Category Archives: Living the Christian Life

Freedom in Fasting

Posted on January 7, 2018 | Leave a comment

A fast that God approves

Many churches and individuals begin the New Year with a 21-day Daniel Fast. My church has done it for the past several years and I have participated in many of them. Last year I did not because I dreaded facing weeks of preparation reading labels, spending extra money on appropriate food items, looking for recipes that were Daniel-fast approved, etc. etc. etc.

(In 2016 I wrote a post about why this approach to fasting was troubling to me—see the link below to read that post). Continue reading →

Advertisements

Leave a comment

Posted in Fasting, Living the Christian Life, Prayer, The Church

Tagged , , ,

Thanksgiving

Posted on November 13, 2017 | Leave a comment

It’s that time of year when we give thanks for all of our blessings—both as individuals and as a nation. Our thankfulness usually focuses on our material blessings—our daily provision of food, our jobs and homes, our family and friends and our freedom as a nation. While we should thank God for all of these blessings, how many of us ever give thanks for the trials and difficulties of the past year?

Why should we do this? Author and speaker, John Bevere says in his new book, Killing Kryptonite, that “Adversity locates the strength of our faith.” In other words, life’s difficulties are a kind spiritual thermometer that reveals whether we are trusting in our own ability to get through our trials or whether we are really putting our faith in God.  Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in America, Christian Holidays, Living the Christian Life, Peace, Thankfulness

Tagged , , , ,

Online class–Lord, It’s Boring in My Prayer Closet

Posted on October 3, 2017 | Leave a comment

Join me for an online class on prayer!

I teach an online  course based on my book, Lord, It’s Boring in My Prayer Closet, for BeADisciple.com–a great online site affiliated with Southwestern College that offers a variety of Christian classes for pastors, lay leaders and all who want to go deeper with the Lord.

 

For more info see click here: BeADisciple

Leave a comment

Posted in Living the Christian Life, Meditation, Prayer, Small group study on prayer, Spiritual Warfare, Topical Study on Prayer

Tagged , , , , , ,

Is God Hiding His Face from America?

Posted on September 12, 2017 | 2 comments
Photo of Hurricane Irma from space

Hurricane Irma from space

My heart has been heavy the last few weeks as I’ve prayed over all the disasters that have come upon the United States—floods from Harvey; wildfires across the mid and western states, Irma—one of the biggest and most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the Caribbean and Florida; a destructive earthquake in Mexico. And that doesn’t include the ongoing unstable political situations around the world.

Social media is full of requests to pray for the victims of all these disasters. And while we should pray, I’m saddened that the majority of Americans and many Christians do not have a clue as to what these disasters might be pointing to for the future of America as a nation.  Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in America, Living the Christian Life, Nature, Prayer

Tagged , , ,

Praying God-Inspired Prayers

Posted on April 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

Bible and cup of coffeeOften our prayer time can feel more like a burden than a joy. In fact, it can be downright boring! Perhaps it’s because we’re going to God with our grocery list of needs and wants instead of listening to what God wants us to pray.

Joyce Meyer, in her book Hearing from God Each Morning says:

I think one of the reasons we sometimes feel unfulfilled in prayer or sense that we are not finished praying about a matter is that we spend so much time just praying our prayers. But—there is a better, higher, more effective way to pray: praying God’s prayers. To be honest with you, if I am praying my prayer, I can pray about something for fifteen minutes and still feel unfinished; but if I am being led by the Holy Spirit and praying God’s prayer, I can pray two sentences and feel completely satisfied. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Living the Christian Life, Meditation, Prayer

Tagged , , ,