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...
“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.
“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” Psalms 138:8 ESV
Prolonged trials with little or no relief have a way of eroding our confidence that God sees and hears, often generating fears of abandonment.
It is enlightening to see in this verse how the Psalmist David chooses in the face of his temporal afflictions and fears, to focus upon the eternal truths of God’s purposes and love.
His and our confession to that fact, is the best antidote there is to the False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR), trying to deceive us to the contrary.
It reminds us that God’s purposes will prevail no matter what our circumstances and that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
As we enter into 2020, this is a fitting promise and prayer that God would give us a 20/20 faith to see the things which He is doing in the unseen and eternal realm of the Spirit.
Data gathered from our senses often blurr or belie the truth of God’s nature, His word, and unfolding of His plans and purposes for our lives.
To “walk by faith and not by sight” means focusing NOT on what we are going through BUT on what He is bringing us to.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Matthew 6:20 NIV
As the year and decade draw to a close, with ruminations of what was or could have been, God invites us to consider with gravity and gratefulness those things in life of eternal value.
The sentimentality of Christmas and year-end awareness of the brevity of life should hopefully cause us to make a renewed commitment to investing our days in serving Him.
Over a century ago C. T. Studd, pioneer missionary to China, India, and Africa, demonstrated it and said it best: “Only one life ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15 ESV
The key to unlocking the treasured promises in this verse is in understanding the Hebrew word translated “returning” literally means to “withdraw,” as from war.
We all have things in our lives for which we are contending or striving; that consume enormous amounts of time and energy, but often result only in frustration.
It is in just such situations we need to heed God’s call to withdraw from the battlefront, and seek the rest that comes in trusting Him to accomplish what we cannot.
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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