-
Daring to pray differently
I woke up this morning with text from Isaiah 2 on my heart and this challenge from the Lord: “Will you dare to pray differently?” This is what Isaiah saw. With the doom and gloom of Isaiah 1, he still saw something different (2:1). The Lord has challenged me over the past few months to ask HIM for my prayers. I have tried…
-
Clueless Christianity
The verse is 1 Cor. 2:10 — “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” Then later in v. 16 — “But we have the mind of Christ.” I wrote in the margin of my Bible: “I have no clue as to how deep I can go!” There are days… and as it relates to my spiritual life:…
-
Jeremiah and the broken heart
I grew up with the phrase describing Jeremiah as “the weeping prophet.” As I read through this powerful book once again, I find myself in a place of feeling that heart break. “Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you said, ‘I will not serve you.’ On every…
-
God hiding his presence
But then you hid your presence. I was terrified. (Ps. 30:7b) Does that even terrify us anymore? If God hid his face from us… would that terrify us? What is an even more horrific thought to me is this: Would we even notice?
-
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…
-
What if Jesus really meant it?
What if Jesus really meant all that stuff in the Sermon on the Mount? You could love your enemies. You could bless those that curse you. You could live in spiritual maturity. You could live with peace and without anxiety. Not only could you… but the implication is you should. What if Jesus really meant all that? No more excuses. He has given…
-
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?…
-
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…
-
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.
-
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…
Tag: Spiritual hunger
