Category Archives: Prayer

The Danger of Unanchored Spirituality

Carlos is a great guitarist but he’s not a careful enough theologian. The idea that “the voice” of God or of a benevolent spirit “will never take you to the desert” is simply mistaken. Continue reading

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Forgiveness (Following Christ Today)

These classes are all about what it means to follow Christ today, but we are not following Christ when we refuse to forgive; we are standing still. So many of us have trouble with this, but forgiveness – and the … Continue reading

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Do You Suffer from Spiritual Apnea?

For the past five years or so, I have been on a quest to sleep better. I have been sleeping poorly since my thirties, and it has only gotten worse as the years have passed. My three sons all followed … Continue reading

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Prayer in Action (Nehemiah 1:1-2:8)

We don’t know how long Nehemiah had served the king, but it was long enough for the king to notice that something was wrong with him, and he asked him about it. Nehemiah says that the king’s question made him “very much afraid.” Why? Because Nehemiah had resolved to ask the king to send him to rebuild Jerusalem, but it was on the king’s order that the rebuilding of Jerusalem had been halted.

Nehemiah was about to ask a Persian sovereign to do an about face, a 180 degree turn. The request itself might be taken as an insult. Nehemiah could be fired—or worse. He had good reason to be “very much afraid.”

But the God who had prepared Nehemiah had also prepared the king. Continue reading

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Prayer in Everyday Life (Colossians 4:2-6)

Paul is not talking about inner room prayers here. He wants Christians to take their praying on the road. As they go about their day, doing their normal things, he wants them to stay alert to God’s voice and be ready to interact with him at any moment. Prayer is not just something we do when we have something to pray about. It is something we do when God has something for us to pray about. That insight in transformative. Continue reading

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Lead Us Not into Temptation

Understanding why you are tempted can help you overcome chronic, difficult temptations. The reason behind temptation may not be something you’ve ever thought about. This message helps us understand why we are tempted and what it means for us to … Continue reading

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Forgive Us Our Trespasses

What did Jesus mean when he said, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors?” Will we not be forgiven if we don’t forgive? And for that matter, why do translations have “debts” when we pray “trespasses”? This message … Continue reading

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Hallowed Be Thy Name

Only when we can pray, “Our Father,” from a full heart can we say truly, “Hallowed by thy name.” This message looks at hallowing the name of “our Father, the One in the heavens.” You live in two worlds – … Continue reading

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Our Father

In this message, we enter, explore, and savor the Lord’s Prayer, which is to say, the prayer he gave his disciples. And what a gift it is! We see in this first sermon that it is those who can call … Continue reading

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Becoming a Person Who Can Pray the Lord’s Prayer

When I was a boy, I wanted to be just like Mickey Mantle. In 1961, he had 514 at bats and he hit 54 homeruns. That means he hit a homerun one out of every 9 or so at bats. … Continue reading

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