My birthday — #74! A day for spiritual reflections! Perhaps in my private prayers, I do not pray “out loud” often enough in. Thinking (rather than audibly saying) the words I share with God is powerful. I am confident God knows and “hears” my thoughts, meditations, and communication. I know that the Spirit intercedes when …
Category Archives: Prayer
Understanding the Christian Life
The words from Mark Bergin caught my attention: “And so we open the Scriptures and say our prayers, not in an effort to be with him, but because he is already with us.” What a wonderful truth, shining light clearly on a common misunderstanding of the Christian life. Bible reading and prayer is not a …
…The Behinder You Get
[Note: As I seek to use the last month of 2013 to establish effective spiritual habits for the coming year, today I reprint an article I penned several years ago. May God bless our every effort to walk each day more closely with Him.] My mother often encouraged my sister and I to slow and …
Psalm 17: A Model for Praying in the Midst of Problems
The symmetrical outline of the Psalms as presented in the NIV Study Bible parallels Psalm 17 with the better known Psalm 22 (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) Both are briefly described as pleas for deliverance from the foes. The shorter Psalm 17 deserves more attention and awareness than it typically receives. …
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A New Week, A New Month: A Pattern for Our Lives–Psalm 101
Psalm 101 is the first of ten psalms that appear to stand together as a group. The section is framed by two kingly psalms–Psalm 101 and Psalm 110. Psalm 101, only eight verses long, is one of my favorites. (Although it has eight verses, it contains seven couplets or parallel thoughts; see the text divisions …
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Psalm 5: A Morning Prayer
Psalm 5 is known as a morning prayer, perhaps associated with the morning sacrifice in Israel, but also a call for God’s help in the face of false rumors and accusations, implications and innuendos. A part of the Psalm says, “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my …
An Idea for Prayer
Many mornings, one of my early activities is check in on Facebook and send a few birthday greetings. Late last year, I noticed that my page randomly loads 10 friends when I open it. Each day’s friends sampler is different. I decided to include those whose names and pictures appear in the list, and also …
Praying: hope and patience
I am praying today. I hope that goes without saying. I write a lot of prayers, but don’t often share them. Writing is one way I slow my mind and contemplate my God. Dear Father and God, promise-giver and hope-sustainer, please give me today the patience I need to wait on Your will and your …
When I Don’t Understand
The Bible is indeed Good News! The Bible is good news for the world, the Bible is good news for Christians. Every good and perfect gift is from God. This text from James says God is the giver of all good gifts. God is the giver of all we need. In Matthew 7, we find …
An Open Door
Many churches in our nation have an unrecognized, unused opportunity for evangelism not far from their front door. There is a place where the gospel can be preached regularly to a captive audience. That place is the prisons and jails of our nation. There are more people in prison in our nation than ever before. …