Apprentice 2 Jesus

Prayer

  • Remind me of my real home

    A prayer I saw on the Renovare site today: Jesus, everlasting Teacher, use my out-of-placeness to remind me again of my alien status in this world. I belong to another kingdom and live out of another reality. May I always be ultimately concerned to learn the nuances of this eternal reality so that when it… Read more

  • Urgent calls in prayer that seem odd

    The call to “lay it on the line” is usually reserved for the hardest places in the world. Places hostile to the gospel, or at least “hard” to the gospel. We support many missionaries in areas like this who are answering the call to “live dead.” But… that doesn’t apply to us, does it? In… Read more

  • Persistence leads to “moments”

    Ever look at something, someone, an event, or some story of success and the storyline seems to be: “They are an ‘overnight’ success?” For me as a pastor it seems that we get these stories of “overnight” success of churches, ministries, etc. It’s like, “all of a sudden” here is this huge success story. Laying… Read more

  • Holy anger and prayer

    I said “holy” anger only to make it sound more spiritual, I guess. I was thinking about prayer and passion in prayer in the past couple of days. This thought has occurred to me as I have mulled over my laziness in prayer. When the enemy attacks me, I can pretty much “take it.” It’s… Read more

  • Why we must keep praying

    I am currently working my daily reading through Mark Batterson’s Draw the Circle. Today’s reading reminds me again as to WHY I must pray. Often I think of prayer as what I bring to God and want to see right away, or at least in my lifetime! Otherwise, why pray? I mean, if God isn’t going to answer my… Read more

  • A heart that clings to God

    The assault of so many “inputs” in our lives makes it incredibly difficult to concentrate. We simply have so much noise in our lives. We need a determination to push through and focus on the ways of God. It takes determination. The Psalmist cries out: Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on… Read more

  • Prayer and Action

    “We can pray until our knees are numb, but if our praying isn’t accompanied by acting, then we won’t get anywhere. We need to put feet to our faith.” — Mark Batterson, Draw the Circle. Read more

  • Let me be shameless in my prayer!

    In Matthew 9 we have the story of the woman dealing with disease for all that time and hearing that Jesus was nearby. She reached out. She pressed in. She overcame all societal barriers to give one last-gasp effort for healing. I need that shameless attitude in my own life. There needs to be more… Read more

  • Heartbreaking Headlines

    Just perusing headlines on a news site reveals the incredible polarization of our world and wealth. One headline said this: “Couple in China ‘sell’ their daughter for an iPhone.” A couple of headlines down was this: “HSBC unit ordered to pay about $2.46B in lawsuit.” The vast differences between “worlds” pricks my heart and causes… Read more

  • The scary thing about prayer

    When we pray we will learn to listen. That listening part gets scary. When I am listening I find the Lord challenging me for MORE. We need to hear from heaven. We need to hear HIS will. When he calls us out for more we need to respond. It is the work of prayer that… Read more