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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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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 prayer… what’s the point? Right?…
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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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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 me to pray a bit…
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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 scares me. The thing 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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Thankful for the promises
The past few weeks have been powerful as I’ve prepared to time away in a prayer retreat, then asked God for messages for our leadership retreat. Now… it’s the work of fulfilling those promises. It’s the work of prayer. As I prayed tonight I once again pulled out Isaiah 61. I was using my Olive Tree Reader, so I had some notes…
Tag: Prayer
