My book on prayer can be purchased on Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites, plus a Kindle version is also available from Amazon. IGNITING AN IMPASSIONED PRAYER LIFE – How to Develop the Energized, Extended, and Sustainable Life of Prayer You’ve Always Wanted. Do you wish...
Prayer, like most spiritual practices, is subject to a spectrum of opinion and conviction as to how it is best practiced. Prayer in a word, means different things to different people. Typically we associate prayer with some form of communication and personal encounter with God....
When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD… Numbers 11:2 (NIV) Why is prayer often the great omission when it comes to discussion of spiritual leadership? In my humble estimation the topic of leadership is the most frequent focus of...
“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this.” Psalms 37:4-5 NIV
There is nothing like being head over heals in love with someone, when nothing else matters, other than simply spending time enjoying one another’s presence.
The delights of love have a way of reordering priorities and disarming fears of commitment that otherwise or heretofore would never have even been considered.
That said, the key to true satisfaction and enjoyment in life begins with delighting and aligning our hearts with the heart of God.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 ESV
Over the long haul, getting tired and losing heart even in the most noble of commitments is a very real temptation, especially in the grip of winter in February.
When the desire of our heart longs for a season of reprieve but everything around us breathes “not yet” this reminder of God’s purpose for us in pressing on is a lifeline.
The doing of good is always in season for those on the receiving end who desperately need it, while the promise of a season of reward also awaits those who give it.
“May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in https://tomstuart.org/2020/02/03/more-grace-and-peace/ ur knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2 NLT
Given the twists and turns of life, the trials and temptations, our weaknesses and failures, if there is one thing we all need it’s MORE GRACE AND PEACE.
Inseparable, like some great cause and effect, we see the power of abounding grace to beget a reconciling peace, as evidenced in the life of Peter who penned this prayer. Jesus’ gracious forgiveness of Peter’s betrayal forever sealed in his heart the peace to carry on.
That is why the prayer for “grace and peace” is the most frequent greeting used in the Epistles of Paul and John also, and we would do well to believe and receive it for ourselves again today.
“My ears had
heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I retract my words, and
I repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:5-6
BSB
Job’s confession above, uttered at the conclusion of 41 chapters of suffering, reveals two hope-filled and redemptive benefits that await those who remain faithful in tribulation.
In and through it we are drawn into a deeper relationship with God in which hearsay knowledge is replaced by an eye-opening revelation of His love, acceptance, and forgiveness through a face-to-face encounter with Him.
And the experience is transformative, in that we recognize our desperate need for change, and are enabled to respond in humility by acknowledging our frailties and shortcomings.
“You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us into abundance.” Psalm 66:12 ESV
There is a mystery and wildness to God as it pertains to the unpredictable ways He works in our lives. We puzzle at circumstances we must endure in our journey with Him that eclipse our reason and are totally beyond our control.
In the natural we would never imagine that His chosen path to abundance would lead through discouraging defeats and trying circumstances marked by suffering.
But God’s pathway to an abundant life is one in which we must first come to the end of our effort and control, so that His gracious intervention is all we have to get us there.
MY BOOK ON PRAYER! Available on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and from this Website. Go to Prayer Resources tab above for Info & Links to Order it!
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