God Often Wants to Delight Us, If Only We’ll Ask Too many people say safe prayers, such as, “God, please guide . . .” These are safe because no matter what happens, our confidence in God remains unchallenged. These timid prayers accomplish little. Instead we should make bold prayers. Pray with Bold Expectation A few weeks ago, a […]
Discover How God Reacts to the Prayer of Jabez Last week I wrote about The Most Dangerous Prayer in the Bible, at least the prayer containing the most risky line. It’s a reminder that we must forgive quickly and fully. Now let’s look at my favorite prayer in the Bible. It’s the prayer of Jabez, […]
Forgiveness Is a Serious Thing, and We’re Well Advised to Never Withhold It You’re probably familiar with the Lord’s prayer, sometimes informally called by its opening line as the Our Father. It’s a well-known passage in the Bible and many Christian traditions recite it as part of their Sunday worship service. Growing up in a […]
We Honor God and Obey the Bible When We Share Our Prayer Requests with Others Prayer is an important part of my life. It’s part of my daily practice and essential for my work and relationships. I daily pray for God’s blessings and provision for my family and close friends. I also regularly pray for […]
God Gives Us Holy Spirit Inspiration to Guide Us for Our Benefit and His Glory For the last week, I had planned to write the introduction to my next book. I had the whole thing outlined, and I knew what I wanted to cover in the opening pages. Each day I asked God to give […]
Accepting What We’re Taught Without Scrutiny May Cause Us to Believe Things That Aren’t True In the book of Acts, Dr. Luke writes about the Jews that lived in the town of Berea. He called them people with a “more noble character.” What did they do to deserve this label of respect? This was due […]
De We Pray in Jesus’s Name or the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? This isn’t a trick question or a pluralistic way to approach the god of your choice. This is a simple question. When you pray to the God who is revealed in the Bible, whose name do invoke at the end? When you […]
A Personal Essay About Encountering God, Prayer, and Hiding in a Prayer Tower The afternoon assignment at a writers retreat is to take a walk and describe our observations. Leaving the rest of the group in search of some needed solitude, I come upon a sign that simply says, “Prayer Tower.” I can’t ignore the […]
We can learn to pray by following Jesus’s example, as long as we don’t misapply it When it comes to praying, there is no better teacher than Jesus. Perhaps that’s why many of his followers memorize the prayer he taught his disciples and why many churches include this prayer in their church services. We commonly […]
Whether We Pray Often or Seldom, We Have Likely Fallen into Unexamined Habits How do you begin your prayers? What is your common salutation? It might be “Heavenly Father . . .” or perhaps “Father God . . . ” or maybe “Dear God . . . ” (How about, “Hey, God. It’s me again.”) […]