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No place for worry
When we really take in what Jesus is saying about the power of the Kingdom, we come to his amazing “guarantee:” you won’t worry. No matter how many times I read this passage in Matthew 6, I still choke on this passage. Worry. Anxiety. Things that keep me up. Things that wake me up. Things that give me nightmares. Worry. Anxiety.…
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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 becomes my permanent residence I…
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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 the United States? In the…
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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 aside our warped definitions of…
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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 not that I can really…
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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 your wondrous works. The Holy…
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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.
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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 than boldness. There needs to…
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I’m Finished with Prayer
It’s been a few months, but I’ve decided I am finished with prayer. The weak prayers I had been praying, the weak effort I had made… none of it was working. Thankfully, God invited me to ask in a different way. He began inviting me to see HIS agenda and then ask for those things. Since then, I’ve decided I’m finished with…
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A new generation of bold faith
May we rise up and insist not on our own ingenuity and skill, but let us call out for the very presence of God. We have become so skilled at drawing a crowd, but in our skill to draw a crowd, we have substituted that for the very presence of God. We have fallen into our own ingenuity trap and…
Category: Spiritual hunger
