Tag Archives: Prayer

Leaving Home (not knowing where we are going)

Posted on April 7, 2023 by salooper57

I will be finishing up the work that God gave me to do at Lockwood Community Church over the next few months. It has be a long, fruitful, and (for the most part) happy time. My wife and I have … Continue reading →

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The Danger of Unanchored Spirituality

Posted on March 11, 2023 by salooper57

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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When God Comes Near (Isiah 63:15-64:9)

Posted on February 26, 2023 by salooper57

This past week reports of a revival on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, KY, made the Washington Times, Washington Examiner, FOX News, NBC news, Christianity Today, CBN, and a host of other news outlets. People are excited. People … Continue reading →

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Prayer in Action (Nehemiah 1:1-2:8)

Posted on November 27, 2022 by salooper57

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)

Posted on November 13, 2022 by salooper57

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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ASK: Following Christ Today (Matthew 7:1-8)

Posted on November 9, 2022 by salooper57

This class is about how Christians can obey Jesus and stop judging. Instead of placing themselves above of others, they can take a position of humility and ask. Asking is the rule of the kingdom.

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Praying for The Knowledge of God’s Will (Colossians 1:9-12)

Posted on September 4, 2022 by salooper57

We want to know God’s will. God wants us to know his will. So, why is it so difficult to know his will? This sermon on prayer and the knowledge of God’s will is rooted in the Apostle Paul’s great … Continue reading →

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Why Wait: A Message on Prayer

Posted on August 15, 2022 by salooper57

This sermon, based on Abraham’s experience as detailed in Hebrews 11:8-13, helps us understand why we need to wait on God in our prayers, and how we can wait well. The key is to wait for God, not for things and to wait with God, not alone. Come and join us in the waiting room. God is already there.

The text of the sermon is included below the video. Continue reading →

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Prayer: Where the Battle Is Won

Posted on August 8, 2022 by salooper57

I don’t think I’ve ever begun a sermon with a quote from The Art of War before, but I did this one. Sun Tzu said, “Every battle is won before it is ever fought.” Jesus proved it true through life … Continue reading →

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Unanswered Prayers: The Rest of the Story (2 Cor. 12:6-10)

Posted on July 18, 2022 by salooper57

Here is the thesis of this message: When God says no, he does so because of love. When he says no, it is because saying yes would be unhelpful in the long run to you and to others. When he says no, it is to preclude some evil that would happen or to promote some good that would not happen had he said yes.

The evil that must be precluded and that good that must be promoted may not be apparent right now. They may not even be apparent in our lifetimes. That good or evil might be four generations away or twenty. We cannot see it, think it, or even imagine it – our minds are too limited; we are still babes in the infancy of humanity. There is so much we don’t know. Continue reading →

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