Studies, reading plans and every single day within them, alongside devotionals and articles. Search by title, book of the Bible, passage or topic.
Bible Memory collection
Prayer in Scripture is more ordinary and more confident than most of us assume. These verses teach both the freedom and the shape of it. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and his peace will…
Chapter study
Philippians 4 is one of the most quoted chapters in the New Testament, and also one of the most misquoted. 'I can do all things through Christ' has been printed on posters for athletic victories and business success,…
Dig Deeper
Philippians 4:19 My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Need, not wishes, and the measure is His riches in glory. The word but ties the promise back to the gift the…
Dig Deeper
Philippians 4:6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Careful in older English means full of care, anxious. The Greek verb merimnao…
Bible study
Paul's field manual for anxiety, written from a prison cell Philippians 4:6-7 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of…
Dig Deeper
Philippians 4:11-12 Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have…
Reading plan
The Psalms teach us how to speak to God honestly: in gladness, in grief, and in the long middle stretch where nothing seems to move. Read one each morning, slowly, aloud if you can. Prayer Hope Worship The Psalms are…
Verse study
μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε meden merimnate Greek Merimnao describes a mind divided and pulled apart by care, the same verb Jesus uses three times in Matthew 6:25-34 when He tells His disciples not to be anxious about food,…
Verse study
πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με panta ischyo en to endynamounti me Greek Ischyo means to have strength or ability; endynamoo, to empower, appears in the present tense, describing ongoing rather than one-time…
Verse study
αὐτάρκης εἶναι autarkes einai Greek Autarkes, self-sufficient, was a prized Stoic virtue achieved through detachment and reason. Paul uses the word but roots the sufficiency in Christ's strength (v.13), not in the…
Verse study
The 'but' that connects the promise to what came before Verse 19 opens with 'but,' linking it directly to the paragraph just finished (vv.14-18), where Paul thanks the Philippians for their sacrificial gift, describing…
Verse study
χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε chairete en kyrio pantote Greek Chairo, to rejoice, appears at least sixteen times across Philippians' four chapters, giving the letter its reputation as the epistle of joy despite being…
Verse study
ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν he eirene tou theou he hyperechousa panta noun Greek Hyperecho means to surpass or rise above; the peace exceeds ordinary human reasoning (nous) rather than being produced by…
52 Week Journey
The Psalms are the only book of the Bible written mostly as prayer and song rather than as instruction addressed to us. They are Israel's own words to God, kept and sung for generations, and Jesus prayed them, quoted…
52 Week Journey
The disciples did not ask Jesus to teach them to preach or to heal. They asked Him to teach them to pray, which suggests they had noticed something in His praying that they lacked. This week takes prayer apart the way…
Verse study
A list built for the mind, not just the mouth Verse 8 gives eight qualities across six 'whatsoever things are' clauses plus two summarizing categories (virtue, praise): true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report,…
Devotional
Psalm 143:8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. Anxious mornings rarely need more information. They…
Devotional
1 Kings 19:12 and after the earthquake a fire; but Yahweh was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. WEB Elijah has just seen fire fall from heaven on Carmel, and yet on the run from Jezebel he…
Devotional
Psalm 96:13 Let all the trees of the woods sing for joy before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the truth with his peoples. WEB The psalm ends not…
Devotional
Psalm 141:3 Set a watch, Yahweh, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. WEB David does not resolve to control his own tongue by willpower. He asks Yahweh to set the watch and keep the door, treating restraint of…
Devotional
Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? WEB This psalm is written by someone in exile,…
Devotional
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. WEB Three commands,…
Daily reading
Read Matthew 11 whole. The invitation arrives after John's doubt and after towns that refused, which makes the gentleness in verse 29 remarkable. Jesus answers John's doubt with evidence rather than rebuke. Come to me,…
Daily reading
Read 2 Corinthians 12. It is Paul's strangest boast, because the thing he stops hiding is the thing that keeps him close to God. He asked three times, which is the same number as Gethsemane. Sufficient is present…
Daily reading
Read Philippians 4, then open the Audela study of the chapter. Watch how practical Paul becomes: names, a disagreement, a gift, a list of things to think about. Rejoice is a command given twice before anxiety is even…
Devotional
Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. WEB The psalmist does not wait to feel grateful before entering. Thanksgiving is the manner…
Devotional
