This exploration of Jesus' teaching on prayer challenges us to move beyond the vending machine approach to spirituality. When Jesus says 'ask, seek, knock,' we often hear a transactional promise—do this, get that. But the deeper translation reveals something more profound: 'keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.' Prayer isn't a one-time transaction but an ongoing process of engagement with the divine. The sermon unpacks how our prayers often mirror our consumer society, where we expect immediate results and feel disappointed when God doesn't deliver like Amazon Prime. Yet when we examine what we're actually praying for—from parking spots to perfect children—we discover something important: our prayers reveal who we are, what we value, and where we need to grow. The invitation isn't to pray less, but to pray more deeply, recognizing that prayer is both a mirror reflecting our own hearts and a quest that transforms us. We're encouraged to pray however we need to, getting our concerns out into the open, while also examining whether our language about God aligns with what we actually believe about divine love and presence.

Where do you cast your "pearls"? In this teaching, we remember that we holy and beloved, invited to do all the good that we can with all that we are. Supporting CrossWalk supports doing much good in the world on many levels. Will you consider supporting CrossWalk with greater generosity than you are currently?

Jesus instructed his followers not to judge others. How's that going for you? In this teaching we examine the difference between judging and offering constructive criticism and the messiness every human being brings to the equation.