“And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word” (Mark 4:13-14).

In the beginning was the Word.  The Word Incarnate has come and sown the word in us.  We are to become like Christ, sharing the Word with our lives.  In sowing you see where the seed lands and what happens to it.  When you participate in a Gospel life, You see the Lord at work.  Christ has sown His word in You and desires that You go out and sow His word in others.  This is how the word is spread.

Lord, is it really as simple as this?  Yet, I know that it is in the doing that I learn.  It is in seeing the truth that I believe.  It is in hearing that I begin to comprehend and understand.  I do this with worldly things.  Help me to see the pattern that You have created and teach me to be steadfast on the path which You have set before me.  Guide me so that I may grow in this faith which You have given me.

Lord Jesus, I need Your help.  In one moment, I become arrogant and think I know all there is to know.  In the next moment, I act as if I know nothing.  I am depending upon what I know.  Help me so that I do not do things on my own power, but lean wholly upon You for all things.  You have sown Your word in me.  Grow the roots deep and grow in me what You intend.  Lead me to trust You above all things.  Amen.

“As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.  And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven” (Mark 4:10-12).

For those who believe and are willing, He will open their minds to the Word, He will give understanding.  The Holy Spirit brings wisdom.  Receive the Holy Spirit and become one who lives with understanding.  As you read Scripture, the Lord will open your eyes, heart, and mind to learn from Him.  He is sifting the hearts of all so that those who will be a part of the kingdom will willingly bow to the One who made all things.

Lord, I know that there are many mysteries in faith, but I also know that You have revealed truth.  In this world of opinions and self-will, help me to move beyond myself and see things as they are.  Guide me in Your goodness and take away from me my opinions as the basis of truth.  You are the One who made all things and You alone know how they are made to be.  Help me to be in Your will now and always.

Lord Jesus, whatever it is that causes me to insist on things being the way I want them to be, take them away so that I live in truth.  You have planted Your seed in me.  Help me to grow according to the Father’s will and not be hampered by my will.  Lead me forward in faith to grow the way You know I need to grow.  Nurture, prune, fertilize, and do whatever else is needed so that I may be with You forever.  Amen.

“And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9).

You have ears, but do you have ears to hear?  Some listen but never hear.  The Lord wants us to hear and understand.  Our Lord wants us to have the life He is offering, but we are not forced to live a life of faith.  Love is not forced.  He loves us and He wants us to learn to love Him.  Love must always be the giving up of the self for the other.  You have ears, are you listening to what our Lord says?

Lord, You know that there are many times when I did not listen even though I heard.  You have told me the same thing in many ways, but I am often slow to learn.  Lord, heal my hearing so that I hear You when You speak.  Open my heart to receive what is right and true, and grant wisdom that I may understand.  You have spoken the words of truth in a world of lies.  Let me receive the truth and live in it.

Lord Jesus, You have spoken in such a way that in every time and place, there is understanding if we hear and obey.  Guide me, Lord, so that I may hear what You say and understand.  Open my eyes to see and believe, for You speak words that are eternally true.  Lord, You are the author of my faith; help me to understand and believe.  Amen.

“Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:7-8).

This world is filled with hostility.  The thorns of this world will choke us if we let them.  You have within you the ability to grow.  Prepare yourself by reading scripture so that you are willing to receive every lesson the Lord will give.  Learn to rid yourself of the resistance which is based upon your self-will so that the Lord’s will may be done in you in all circumstances.  The Lord will not stop until He makes of you what He will.

Lord, even in this I do not know many of my setbacks because I am unwilling to walk in the way You have set before me.  Guide me, Lord Jesus, so that I do not resist Your leading.  Teach me to resist the devil and welcome You, and not do things the other way round.  Through all things, grow Your word of truth in my heart so that I produce what it is that the Father intends with my life.

Lord Jesus, You came to redeem all who believe.  You are the author of my faith.  Help me to give up my self-will so that the Father’s will is done in me.  Guide me according to Your purpose so that I may see the growth of the seeds You have planted in me.  Through all things, do not allow the worries of this world choke the faith You have given me.  Increase my faith according to Your wisdom and keep me humble.  Amen.

“Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.  And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away” (Mark 4:5-6).

So many have such hard shells around them that it seems almost impossible for the truth to penetrate into their hearts.  You and I also have a hardness which life in this age grows.  The worries of this world build a hardness, and the word of the Lord is easily rejected.  The heat this world puts upon us scorches us such that we are paying attention to the heat and not to that which is being scorched.

Lord, help me to see things as they are.  In good times, let me not miss things because I am having a good time.  In bad times, help me not miss things because I am lamenting and fretting over circumstances.  You are always with me.  You will never leave nor forsake me.  Aid me to see through the fog of this age so that I do not have a part in scorching Your word which You have placed in me.

Lord Jesus, You wandered through the wilderness of this age.  You know the difficulties I encounter.  Help me so that every difficulty becomes an opportunity to grow into Your likeness.  Where there is scorching heat, teach me to rest in You and be revived.  Through all things, may Your word grow in me in spite of and not because of circumstances.  Grow my faith in You through all things.  Amen.

