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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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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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We live in panic
We continually live our lives in panic and frustration and anxiety, letting the storms of life dictate the condition to us, all the while forgetting the GOD of those storms resides in the boat with us (Mark 4:35-41)
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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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Understanding the LAVISHNESS of his grace
Pause, if you will, for just a few minutes to read Paul’s opening in 1 Corinthians and somehow take in this thought: “ALL I need is provided. ALL is mine in Christ Jesus. I do not lack.” 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore…
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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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Lent is not just “giving up”
Don’t let Lent just be about giving up social media, or chocolate, or meat. Allow it to be a focus on what Christ wants to do IN you. I would suggest NOT fasting media, but paying more attention to what is going on beyond our own needs. To pray for the “hot spots” like Ukraine, the overlooked like Venezuela and…
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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.
Tag: Prayer
