even perceive the presence of God when He sat down in front of them. They were not behaving according to God's will, and Jesus was not behaving according to theirs. They were quick to judge others by their outward appearance, but Jesus judged them by their inward corruption.