Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for March 6, 2011

Series in Colossians / Series on Prayer (Colossians 4:2)

“Pray Persistently” – 1 Kings 18:41-46

1 Kings 18:41-46; Luke 17:30-37; 18:1-8

Introduction: Simeon the Stylite, a desert monk, a hermit, in the fourth century
(style, in Greek, means pillar). He lived on a platform atop a 60 ft. pole for
over 30 years. His disciples brought him his vegetarian food.

Rationale for the rise of monasticism: When Christians started becoming
complacent and focused on self-fulfillment in the ease of living in the era of
state-sanctioned Christianity, some sought, through self-imposed hardship, to
return to the Christ-centered focus brought by the hardship of persecution
in earlier times.