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All the shouting and we forget something
We’ve just gone ballistic. Between World Vision and the Supreme Court case with Hobby Lobby, we’re just plain nuts. I’ve done all I can to just read and evaluate and pray… but we’re just going nuts. As I sit here watching Facebook and Twitter just explode with anger (as it did yesterday with the first World Vision decision), what has been lacking is…
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Learning to chew on the Word
It’s that evil word so many evangelical/fundamentalists don’t like: meditation. Simon Chan in his book, Spiritual Theology, reflects deeply on the need for scripture meditation. We are given too quickly to analysis in our Western mindset. We see a text and think one of two things: “I need to do a word study and historical background and cultural background and literary analysis on…
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Prayer of Self-Examination
“One of the great neglected duties of the Christian life is self-examination, and maybe self-examination is neglected because it is so humiliating an exercise.” — William Barclay
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Abusing prayer
Even with our technological advances, we can still be tempted with the ancient practice of magic in our prayers. Magic is trying to manipulate natural or supernatural powers to serve our purposes. The self stands at the center of the universe, not God. Modern technologists are the successors to pagan magicians. The magical attitude exists among technologically minded Christians as…
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Frontline Prayer
I am getting into Timothy Keller’s book Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. I have been refreshed by the subject matter of prayer, and more specifically revival prayer. He discusses “frontline prayer,” which consists of these elements: 1. A request for grace to confess sins and to humble ourselves. 2. A compassion and zeal for the flourishing of the church…
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Rock and the hard place
There is a saying where you can find yourself “between a rock and a hard place.” Yesterday was one of those days. There are just those intense moments… or hours… or days… when the pressure is so intense. Even crying out to God seems laborious. Psalm 40 is a cry for help. It is the psalmist assuring God he (the psalmist) is…
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Daniel’s Prayer of Confession
In this season, it’s not just about “our” sins (on a personal level), but OUR sins as a whole. When Daniel gave confession for Israel, he didn’t lay it on those who had gone before. He had done nothing wrong in his life to personally bring Israel into captivity, but in this prayer, he inserts himself into the confession. Note…
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Holy Spirit Proving Grounds
The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. (Matt. 4:1-11) There are places where the Spirit will lead us to test our character. Even if the event seems intense, it’s a “controlled environment.” We miss those proving ground tests all too often in our own lives. We have weak theologies that don’t believe in a devil, or…
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The gift of his presence
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32, NIV) The beauty of coming away in solitude is the gift of Christ himself.
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Sacred Idleness
Work is not always required. There is such a thing as sacred idleness. – George MacDonald
Category: Prayer
