The Law of Moses provided the basis for community ethical life for Israel. The bar seemed high, but Jesus shows the extent to which we all fail to meet God�s holiness standards. We are left wondering, �How can the Law ever be fulfilled?� At this moment, we recognise the importance of Jesus� mission: he has not come to condemn the Law but to fulfil it on our behalf.

Jesus� Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes� statements of blessing which seem to turn conventional wisdom on it�s head. What seems �challenging� in the present results in future �blessing� in the presence of God in his Kingdom. We learn that the Kingdom is �not yet� but our present realities find their fulfilment in the Kingdom to come.

Jesus' parable of the Unjust Judge encourages us to persevere in all our prayers, but particularly in our prayers for the kingdom. We continue to pray that God's rule will extend, one life at a time, so that more and more people embrace him as Lord and Saviour.

The most breath-taking realisation in Jesus' school of prayer is that we are invited to share in the interpersonal life of our Triune God. We are not outsiders and strangers, but insiders to the life of God himself.

Jesus' two scenario stories, with a block of teaching in the middle, teach us to be bold in our asking, knocking and seeking. We should actively ask for what we need, trusting that God will determine what is good for us.

The Lord's Prayer is foundational to the Christian's life of prayer, but perhaps we know it too well. Perhaps we need to '�slow down' to appreciate the privilege of praying this prayer together with the Lord Jesus. It is simple, but not simplistic. It is short, but we never get to the end of praying it.