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Prayer — Who Are You Talking To?
Several years ago the pastors in our city were asked to put together a rotation for each of us to come in and give an invocation at the city council meetings. It has been a privilege to do so. In one two year stretch we had a different mayor who came to our clergy group and asked us to not…
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Why Keep on Asking?
What is it with prayer and Jesus’ teaching to be persistent? Why not just barely ask once and leave it? Sometimes it’s because we’re not ready for the answer needed. We need to be better prepared and when we keep on asking we also begin thinking more. The Spirit can then prepare us for what is needed and we become…
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Choosing the Good Part
The stories of Luke 10 give me pictures of ministry priorities. In the sending of the 72, it is remembering the call of God. Jesus asks the 72 to go and do what they had watched him do. Teach what he had taught them. Know your call. The parable of the good Samaritan is a nice bridge. One emphasis is…
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Living in the Power of Prayer
If there is one thing Luke shows us in his gospel, it’s the tie-in of Jesus’ ministry with prayer. When Jesus would give himself to prayer (and Luke points it out early and often) something happened. It’s no wonder that the disciples finally get it in Luke 11. They see Jesus praying yet again and finally got the courage up…
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Translation Battles and the Advantage of One Main Bible
I try to read broadly on issues of English translations, though I know I miss a lot. Over the past several years I have wanted to settle in on a translation that is useful for me in personal study and in public reading. As I have settled on one main translation (and still using a LOT of others as I…
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The Lesson of the Controlled Burn
Last week when I arrived at the retreat center for my silent prayer retreat the staff let me know they would be doing a controlled burn in the meadow near my cabin. It saved me from panicking when I saw the smoke a few hours later. Being a guy, I had to walk over to see what was happening. The…
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The Gift of Silence
The discipline of silence and solitude is God’s gift to us. It is not our time to come in with our agendas. It is his time to allow us to gear down. To put it bluntly for pastors, it is a time that is needed. We talk too much. There are times we need the Spirit to say to us,…
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Embracing the Silence
As I am away on a silent retreat, I wanted to leave some thoughts on silence and solitude. These are from Thomas Merton. “In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves in the mirror of our own futility, and be content to be in Him and to do whatever He…
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Setting the Pilgrim’s Heart
I will be away at a silent retreat this weekend. It is time to come away and listen. My Bible and journal will be the only items to join me. No study materials. It is time to HEAR. My heart is longing for refreshing, as is my body. The silence is wonderful. These are times when I joyfully pull aside…
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Making Jesus “Routine”
Is my worship routine? Is my devotion routine? As I read Luke 7:36ff, I ask some tough questions of myself. Do I just expect Jesus to be “in my house?” “Well, of course Jesus is in my house! I’m his ‘choice servant’!” So, I just sit down with Jesus and get into a conversation. Maybe it’s even a “theological discussion”…
Category: Prayer
