We live in uncertain times for sure. It’s hard to plan but we can’t stop living. So we need to move forward in faith. Sure, it’s easier said than done but it is possible. It all starts with prayer. Always with prayer. And it continues with prayer. Always with prayer. You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking…
As you know I keep reading and rereading the Bible over and over again. I change translations and start anew. Every time the reading experience is a bit different, it really is the Living Word. I read God and God reads me. It’s our time together. Oftentimes a verse or a passage stays with me for the day or more. This time a verse has stayed with me since last week. I’ve read the verse many times before and I…
It’s springtime, the Easter season, and we should all be joyful, right? Yet people seem to be gloomy and somewhat desperate because of COVID-19. These times remind me of the need of the lost art of lamenting. It’s not complaining, folks. Yet that seems what most people are doing right now. Instead, we should be lamenting. I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.(Ps. 142:1-2, NIV,*)…
Do you tend to get stuck in negative thoughts or feelings? I have good news for you. The antidote to negativity is found in prayer. Truly. We are welcome into God’s presence with any kind of desperation. Transformation happens when our feelings meet the Holy Spirit in prayer. So it’s not us, it’s the Holy Spirit. And that’s why it is so effective. The journey from desperation to transformation is short. It’s only a prayer away. So don’t try to…
The most frustrating thing about God’s guidance is that it happens in God’s time and in God’s way. Of course, we understand it has to be that way. But how we would like to be able to receive it when we want it. If we want to do God’s will, why is it so difficult sometimes to know what to do next? Well, God’s ways are higher than ours for sure. And God values the process of obtaining guidance as…
Do you feel you’re not that talented? Not gifted enough to make a difference? You’re wrong, my dear friend. Let me tell you, being ordinary is not a stumbling block, it’s a stepping stone for the most important work: prayer. Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7, AMP,’) We are all called to pray but many neglect…
I’d always kind of wondered how to pray without ceasing (1 Thess.5:17, NRSV,*) as the Bible tells us to do. You know, we have normal lives to live, right? We can’t drop everything to just pray. So what is the secret for praying without ceasing? I had already learned to pray while working or driving and I cherished my special times of prayer but then I noticed that my whole internal monologue had become a dialogue with God. I seem…
How is your prayer life? Are you praying impossible prayers? Or do you settle for nice little prayers? I hope you choose to pray big, bold prayers. Because that tells me your God is big and mighty. You see, “God delights in answering our impossible prayers” as Bob Goff has put it. God delights in you asking for impossible things. Because that tells him that you a) need him, b) you believe he can do mighty things, and c) you…
Prayer is a gift in so many different ways. First of all, prayer is our way of communicating with God. Isn’t it amazing that – because of Jesus – we can approach God anytime and anywhere? And God is waiting for us. God’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. (Ps. 145:18, MSG) A wondrous thing about prayer is the fact that we are heard. We feel better right after our amen even though it is only…
I hope you, my friend, know that you don’t need to earn your salvation. You receive it as a gift when you believe in Jesus. Grace is enough. You are enough. Why do we then talk so much about tending our faith or growing in our faith? We are called to live with God and a lot of it happens via spiritual exercises. But what if we are for one reason or another so weary that we can’t even think…
