When my eyes opened the next morning, they didn’t move left or right. They just stared straight up. The ceiling fan above my bed was strangely therapeutic. As I watched it go around and around I recollected my week so far. I’d left my family for a week. I’d given up my connection to the…
Contend for Me
Contend for me, my God and Lord. — Psalm 35:23 God loves it when we fight for Him. But God loves it even more when we let Him fight for us! How do we do that? When we hit our knees, God extends His mighty right hand on our behalf. When we pray, He fights…
Unanswered Prayers
It’s easy to slip into the mentality that we somehow fell through the cracks of God’s good plans. Things are too final. The ink is too dry. The page has been turned. Their heart is too hard. Your heart is too hurt. The doctors have said impossible. The account is too bankrupt. The biological clock…
Applaud God, Loud and Often
Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration. — John 4:24 MSG We suffer from poor I-sight. Not eyesight, a matter of distorted vision that lenses can correct, but I-sight. Poor I-sight blurs your view, not of the world, but of yourself. Some see…
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee: The Story Behind the Song
{1907} Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee God of glory, Lord of love Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee Op’ning to the Sun above Melt the clouds of sin and sadness drive the dark of doubt away Giver of immortal gladness fill us with the light of day Once when recovering from a bout of depression,…
Whose Agenda is Our Concern Anyway?
The first petition in the Lord’s Prayer is that God’s name be hallowed. The second petition, “Your Kingdom come,” builds on the first by showing us how God’s name is hallowed in the world. God reveals His character and reputation as His Kingdom spreads to every corner of the earth and as citizens of that…
Patriot’s Prayer: What We Can Do for Our Country
So this day shall be to you a memorial. — Exodus 12:14 (NKJV) In honor of the veterans of the Civil War, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who had been wounded three times during that war, said the following in a Memorial Day Address in 1884: It is now the moment when by common…
Prayers for Graduates
Heavenly Father… 1) As ____________ weighs the choices that are before her, let her be filled with knowledge and depth of insight, that she may be able to discern what is best and be pure and blameless until Jesus comes again. In her college, her career, and her marriage, let her be filled with…
10 Godly Truths to Encourage You to Keep Praying for Your Future
Editor’s note: The future is uncertain. That’s something we can all agree on. Whether your long-term goal looks like saving for retirement, graduating from school, planning for a new baby, buying a home, or taking that trip that’s been on your bucket list for years, we could all probably use a little encouragement right about…
Why Pray for Wisdom Anyway?
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit. — 1 Corinthians 2:13 Wisdom was there in the very beginning, guiding the creation of the cosmos. Wisdom revealed the one true God to the Jewish people, and spoke truth through their prophets and teachers.…