What would happen if the church, the people of God, began to pray daily for the spiritual needs of the world? Richard Lovelace helps us imagine what might happen: "If all regenerate church members in Western Christendom were to intercede daily simply for the most obvious spiritual concerns visible in their homes, their workplaces, their local churches and … [Read more...] about Incalculable Transformation
Prayer
Forgotten Prayers
An old prayer I came across. Briefly jotted in a journal. I had forgotten about the prayer, a simple prayer for my child, from 12 years ago. Seeing the prayer staring back at me, still there, reminded me that the Lord had no more forgotten this prayer than my journal had. “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? … [Read more...] about Forgotten Prayers
As You Can
A good morsel of prayer advice I pass on to you: Pray as you can, not as you can’t. (T. Staton) What a simple but profound thought. Rather than push off prayer to some future moment when you can “really” pray, why not pray as you can now? Rather than focus on your shortcomings in prayer, why not accept your current limitations and just pray as you … [Read more...] about As You Can
Finding the Grace, Praying the Gratitude
Each day is layered with grace upon grace. But in the rush and grumbles of life we may not notice these layers. Tyler Staton provides one possible antidote to our oblivion. Staton relays a helpful prayer practice to reveal these layers of grace and to produce gratitude. The practice is called dayenu (die-EE-new) prayer. Dayenu is a Hebrew word that means something … [Read more...] about Finding the Grace, Praying the Gratitude
How to Reach the Hearts of Your Children
From Paul E. Miller: It took me seventeen years to realize I couldn't parent on my own. It was not a great spiritual insight, just a realistic observation. If I didn't pray deliberately and reflectively for members of my family by name every morning, they'd kill one another. I was incapable of getting inside their hearts. I was desperate. But even more, I couldn't change my … [Read more...] about How to Reach the Hearts of Your Children