Are you ready for 2013? Or do you know how to become ready for a new year? The web is bursting all kinds of self-help articles of how to make the best of 2013. But they leave me empty and unsatisfied. No matter how much planning I’d do for the new year, it does not solve the problems. If I have not ended this year well, the new year will be same old, same old. So the best preparation for…
My word for this year has been devotion because I wanted to truly devote my heart and mind to God this year. Too often we don’t really spend time in God’s presence. And when we do we monopolize the time we spend with him. So I wanted something more: “I want to be seen by God and I want to see God. I want to meet God in his terms. I want to spend time in quiet adoration. I want…
Prayer is such an awesome gift for us. We just neglect it too often. We somehow don’t believe enough in its power. But can we afford not to pray? I don’t think so. I have written a post about my reasons why I can not live without prayer. Prayer simply invites God into our lives. Hence prayer enables us to be human and leaves everything else to God. Prayer is also an antidote for anxiety and a power tool in God’s…
To say prayers in a decent, delicate way is not heavy work. But to pray really, to pray till hell feels the ponderous stroke, to pray till the iron gates of difficulty are opened, till the mountains of obstacles are removed, till the mists are exhaled and the clouds are lifted, and the sunshine of a cloudless day brightens-this is hard work, but it is God’s work, and man’s best labor.~ E.M. Bounds
No one can believe how powerful prayer is and what it can effect, except those who have learned it by experience. Whenever I have prayed earnestly, I have been heard and have obtained more than I prayed for. God sometimes delays, but He always comes.~ Martin Luther
If you don’t pray often, you won’t gain a love for praying. Prayer is work, and therefore it is not very appealing to our natural sensibilities. But the simple rule for prayer is this: Begin praying and your taste for prayer will increase. The more you pray, the more you will acquire the desire for prayer, the energy for prayer, and the sense of purpose in prayer.~ Leslie Ludy The goal of prayer is to live all of my life…
What if instead of people asking ‘how are you doing?’, they asked ‘how is your prayer life?’ That would tell us much more of a person’s well-being, don’t you think? If our prayer life is robust, we are well in Christ. If our prayer life’s been hit by a dry spell, we are not doing that well.
Are you well equipped for your faith journey? Do you have enough tools to tend your faith along the way? Is your spiritual arsenal big enough to fight the good fight of faith? Believe or not these are important questions. If you don’t have adequate faith skills, you are in great danger to wander away when storms rage. We need to build a spiritual arsenal in order to have a healthy spiritual life and stand firm no matter what happens…
There is a fine line between being totally surrendered to God and letting lazily go. I always struggle when a person tells me that they don’t need to plan anything ahead because God will guide them. Don’t get me wrong. I truly believe in God’s guidance. I truly believe in surrendering to God. I truly believe in doing God’s will. But… Faith does not mean letting the world decide for us. We need to be purposeful. We are on our…
Did you know that because of Christ you are free to change? Any time, anywhere. God is personally calling you to follow Him and he has a ready-made plan for you to blossom in his care. Whenever you crave change, cry out to God and be ready to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Surrender yourself to God and he will continue his work in you. Christ has set us free to live a free life. (Gal. 5:1, MSG) Did…