Psalm 30:5 For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. WEB The psalm's heading calls it a song at the dedication of the house, and David…
Devotional
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. WEB Paul has just…
Devotional
Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. WEB This psalm is attributed, in its heading, to David after Nathan…
Devotional
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them. WEB The week ends by taking the pressure off your…
Devotional
Psalm 13:1 How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? WEB David asks the same question four times in the first two verses: how long. He is not managing his feelings before…
Devotional
Psalm 131:2 Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. WEB This is one of the shortest psalms, only three verses, and it names something…
Devotional
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and…
Devotional
Luke 11:1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” WEB The request comes after they watch Him pray. Something…
Devotional
Psalm 34:18 Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. WEB This verse does not say God is near to those who have recovered from their broken heart. It says He is near to…
Devotional
Matthew 6:9 Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. WEB Jesus begins with relationship and ends the line with reverence. Father, so you may come freely. In heaven and hallowed, so you never…
Devotional
Psalm 42:11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God. WEB The psalmist talks to his own soul,…
Devotional
Philippians 4:6-7 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your…
Topic study
Prayer is not primarily a way to get things from God. It is the way a creature answers back to the Creator who has invited the conversation. Most people, if pressed, would define prayer as asking God for something.…
Biblical concept
The kingdom of God is God's rule, not a territory. Mark opens the ministry of Jesus with the announcement that the kingdom of God has come near, and calls for repentance and faith as the response. Scripture speaks of…
Place in Scripture
Mountains in Scripture are meeting places. Abraham is sent to a mountain in Moriah, Moses receives the law on Sinai, the temple is built on a hill in Jerusalem, Jesus teaches, is transfigured, prays and is crucified on…
Biblical concept
To anoint someone was to pour oil on their head and so mark them out as chosen for a task God had given. Samuel anoints Saul and then David, and in David's case Scripture says the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him…
Biblical concept
Jesus says he is the true vine and his followers are branches, and that a branch bears fruit only while it stays joined to the vine. Apart from me you can do nothing is the plainest sentence in the passage. The Old…
Christian Living
1 Timothy 4:7-8 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and…
Christian Living
Romans 12:2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. WEB romans 12 Most people look for God's…
Christian Living
Psalm 103:2-3 Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits; who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases; WEB psalms 103 David puts forgiveness and healing side by side, and the order matters.…
Christian Living
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. WEB john 10 Jesus assumes His people can recognise Him. Notice the order in the verse: hearing, being known, following. Sheep do not learn the…
Christian Living
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. WEB john 14 Jesus does not describe the Spirit as an…
Christian Living
Ephesians 6:12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of…
Christian Living
John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” WEB john 4 Jesus says this to a woman who wanted to know which mountain was the right one. He moves the question from place to…
Bible question
1 John 5:14 This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. WEB Before anything is explained, hear God speak about your prayers in his own words. 1 John…
Bible question
Romans 10:9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. WEB This is the passage where Paul answers the question directly,…
Bible question
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape,…
Bible question
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. WEB Let God's own words set the terms before the study begins. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t…
Bible question
Matthew 6:9 Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. WEB This is one of the few questions the disciples asked out loud, and Jesus answered it directly. Read his answer before any advice about…
Bible question
John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” WEB Read three passages before any argument. One is a claim Jesus made, one is what his hearers understood by it, one is what a disciple said to his face. John 8:58…
Bible question
1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. WEB Read the…
Bible question
Matthew 6:31-34 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you…
Bible question
Psalm 13:1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? WEB Scripture speaks first, and what it says about silence is more honest…
Prayer
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. Paul does not treat…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.