Talking to God on a Regular Basis Is Key to Life and Faith; Don’t Live Without It The Bible talks about praying in the morning, at noon, and in the evening (Psalm 55:17 and Daniel 6:10). Though never a biblical requirement, the idea of praying each day at 9:00 a.m., noon, and 3:00 p.m. became […]
Sometimes We Blame God for Our Pain, When We’re the Source of Our Troubles A lament is an expression of grief, sorrow, pain, regret, despair…you get the picture. Lament occurs when life overwhelms our hearts and steals our tomorrows. Many of the Psalms are laments. Though lamenting is biblical, our church services seldom includes the […]
We Must Trust that God Always Has Our Best Interest in Mind Regardless of What Happens I recently prayed for a friend who was interviewing for a job. I have prayed for her interviews many times in the past only to not receive the answer we wanted. Sometimes she was summarily removed from consideration at […]
Supernatural Conversations With the Divine Can Happen If We’re Ready to Listen For much of my life I believed what well-meaning people taught me. They said I could talk to God through prayer, and he would talk to me through the Bible, but that I couldn’t directly hear from God. Though both methods provided one-way […]
We Never Know Who Has a Deep Need for Prayer or How Much Our Words Could Help I volunteer at a parachurch organization that helps people in need and shows them the love of Jesus. After the participants had left, I poked my head into a classroom to wave goodbye to one of the leaders. […]
Last week I blogged about saying the Lord’s Prayer each Sunday in church as a kid and my apprehension for doing so. I cited my reason as the phrase “vain repetitions” (KJV) found in Jesus’s warning about how not to pray. The NIV is more colorful in its rendering: “babbling like pagans.” Though I didn’t […]
Let Us Pray Recently my wife and I were hanging out with friends, good friends, the best. The time we spend together is always a spiritual experience. As we immerse ourselves in each other’s presence, God joins us. We don’t realize time’s passing, only becoming aware of the hour after seeking out a clock. The […]
What does the word amen mean? It sometimes seems like amen must mean “the prayer is over,” or “I’m done praying?” Or perhaps “I have nothing more to say.” Maybe we don’t even think about saying it; we just do. The Amplified Bible gives us the answer. It says amen means “so let it be” […]
Be Sure to Follow through in What you Say You’ll Do Prayer is important to me, and I often pray for others. However, I seldom promise to pray for them. Why is that? Too many times, people have told me they’d pray for me, but I sensed they never would. Their words were hollow. Perhaps […]
Three Outcomes to Consider When people ask for prayer, I’m eager to do so. Prayer is important; prayer makes a difference. God wants us to pray, and it’s part of our spiritual formation. So when someone asks, “Will you pray for me?” I pray. Often I pray right away, either silently or out loud, depending […]