“And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up” (Mark 4:2-4).

Jesus teaches us many things in a story form that transcends time, place, or tribe.  Humanity has common experiences which speak of the reality of this age.  Seeds in the ground to grow things and birds of distraction to misdirect so that growth does not happen.  How many times are good things sown in us and then flitter away by something that quickly comes and distracts us?  Be on the alert, Jesus tells us.

Lord, You alone know how many times You have planted something in me only to have it taken away quickly by something in this world.  The seed of Your word has been sown in me.  Teach me how to receive Your word and nurture it so that it grows according to Your will.  Keep my will under Yoursl so that I may grow in the goodness and mercy of Your grace.  Do not let Your word be void in me.

Lord Jesus, You know how easily I become distracted in this age.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy so that I may see the things that come along flittering and trying to gain my attention.  They distract me from what You would give me.  Help me learn to understand things with clarity and live into the life which You intend for me.  Lead me so that I abide in You always. Amen.

He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land” (Mark 4:1).

At a time when there was no amplification, Jesus went out on a boat to talk to the crowds who were seated on a hillside.  A natural amphitheater.  Should it surprise us that God knows these things?  He invented them.  Do see the cleverness of God.  He tells you who He is with every action.  He will use His creation to impart the truth of His presence.  Listen to His purpose and follow Him.

Lord, we think we are clever when we make a discovery about Your creation.  You know these things and You have given us the ability to know them too.  Help me to be thankful for the resourcefulness You grant in wisdom and help me to apply what I learn to live in, and speak the truth, all the days of my life.  Guide me in the wisdom You give, giving thanks for, and rightly using the wisdom for Your kingdom.

Lord Jesus, You are calm and matter-of-fact about things.  You have come into our ordinary lives and offered us the extraordinary gift of salvation.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go.  You have put Yourself in a place in my life where I can clearly hear as You speak.  Help me to hear Your word, be calm, and follow in the way of the promise which You have set before me.  Amen.  

“Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”  Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:31-35).

The family of God is made up of the redeemed sheep in the fold of Christ.  Jesus says it clearly.  We should not listen to the world which is always trying to label us by this identity or that, but by the One through whom all things have their being.  In Him alone do we live, breathe, and have our being.  Come to and through the One who has redeemed you to be one of His, now and forever.

Lord, clear my eyes to see with simplicity the truth that You have revealed.  Yes, I have my earthly family and You have called for me to love them, but my identity is not there.  You have called me to follow You knowing that You are the Creator who has made me and will make me new with an eternal identity.  Help me to love those around me, but to love You and follow where You lead first.

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead the way for as many as believe.  It is You who knows the way from where I have come to the place where I am going.  Help me to live into the identity which You have always intended and created me to have.  Guide me to give thanks for every circumstance and honor where You have placed me while simultaneously honoring You above all things.  Keep me in my identity as a child of God.  Amen.

“Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him.  A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You” (Mark 3:31-32).

We are born in a time and place.  We are born into a family.  There is deep connection with this world.  Some see their identity in family.  Others in position or status.  Others still make up their own idea of what their identity is.  Who are you?  You are a child of the Most High God, created in His image, made with great purpose, born in a fallen world, but offered redemption through God’s only-begotten Son who showed up in time and place.

Lord, the world tells me to choose my identity.  It is telling me all kinds of things.  If my skin is one color, it tells me that my identity is tied to that.  I am told that my identity is tied to my age, financial status, circumstances, or lineage.  I have bought into these lies and sometime espoused them.  Open my eyes to see that You have offered me an eternal identity in You by grace and through faith.

Lord Jesus, You were alone in the world because You spoke and declared that our identity is in the legitimacy of our Heavenly Father.  You looked to Him alone and followed as He directed You.  Help me to see through the fog of this age in order to know that my identity is as a child of the One who created all things including me.  You are the Redeemer and You have cleared the way for my eternal identity.  Help me to live as one whom You have made me to be.  Amen.

“Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” – because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:28-30).

The Holy Spirit must be the One who leads from the inside out.  Whoever will not listen to the Holy Spirit will be doomed to be guided by the rebellious spirits of this age.  Our sins will be forgiven if we walk the path of salvation made possible through Christ.  Do not be led by the spirit of this age, but by The Holy Spirit of the Triune God.  Only through the Holy Spirit’s leading will you find true life.

Lord, never let me deny Your Holy Spirit.  Though I may sin too many times, help me understand that I must be under Your guidance.  Humble me to see the wickedness of this age and instead abide in You knowing that You will abide in me.  I do not need to know the mysteries of the ages, but I do need You to be the One who leads me each day of my life.  You are the Creator of life and apart from You there is no life.  Help me to live in You.

Lord Jesus, the path has been made level and You have come to lead me in the way of everlasting life.  Help me to see the obstacles of this age.  Help me to not fall into the pits and traps of the wicked one.  Lead me not into temptation.  Keep me from ever blaspheming against Your Holy Spirit.  I may not know where that line is, but You do.  Keep me far from that place so that I may humbly learn how to follow You in all of my ways.  Amen.