Apprentice 2 Jesus

Prayer

  • The “Crushing” Beauty of the Savior

    For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isa. 57:15, NIV) We are to… Read more

  • Fasting and Loosing Chains

    6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them,… Read more

  • Beans and Rice… and Prayer… and Saving Money

    I continue to be challenged in prayer. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to pray more, and I found out God seems to be always talking. (I may need to look into that correlation.) One of the challenges for me is to fast regularly. My wife and I have decided to fast once a week. This… Read more

  • Tired of the status quo

    A quote I’ve carried with me for over a week: Prayer is rebellions against the status quo.  As I was reading through Isaiah today, and came to chapter 54, I noticed in my margins I had written, “No more status quo.” These were the verses: Sing, barren woman who has borne no child; break forth into… Read more

  • The Pressing IN of Faith

    The gospel for reading this morning was Luke 8:40ff. There are two people pressing in: Jairus (for his daughter) and the woman with the bleeding problem. Both needed to press in hard. Jairus comes and gets Jesus, but when word comes that his daughter is dead, the common sense thing would be to forget about… Read more

  • Intimidation

    Malala Yousafzai is 14 years old. At age 11 she stood up to the Taliban in her part of Pakistan. How? By going to school. The Taliban forbid girls to be educated. She has spoken out for girls to be educated, she has written about it, and she has gone to school. This week she… Read more

  • What Does It Mean to “Own” a Country?

    Actually, I have no idea. It was a challenge dropped into my heart during prayer a few weeks ago. There have been several things dropped into my heart in the past few weeks that have stirred me to prayer. These are things beyond me. Owning a country is one of them. It’s not “buying” a country.… Read more

  • Are We Angry When We Intercede?

    What is prayer? What is intercession? This thought rattled my mind this afternoon: What is the nature of petitionary prayer? lt is, in essence, rebellion —rebellion against the world in its fallenness, the absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal what is pervasively abnormal. It is, in this its negative aspect, the refusal of… Read more

  • EM Bounds on Prayer

      Fervency in prayer is the precursor of what God will do by way of answer. God stands pledged to give us the desire of our hearts in proportion to the fervency of spirit we exhibit, when seeking His face in prayer. — E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer   Read more

  • Designed for his presence

    Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the Lord’s glory has shone upon you. (Isa. 60:1, CEB) We are called to be people of the presence. God’s design is for his glory to dwell among us. As the people of God, we are vessels of his glory. We are called to radiate his presence, his glory. Live… Read more